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Thursday, October 19, 2023

Learning from Our Mistakes: The Red Team

Sport is not war and war is anything but sport. Studying military leaders  provides a chance to become better coaches and better leaders. War is about preserving nations and societies.  

I didn't teach basketball to young women to glorify war. Ten years in the military expunged those thoughts. 

Here are old and newer concepts that cross domains. 

Alexander Suvorov was 'the general who never lost'. Here are a few excerpts that apply to basketball.  

  • "We are here to fight, not to count." This was Suvorov's version of "control what you can control." 
  • "Train hard, fight easy." The modern basketball version is, "make practice hard so games are easier." 
  • "If a peasant doesn't know how to plough, he cannot grow bread." If you don't know your job, you cannot perform it.
  • "All the secret of maneuvers lies in the legs." Condition players. 
  • "Formation and tactics always depended on the nature of the terrain and the anticipated enemy." Know your opponent. 
Sun Tzu wrote The Art of War. Far more lessons reside within. 
  • "All warfare is based on deception." Having superior talent matters. In the documentary, "Against the Tide," producers showed how superior USC footballers overwhelmed Alabama. In the rematch the next season, Alabama held closed practices, deployed the wishbone and won in Los Angeles. 
  • Bait bad passes by appearing passive but springing into passing lanes.
  • Show a zone formation and shift to man. LSU's Dale Brown used "The Freak" where initial defenses morphed into others. 
  • “To know your Enemy, you must become your Enemy.” Practice the defenses that you will encounter. 
  • "He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces." You won't automatically win with more talent or lose with less. Competing as an underdog requires different approaches. 
The Millenium Challenge '02 pitted US forces, the Blue Team, with futuristic technology against retired General Paul Van Riper's "Red Team," the opposing forces of OPFOR. The Pentagon crafted the simulation with a predetermined outcome that OPFOR had no chance against a superior force with Spaced Aged weaponry. Van Riper had other ideas. 
  • New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof warned that it “should teach us one clear lesson relating to Iraq: Hubris kills.” Overconfidence and a crafty enemy can cause defeat. 
  • "Retired Marine Corps three-star Paul Van Riper was praised for having “created the conditions for successful spontaneity” with a decision-making style that “enables rapid cognition.”" Superior leadership, imagination, and execution can produce surprising results.
  • “MC ’02 is the key to military transformation.” Innovation, while welcomed and valuable, doesn't always prevail. 
  • "Van Riper decided that as soon as a U.S. Navy carrier battle group steamed into the Gulf, he would “preempt the preemptors” and strike first." As a heavy underdog, the unexpected may have strategic, unexpected advantage. 
  • "Van Riper’s forces unleashed a barrage of missiles from ground-based launchers, commercial ships, and planes flying low and without radio communications to reduce their radar signature." Maybe this was analogous to UMBC's three-point barrage that took down Virginia in a 1-16 mismatch. 
  • "Van Riper believed that MC ’02 was both scripted and carried out in a way that did not realistically reflect likely future U.S. military capabilities or the threats posed by a thinking, motivated adversary." As coaches, use our imagination in training, preparation, and execution. Think out of the box. 
What's the point? Conventional wisdom gets conventional results. Overwhelming force will usually prevail. But what's the cost of using our imagination?

Lagniappe. The guy being defended for entry into the back court gets lost. 

Lagniappe. A veteran 'real' coach shares his thoughts. Many reflect all of our experiences. 

 

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