Basketball: Master Lessons from MasterClass Professors

MasterClass professors share life lessons acquired over decades. Their wisdom applies to basketball. 

"May I have your complete attention?" - Ken Burns 

The first price of progress is to pay attention. Some have that gift or hone it through techniques like mindfulness that sharpens attention, even for elementary school-aged children. 

Werner Herzog: Focus (squirrels don't become great directors by collecting acorns). One great scene won't make a movie. 

Great films aren't compilations of anecdotes. Winners develop a rigorous process to build comprehensive skill. 

Spike Lee: Theory versus practice, practice matters. "You have to feed your people." Successful coaches add value. I was thinking about free throw shooting tips. James Pauley says, "never leave a free throw short." In A Sense of Where You Are, John McPhee shared a tip to aim for the middle of the four bolts that attach the rim to the backboard (now it often is the name of the rim manufacturer).  

Paul Krugman: Confidence has to be backed by substance (fractional reserve banking). We hear talk about the greatness of this player or that player. Great players make free throws and don't need Hack-a-Shaq rules. 

Ken Burns: "Storytelling is about conflict" and finding out what happens. Every game won't be art. The Bucks-Nets and Hawks-Sixers were grinders about surviving great performances. 

Story is the arc of the narrative, the beginning, the middle, and the end. I've often told middle school parents that the experience is just one leg of a journey filled with starts and stops. The "trend" is away from basketball, fewer "basketball players" and more soccer, volleyball, and lacrosse players playing basketball. 

Ken Burns remarks, "Process says, "not done."" 

Skill matters. Ask players how they are building skill in the offseason. What is their specific program to improve their shooting, their finishing, ballhandling, athleticism, and game knowledge? Do we get answers or blank stares? 

What's your shooting warmup? Do you start with form shooting, by making twenty from each block off the backboard, or do you start jacking up threes? 

We are storytellers. Coaches help players and teams to a better narrative. "Coaches help take players where they cannot go alone." 

Summary:

• Pay attention.
• Develop a great process.
• Have confidence because of your substance.
• Add value.
• Improve your process.
• Build skill across the arc of the game. 

Lagniappe. "non-shooters are always open." Tips for getting more use out of non-shooters (e.g. cutting, screening the ball).