RALEIGH — An intense game between Apex High and Word of God was just the precursor for the intense press conference to follow.
Following a narrow 75-71 win in the second round of the GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational's Summit Hospitality bracket, Word of God coach Erasto Hatchett laid into what he considers underlying problems of the program he inherited.
After taking aim at those, he took exception at a reporter's question, and later, the reporter himself.
Hatchett had spent the greater part of the eight-minute-long press conference talking about how his players were among the most talented in the country — but their personalities will allow for them self-destruct in the future.
He also talked about how he needed to reach his players because "that basketball is going to stop bouncing at some point in time."
Then first question from the GSK media came in, directed to Hatchett: "Can you put your finger on anything in terms of how you weren't able to get into the game plan you were going to get into to force the tempo? Did Apex have anything to do with that or do you attribute that to your team and what your team or your coaching staff neglected or couldn't accomplish?"
Hatchett, in his first year at Word of God, fired back. He interpreted the question as placing blame on him for not preparing his players better for an undermanned Apex team and fixing the problems that have held over from last year.
"Have I dropped the ball with these guys? Nope. Have I reached them the way I want to? Absolutely not. I've been with this program since August the 4th. And if anybody knows anything about Word of God it was big before I got here," Hatchett said, his voice growing louder.
"So you can't sit there and ask me that question and feel like that it's me that has not been able to grab these guys and pull them together and do like they're supposed to, because if you watch Word of God, the way they're playing now, it's similar to some of the antics and some of the ways they carried themselves last year and the year before. I can't change that in a month or two."
As another media member directed a question to C.J. Leslie, an impassioned Hatchett snapped at the first reporter: "You've got an issue with me right? ... You're mumbling!"
A fellow WOG official in the back of the room told Hatchett to calm down. To avoid further confrontation, the reporter left the room.
Hatchett's opening statement to the media gave some insight to what's gone on behind closed doors with the Word of God program.
The Holy Rams have no fewer than three future Division I players in Bishop Daniels, Dezmine Wells and Leslie. Last year that number was four with John Wall running point — yet WOG lost 10 games by season's end.
Chemistry has been a major culprit. Hatchett said the attention directed to his and other high-profile players has made some selfish, and the problem has been "left to the coaches to fix before they go to college or self-destruct."
"At some point in time, we've got to understand there's not an 'I' in team," Hatchett said.
Hatchett went through each of the players sitting near him, describing them as talented, but with attitudes that will allow them to "self-destruct." The only one of the four described as not having that sort of attitude, Joel Kindred, was described as joining a team with a detrimental persona that has started to rub off on him.
"I have a heck of a task at hand. And it hurts me to my soul that I feel like I have the most talented team in the country — and what they've been exposed to, and the way they've been able to kind of get things or feel like things should come easy to them through basketball is going to become a domino effect," Hatchett said.
"And the game we used to know or have known it as is not going to be any longer. And that's the truth of the matter."
Having a roster as stockpiled with talent as Word of God is going to attract media and fans. There's a reason why the Holy Rams were scheduled for the nightcap in each of the GSK games this year and last year — they're the main attraction.
All that troubles Hatchett, who said he's trying to teach his players lessons that go beyond the game of basketball. And from what it sounds like, he's got an uphill battle in corralling the egos of his talented team.
"And we're missing it. We want the entertainment. We want the high-flying. We want the alley-oops and the dunks. And so do I, [but] there's a way to do it," Hatchett said.
"I know what I'm trying to give them and instill in these guys is right. Anyone who don't believe it and anyone who don't feel that way, then you're a part of the problem as well. Period."
