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Thursday, October 30, 2025

Basketball - Perception, Action, Will

Coaching and playing basketball mean overcoming obstacles. Everyone needs to overcome something.

Ryan Holiday's "The Obstacle Is the Way" divides into three sections:

  • Perception
  • Action
  • Will
Holiday shares numerous examples about how historical figures transformed themselves or situations using these elements. 

Perception is in the eye of the beholder. 

"I'm a good coach but I don't have the talent. I don't have the feeder program. I don't have the facilities or the practice time. This isn't a basketball town." Look at it as an outsider.

  • What have we invested in learning and applying player development?
  • How have we connected with the community and youth programs? Did we meet with the coaches, share ideas, and seek integration?"
  • "It's a poor craftsman who blames his tools."
Actions change directions. 
  • Are we leading or managing? What have we done?
  • Attended and reached out to youth coaches?
  • Established a strength and conditioning program?
  • Conducted free clinics?
Whose will is it anyway?
  • "Deo volente." It's in God's hands. If we didn't get the hay into the barn, that part is on us. 
  • Teams reflect the coach's will. Do we teach preparation, resilience, and selflessness?
  • Will to win has less bearing than will to prepare. Did we have the will to prepare? 
  • "The best time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining." - John F. Kennedy
Our "will" represents us as the smartest, the most skilled, the most beautiful. Maybe we should wish to be the hardest working or the kindest. We have a modicum of control of the latter. 

Three quotes from "The Obstacle Is the Way"

- "The obstacle in the path becomes the path. Never forget, within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition."
 

- "What matters most is not what these obstacles are; but how we see them, react to them, and whether we keep our composure."
 
- "Failure shows us the way—by showing us what isn’t the way."

Lagniappe. Amor Fati: Love your fate. Don’t just endure it — embrace it.

Coaching blends creativity with execution. Both matter. Both reveal us.  

Lagniappe 2. Coaching blends creativity and execution. 

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