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Tuesday, January 14, 2025

Basketball - When Disaster Strikes

Imagine the worst crisis your team can face. Then double it.

Years ago in the week before our eighth grade season (not exactly the NBA), we lost our two bigs, one on a season-ending knee injury. She's playing for D1 Richmond. She did fine and our team didn't. It happens.

Here's a passage from Morgan Housel's The Psychology of Money, discussing a 'black swan' event that hurt the German army in 1942 before the Battle of Stalingrad. 


Prepare for disaster. 

1) Create depth. Nobody can presume that everyone will stay healthy, available, and productive.

2) Cross-train positionally. Deep playoff runs require multiple ball-handlers, dynamic rebounders, and at least three scorers. 

3) Feedback creates sustainable competitive advantage. Don't presume that a 'stay-ready' (reserve) player will come in plug-and-play. They will almost certainly lack both the skill set and the mindset (offensive and defensive knowledge) base of your starter. Test people throughout the campaign. 

4) Starting players want to play as much as possible for many reasons - love of the game, competitiveness, the desire to 'put up numbers'. Getting reserve players in regularly gives them opportunity, creates depth, and also may avoid needless and costly injury during less competitive games. If our star player goes down late with an injury in a rout, the finger pointing begins. 

5) Mental health issues are hard to identify and treat. Keep an open door and communicate with players as much as possible. There is no guarantee. 

6) There's only so much injury prevention available. Dislocated fingers, muscle pulls, concussions, and sprained ankles happen. High quality ankle braces are more effective than tape.

Lagniappe. Picking staff. 
Lagniappe 2. Attention to detail can't be overstated. 

 Lagniappe 3. Outwork the competition. 

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