The NBA's Top Dunks of 2010

The NBA 2010-2011 Season is not that far away.  I thought I would jump start your day with the Top 10 Dunks of the past season.



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Kevin Durant and Team USA: Peak Performance Case Study

"I'm not nearly the player that I want to be.  I've got so much more work to do."  

-Kevin Durant, MVP of the FIBA World Championships, after the final game in which he scored 28 points and led Team USA to victory over Turkey, 81-64. 

His final three performances were excellent, including 33, 38 and 28 against Russia, Lithuania and Turkey, respectively.


Failure Is Not An Option


"Our only option was to come out here and get a gold, and it feels really good to bring this back home to the States," Durant said.


Insurmountable Challenge


"Most people didn't think we could win,"  Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski said.


"I think that was extra motivation," Durant said.  "It was exciting to come out here and win and also to prove people wrong."  


Invaluable Experience


"We're proud of both.  Both guys will benefit from the experience and mental endurance required to help win an event of this level.  This kind of international experience holds value in terms of the opportunity to compete under difference and unique circumstances while still remaining committed to the core principle of team."  


--Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti, discussing Team USA teammates Durant and Russell Westbrook, who are also teammates with the Thunder. 


The System


"We're going to have a blended roster of players (in 2012). ... There could even be some others. Who knows.  That's all part of having a fluid system.  We've used 30 different players on the men's national roster since the world championship in 2006.  That's a sign of a strong program. That's the kind of program we should have.  Our program is in very good shape, and the pipeline is full.  Players want to represent their country."


--Team USA Chairman, Jerry Colangelo, who is given much credit for the recent success of Team USA.  


"It's the leadership," said Colangelo. "It's the infrastructure that he and I spoke about way back when, when he [Coach Krzyzewski] and I talked about him being the guy I wanted to coach the team. We had to put infrastructure in place and it's there and it's played out every day. With the staff, with the preparation, with the film sessions, with the scouting, with the motivation that is part of this whole thing, the communication. It's the way it should be. It's a real program."



For more on performance psychology, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.  

Visions of Greatness: Larry Fitzgerald

"You can never let anything distract you from your main objective.  My only goal is to be great. That's all I want. That's all I ever aspire to be. Greatness is something nobody can ever take away from you, no matter what happens. So I put all my energy and focus into my craft."

--Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals NFL wide-receiver.

So, what do you need to do to stay focused?  Here are some questions to ask:

• Where am I headed this week? What would I consider to be a successful week?  

• What is likely to get in the way of my success this week?  

• What do I need to anticipate in order to be successful this week? 

• What do I need to do to eliminate the barriers or challenges to my success this week?

• What does my mindset have to be in order to be successful? 

• What is my game plan for success this week? 

• What do I need to practice or rehearse in order to be successful this week? 

• What will I need to execute flawlessly in order to be successful this week? 

• How will I evaluate or review what I have accomplished for the week? 

For more on mental conditioning, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

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Caroline Wozniacki: New Star in Women's Tennis

"Pressure is when you're put on the spot and you don't feel like you belong there, don't think you deserve to be there. I think I deserve to be where I am, and I think that I'm feeling comfortable there."

--Caroline Wozniacki, finalist in last year's U.S. Open and #1 ranked woman in this year's Open.

Wozniacki breezed through the first set in her quarterfinal match with Dominika Cibulkova, as she has in every one of her matches so far in New York, winning 6-2, 7-5. Cilbulkova and Wozniacki had to suffer through a windy evening that affected both of their games. It was the first time in five matches that a player has taken more than four games in a set from Wozniacki in this Open. This was her 13th straight match win and she is 18-1 since Wimbledon.

"It felt like we were playing in a hurricane or something," Wozniacki said. "But it was the same for both players. I'm happy to get through."

The Dane is aggressive and one of the best defensive players. She is known for her "counter-punches." She wins points by forcing opponent errors and energetically running down balls. Her speed and athleticism allow her to retrieve most balls hit by her opponent. On Wednesday, the top-seeded played an aggressive game and controlled many of the points.

Wozniacki was a surprise runner-up to Kim Clijsters at last year's Open. This year she defeated former champion Maria Sharapova 6-3 6-4 Monday to reach the quarter-finals.

"I definitely think I've improved a lot, not only physically, but also I believe in myself more. I believe I can do it," she said. "Also I think I can mix up my game a little bit more than I could last year."

Boxing is one of Wozniacki's off-court interests and the 20-year-old's training includes boxing for conditioning.

"Boxing, it's just a different way for me to work out," she told reporters after her 6-2 7-5 quarter-final victory. "I'm really competitive. I really don't like losing."

