Victory!

Greetings everyone,

I am happy to report that we won a close game this evening. It was against a playoff team, so it wasn’t easy. Add to that that I struggled shooting the ball and we had a new player and one of our players just got back from the States last night and it was a challenge! But we pulled it out. It feels great.

Final score: Banivt 80 Antalya 78. I was 2-10 shooting with 5 points. But I did hit a big three with a minute or so to go and most of my shots felt good and seemed like they were going in, but it was just one of those nights. As I told Erin, I would take hitting that three for making 5-10. Though if I had hit 5-10, we probably would not have needed the three! I also blocked a shot with 5 seconds to go or so. That felt good also. It actually feels good to have your team win the game when you don’t have your best game. Definitely takes the pressure off to play great every night.

Anyhow, it was a huge win for us. We have 5 games remaining. And we can win all 5. If we do so, I think we have a good chance at making the playoffs. I am praying we can do just that.

Erin just said to me, “It feels nice to be able to write about a win huh?” Really nice indeed. I just hope I can do the same after our game on Sunday!

Enjoying the victory,
Joe

The Joy of Wholehearted Play

I ask you: Do you know the joy of wholehearted play? Do you know the joy of giving one particular game all your energy and efforts? The joy found in complete exhaustion?

As I have observed various basketball settings, and the inclinations of my own heart, I have seen a tendency to hold back just a bit, to leave something in ‘the tank’ for later. Yet time and again, I have to remind myself that the greatest joy is found in giving yourself over to the game as it were. Happiness in basketball is found in losing yourself in play. Indeed, in exhausting your energies so that by the end of it, you can honestly say, “I am done.”

Human experience is like that. We all long to pour ourselves into something, to lay it all on the line. To so believe in something that we are willing to give it everything that we have. Well, as basketball players we have the unique opportunity to do so on the court. Not in an office somewhere or a board meeting, but on the court, against an opponent, with sweat falling to the ground, various emotions running around within, crowds large and small, and the prospect of winning or losing staring us in the face.

This is a privilege and, when rightfully considered, a great joy. In fact, most of the men in the boardroom look forward to lunch time so that they can step out onto the court. They want to play. They want to lose themselves in the game for just a few moments. Sure, half of them are wearing knee braces and some of them can barely get up and down the court. But, in the end, if they can get that key steal that leads to game point or hit the winning bucket to 7, they go back to the office with a very real sense of satisfaction, a very real inner joy.

Basketball is a unique game. Think of it: It has only be around for a hundred or so years. And we as players have the unique opportunity in human history to enjoy such a game. We have the unique opportunity to experience the joy of wholehearted play.

So, when game time comes, embrace it. Make the most of it. Give it your all. Whether you win or lose; whether you play 10 minutes or 35 minutes; make sure that by the time the final buzzer sounds, you can honestly say, “I am done.” For only then can you walk away satisfied. Only then have you experienced the joy of wholehearted play.

Enjoying the game with you,
Joe

Confidence Part 3

Point #2 was that in order to be confident, you need to learn to talk to yourself rather than listen to yourself. Point #3 is essentially this: beware of doing too much talking and too little playing.

Or to put it another way: If you focus too much on confidence, you are bound to lose it. You are best to just play.

As I said before, these points don’t contradict one another, but instead, complement one another. By themselves they are only partial truth, only part of the big picture. But put them together and you start to see clearly how you can grow in confidence as a basketball player.

Focusing on point #3 in particular, it is necessary to point out that basketball (or any other sport for that matter) is not a game you can play with a great deal of thought (at least if you want to play it well). After all, it’s not Scrabble or Chess. It’s not the sort of game that enables or encourages you to take your good old time thinking things through. No. Basketball is about rhythm and reaction. It’s about responding the right way right now. As a game, it doesn’t demand intense cognitive thought, but intense physical and mental response this very moment. If you want to think, do so before or after the game, but when game time comes, your instincts must take over.

As a player, you know this already. After all, how many times during a game have you thought to yourself, “Now, should I use a crossover dribble or go between my legs to get past this defender?” You know full well that you don’t have time to think about such things. For the moment you begin to consider your options, your opponent has stolen the ball from you and is going the other way. No. Rather than thinking you simply react. When you see your defender, you just respond. Your instincts and ingrained habits take over. You do what you have trained yourself to do. You either crossover or go between you legs. You either pass or shoot. You either go right or left. You don’t think about it. You just do it. There is just no other way.

I suppose we could make a nice little rhyme (one I use often actually): “You think, you stink.” Again, it’s not the whole truth, but it is certainly a big part of it. For when it comes time to play, you have to play. For good or worse, you just have to play. The game isn’t the time to think so much as it is the time to react. Sure, all your bad habits will be exposed, but what’s your other option? Well, your other option is to take the time to consider your options. But the problem is, you don’t have to time to consider your options. Indeed, if you consider everything too much, you are bound to find yourself on the bench. You are best to be aggressive, to respond, to react…to simply play.

