Witnessing basketball history, Part II

This is the second installment in a continuing series (no, we don’t know how many there will be) on Kingfisher’s historic run in boys’ basketball over the last several years.

Part I appeared in the March 24 edition...

Jared Reese constantly talks about how unselfish his players are on the court.

There are several factors that play into that, but one of them undoubtedly is the Jackets practicing what Reese preaches...and practices himself.

I ran across a picture a few days back, one I can’t seem to find again.

It was of the Kingfisher huddle and taken from behind the bench.

In the photo, Reese had taken a step back.

Chris Combs, an assistant, was directing his orders to the team.

At that moment, it was his huddle.

The photo spoke volumes to me.

Jared Reese has enough faith in his assistants to turn over the team to one of them.

Also, his ego isn’t so large that it hinders him from doing so.

Not all coaches can say that.

Reese constantly gives credit to Combs and Danny Green.

All have head coaching experience.

Reese knew the value of that when they joined him on the bench.

They all bring something to the table and he works to utilize all of that.

And that leads me to this...

Kingfisher has had generational talent the last four years. More on that in later installments.

But, to be a truly great program, it has to be paired with the right coaches.

Not just good to great coaches.

But also the right coaches.

There’s a saying when it comes to coaching: “It’s not about the X’s and O’s, but the Jimmys and the Joes.”

There’s a lot of truth to it.

Good and great coaches get the most out of average teams and make them above average.

At the same time, however, great players sure make those set plays look a lot better.

In other words, it’s both.

When the right Jimmys and Joes meet up with the best of Xs and Os, we get Kingfisher from 2018-2021.

We get two state championships, a state runner-up and a what-if (that’s 2020 for those scratching their heads).

We get 107-4.

We get 107-4. We get the best four-year winning percentage by any Oklahoma boys team.

Ever.

Remember, Jared Reese was 2-22 in his first year as a head coach when he took over at his alma mater, Blackwell.

He’s lost 23 games in eight years at Kingfisher.

Kingfisher’s had the Jimmys and Joes (and Jetts and Treys and Matts and Bijans).

And it’s had the X’s and O’s.

Oh, and before that run?

Kingfisher won a state championship in 2017, too. Set a school record for wins.

Since Kingfisher’s “Triumphant Trio” have been together, the Jackets are 135-7 (.951) with three state championships.

They’ve won 11 state tournament games.

In the decades and decades and decades of KHS boys basketball before them, the program had three state tournament wins.

This group has coached Kingfisher to three wins in a single state tournament... three times over.

Reese RIGHTFULLY gets credit.

Assistant coaches often get overlooked.

We’ve attempted to give Combs his due, whether in 2017, 2019 or even this year.

But what about Danny Green?

What do we know about the quietest coach of the trio?

We don’t see him jumping off the bench during games (well not too often, anyway).

We don’t see him yelling.

We just see him.

But he’s more than “just there.”

He’s very much present...and a presence.

“First of all, he’s got a great relationship with the players,” Reese said.

Reese often has his eyes glued to what’s happening on the court (or staring a hole through an official).

Combs has his game plan and scouting report in his hands and is probably reminding the other team of what they’re supposed to be doing in their own sets.

Green often does his coaching when guys come off the court; he makes sure Reese’s message gets across and maybe in a different way.

He brings a necessary dose of positivity to it all.

Then there’s the work Green does in practice that pays dividends - literally each and every game.

“He works with our post players and their roles and also on the team’s rebounding,” Reese said. “We haven’t had a true post player in quite a while, but you can’t look back at any game and say we got dominated down low.

“A lot of that is because of Danny.”

Unsolicited over the past weekend, Combs pointed out something to me.

Kingfisher was out-rebounded twice all season in 2021.

One was the lone loss. Edmond Memorial won the rebound battle 19-14.

The other was against Tuttle, which did have a plethora of bigs. The Tigers had 30 rebounds to Kingfisher’s 28.

Kingfisher had 63 points to Tuttle’s 46.

Combs - again unsolicited - went home and did some more digging (I promise I would have done it myself).

KHS had 816 rebounds this season. Opponents had 547.

That’s a difference of 269 boards, or an average of 10.3 per game.

Carl Albert, the 5A state champ, was out-rebounded 35-18 by KHS.

Heritage Hall made a living this season of killing teams on the boards. Kingfisher won that battle 31-24, including so many crucial ones in the fourth quarter.

“Danny works on that every day with the guys and it shows,” Combs said.

And, again, there’s one KHS coach giving another one credit.

Unselfishness abounds with this group.

Green doesn’t seek attention.

Combs wants to make sure Green gets it.

Combs doesn’t clamor for credit.

Reese wants to make sure both of them are recognized for their contributions.

Someone, please take some credit.

A couple more stats from this tremendous season:

• The Jackets outscored teams an average of 73-40.

• The Jackets had 410 assists this season against 250 turnovers.

• Opponents had 203 assists and 489 turnovers (an average of 7.8 and 18.8, respectively).

• Opponents shot 35.7 % overall, which included 30.8 % from 3-point range. They averaged 10.1 free throw attempts a game.

• KHS shot 52.8 % overall and 35 % from 3. They attempted 13.8 foul shots per contest.

• On top of forcing nearly 19 turnovers per game, the Jackets scored 24.3 points off those turnovers per contest.

• Kingfisher averaged 31.4 rebounds a game, 11.2 on the offensive end. The Jackets scored nearly 13 second-chance points every night.

• KHS scored 39 points in the paint per game. Again, that’s a credit to some great sets as well as Green’s work during practice.

There’s your abbreviated Part II in the series.

In the future, we’ll delve more into the actual players on the court who melded with the great coaching to provide us with history.