“Sometimes there’s more ball screen action; sometimes there’s more up-screen action.
“But there are some things you should never change.”
He paused and said, “Can I show you something?”
Sitting in front of a cabinet full of trophies and memories from his hall of fame career, Ryan slid in front of his office computer and called up what he was looking for: a pair of commercials that he taped for a cable company that serves Wisconsin Rapids and Stevens Point. They were produced and directed by John Roach.
In one commercial, Ryan looks at the camera and says, “People say I make a lot of faces during the game.
“I do because I care. I care about doing things right every time with people who play with passion; people who have a shared goal, who do it right consistently.
“Things change all the time. That’s fine. I get it. But you know how to win? With the things that never change.”
Some of those basic tenets that have led Ryan to 626 career wins were enumerated in the second commercial.
The spot begins with Ryan saying, “Whenever someone says to me, ‘Bo, why don’t you play some zone, fast break a little more?
“There are always suggestions and new things to try, but you have to do the little things right.
“You have to take care of the ball every possession; play as a team every minute; do the little things well every second.
“And then you know what happens? You win.”
There are some things that never change; nor should they.
“John Roach said, “Bo, this is you,’” Ryan recalled of the script. “For everybody in every business, there are certain things you’ve got to do every day to be successful, don’t you?”
That might be fitting for his next Hall of Fame plaque, whenever it arrives.
And it will as long as they’re still listening, which they are.
