A Few Habits at a Time

I will make sure to continue with parts 2 and 3 of my thoughts on Confidence later this week, but I wanted to share briefly a lesson I learned yesterday.

Before every game, I review a memo I wrote to myself. It contains things I want to think about, things I want to change. It is something of meditation with a view towards transformation. My goal is mind renewal, with the thought that better thinking leads to better playing. A quiet few minutes before the game serves to help me get my mind right for the upcoming contest.

Yet I realize that I have been doing two things wrong with regard to the list. First, I have allowed it to grow too large. Though I started with good intentions and a somewhat manageable memo of thoughts, as time has gone by, I have kept adding to it. Now, rather than being encouraged, I can end up somewhat overwhelmed. Rather than bringing real, concrete, lasting change, I have brought on myself confusion and/or a little discouragement.

Second, I have thought through the things on this list only before the games. This is foolishness. For if this list contains some habits (both mental and physical) that I want to change, I am foolish to think that I can change them only in the game. No. I need to think them through daily and work on them daily–in practice or in the games.

So here is my practical application. First, I have narrowed down my list. Sure, there are numerous things I could work on. After all, I am by no means a master of the game of basketball. However, if I try to tackle too many things at once, I am bound to lead myself into confusion and discouragement. If, on the other hand, I focus on a few foundational things for an extended period of time, I can bring lasting change. Then I can move onto something else.

And second, I am going to review my short list daily. Before practice. Before games. On a day off. Whenever. And, in fact, I am going to be praying for God’s help. For I surely need it.

So I encourage you. What is your short list? Sure, you could list many things you want to improve upon. But what are 2 or 3 things that, if you change them, will lead to change in many other places. Think foundational. Think the root of the tree, not the fruit of the tree. For if you take care of the root, the fruit will come and it will be sweet. What mental habit do you need to change? What game-time habit do you need to change? Whatever really. Pick two things to focus on and then focus on them until you master them. Review them daily until they become a good habit that is hard to break. It won’t be easy, but in the end, it is bound to be fruitful.

Making my list and checking it daily,

Joe

Selcuk 89 Banvit 86

Lost a tough one last night on the road.  We were up two with a minute left and ended up losing it.  Definitely not a fun way to lose.  But then again, there is no fun way to lose.

Our team as a whole didn’t play well and I led the way.  Just didn’t play smart basketball, allowing the other team to take me out of my rhythm.  I also wasn’t aggressive enough attacking the defense.  Yet another lesson to learn the hard way.

It was a big game for us.  If we had won, we would have been in eighth place.  Now, we are in 10th and still fighting for the last playoff spot.  Still nine more games to go, but they will all be wars.  For in this league, when you play the teams at the bottom of the league, you often have a harder match, because they are playing to remain in the league itself.  The last two teams are demoted to the second division.  The team we played yesterday was in that position.  That is why they played so tough.

So I play and learn, learn and play.  But as we all know, the learning process isn’t easy–for individuals and a team.  As for the stats, here is the box score.  I ended up with 11 points, but shot way to many threes and made only 1.  Terrible.  It is still very frustrating to think about.  But as I said to one of my teammates last night, it is only a complete loss if I fail to learn from it.
Looking forward to the game next week and learning from this one,

Joe

Confidence Part 1

Confidence is one of those things that every player needs, but that few players have.  Sure, some players might have an aire or appearance of confidence, but for most of us, confidence comes and goes.  I have heard countless players (including myself), say, “I don’t know what happened, but I just lost my confidence and couldn’t get it back.”  And this rings true no matter how good a player might be.

Confidence is also something that separates the good from the best.  It’s an “X-factor” so to speak.  It makes one player rise higher than the next, even if he is not as naturally gifted as others.  It enables one player to take the big shot and/or play big in the big game.  And the lack of it, of course, ruins the careers of many.

My history with basketball confidence is an interesting one.  I always gave the appearance of confidence.  I was good at faking it I suppose.  But deep down inside, I was always questioning myself, and always the worse off for it.  Over the past few years, however, I have had something of a breakthrough when it comes to basketball confidence.  Lessons have been learned and I am a much better player because of it.

I offer you (at least) three lessons in confidence.

1)  Confidence, in order to be real and rich and deep and effective and abiding, must be based on reality.

2)  In order to increase your confidence, you have to learn to talk to yourself rather than listen to yourself.

3)  If you focus too much on confidence, you are bound to lose it.  You are best to just play.

We’ll focus our energies this week on lesson number 1.

1)  Confidence, in order to be real and rich and deep and effective and abiding, must be based on reality.  

What I mean by this is that when it comes to playing basketball, you cannot convince yourself of something that isn’t true.  Confidence, in order to be real and rich and deep, needs to have a basis in reality.  You need legitimate reasons to be confident in your basketball abilities.  As human beings, we are oftentimes fond of deceiving ourselves, but as basketball players, the evidence is too obvious.  We are either good shooters or we are not; good defenders or not; good passers or not.  The evidence speaks for itself.

