Learning The Hard Way

Saturday, during a scrimmage, we had an opportunity to understand how important it is to run an offense, to adhere to the rules of our offense and to play together as a team. We were drummed, beaten, punked, and totally run off the court the first twenty minutes. OUCH!

As we were playing, the coaching staff was continually attempting to provide the necessary instruction to the team; however, sometimes hearing is simply not enough. Doing is the best way to learn. When we could not score--could not, in fact, "buy" a basket--the players were humbled and ready to learn from their failure. Failure is never a bad thing except when one ignores the lessons. In the case of the Golden Eagles, they are prepared to do what it takes to turn this failure upside down and create the success they so much desire.

After the first twenty minutes, we erased the scoreboard to start the second half. While we did not execute our offense any better, we did fumble our way through the game enough to change the outcome - the scoreboard showed the Golden Eagles on top. We played a little bit better defense, boxed out, found some fast break baskets, and began to share the ball on offense.

The best part about the scrimmage was that we didn't quit. We could have chosen to give up, to allow the other team to continue their massacre but we didn't. We fought. We hustled. We scrambled. We continued to make mistakes but we didn't give in to our errors. We continued to battle. This is what we want from a team--a team who doesn't give up in the face of adversity--who finds a way to fight even when the outlook doesn't look too promising.

Both Albert Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci said that 90% of their solutions were incorrect. 90%!! In history, we do not know these two individuals for their failures but for the innumerable and incredible discoveries they made. If the Golden Eagles can learn the most important lesson from this scrimmage which is to use their mistakes as stepping stones, then they can also be known for what they create on the court.