Basketball: Bites at the Apple, Questions for Players, and a Versatile Layup Workout

"You only get so many bites at the apple."

Scarcity adds value. We value winning because winning is hard. It's supposed to be hard. Most teams never get a sniff at a championship. 

Focus and prepare to win or focus on better process, believing results take care of themselves?

"I have yet to come across someone who doesn't identify their best and worst results rather than their best and worst decisions." - Annie Duke, Thinking in Bets  

Develop a process to make better decisions, realizing skill and luck operate on a continuum. The process might include "premortem analysis" discussing what could go wrong and "after action review" examining what went well and didn't. 

“Hearing someone described as being able to “Fly by the seat of his pants” always suggests to me a leader who hasn’t prepared properly and whose pants may soon fall down.” - Bill Walsh, The Score Takes Care of Itself. 

Our organizational commitment to preparation cannot waver. In The Score Takes Care of Itself, Bill Walsh explains "Standards of Performance" and the need to hold ourselves to high standards at every level of the organization from answering the phone to striping the field. 

"Never confuse activity with achievement." - John Wooden   

Separate "practice" from "deliberate practice." Putting in time has less value than goal and skill-directed practice. For example, to become the closer, spend time daily working on closer skills. What's your GO TO and COUNTER crunch time move? 

Add to your 'bag of tricks'. 

"Resulting" means judging our process by the results. Reflect on outcomes but recognize that results don't always show the strength or weakness of our process.

Wayne Gretzky lost a highly attended "exhibition game" as a young player, 8-1. He took away the lesson that regardless of the game, the process demanded his full preparation and full effort. 

The player hungry to become a scorer answers questions:

• What's your shooting warmup? 
• What's your basket attack work out? Does it include finishing off either (or both) foot and either hand from either side (see Lagniappe).
• What's your shooting workout?
• How are you improving strength and conditioning? 
• What's your shooting workout? How are you measuring progress? 
• Do you have a ballhandling workout? 
• What's your footwork and pivoting improvement plan? 
• How are you improving your free throw shooting? 

Summary: 

- Scarcity adds value. 

- Focus on better process.

- Practice is not "deliberate practice." 

- What's your GO TO and COUNTER move in crunch time?

- Results don't always reflect the integrity of our process.

- Add to your bag of tricks. 

- As a player is practice finding solutions for your game? 

Lagniappe. Are you finishing well with options? "You can dunk it, you can bank it, or you can go home." Use the glass. "Get to your strong hand whenever possible." 

Add two free throws between each type of layup as enough element. Another approach is starting back to the basket via box drill layups.