Saturday, February 20, 2021

Basketball: Culture and Teamwork Are Levers Not Just Words (& Lagniappe on 3-Point Shots and More)

"Fight for your culture every day." - Doc Rivers

Can a transformational approach outperform a traditional one? It can't be an excuse for underachievement. 

Transformational approaches are long-term. Winning becomes the byproduct. Long-distance runner Deena Kastor set a plethora of Master's records, using a different personal culture. Her ten tips:

  • Live a Quality, Purposeful Life
  • Live with an Attitude of Gratitude
  • Practice Positivity and Purposefulness 
  • See Challenges as Opportunities
  • Focus on Your Passion
  • Live with Continuous Improvement
  • Be Excited about Life
  • Get Enough Rest
  • Turn Nervousness into Excitement
  • Take Things One Step at a Time

Some remind me of Weisinger and Pawliw-Fry in Performing Under Pressure and their "COTE of Arms" - confidence, optimism, tenacity, and enthusiasm. They emphasize excitement over nerves and breaking bigger tasks down into pieces. 


The podcast hosts discuss results-oriented process versus great, fun, and memorable experiences. "Let's create a place where everyone wants to be."

After a state tournament, fans gave the underdogs feedback about freedom and enjoyment as their lower rated team reached the finals. Culture accelerates progress. 

"Our objective is to win, but that's not our purpose." Winning became the byproduct of having great culture. 

As an exercise, they ask each player about their favorite and least favorite teammate (ever) and the adjectives and behaviors that made it so. "When you feel confident and energized, how do you play?" Being a great teammate helps others achieve more. "How we treat others...impacts the quality of our play." 

Lagniappe. It takes more than great culture to win. It takes talent, teamwork, good decisions, and execution. One effect of that is quality shots. 


"ROB" shots are in range, open, and balanced. Is this a "great" open shot? It missed. Last night the Celtics were 14-35 (40%) and the Hawks 10-30 (33%). Making or missing 3s (at extremes) define outcome. 


Teams making half their 3s are 48-5. Teams making under 20 percent are 1-21. There's even more data about which shooters add (or subtract) the most points per 100 shots. Bad shooters taking poor shots obviously are a negative. 

Lagniappe 2. From Dave Smart via BBallImmersion - Teams need to compete and fight right to the end (take advantage of a team that is ahead and starting to feel comfortable with their lead) – concept of being competitors and NOT feeling sorry for themselves.

Lagniappe 3. NBA teams take advantage of the short roll. 


The short roll creates a four-on-three which pressures the defense.