Beating the Blues

Last week we almost lost to the worst team in the league. The team had only won a single game all season. Many people have asked me the question: "How could you almost lose to that team?"

Actually, it was really easy. The first step our players had to do was to not take our opponents seriously--to believe all we had to do was show up and the game was won. The second step was to not prepare ourselves mentally--to not get in that same mental place we did before every game. The third step was to panic when things were not going well and to start doubting ourselves.

Fortunately, our seniors didn't falter. All their panic was internally hidden and their words and actions were strong. We continued playing together despite not actually being mentally there on the court, and we believed somehow we were going to win.

After the game, the coaches were not mad. We didn't throw things in the locker room, nor did we curse out the team. We simply reminded them how important it was to arrive every game prepared and to take each game seriously. Then we walked out of the locker room and laughed until we cried. We were so bad it was comical. Of course, it would not have been funny if we had lost and it really wasn't funny then but the alternative was to be mad and angry.

The question, we asked one another, was how did we move the team off this performance and to the next one? We knew we didn't need to linger on this game. This was not who we were. After discussing the matter, we came up with a game plan.

The next day at practice, we gathered around in a circle and put the game tape on the floor in the center of us. We then purged ourselves of the game. Each player got to make a comment of what event transpired in the game that we never wanted to see again, and then that player got an opportunity to smash the game film. When we had gone around the circle and the tape was now in little bits of rubbish, we left the game behind. Then we went back around the circle and asked each player what was great about this team we wanted to keep.

We wanted to keep: great team chemistry, defensive intensity, the inside-outside game, the ability to push the ball, the fun on the court, the positive team leaders, the noise from the bench, our three point shooters, our hustle, and our love for one another. We knew this was who we were. The rest was already gone and vanished from our thoughts.

I believe if we would have lingered on that game, pushed how bad we performed on the players, got in their faces and yelled at them, the game would have impacted our next performance. Because we let it go, we were able to get back on track and find a way to win in our next two games.

I applaud our players for knowing who they are and not allowing a single performance to get them down.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.