One practical thing that is important to note in all of this is the profound difference between practice and the games. I don’t have the time to go into it all right now, but at this point, it is necessary to point out that practice is the place where you can think some things through. Well, actually, it is better said that practice is the place where you can devise and do drills that train your mind and body to react the way you want it to react when game time comes. That is why, in my opinion, practice is better called training; for that is exactly what it is: Training your body and mind what to do when you don’t have time to think about what to do.

For example, in practice you can set up a drill that demands you to pump-fake, dribble right and shoot a jump shot from 15 feet (with a goal of making 10). And though doing the drill might seem monotonous or boring at the time, you have to remember why you are doing so. Why are you doing so you ask? Why in order to train your body to do so instinctively during the game of course! That is what practice or training is all about. And that is why it is so essential to possessing consistent confidence.

I could say more about that, but I don’t have the space here. To conclude, let’s summarize our three points. First, we learned that confidence, in order to be real and rich and abiding must be based on reality. And practice is a primary means of building confidence because it gives us reasons for our being confident (making shots in practice time and again gives you good reason to believe that your shots will go in during the games). Second, we learned that in order to grow in confidence, we have to battle for good thoughts about our game. And third, we learned that when game time comes, we can’t talk to much, but are oftentimes best to shut up and play. To react. To respond. To lose ourselves in the game, embracing the instinctive nature of the great game of basketball.

As I have said time and again, each of these three points complement one another. Taken by themselves they might cause confusion, but when combined with the other two, they form a sweet picture that, when rightly understood and embraced, will enable you to play the game with much greater confidence.

Remember, confidence is the difference maker. It’s the X-factor. So take pains to practice, preach, and play.

Growing in confidence with you,

Joe

Lost Four Straight

I apologize for failing to update everyone on last week’s game. Of course, there wasn’t much to update you on. We lost by 20 to a good team, but one that, if we played well, we could have beaten. Today we lost by 18 after being down by 30 or so at the half. That was, at least, to the first place team who is quite good.

We are a struggling bunch. Our starting shooting guard is done for the season. He is a very good player, so naturally we are missing him, but on the whole, we just aren’t in a good rhythm. Our captain also missed last week’s game with a shoulder separation and was only able to practice for two days before this week’s game. Not fun.

But we have 6 games remaining and are still only 2 games out of the playoff picture interestingly enough. If we can finish strong, we could get into the playoffs. I am hopeful that we can do so.

As for me, I scored 13 last week, 10 in the first half and then didn’t play much in the second. Today I scored 20, but did so all in the second half. I was over-thinking some things in the beginning of the game and failed to come out aggressive. Once again, I live and I learn. I am continually a work in progress.

We now have a week a half before our next game vs. the third place team. No rest for the weary. Not to mention that every game is difficult at the end of the year, because the bottom teams are playing in order to stay in the first division. It will be a fight over the next 6 weeks or so. I am praying for the grace to finish well.

Checking out for now,

Joe

Confidence Part 2

We now move forward to lesson #2 in confidence, namely….

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

Now on the surface, this point might seem to contradict lesson #1. For the way I spoke about confidence in my last post made it seem that confidence would either be there or not. That is, if you practice enough and are good enough, you will be confident. If you give yourself reason to be confident, confidence will soon come. But as I said in that last post, although lesson #1 is true, it is only lesson #1. It isn’t the whole truth. At least two more lessons remain. Sure, it must be embraced, but it cannot be embraced as the whole truth.

In this respect, I speak from experience. For no one that I knew practiced more than I. And to a certain degree that strengthened my confidence. I know now that one of the reasons I was more confident that most was simply because I practiced more than most. Yet at the same time, I was not as confident as I should have been. People used to tell me all the time that I was the best shooter they had ever seen. Yet in my head, while practicing or watching one of my games, I would continually be telling myself that I wasn’t good enough, that I stunk, that I needed to improve. And to a degree that was true. I did need to improve. But there are better motivations than continually thinking negative thoughts.

Looking back, I think I used these negative thoughts to stir myself to greater work. I never wanted to become complacent, and though reality told me that I was a very good shooter, I was not willing to accept it. I kept filling myself up with negative notions about my game. And I was much worse off because of it.

So that is why lesson #2 is so essential. For you can practice all you want, but if you don’t learn to think in line with reality, you will end up stifling your own potential. Take note: In order to increase your confidence, you have to learn to talk to yourself rather than listen to yourself.

Now, one thing I have to explain about this point is that it assumes that there is a conversation going on inside all of us. And I think if you take careful notice of your own mind, you will see that this is true. You can’t silence your brain. You are consistently involved in an inner conversation. The key is whether or not you take control of this conversation. Someone is going to do the talking. Will it be you? Or will it be this vague self-perception within your own head?

In my Christian walk, I call this preaching to myself. It’s a good picture if you understand it. For a preacher is one (or supposed to be one) who stands in front of a group of people and exhorts them to believe in God and live accordingly. He essentially tells them what to think and how to live and why they should do so. Well, that is what I want to do for myself when it comes to both living and playing. I want to tell myself what to think and how to play and why I should be confident. I want to be in control of my inner conversation.