Excerpts taken from www.nypost.com (8/29/2010) and Reuters.com.

For more on performance psychology, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

The Decision: Did LeBron Do The Right Thing?

“I wanna be a billionaire so fricking bad, buy all of the things I never had!” --Travie McCoy, musician and rapper.

Did it surprise you? I bet, No. Did it disappoint you? I bet, Yes.

Of course, Cleveland wanted him for themselves. So, did all the other teams in the running. Each team wanted a decision that would make their little world better. However, there was more at play here and we knew it, deep in our hearts.

Let's set the stage. After Watergate and Bill Clinton, we wanted someone to step up. We waited to see if George W. Bush was going to do the right thing and show the right leadership "stuff" after 9/11. He didn't take advantage of the tragedy to pull the USA or the world together. He had another chance with Hurricane Katrina and blew it. The Gulf oil spill has been a disappointing opportunity for President Barack Obama to show his mettle. He hasn't. I can keep going but I am sure you can name all the others that have had the opportunity, yet failed to inspire us or show us the way.

So, we weren't waiting for LeBron James to make his decision because he is a basketball player. We weren't really waiting for which of the new teams he was going to play for. We weren't waiting for LeBron to make a good decision. We wanted to see if he was going to make a great decision; a transcendent decision.

Transcendence requires real leadership. We wanted someone to start the process of restoring our faith in ourselves and humanity. We wanted someone to reverse our increasingly understandable cynicism. We were waiting for someone to rise above the mentality of reality TV. We wanted to see what a contemporary role model would do.

Well, LeBron did the exciting thing to do, the new thing, the glamorous thing, maybe even the most financially sound thing. He might have done his "pros" and "cons" analysis and it came up as the "best" thing to do.

Many people consider him a role model and he is, whether he likes it or not. I even heard some people defend his decision as a black man taking what was his. I respect that, too. Some defended it as a carefully thought-out business decision.

I understand that LeBron was tired of chasing the ring with his Cleveland teammates. He felt his biological basketball clock ticking.

In any case, LeBron did what is his individual American prerogative of pursuing life, liberty and happiness. He has the right to choose. You can even say he has earned it. I get that and I don't begrudge him that.

What I would have preferred that LeBron had done (and I defend his right not to) is to model loyalty, and demonstrate and reciprocate affection for a team, a city, a state, and a region that could use a little. I would have preferred him to go old school and stick with one team to the end. He didn't have to and he should do what he wants to do, but I wanted him to be compelled to stay and work for a championship for a team that has tried to surround him with the role players to win.

I wish that he had taken the opportunity to show compassion, value relationships and "connection" over all else. The city of Cleveland embraced him, even without a championship. Cleveland valued his efforts at winning they were willing to keep going.

The worst thing about this is that I hoped that he would return to Cleveland, but I wasn't surprised that he didn't. I know what kind of world we live in and I know that LeBron did not grow up with his father. I also understand that he wanted to be wanted. Everyone wanted him. But, most importantly, I knew that he did not understand, anticipate or care what the consequences of his decision would be. That is the real tragedy. He was oblivious to the aftermath around him.

That is the great disease of our time. What we needed was a decision that made us all a little better.

What did Tiger Woods say after his affairs? "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt anyone." If you haven't already, I think that you will soon hear that from LeBron. He made a good decision, he didn't make a great decision.

So, there you have it, plain to see. LeBron made a good decision, but he didn't make a transcendent decision. It wasn't in his emotional DNA. Perhaps that is why he doesn't have a ring. Perhaps he will get a ring. But, it won't mean as much. There will be emotional asterisks surrounding it.


Sports, the NBA, basketball, and we all suffer. He could have made us all a little better. I'm disappointed, but I'm not surprised.

USA Wins Group C to Advance to Sweet 16 in World Cup

“I think in the past when I thought about leadership, it meant doing more things to help other people. I’m best leading when I’m focused on what I’m doing well. I think my energy and the way I play is a form of leadership on the field and I think other guys feed off of that. I’m aware of that, and I’m also aware that I don’t need to yell at guys, or say things all the time, I’m certainly at my best when I’m focused on myself.

“I’m prepared. I know the qualities I have as a player, as a person, as an athlete, and I’m prepared for this moment. I wasn’t prepared in 2006. When you feel this prepared, you don’t worry about if it’s going to go well on the day.

"The way I play, the way I do things. Obviously I’ve become better in certain areas, I’ve worked a lot at my weaknesses on the field and tried to get better. Tactically you learn a lot just from the experience of playing in a lot of games, you’ll learn things."

