Basketball: Will This Be on the Test?

Life constantly administers tests. Years ago, as I walked through the Emergency Room, I saw an elderly, demented person in bed looking extremely uncomfortable and crying out. I wasn't an ER doctor or the attending physician.

People seemed puzzled. Granted, the differential diagnosis was extensive for delirium in an elderly person. I asked, "has anyone checked for urinary retention?" The nurse did a bladder scan; the person had a distended bladder. Urinary catheter insertion restored  a baseline condition...not magic or genius, just a little playing the odds. Pain and agitation relief came without opioids, a CAT scan, or tranquilizers.

Are we here to learn or grub for a grade? Seth Godin explores education and motivation. 

Highlights: 

Nobody sees us studying, thinking, writing, working out, compiling experience. The work  of continuing education itself has value. 

"Online courses can’t offer too much in the way of credit (because there’s too little scarcity) and online tests are difficult to administer in high-stakes situations."

We earn "credit" by adapting to changing conditions. 

Everyone's favorite radio station? WII - FM. What's in it for me? 

"Instead, you create an environment where willing, caring individuals can find an experience that changes them."

Our students (players) decide how engaged to be, how important the work is for them. We have the chance and the obligation to make the "basketball experience" holistic. Remind ourselves of Brett Ledbetter's What Drives Winning mantra, the person is more important than the player. Yes, authority figures can terrorize their subjects, but I expect that Steve Kerr, Doc Rivers, Tommy Amaker, Gregg Popovich, and others go to work with more carrots than sticks. 

Did you respect authorities who took the time to understand you? Did you play harder for coaches who cared about you or beat on you? 

Lagniappe 1: Ball movement...Horns slip, paint touch, ball reversal

Three things we saw (or in the case of one thing, didn't see) at the Sixers scrimmage, including some early Al Horford nerdy basketball IQ goodness: https://t.co/CxjQuKn8HK pic.twitter.com/xvOV32XbPV

— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) October 6, 2019

Lagniappe 2: "Movement kills defenses." Fake off-ball screen, clear through, and cut behind the defense. Basketball IQ matters. 

here, exhibit A, you have an overzealous defender and an offensive player with an above average basketball IQ. the result: a halfcourt bucket without any dribbles. the game is not easy, but its simple. pic.twitter.com/fuqaj1ZZpd

— Shannon Wallace (@Shannon_Wallace) October 7, 2019