No one is saying not to go out there and have fun. But when practice starts, we’re there an hour ahead of time. When practice starts, we’ve already been sweating and ready to go. After practice we’re getting better every day. This is not something you do when you feel like it. This is a job, and if someone’s going to be paying you to do this and you want to do it for a long a time, hard work is not an option. Antonio Davis to Al Harrington during his rookie year
Follow Your Shot
“Don’t get caught watching the paint dry.” Wilbur “Shooter” Flatch A screen and roll play continues after the shot is released. The defense must still secure the ball and the offense still has some high percentage scoring opportunities on the offensive glass. Defense: Cory Joseph goes over the screen so Facundo Campazzo cuts back and uses Luis Scola as a rescreen. Anthony Bennett stunts to stop the drive and Campazzo must pass the ball. Scola pops and Kelly Olynyk, who was playing under the screen closes out the shot but does not make contact on the box out. After the …
Learning from Losing
It was an eye-opening loss for me. Some losses you’re angry about and some losses you learn from. That loss, I think I learned the most from in a long time. I got so much better after that loss. I was able to improve a lot. I worked on things. I didn’t see the results straightaway. But months later, I started seeing the results, more and more. Serena Williams, reflecting upon her loss to Garbine Muguruza in the 2014 French Open.
Adjustments and Offensive Execution in the Playoffs
Playoffs progressing from the Second Round to the Conference Finals mean that the level of play in the N.B.A. gets higher and higher. Especially in the Western Conference, every team is very talented and winning and losing hinges on minute defense. Everyone knows each other’s sets so good defenses will strive to eliminate the primary option; great defenses will take away more than that so it becomes incumbent upon the offense to identify the open man and move the ball to them, institute new wrinkles that counter the counter and utilize evolving and improving athletic talents as they develop. Always …
Coaching Points from the Georges St. Pierre-Hendricks Fight
Some preliminary thoughts about GSP’s narrow decision victory: It was reasonably apparent that GSP won the 3rd and the 5th rounds and Hendricks won the 2nd and the 4th. Previous N.S.A.C. decisions have shown that you have to beat the champion soundly to dethrone them by decision (for example, Henderson-Edgar II). First impression bias (like that first takedown GSP scored at the beginning of the fight) can make powerful impressions on some people. You have to try and win the fight/game/match/contest as clearly as possible. I don’t think that Hendricks’ corner should have told him that he was up 2-0 after the first …
The Right…What’s that Stuff?
Kobe Bryant said that if he’d been told in training camp that Los Angeles would have to win three straight games to claim the Association title, he’d take it for sure. On the other hand, Phil Jackson felt that the Lakers hadn’t grasped the significance of their situation between Thursday and Sunday. In a sense, both were right. Boston was laying their bodies on the line, playing through pain. Doc Rivers told them to play every minute of Game 5 like it was their last. The Celtics had bought into a season-long philosophy of team play and personal sacrifice for …