Talent vs. Effort by John Saintignon

What a great debate. As basketball coaches and players this is what we pay attention to. I know from my perspective as a player that I was blessed with a talent to put the ball into the basket. But it was brought out because of a drive to work harder than my opponent because while I had that special talent/skill, I didn’t have the ability to jump out of the gym or be 6’8″. I had to pay attention to the skill to do that, then hone that skill with daily repetition.

My parents instilled in me this work ethic. Strange how after many years you realize what was right in front of you all along isn’t it? Observing them on a daily basis you realize that they worked. I know you are reading this and realize that your coaching staff or your parents, or someone like a teacher instilled in you a certain work ethic. Once you realized that there are others out in the world that can do the very same thing, then what is going to be the one thing that perhaps separates you?

I remember being told when I was at basketball camp as a youngster by Coach Fimbres. He said that I had talent, but so did others and I needed to see them. I had to work at this dream. It began with me collecting cans with my dad, who showed me that I had to work at everything. So true to this day, I do many things just to keep above, like you all are doing as well I am sure! I paid for my basketball camp and got the chance to see how I compared to others at the time within my own state of Arizona. Great Hall of Fame teachers of the game, message was simple: Work at what I do, practice, because someone somewhere was doing the same and when we met he would win.

I carried that with me in all that I did. Leading the Nation in scoring in NCAA, was a great feat, however, one that I could not do with just my talent. It was driven into me from that early message and then developed by my college coaches and of course my own internal drive to never be outworked. Coach Whitsitt in taking me under his tutelage guided me to the principles of waking up early. However, that began in Tucson, Arizona as Gerald Reece showed me the way with that work ethic of having worked out intensely before anyone else woke up.

What are your thoughts on this subject?

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John Saintignon has an extensive background of an experienced and successful basketball coach at the International Professional, NCAA Division 1, NCAA Division 2 and High School levels — and a three-time NCAA All-American as a player and a professional player. Coach Saintignon has been helping players and their families navigate through the NCAA process of helping them get a college scholarship, having wrote a book on the subject while at Oregon State University, “ What does it take to get a college scholarship?”, as well as preparing them for the court. Coach Saintignon trains the athletes and provides performance nutritional advice working alongside Advocare to help his athletes reach their fullest potential. FB: JSSportsNet and at www.advocare.com/130423949

Saintignon was the Head Coach of Fuerza Guinda of the FIBA Americas; Coach Saintignon led his team to a Playoff finish. During the 2011-2012 season of the NBA lockout, Saintignon was instrumental in getting NBA players into jobs overseas having placed Jarron Collins and Mardy Collins into the CBA in China, Salim Stoudamire into Italy, Sam Clancy into Argentina, James Porter into Japan, Calvin Hampton into Bahrain. Over a 100 players have come through Los Angeles to get player development training including the future Hall of Famer NFL Defensive end and Superbowl winner Simeon Rice who came out to LA to train for 3 days in strenuous basketball training with Coach Saintignon.

John Saintignon has been a coach in high school, college and professional basketball in Arizona, California, Oregon, Mexico and Bahrain. Most recently, Saintignon was the successful Head Coach in the Premier League in the country of Bahrain in the Middle East since March 2010, leading his team to a Final Four finish. Prior to that he was the Assistant Coach at Cal State Stanislaus University in the CCAA Conference and an NCAA Division 2 institution. Saintignon was also the Associate Head Coach and Director of Player Development for the Culiacan Caballeros of the top league in the Mexican Professional Basketball League (LNBP). As a first-year franchise, the Caballeros went to the LNBP playoffs in a top 6 finish.

Prior to coaching professionally, Saintignon was the Director of Basketball Operations and Assistant Coach at Oregon State University in the Pac-10 Conference from 2006 to 2007. Before landing in Corvallis, Saintignon was a teacher and Head Coach at Desert Edge High School in Goodyear, Ariz. His previous high school coaching experience included being the Head Coach at Canyon del Oro High School in Tucson, Ariz. (2001-04); Bonita Vista High School in Chula Vista, Calif. (1995-01); and Mar Vista High School in Imperial Beach, Calif. (1992-95).

John Saintignon led his team at Canyon del Oro to the state tournament twice and was named the Coach of the Year in 2001-02. At Bonita Vista, he was also named the league’s coach of the year after leading his team to the CIF championship in 1999, the first CIF Championship earned in the schools history. At Mar Vista, Saintignon earned Coach of the Year honors by taking his team to the league championship in 1994-95, and the schools first since 1964.

As a guest speaker in Italy, Croatia, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Bahrain, Mexico Israel and Argentina, Saintignon has earned a reputation as an authority on player development and has produced several DVD’s on getting athletes better through individual training; “Advanced Guard Workout” is the title, as well as attacking on offense with his Secondary Break philosophy, called “On the Attack: Mastering the Secondary Break.”

John Saintignon graduated from the University of California at San Diego in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in Economics, and a Master’s degree from Liberty University in Sports Administration. He played one season at UC San Diego and three seasons at the University of California at Santa Cruz. In 1985-86, he was the Leading Scorer in the United States (USA) as he led the entire NCAA Divisions with 31.2 points per game scoring average. He earned All-Conference MVP and All-American candidate honors all three of his years at UC Santa Cruz as he scored more than 2,450 points in his career where he is the All-Time scoring leader in University history as his number was retired this year. He went on to play professionally in Spain and Mexico for four seasons earning various honors including several All-Star selections.

A native of Tucson, Ariz., John Saintignon graduated from Salpointe Catholic High School where he was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998. Saintignon has been married for 16 years to Angelica and they are proud parents of their two sons, Vicente (14) and Sebastian (11).