Dad didn't share a lot of Chinese proverbs, especially having grown up in an Italian neighborhood in East Boston. But that won't stop me from unearthing some basketball wisdom from the 'old country'.
"Every battle is won before it is fought." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War
There's a more contemporary off-color equivalent, "piss poor planning promotes piss poor performance." Anti-Iverson or not, "practice" matters.
The Iverson cut serves as a decoy with a backscreen behind the play.
"Talk doesn't cook rice."
There's a paradox here. Actions speak louder than words, but court communication is invaluable to defend, motivate, and energize teammates.
- Plays take time to develop. Passes must be 'on time and on target.'
- The first option may not be the best one.
- Shots need to be situationally appropriate, not just in end-of-quarter situations.
- Better to cut late than early before a screen arrives. "Wait. Wait. Wait."
"A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song."
Don't believe everything that you hear. Think for yourself. Some people talk just to hear their voice. Critically examine new information. Professor Kahneman distinguishes "respect experts" like political commentators and "performance experts" like Chess masters. A more negative version is, "an empty barrel makes the loudest noise."
"Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still."
We have the capacity to grow and learn into advanced age. Invest our time, don't just spend it. Use available resources to move ahead.
- Mike Krzyzewski 75 years old
- Roy Williams 71 years old
- Geno Auriemma 67 years old
- Tom Izzo 67 years old
- John Calipari 63 years old
"Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without one."
Recognize skills in perspective. Nobody is perfect. We love to point out flaws amidst greatness, to watch giants fall. Michael Jordan had a career three point shooting percentage of .327. That didn't make him a bum. FYI, Marcus Smart has a career three point percentage of .321.
"A closed mind is like a closed book; just a block of wood."
We're a lot like computers, comprised of hardware and software. Bad sectors and bad software don't make a computer useless. "That offense doesn't work." When players don't cut urgently, pass unselfishly, and take good shots no offense works.
"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today."
"Better late than never." Have a "today plan."
"One beam, no matter how big, cannot support an entire house on its own."
Teamwork matters. It's like the African proverb, "we can go faster alone but farther together."
"Learning is a weightless treasure you can always carry easily."
Anything can be taken from us but our knowledge. The more we learn, the more we can learn. Invest the time to learn more and better.
"If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow."
- Widen the space between stimulus (attack) and response.
- To prevent regret, have the discipline not to retaliate.
- The last of The Four Agreements is "always do your best."
- Remember Lincoln's Hot Letters, "never signed, never sent."
Concept: Beating switching defenses with long-range shooting. As a practical point, this video is an argument for switching against less proficient shooting teams (few high school teams will have anything approaching NBA range).
Lagniappe. Prem Watsa reminds coaches "don't major in the minors," meaning don't invest a lot of time in something rarely used. Here's a link to an article on the 4-1 zone defense, violating that premise.
Lagniappe 2. Principles translate across sports. "Dalbec once focused largely on his swing mechanics. Big-league experience taught him that pitch recognition and timing matter equally." The quickest path to improvement is better shot selection.
Lagniappe 3. Offense thrives on space and time. Defense corrupts them.
