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Wednesday, December 3, 2025

Incremental Thinking Is OK in an Exponential World

Society is awash in information. We can barely process a fraction of it. Keep it simple. 

1) What do I (or my team) need NOW? What's the priority? What needs to be added or eliminated? 

2) What one, two, or three things can I focus on today?

3) How will I know if it works?

In the podcast above, the discussants share that "we pretend everything is okay" when it's not.

Ratchet up intensity while maintaining empathy. Be demanding while thanking our team for their efforts and sacrifice. 

For (1) diagnose "needs" objectively. If we're not scoring enough - is it skill, shot selection, turnovers, or something else? 

For (2), discipline ourselves to refocus on "the main thing" or a couple. For example, if we have seventy possessions and 20 turnovers, then we "really" have fifty possessions. Worse, live-ball turnovers translate into opponents' points. How do we reduce turnovers? 

For (3) measure. Measure what impacts outcomes. Embrace the Four Factors. 

  • Don't presume that NBA statistics (apples) relate to your high school stats (oranges). If you want to take 50 percent three-point shots, how many are you making? Are you anchoring on the wrong data? If you're at the league bottom of team offense, your plan needs work. 
  • Turnovers. Mistakes matter. That's partly how Bob Knight ("The Power of Negative Thinking") and Porter Moser (foul less) succeeded. 
  • Rebounding rate. The Celtics remain in the bottom half on NBA rebounding rate but are no longer at the bottom. It's still not good enough as they are near the bottom on defensive rebounding. 

It's not realistic to expect global transformation overnight. 

1. Have a written plan.

2. Track progress (e.g. EFG%, turnovers, rebounding, assists, free throws attempted)

3. Stay focused on fundamentals. 

4. Intangibles - attitude, communication, effort - always need attention.

5. Add continual value with positivity and teaching. 

Lagniappe. Develop player leadership.   

Lagniappe 2. Prioritize process. Test players on philosophy, program, and expectations.  

Lagniappe 3. Mazzulla breaks down video.  

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