Saturday, February 18, 2012
Knight After Knight
Bobby Knight is poorly understood. His biography "Knight" by Bob Hammel clarifies a lot. The meatiest basketball comes from Chapter II, "Cornerstones and Credos".
Here is part of the chapter, verbatim.
"Basketball is not a game of great plays and great shooting, it's a game of mistakes and errors. If you ever see a state championship game, you'll see mistakes and errors made, and the team that makes the most of them will be the team that gets beat, almost without exception." At that point in my life, a state championship game meant basketball being played by the very best teams. But I've watched every level of basketball there is and Ash's point is absolutely right. It's a game of not making mistakes. The more you cut down on mistakes, the better your chance of winning is - in basketball or in any other sport, and in just about anything in life. (my italics and emphasis)
On offense, your players don't take bad shots. They don't throw the ball away. They move without the ball. They help each other get open.
On defense, your teams don't give up easy points on conversion, on fast breaks. They don't commit bad fouls- unnecessary or dumb fouls that keep the other team on the free throw line. Your guys never foul a guy who is in the act of taking a bad shot or a three-point shot. And they have to control the lane, and know where the ball is at all times.
What Knight reminds us with great clarity is that coaches (leaders) who have enough talent and can get these messages through will succeed. But he also reminds us that doing the right thing matters...getting the right people in the right job doing their job consistently well.
Here is part of the chapter, verbatim.
"Basketball is not a game of great plays and great shooting, it's a game of mistakes and errors. If you ever see a state championship game, you'll see mistakes and errors made, and the team that makes the most of them will be the team that gets beat, almost without exception." At that point in my life, a state championship game meant basketball being played by the very best teams. But I've watched every level of basketball there is and Ash's point is absolutely right. It's a game of not making mistakes. The more you cut down on mistakes, the better your chance of winning is - in basketball or in any other sport, and in just about anything in life. (my italics and emphasis)
On offense, your players don't take bad shots. They don't throw the ball away. They move without the ball. They help each other get open.
On defense, your teams don't give up easy points on conversion, on fast breaks. They don't commit bad fouls- unnecessary or dumb fouls that keep the other team on the free throw line. Your guys never foul a guy who is in the act of taking a bad shot or a three-point shot. And they have to control the lane, and know where the ball is at all times.
What Knight reminds us with great clarity is that coaches (leaders) who have enough talent and can get these messages through will succeed. But he also reminds us that doing the right thing matters...getting the right people in the right job doing their job consistently well.
// posted by Ron Sen, MD, FCCP @ 5:30 PM 
