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Thursday, June 29, 2023

Basketball: Rationalization Is Part of Everyone's Game

Coaches manage human nature. Our nature includes positive traits like kindness and altruism and negatives such as cruelty and selfishness.

"Rationalization is a defense mechanism in which people justify difficult or unacceptable feelings with seemingly logical reasons and explanations." Rationalization protects our ego.

Coaches rationalize:

  • Power... "because I'm the coach, the decider"
  • Compensation... "they don't pay me 'X' for nothing." 
  • Experience... "I've done this for a long time"
  • Player selection (bias for size, athleticism, or skill)
  • Player development ("we've always done it that way")
  • Style of play... "you think you know better than I?"
  • Lineup construction 
  • Lineup changes
  • Hiring and firing (e.g. assistants)
  • Accountability/Attribution (why we lost)
  • "Working" the officials ("everyone does it.")

Players rationalize: 

  • "Deserving" minutes, roles, and recognition
  • "I've paid my dues." 
  • Failure. "Nobody was there to mentor me." 
  • "It's MY time to shine." 
  • Not working as hard because of 'special status'
  • Expecting media attention
Education changes behavior. The job entails community relations, organization, implementation of philosophy and culture, player and team development, scouting, strategy, game planning, and more. 

Recognizing and dampening rationalization takes insight and persistence. It's harder than it looks. 

Lagniappe. "It's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll." 

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