In practical basketball talk, this means that I want to think positive thoughts about my game. Sure, they can’t be ridiculous thoughts with no basis in reality, but they still can be positive nonetheless. As it relates to one aspect of my game now, I need to think of myself as a great shooter. I have worked on it for years and I am capable of shooting as well as anyone I know. So why should I deny that? Why should I tell myself that I am not good? That’s not motivation. It’s foolishness! And it actually works against the good of my own game.

Indeed, I need to think of myself as a great player overall. I can’t go into a game afraid that others are better than me. Even worse, I can’t go into a game telling myself that others are better than me. For if I do that, I am defeated before the game begins. No. I am going to give myself reasons for confidence, and then I am going to remind myself of reality. I am going to ‘preach’ to myself as it were. I am going to talk to myself, to tell my own mind what and how to think, with the knowledge that this renewal within my head will lead to much better play on the court.

How is your confidence? No matter how you answer that question, take pains to practice and to preach to yourself the truth. Those are lessons #1, and #2. One more lesson remains.

Talking to myself with you,
Joe

Confidence Part 2

We know move forward to lesson #2 in confidence, namely….

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

Now on the surface, this point might seem to contradict lesson #1. For the way I spoke about confidence in my last post made it seem that confidence would either be there or not. That is, if you practice enough and are good enough, you will be confident. If you give yourself reason to be confident, confidence will soon come. But as I said in that last post, although lesson #1 is true, it is only lesson #1. It isn’t the whole truth. At least two more lessons remain. Sure, it must be embraced, but it cannot be embraced as the whole truth.

In this respect, I speak from experience. For no one that I knew practiced more than I. And to a certain degree that strengthened my confidence. I know now that one of the reasons I was more confident that most was simply because I practiced more than most. Yet at the same time, I was not as confident as I should have been. People used to tell me all the time that I was the best shooter they had ever seen. Yet in my head, while practicing or watching one of my games, I would continually be telling myself that I wasn’t good enough, that I stunk, that I needed to improve. And to a degree that was true. I did need to improve. But there are better motivations than continually thinking negative thoughts.

Looking back, I think I used these negative thoughts to stir myself to greater work. I never wanted to become complacent, and though reality told me that I was a very good shooter, I was not willing to accept it. I kept filling myself up with negative notions about my game. And I was much worse off because of it.

So that is why lesson #2 is so essential. For you can practice all you want, but if you don’t learn to think in line with reality, you will end up stifling your own potential. Take note: In order to increase your confidence, you have to learn to talk to yourself rather than listen to yourself.

Now, one thing I have to explain about this point is that it assumes that there is a conversation going on inside all of us. And I think if you take careful notice of your own mind, you will see that this is true. You can’t silence your brain. You are consistently involved in an inner conversation. The key is whether or not you take control of this conversation. Someone is going to do the talking. Will it be you? Or will it be this vague self-perception within your own head?

In my Christian walk, I call this preaching to myself. It’s a good picture if you understand it. For a preacher is one (or supposed to be one) who stands in front of a group of people and exhorts them to believe in God and live accordingly. He essentially tells them what to think and how to live. Well, that is what I want to do for myself when it comes to both living and playing. I want to tell myself what to think and how to play. I want to be in control of my inner conversation.

In practical basketball talk, this means that I want to think positive thoughts about my game. Sure, they can’t be ridiculous thoughts with no basis in reality, but they still can be positive nonetheless. As it relates to one aspect of my game now, I need to think of myself as a great shooter. I have worked on it for years and I am capable of shooting as well as anyone I know. So why should I deny that? Why should I tell myself that I am not good? That’s not motivation. It’s foolishness! And it actually works against the good of my own game.

Indeed, I need to think of myself as a great player overall. I can’t go into a game afraid that others are better than me. Even worse, I can’t go into a game telling myself that others are better than me. For if I do that, I am defeated before the game begins. No. I am going to give myself reasons for confidence, and then I am going to remind myself of reality. I am going to ‘preach’ to myself as it were. I am going to talk to myself, to tell my own mind what and how to think, with the knowledge that this renewal within my head will lead to much better play on the court.

How is your confidence? No matter how you answer that question, take pains to practice and to preach to yourself the truth. Those are lessons #1, and #2. One more lesson remains.

Talking to myself with you,
Joe

Renault 77 - Banvit 75

Well, the score probably tells you my disappointment, but really the game was even more disappointing than that! I even had a final shot with a second or so left to win the game, but couldn’t connect. Big bummer. Of course the main reason the game was disappointing was because we are a better team than they. It’s always more difficult to lose to a team that isn’t better than you.

I played well overall, I suppose, but as always, could have performed better. We as a team just didn’t play our best basketball. In particular, a bad stretch in the third quarter enabled the other team to come back (we had them down by 13). That was big.

It’s going to be a difficult road to the playoffs now. Only 8 games remaining and we are 2 games back. Not easy, but it can be done! I am hopeful and will continue to play and pray for it.

Here is the boxscore. We play again on Saturday against the second place team. It’s at their place. I’ll be sure to update again afterwards.

Still enjoying the game,
Joe