For Fordham coach Tom Pecora, life is about making a difference in the lives you touch.

By Michael J. Pallerino

A few years ago, Tom Pecora heard an expression that moved him beyond words – “Living your dash.” It’s okay – at first mention I asked aloud what it meant, too. Admittedly, so did Pecora. Pecora goes on to explain that when we pass on, everybody’s gravestone has at least two things on it that we all have in common: the day you are born, and the day you die. It’s what lies within that dash between birth and death that defines each of us. “It’s all about how many lives you’ve touched,” he says. “This is what defines you as a person. I tell my team all the time – it’s all about the dash.”

Living the charmed life, as Pecora readily admits, the new headman at Fordham University says he has no complaints, even after he left an ideal situation at Hofstra University to help rebuild the Rams’ program. “I think people thought I was crazy. But I tell them, no, I won the lottery. I basically won the lottery twice. To be one of 350 Division I coaches in America, in the world, it’s like winning the lottery. And to do it in my hometown for so many years, at this level, is really a blessing. I was at Hofstra for 16 years (seven as an assistant, nine as head coach) and now I’m at Fordham, where I hope to end my career.”

FUNDAMENTALS ARE MORE IMPORTANT than ever. The term that my staff and me use is the “curse of athleticism.” What’s happening in the United States right now is that every young man is so big, so strong and so athletic that they depend on this to play the game. This has changed the game so drastically because everybody can run, jump and dunk. But rare is the player who has great footwork or skill packages. I think this is one of the reasons you see so many European players excel in the NBA.

I THINK THAT WHATEVER you work on at practice on a day-to-day basis is something you are going to excel at. Each day, we’ll go with a 30-minute to 40-minute block of various fundamentals. We package about 50 offensive and defensive drills. And then we keep track of the drills we do on a regular basis. After any given practice, I may say we have to work on rebounding. So we look at the rebounding drills we have within the context of the player (guards, post players, etc.). Or maybe we need to work on fundamentals involving feeding the post or entry passes. Whatever the drill may be we can go to this menu of fundamentals. If you take a two-hour practice, about 40 minutes are used on fundamentals.

WHAT WE DO AS A TEAM, in respect to NCAA rules, is that in the fall we are allowed eight hours a week and two hours on the court. So we’ll do more breakdown drills in practice. For example, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, we may put the guards and forwards on opposite sides of the court and work on fundamentals. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we may have a mix of maroon and white teams of guards and forwards, where we will do ball screens, etc. What we work on are fundamental things – footwork, ball handling, and drills like that. In the preseason, we work smaller groups, leading into bigger groups when we get into the season.

PEOPLE ASK ME AL THE TIME what the most important skill a basketball player can have is? I always tell them that the most important skill for any athlete, in any sports, is the ability to compete. Now when we go on the recruiting trail, we know that the young man we are looking at is in the ballpark of what we are looking for in a basketball player – our level of player. That’s part of the due diligence on our part. What kind of player is he? What kind of skills does he have? But what I’m looking for are young men who go out and compete on every single possession. And then we’ll see if his skill set fits with what we are looking for. We also want them to be people of good character. I think you win with tough guys who have strong character and compete on every possession.