How do we write our story? Learn from the best. Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men) informs how intention and obstacles define drama. Dramatist David Mamet preaches, "who wants what, how do they get it, what happens if they don't, and why now?" Author Matt Haig says every book ever written is about "someone is searching for something."
Create by finding and resolving conflict. What major conflicts punctuate our basketball journeys?
1. Economics...the study of allocation of scarce resources. Limited resources include roster spots, minutes, and practice time. Competition can spawn envy, enmity, and cognitive dissonance as we rob Pietra to pay Paula. Players and coaches manage their primary jobs, family obligations, and time. Are we investing or spending our time?
2. Simplicity...fight temptation to overload teaching, run too much stuff, and indulge ourselves with Don Meyer's sophisticated complexity. "Fall in love with easy."
3. Unity...among the PUSH-T values (purpose, unity, servant leadership, humility, and thankfulness), achieving unity challenges our "me first" nature. Fostering family within the competitive cauldron is never easy.
4. Execution...doing a premortem examination on the upcoming season, I see strengths and possible weaknesses...turnovers, poor shooting, defeating pressure, and help defense. All of the above have origins (including shot selection) in basketball IQ and experience.
5. Attitude...control what we can control. When adversity arrives with illness, injury, or inconsistency how do we respond? Will we have enough positivity, confidence, and resilience to fight through inevitable setbacks? As Jay Bilas writes in Toughness, "a setback is a setup for a comeback."
Other hurdles appear - weather-cancelled practices, academics, media, family issues, facility problems, competing activities, and more. As players and coaches, focus at being solutions not obstacles or distractions.
Lagniappe: hat tip Chris Oliver (Face cut off horns)...watch for head turners.
Front Door Cut? What other names are coaches using for this type of cut over top instead of behind a defender? pic.twitter.com/XEOJ8HmX2E— Chris Oliver (@BBallImmersion) October 15, 2018
