Use every tool at our disposal, learning and extracting from other cultures, like Genghis Khan.
Regular readers know the value of learning across disciplines. I've shared the concepts of "Beginner's Mind," "Empty Your Cup," and "No Mind."
Playwright David Mamet clarified in Redbelt, "a man distracted is a man defeated." Success without commitment, discipline, and focus doesn't exist.
Chinese history informs the Thirty-Six strategems, too many for one meal. Let's dissect the first six using the Wikipedia outline, using analogies.
Chapter 1: Winning Stratagems
Deceive the heavens to cross the sea.
Mask one's real goals from those in authority who lack vision by not alerting them to one's movements or any part of one's plan.
Admiral Nelson won at Trafalgar, sailing perpendicular to the Franco-Spanish fleet, using two columns to cut their forces in three.
Indiana Coach Bob Knight recommended setting up defensively in zone and then reorganizing into your chosen defense. Initially, the opposing offense would think zone and then have to adjust.
Besiege Wèi to rescue Zhào
When the enemy is too strong to be attacked directly, attack something they cherish. The idea is to avoid a head-on battle with a strong enemy, and instead strike at their weakness elsewhere.
General Sherman avoided large battles and mass casualties by attacking Southern infrastructure during the Civil War, a war on property and resources.
The prep/private schools attract top players which simultaneously strengthens their forces and weakens the public schools.
Kill with a borrowed knife
Attack the strength of another when in a situation where using one's own strength is not favourable. For example, trick an ally into attacking them or use the enemy's own strength against them. The Ideas is to cause damage to the enemy via a third party.
During the American Revolutionary War, a teen-aged Lafayette intervened on behalf of the Americans. History.com shares ten little-known facts about Lafayette!
In professional sports, trading deadline acquisitions augment a team's forces and become difference makers (although usually not).
Wait at leisure while the enemy labors
It is advantageous to choose the time and place for battle while the enemy does not. Encourage the enemy to expend their energy in futile quests while one conserves their strength. When the enemy is exhausted and confused, attack with energy and purpose.
Historically, sieges worked, sometimes augmented by unconventional warfare. Attackers would catapult plague-infested bodies over a defender's walls.
We regularly lost (middle school) to a rival who waited for our top player to substitute out and then capitalized by scoring inside or being fouled attacking the basket. In our final season playoffs, we increased her playing time and their inside game evaporated while she dominated at both ends.
Loot a burning house
When a country is beset by internal problems, such as disease, famine, corruption, and crime, it is poorly-equipped to deal with an outside threat. Keep gathering internal information about an enemy. If the enemy is in its weakest state, attack them without mercy and annihilate them to prevent future troubles.
In Greek mythology, the Greeks held a protracted siege of Troy (see "Wait at leisure"), which suffered the deaths of two heroes, Paris and Hector. The Greeks feigned withdrawal, and left a gift from the carpenter Epeius, the Trojan horse. The rest is mythic history.
A strong team entered the postseason optimistic. But one girl "stole" another's boyfriend, the team fractured, and they were eliminated in the first round. Dissent determined destiny.
Make a sound in the east, then strike in the west
In any battle, the element of surprise can provide an overwhelming advantage. Even when face-to-face with an enemy, surprise can still be employed by attacking where they least expect it. Create an expectation in the enemy's mind through the use of a feint.
General Robert E. Lee commanded inferior forces at Chancellorsville in May 1863, defeating Union forces twice their size using unexpected flanking maneuvers. General Stonewall Jackson lost his life in the battle.
Basketball uses a myriad of options for deception, including false cutting (e.g. backdoor), complex screens like screen-the-screener and Spain pick-and-roll (screen-the-roller), and hammer sets with ball reversal.
Lagniappe: Slappin' Glass presents great content each week, focused today on "The Art of the Roll."
Lagniappe 2. Spend more time teaching passes actually used in games.
10 seconds of exquisite basketball beauty.
Yes. The chest pass within the body is basically non-existent in game play. Chest passes, 2 to 1 hand passes & other passes outside the body are the norm. https://t.co/0n5LkrcBCo
— Chris Oliver (@BBallImmersion) December 5, 2020
Lagniappe 3. Unconventional wisdom. The Yeshiva motion offense.