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Saturday, December 16, 2023

Basketball: "Sitzfleisch"

Sitzfleisch is a German word roughly translated to staying in a chair and doing the work until completed. 

The spirit of hanging in there, staying with it, persistence often separates good from great. It was Edison using thousands of tries to invent the lightbulb or DaVinci sometimes finishing a painting in years. 

What does that mean for basketball or for sports? 

Derrick White. Celtic guard Derrick White played Division 2 college basketball for three years before landing at Colorado and eventually becoming a Spurs draft choice. 


White starts as an unsung contributor on a team tied for the best record in the NBA at the time of this writing.  

Wade Boggs didn't reach the majors until he was 24 years old. He spent six years in the minors with a reputation of a contact hitter without power. At 25, he won his first of five American League batting titles hitting .361. He had 3,010 hits in his MLB career with a career average of .328, reaching the Hall of Fame in 2005. Among the top ten players by 'similarity scores' the only one not in the HoF is Ichiro Suzuki who will enter when eligible.  

Shey Peddy is an American women's basketball player who played with my daughters at Melrose High School. After a stellar career for Temple in the A-10, where she was the A10 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, she played overseas for years before getting an opportunity in the WNBA and becoming a contributor with Phoenix. Her buzzer beater helped Phoenix advance in the playoffs. 

Lagniappe. Coaching is hard. 

Lagniappe 2. Winning doesn't care about you. 

 

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