The Macy's Challenge. That's an odd way to introduce basketball concepts. If my wife and I are in Macy's, while she shops, I look at clothing tags for country of origin. Do I ever find anything made in the USA?
Manufacturing represented more than 40 percent of American jobs. The efficient use of capital (capital flows to its most efficient use) drove those jobs overseas, in return for foreigners supporting our debt with bond buying. We traded jobs for foreign debt investment. That financed two wars and bank recapitalization. That IS.
As coaches, we recognize that what "IS" changes. "The game" evolves with new rules, the ten (eight-second) line, widening of the lane, shot clock, three-point line, and so forth. Whether I want "life to be like it was" or not, basketball isn't going backwards. We need "non-judgmental awareness" to define the future.
That doesn't diminish timeless values like commitment, discipline, attention to detail, sacrifice, and even sportsmanship. Bigger, stronger, faster doesn't necessarily mean better.
As coaches, we still define "who we are and how we play." We determine who plays.
Success depends on our ability to harness our awareness, choices, and trust. That means embracing our natural ability to learn within a framework of better choices and trusting a proven effective process.
Pete Newell noted that young coaches often tended to adopt how they were coached. He also commented that generally "produced a poor reproduction of the original." I played in the Paleozoic era of no shot clock, no three-point line, and more contact allowed. We now see an up tempo game with the evolution of positionless basketball where "every player can be king." If I look at the "tags" on the players and 'stamps' on the game, I seldom find another era's marks.
John Wooden remarked, "no progress occurs without change, but not all change is progress." With more people playing basketball worldwide and better access to information and coaching, the 'labels' on the game are going to keep changing. It's our job to keep up with the process or fall behind.
