Everyone takes "bad beats," unforgettable losses through bad vision, bad decisions, bad luck, or bad execution. Minimize them.
Red Auerbach absorbed his worst loss as a prep coach. Up one point late, his in-bounder threw a behind-the-back pass that was intercepted and converted into a layup for a loss. Every thrilling winner has an opposing crushing defeat. All of us suffer soul-crushing losses at some point.
As a player, we lost in overtime to the two-time defending State Champion. Poor execution against the press was the biggest culprit. Our coach told us we lost not because they were better but because we didn't believe in ourselves. Fate was kind to us as we beat them twice later than season including the sectional championship.
Poker champion Phil Ivey said that bad beats are part of the game. Overcoming them is part of the process to becoming an elite player. Ivey misreads his hand.
Because vision, decisions, and execution are the setup, bad beats emerge from failures.
Failed vision. "I did not see that coming." Fred Brown's mysterious pass in the final moments against North Carolina seems like a blind spot.
Flawed decision making and play. There's not a "specific" bad beat in this video, but a number of issues that contribute to losses.
- Habitual immediate dribbling on the catch
- Low effort going for loose balls
- "Cheating the drill" in practice
- Hot dogging finishes instead of making the easy play
- Trying to be James Harden
Better execution. The underdog sometimes makes a great play.
That basketball factory Harvard upset top-ranked Stanford in 1998.
