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Sunday, August 10, 2025

Basketball - Existential Dissatisfaction ("I'm Pleased but I'm not Satisfied")

On the heels of a lengthy winning streak, Coach told us, "I'm pleased but I'm not satisfied." Coaches preach, "Chase perfection."

Separate yourself from mediocrity. Control what you can control, how relentless you are in pursuit of excellence and your goals. 

Kevin Durant woke up and asked himself, "how do I get better today?" Kobe Bryant had his "Mamba Mentality" marked by grueling offseason workouts, chronicled in "Relentless" by Tim S. Grover.  

Reviewing performance expert Dr. Fergus Connolly:

  • Skill development
  • Strategy (game knowledge, basketball IQ)
  • Physicality
  • Psychology

Great players add constraints: hills, weight (60 pound chains), obstacles

Comments:

Skill. Coach Jeff Van Gundy (JVG) notes that reserve players should focus on developing the parts of their game that contribute to winning. Don't worry about getting "deep in your bag" when you don't have a deep bag. Think about a prototypical "3 and D" player like Bruce Bowen. He excelled at a few areas and helped win three NBA championships. 

Strategy. Basketball IQ. Ticha Penicheiro wasn't the fastest player in the WNBA but great vision, patience, and anticipation allowed her to lead the league in assists four times. She also took care of the ball with a career assist to turnover ratio of 2.3. 

Physicality. LeBron James invests a million dollars a year in nutrition, strength, conditioning, and skill development work. There is zero entitlement. 


Psychology. Most students of the game don't pay a lot of attention to the mental skills training players undergo - mindfulness, meditation, and the capacity to "block out the noise." Consider Jaylen Brown's experience (from ChatGPT Plus)

Early Introduction & Purpose

  • High school beginnings: Brown first explored meditation through mental skills training with coach Graham Betchart when he was around 16 years old—initially as a way to manage stress and mental distraction

  • Coping and grounding: As a young NBA player, he employed meditation to manage grief and stay mentally centered amid external pressures and personal loss

Ongoing Practice & Benefits

  • Injury recovery tool: During a hamstring injury in 2021, Brown credited regular meditation sessions—sometimes lasting hours—with helping improve his body awareness, breathing control, and overall return to form on the court 

  • Broader mental skill development: Brown sees meditation not only as performance-focused but as an open-ended space for mental growth, creativity, and self-understanding

Integration with His Intellectual Life

  • Scholar-athlete identity: Alongside his meditation practices, Brown has cultivated wide intellectual interests—from philosophy and journaling to languages, chess, and more—which reflect a broader commitment to mindfulness and intentional living

Key Takeaways

  • Long-term devotion: Brown has practiced meditation since his teens and has consistently leaned on it for emotional regulation, healing, and athletic focus.

  • Purpose beyond performance: The practice supports his deeper self-awareness and presence—not just productivity or game readiness.

  • Lifestyle synergy: Mindfulness is part of a broader intellectual and reflective lifestyle that includes journaling, philosophical study, and self-coaching.

Lagniappe. There is evidence that mindfulness training can help the psychological and physical recovery from COVID-19. Positive effects of mindfulness exist on immunity parameters. 


Lagniappe 2. Winning close and late. 


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