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Saturday, February 24, 2024

Basketball: Helpful Annotated Rules from the Navy and NCIS

Everyone needs rules but not everyone applies them equally or consistently. "Infotain" - inform and entertain. 

Rules matter when they impact winning. Generally, fewer rules are better. "Never do anything to embarrass the team or yourself" and "your job is to make your boss look good." 

NCIS fans know "Gibbs' rules' but not all apply to basketball or leadership. Many do. Steal and adapt. My first rule is, "learn every day." Don't rediscover fire. Don't stuff square pegs into round holes. 'Think out of the box' to adapt and overcome. 

The Complete List of Gibbs' Rules: 1–25

  • Rule #1: "Never let suspects stay together." Gibbs Alternate Rule #1: "Never screw over your partner." (No one is sure why the writers had two #1 rules. However, they probably weren't keeping track at the time. In NCIS Season 8, Episode 11, "Ships in the Night," Magee acknowledges that there were two #1 rules when Gibbs decides to break rule #1.) Comment. You've heard the quote from the Hippocratic Oath, "first, do no harm." It's really, "never screw over your teammate." Prohibit selfishness. "That is not how we play."  
  • Rule #2: "Always wear gloves at a crime scene." 
  • Rule #3: "Don't believe what you are told; double-check." Alternate Rule #3: "Never be unreachable." Comment. This restates President Ronald Reagan's "Trust but verify." We've all known critical games lost because a team member didn't pay attention and the coach didn't get feedback. "They should have known," is failure. 
  • Rule #4: "The best way to keep a secret, keep it to yourself." Corollary 1 to Rule #4: "The 2nd best way to keep a secret, tell one other person, if you must." Corollary 2 to Rule #4: "There is no third best." The way to maintain confidence from friends and sources is never sharing secrets. Basketball information is public domain. Information about people is not. 
  • Rule #5: "You don't waste good." We waste 'good' when we bury a player on the bench or deny them opportunity, sometimes because of pettiness, grudges, or oversight. "Never be a child's last coach."
  • Rule #6: "Never say you're sorry."
  • Rule #7: "Always be specific when you lie." 
  • Rule #8: "Never take anything for granted." Another reminder to give and to get feedback. Players know a fraction of what you do. For example, if we 'presume' a player is left-handed and force weak by system, we're in for disaster if he's right-handed.
  • Rule #9: "Never go anywhere without a knife." (Season 8, Episode 9)
  • Rule #10: "Never get personally involved in a case." (Jethro burned this rule in Season 16, Episode 13) Coaching our children, we expose ourselves to their feelings and grievances from others who presume that our children are favored, meaning less opportunity, smaller role, and less recognition for others. It's far more than a precarious balance. 
  • Rule #11: "When the job is done, walk away." As a coach or a 'professional', knowing when we're 'cooked' isn't always clear. My wife asked a coworker why he retired. He said, "I had a moment of clarity."
  • Rule #12: "Never date a co-worker."
  • Rule #13: "Never ever involve lawyers." (It is also mentioned that there are seven rules that involve lawyers. Currently, this is the only rule about lawyers that has been revealed.)
  • Rule #14: "Bend the line, don't break it." (Season 11, Episode 3) There's tough, physical play or dirty, unsportsmanlike play. Cheap shots, 'gorilla ball', and running up the score against reserves all go over the line in my view. Denying reserves minutes in blowouts also breaks the line in my world. 
  • Rule #15: "Always work as a team." (Season 5, Episode 5) Stick with our core values in basketball. Mine are 'teamwork, improvement, and accountability'. 
  • Rule #16: "If someone thinks they have the upper hand, break it." (Season Finale, Season 8)
  • Rule #17: Hasn't been revealed
  • Rule #18: "It's better to seek forgiveness than ask permission." (Season 3, Episode 4, revealed by Director Shephard) This is an old Navy adage. We deployed on a Presidential Medical Support mission, told not to open supplies. As soon as we were out of sight of point of departure, the Mission Commander ordered the supplies opened, finding equipment broken by dry rot and outdated supplies. He got them replaced, probably with considerable embarrassment by his superiors. Imagine caring for the President with broken equipment. 
  • Rule #19: Hasn't been revealed
  • Rule #20: "Always look under." (Season 12, Episode 17, revealed by Special Agent Barrett. Mentioned again in Season 17, Episode 16 by Special Agent Bishop.) Restated, "don't make assumptions." You've heard the expression, "ASSUME equals make an ASS out of U and ME." 
  • Rule #21: Hasn't been revealed
  • Rule #22: "Never ever bother Gibbs in interrogation."
  • Rule #23: "Never mess with a marine's coffee if you want to live." 
  • Rule #24: Hasn't been revealed
  • Rule #25: Hasn't been revealed

Summary:

  • Learn every day.
  • Make the boss look good.
  • Never do anything to embarrass the team or yourself.
  • Give and get feedback. 
  • Don't take 'stuff' for granted.

Lagniappe. Simplify. Repeat great advice. 

Lagniappe 2. Study great coaches. Ryan Pannone (sounds like a Blacklist villain)  

 

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