Take shooting, for example.  If we are making 4-10 in practice, standing still, with no defenders, why are we surprised when we shoot 2-10 during the game?  Should we have confidence in our jump-shot if the evidence proves otherwise?  I think not and trust you agree.  Or if the offense is scoring on us at will, should we have confidence in our defensive abilities?  The answer is obvious.

This being true, we come to see how important proper training really is.  Not only does practice strengthen the muscles we use for basketball and, when it comes to highly-precise movements such as shooting and dribbling, enable precise muscle memory, but practice also builds confidence.  As a shooter, I practice not only to train my body how to shoot, but to train my mind how to think.  That is, to train my mental ‘confidence’ muscles by seeing the ball go in the basket time and again.  See, I need to teach myself, “When I shoot, the ball goes in.” And practice enables me to do just that.  It renews my thinking and helps me become a more confident shooter.

Naturally, this is nothing terribly profound, but it must be pointed out that the mental training of the mind for greater confidence is one of the most important aspects of practice.  Practically speaking, if you want to grow in confidence, practice until you do.  If you are not comfortable dribbling with your left, practice until you are.  If you lack confidence in your jump-shot, shoot until you lack it no longer.

Of course, this isn’t the whole story.  But remember, we are only on point #1.  Two other points still remain.  For now, remember this:  you can’t lie to yourself as a basketball player.  Be diligent to give yourselves reasons to be confident (via practice) and your confidence is bound to increase.

Growing in confidence with you,

Joe

Signing Up for the Feeds

Greetings everyone,

I just wanted to let everyone know that you can sign up to receive all our updates via email or an RSS feed (if you don’t know what that is, just go with the email.) Our three different categories are “Announcements”, “Joe’s Updates”, and “Tip of the Week.”

In order to sign up to receive posts made in all three categories, simply enter your email address under eNews and Updates.  That is the simplest way.  If you want to sign up for only one particular category, however, look to the right sidebar of this page and click on the orange icon next to the respective category.  After you do so, another window will pop us.  Click on “Get _________ delivered by email”  Then follow the instructions and you are in.  Hope that helps.

If you have any questions, just send me an email or use the contact page.

Thanks,

Joe

Banvit 125 Turk Telecom 87

Yes, that was the score last night believe it or not.  And Turk Telecom was in first place and coming off a Turkish Cup championship (the tournament we lost to them in last week).  But we were at home and in need of a win, so we were focused to say the least.

I am pretty sure that we had the lead the entire game.  You can tell that they were a bit tired, but at the same time, we played good basketball and ran away with things pretty quickly.  Stats for the game can be found by clicking here.   Also, that website is the best for keeping up with the league.  It also enables you to follow our games play by play if you wish.  In order to do that, you just go to the home page and click on the scoreboard on the top right (wait a few seconds if it doesn’t come up right away).  Then click on the right hand tab of the window that pops up and you will find the different games.  Erin (my wife) plans on using it when the games are away or not on television.

Our entire team played confident and well.  I also had my best game so far.  Ended up with 34 points on 12-20 shooting.  I didn’t shoot the ball great in the first half, but did so in the second half.  It was my kind of game, open style of play with the ball spreading around to everyone.  Those who know me know that I enjoy that basketball best.   As always, I was thankful to be able to play.
We now have ten games left to go this season and all of them are big, because we are in a playoff battle, probably battling for the last spot.  I am very hopeful that we can make it happen and praying accordingly!

Enjoying the game,

Joe

Signing Up for the Feeds

Greetings everyone,

I just wanted to let everyone know that you can sign up to receive all our updates via email or an RSS feed (if you don’t know what that is, just go with the email.)  Our three different categories are “Announcements”, “Joe’s Updates”, and “Tip of the Week.”

In order to sign up for any of the three, go to the bottom left-hand side of the page and look under Feeds.  Click on the respective section you want to sign up for and another window will pop up.  Click on “Get _________  delivered by email”  Then follow the instructions and you are in.  Just to make things clear, you do have to sign up for each category one by one.

Hope that helps.  If you have any questions, just send me an email or use the contact page.

Thanks,

Joe

Don’t Sweat the Refs Part 3

It’s been a bit too long between posts, but I am back and, Lord willing, will be posting consistently once again.

This post is the final part to my three-part series concerning relating to basketball officials.  In part one we looked at why we should never be frustrated with them.  In part two we covered how we should think about them.  Now, in part three, I want to give you three things that should characterize your actual relating to the officials.

We should relate to them 1)  with respect  2)  with thanksgiving  and 3)  with peace.

1)  We should relate to officials with Respect.

Sure, some might argue that some referees are not worthy of respect.  Usually, we tend to think that a referee has to earn our respect by making all the right calls….at least for us.  But there is are a few problems with that kind of reasoning.  1)  It will never happen.  And 2)  it negates the simple fact that we should respect the referees simply because they are there.

I grant you, that last reason isn’t terribly profound, but hey, we are talking about relating to basketball officials.  Who needs profundity?  Simplicity seems best.  Note the simple reality that referees are there.  They are at the game and ready and willing to officiate the contest in which you find yourself.  Though we tend to take that for granted, I think that is a big mistake, for as we have already noted, the presence of officials is essential to a sound contest.  Add to that fact the lack of appreciation that almost always receive and you ought to be a bit more thankful for their presence.

