BATH
After sitting idle from coaching Maine high school basketball the last seven seasons, longtime iconic coach Tom Maines returns to the sidelines for the upcoming 2018/19 campaign.
And in a familiar one at that for Maines, he will be blowing his whistle for the Morse Shipbuilders boys team, a program he coached for 12 seasons, winning three straight State Class A Championships along the way from 1987-1989.
“I was dissatisfied with how the game is being coached overall,” Maines said, noting the overall state of high school basketball in Maine. “There are some very good coaches out there, but some don’t know how to teach.”
Maines, 71, plans to go back to the basics, working on skills and getting the youth program back where it once was.
“We want Morse to stand out again,” said Nate Priest, the school’s athletic director. “We want Morse basketball to have a level of respect. We want to bring back the passion of Morse basketball to the greater Bath community.”
And it appears the community is happy to have him.
“We’ve had people reach out to us at the school, excited about this,” adds Priest. “This is the right move at the right time, to put Morse back on the basketball map.”
“I’m excited to be back working with this community. I spent a lot of good years at Morse and it’s great to be back,” Maines said. “We’re already talking with the folks in the youth programs, setting up meetings. We’re looking at reconfiguring the fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade programs and securing locations at the elementary schools to play.
“The numbers have been down, so we want to get the younger kids more involved, bring life back into the program.”
Maines has had a pretty good record bringing life into Maine basketball programs. The Windsor native got his first coaching job in 1973 at Mexico High School in western Maine. He took a mediocre team, and in four years Maines had his team competing for the state title. His team fell short in 1976, losing in the semifinals.
The following year, the coach went to Waterville High School and, after a brief stay, he landed a teaching/ coaching job in Bath.
Out of the gate, the Shipbuilders went 15-1 in Maines’ first season. After losing in the conference finals in 1985/86, Morse went on to win three straight boys state championships, something that has not been duplicated in Class A since. Although it’s worth noting the Greely High School team will look for a three-peat this upcoming season.
After amassing over 160 wins at Morse, Maines continued to coach, lecture and teach in various ways throughout Maine. He coached for seven seasons at Madison High School and most recently, turned a struggling Scarborough girls program around after just one season in 2010/11. Maines even had the opportunity to be an assistant coach for the Chinese National team in the summer and fall of 2011, leading up to the 2012 games in London.
“Unfortunately our contract was not honored by the government and just days before the Olympics, they notified me and pulled the plug on it,” added Maines.
Maines also continued coaching at summer hoops camps, with numerous college players from both the University of Southern Maine and Farmington, as well as mentoring and working with the many players and assistants, turned coaches from previous teams.
Names like Jeff Hart (Camden Hills), Mike Hart (former coach of Freeport), Joe Russo (Portland), Todd Flaherty (Greely), and his son TJ who is currently the boys head coach at Cony High School.
“I have so many former players and coaches that I still keep in touch with,” Maines said, rattling off a dozen or so. “I’ve even had players from those Mexico teams call me and congratulate me on getting back into coaching.”
Maines, who lives in Brunswick, will have familiar faces with him on the bench and at practices. Maines will bring assistants Dave Dorion, Brian Hatch and his wife, Rita to assist him.
The 2017 Maine Basketball Hall of Fame inductee is bringing his old school philosophies back to the hardwood.
“Skills, skills, skills, that’s what we want to work on. Not enough of that is being taught,” Maines said. “We never scrimmage, never. I believe in footwork. We could spend 45 minutes to an hour on footwork.
“There are three phases of transition, offense-rebound defense, defense-rebound offense, and dead ball transition. The quicker you transition from one phase to the next, the more successful you will be.”
Not surprising, Maines had no idea of the numbers he’s put up in Maine, for example, his 369 wins, but the 2009 New England Basketball Hall of Fame inductee can tell you many, many stories he’s encountered along the way.
“I love basketball, I love teaching it. I lecture kids across Maine all the time about what it takes to put in the time and be successful and I’m excited to be doing it back on the sidelines.”
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