Damon Runyon wrote, "the race is not always to the swiftest or the battle to the strongest, but it pays to bet that way." The most important five inches in basketball, the true separator, is the space between your ears.
Yes, we value the following:
Physicality - imposing strength
Quickness - beat your opponent to the ball or the basket
Reflexes - reaction
Size - all things not being equal, size matters
But, above all tenacity differentiates those who care the most, practice the hardest, prepare the longest, and thirst for success. They are willing to do more to become more. They suffer Jim Rohn's pain of discipline to avoid the pain of regret.
In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Pirsig extensively discusses 'quality'. “Care and Quality are internal and external aspects of the same thing. A person who sees Quality and feels it as he works is a person who cares. A person who cares about what he sees and does is a person who’s bound to have some characteristic of quality.”
We wonder about the nature of quality but seldom marvel at the quality of nature. The work of success is the success of work. Knowledge without philosophy and perspective has no more value than an unopened book.
The competitors we want to coach have the will to push through no matter what the cost. They have the curiosity and patience to test and grow their limits. They are the artists among us.