Also, it needs to be mentioned that referees are the authorities of the match.  Like it or not, this is reality.  And though the notion of submitting to authority is by no means popular in America today (or many other places for that matter), it is necessary and good to submit, because submission is best for all.

So the referees deserve our respect because (1) they are there and (2)  they have been given a unique authority over the game itself and in turn, the players and consequently, deserve your respect (and the respect of everyone else).  Our lack of appreciation and respect for our athletic officials is most certainly an indication of much deeper issue.  But I’ll leave that for another post.

2)   We should relate to officials with thanksgiving. 

This one is certainly more difficult than the first, for it may be possible to ‘will’ a respectful attitude.  Thanksgiving, however, just be real.  It just cannot be faked.

I have already said enough as to why we should be thankful for the referees in previous posts.  Suffice it to say that in order for us to relate to officials in this way, a deep renewal of mind must take place.  We must learn to think differently about officials, for our actions will follow our thoughts.  That is, unless we take some time to really change our thoughts regarding officials (and don’t think it will happen overnight), we will continue to be ungrateful people who think we deserve everything to go our way.  No.  Discipline of mind is needed.  I dare say a sort of ‘meditation’ is needed.  Our thoughts must be changed, so that thanksgiving naturally comes.  I exhort you:  do a favor to everyone and think until thanksgiving comes.

3)  We should relate to officials with peace.   

If you have read my previous posts, this point is obvious and certainly has already been stated in some way, shape, or form.  Screaming and yelling do not get much done.  Of course, if it is a technical foul you are after, this is probably quite effective.  But if you really want to help the official do a better job during the game, you are best speaking to him with peace.

Of course, you could threaten the man’s life.  I honestly have seen an official who was swayed by such a threat from an irate fan.  But I trust you would agree that that is by no means a good long-term strategy.  It might work once, but if you get that official again in an arena that seems safe enough, the calls are not likely to go your way.  Extremes are only effective for the moment.  Think long-term and you will realize that peace is best.

Of course, peace doesn’t mean no disagreements.  It simply means civil disagreements, respectful disagreements.  Disagree all your want, but do so with respect, thanksgiving and peace, and you are much more likely to find an open ear.

More could be said, as always, but these three guidelines (when practiced, of course), are bound to serve us well.

Learning to relate with wisdom,

Joe

Bulk Update

Greetings everyone,

So it has been a while since I have been on this site. My apologies. But I was without Internet over the past 3 or 4 weeks, traveled a bunch and had my computer crash on me! The computer crashing was the biggest deal because it left me unable to get back into this site. There was a username issue (I couldn’t remember it b/c I was automatically signed in on my computer). In the end, the username ended up being incredibly simple, so simple that I should have known it (even though it wasn’t one that I made up). That being said, I will be sure to keep the updates coming from now on.

So let’s see…where did I leave things last time? Well, it seems that the last time I updated things was after the Galatasary game. But that was about a month ago! Time goes by quickly, especially, it seems, when you travel a bunch and move into an apartment in the process.

Well, after that game, I got injured again. I shouldn’t have played. It was too much too soon for me. We played Sunday night, traveled right after the game and all day Monday. Then practiced. Then played Tuesday night. Third quarter and I pulled my right adductor. Big bummer. It was harder still to accept because I knew my body needed to rest. I should have said something. But I live and learn.

After that, I played just a bit in our next game, scored two points on only 3 shots I believe. (You know I am hurt when I only take 3 shots!). But we got a good victory and I was able to get a few days rest. The next week we played the defending champs at our place and I didn’t play very well at all. Seven points on 2 for whatever shooting I believe. Felt terrible actually. Timing was off. Lacked confidence. Just didn’t do much to help the team. We then traveled to the Ukraine for a Eurocup game that I didn’t play in and returned home to play on Saturday in Istanbul against a team we are better than. But we lost. One of our guys got hurt in the first quarter. Another was in foul trouble. And our shooting guard was (and is) out with a back injury. We got blasted by 25 in fact. Not fun. However, I did start to feel like myself again and ended up with 20.

Finally, I just returned last night from Ankara. We played another very good team and came up short at the end. We were still missing two of our Americans, but our team played hard and quite well. I was proud to fight alongside of them and in the end, was praising God for the opportunity to compete. It is surely a blessing to be able to do so. I know it is what I was created to do. I played better and continue to get into better shape. I ended up with 20, but still missed a few shots I thought I should have made. But that, of course, is always the case.

Interestingly enough, we now prepare to play the same team we lost to yesterday on Saturday, but this time at home with one of our players returning. Also, we will be home all week (a wonderful blessing) as we are just getting settled into life here in Bandirma.

I think that about covers it all. It’s been an interesting month to say the least, but great lessons were learned through the ups and downs and I am sure that I will be better because of it. I am hopeful that I will also be able to say the same about our team. We have a big stretch of games coming up. For there are only 11 more games on the schedule and we are in the battle for the playoffs.

I’ll be sure to check back in soon. I will also be posting a few tips of the week this week. For I wrote down a bunch of ideas over the past few weeks!

Checking out for now,

Joe