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Sunday, January 12, 2025

Basketball - Nature and Sports

Consider parallels between sport and nature. Leonardo da Vinci might use the term connessione as illustration. 

1. We separate the wheat from the chaff, the useful from the inedible. Whether it's our drill book or our playbook, eliminate what is inefficient or unhelpful. Obviously, roster decisions do the same. 

2. Players, like onions, have layers. A winning player might help get scores (screening, hockey assists) or stops (on-ball defense, help defense, deflections, talk, win 50-50 balls) and intangibles without lighting up the box score. 

3. "Water the flowers." Plants and animals need water to survive and thrive. Players need communication and praise. Passing also "waters the flowers" as "the ball has energy." 

4. Photosynthesis changes solar energy into chemical energy. "Light becomes sugars." Coaching is like photosynthesis and everyone benefits from it. 

5. Antifragility 1. Nassim Taleb wrote Antifragile, how things can become stronger under stress. Evolution helps antifragility as organisms most adaptable to change survive. Kobe Bryant discussed his evolution as a player as his athleticism waned in his mid 30's.   

6. Antifragility 2. Training helps both the human mind and body respond to stress. Training helps us 'see the game' and hardens the body. 

7. Toxicity. Don't allow or create a toxic work environment. Fires are a toxic element of nature. Drastic weather changes create environmental hazards. Negative coaching can be toxic. Coaches who "bury players" create an unhelpful work environment. 

8. Dual hit theory of cancer. There's a theory that "two hits" are needed to create cancer. For example, certain genetic traits put people at risk for cancer. Add in cancer-producing elements like smoking and alcohol and cancer becomes more likely. Teams can survive one knucklehead, but there's the "two knucklehead theory" that teams can't survive two. 

9. Escape velocity. A certain escape velocity is required to defeat gravity and create a 'geosynchronous' orbit. Sports programs need to achieve escape velocity, too. That can occur with infrastructure (facilities, youth programs), coaching (e.g. player development, game management), and other resources. One theory is that SEC football is coming back to earth as NIL allows school to compensate players. 

10. Mental models. Brain structure and function separates Homo sapiens from other species. As we learn more about a domain (e.g. basketball), we increase our 'circle of competence'. We know 'the map is not the territory' as territories have differing characteristics than maps. A weak schedule can create a 'good record' without creating a stronger team. "Iron sharpens iron."

Lagniappe. Impact winning. 

Lagniappe 2. Denial hinders growth.  "Good enough" seldom is. 

Lagniappe 3. Not everyone is all-in on choppy steps anymore.  

Repost. Celtics closeouts. 

  

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