Thursday, April 4, 2024

Basketball: Finding the Cheat Code (There Is no Secret)

Coach Ralph Labella asked, "why are you hyping this kid?" I explained, "she competes at practice, at school, during games. Hard worker, never takes a repetition off." He had a chance to coach her for a few days at a camp and called me. "Best prospect ever to come out of Melrose." She is her school's valedictorian, League MVP, will be a four year All-Scholastic, and earned a D1 Scholarship.  

There's no place to hide on the court, the field, the ice. Many of you read Jay Bilas' Toughness. "Play so hard that your coach has to take you out." 

You have an ACE up your sleeve - attitude, choices, effort. If you want to be great, do what greatness takes. 

Create value for yourself. Watch this a couple of times. 


I see a prospective player and think, "is she a lottery pick, a first round choice, a second round choice, a free agent?" There's a saying, "it's not the Xs and Os, it's the Jimmies and Joes." 

The lottery picks are the All-Scholastic players. The first rounders are at a minimum All-League and All-Star players. Generally, those types of players have at least two attributes of size, athleticism, and skill. A player can rise or fall from one category to another. Moving two levels is incredibly hard. The Celtics' Derrick White is a two level guy. 

Sport isn't fair. Find the 'cheat code'. Start by outworking everyone. 

Lagniappe. Learn from losses. 

Post by @booksforaspirants
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Lagniappe 2. 

Lagniappe 3. Great tip. Improve shooting by getting better, and improving shot quality.  

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