--Landon Donovan, USA World Cup team member, interviewed at the beginning of the World Cup.

"Looking back now at that player mentally, it’s almost like a completely different person. And there were pluses and minuses to that. Being young and not knowing anything can be very positive sometimes, and it certainly was in that tournament. Now what I strive to do is keep that youthfulness when I’m playing mixed with the experience that I have and how to play in certain situations. I think the best way to describe it is that in 2002 I played completely from my heart and just went for it. Now I’m striving to play completely from my heart with a little mixture of keeping my mind in the right place so I can not do anything stupid.”

--Donovan, discussing his growth as a player from 2002 to now.

That is the mindset that prepared Landon Donovan to score the winning goal that led the USA to the next round at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.





Excerpts from Big Apple Soccer.com (June 10, 2010).

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"Will and Determination" Off Bench Lead Celtics Over Lakers

“I don’t think that what we did today was really in the scouting report. A lot of things that we did was just will and determination and seizing the moment.”

--Glen "Big Baby" Davis, Boston Celtics' forward, who led the team to a Game Four 2010 NBA Finals win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Davis scored 18 points off the bench, and led a strong fourth quarter drive with 9 points. He, along with Nate Robinson, Rasheed Wallace and Tony Allen, replaced the Celtic regulars and dominated the tired Laker regulars to win the game.

The series is tied 2-2. Game Five is Sunday.

Excerpts from the New York Times, (June 11, 2010).

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Two Teams, One Championship Formula?

The Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics are both in the 2010 NBA finals...again. They are meeting in the finals for the 12th time in their long histories. They last met in 2008. The Lakers have been in three straight finals, while the Celtics have been in two of the last three years.

Perhaps they are there again for good reason. Perhaps it has something to do with their culture or their perspective on how to approach the game. Let's look at their championship mentalities.

Continuous Improvement Mentality

“We’re constantly thinking about what this team needs in order to win a championship.”

--Derek Fisher, Los Angeles Laker point guard, talking particularly about his long and close relationship with Laker teammate, Kobe Bryant.

A Championship Vision

“Listen, Kobe’s always been like, ‘Everybody’s in my way, I have goals, you’re either with me or not.’ From the start he had a visual of how he wanted his career to go, what he wanted to accomplish and how hard he was going to work to get it. I picked up on that early on, which is why I love the guy.”

“In reverse, as we’ve both aged, I think he respected the things I had to do to stay at a high level.”

The Celtics Stick to the Game Plan

“As players, we kind of fight a little bit,” Boston Celtics' guard Ray Allen said, discussing head coach Doc Rivers' leadership. “We need to do this, we need to do that. Doc would come into the locker room and say we’re not changing anything.”

Allen added, “He stuck to the script the whole time.”

“As a coach, I just believed that I saw what they did and what they had. We kept saying as a staff, it’s in us. We’ve got to try to get it back out of us.”

--Doc Rivers, Boston Celtics' head coach, on his trust in his team.

Reliance on Team Chemistry and Continuity

“The thing that we had more, if you look at the contenders, you look at Orlando, they changed their starting five. You look at Cleveland, they’ve got a different starting five. But the one constant Boston had as a contender, we have the same starting five that won a championship [in 2008].”

--Paul Pierce, Boston Celtics' star, who averaged 24.3 points per game in the conference finals against the Orlando Magic (including 31 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 assists in the clinching of Game Six).

Excerpts from The New York Times (May 29, 2010).

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Championship Playoff Mindset

Perhaps the Boston Celtics have something to teach businesses. Here are some interview statements from Paul Pierce, the Boston Celtic star who scored 28 points Tuesday night in a 95-92 win. The Celtics are trying to get back to the NBA Finals and win another championship as they did in 2008.

Understanding the Customer

The Boston Celtics know who their customer is.

"Our fans won't let us relax. We're going to try and close it out in four games."

--Paul Pierce, Boston Celtics, discussing the Celtic mindset after taking a 2-0 lead in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.

Mindful of the Competition

The Celtics know that they can't relax even with a leg up on the competition.

"[I] just think our mindset was to be ready for the type of intensity they would bring after losing at home," Pierce said. "We know the Magic are a talented team and we won't take these two wins for granted."

Dealing with Complacency

The Celtics realize that there is a bigger prize to be sought.

"The feeling of the team right now is just focus," Pierce said. "[The] only thing we did was win two games."

Does your organization have the same championship mindset? Are you effectively dealing with focus, complacency, and your competition? Is your organization mentally ready?

For more on the Peak Performance System, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

The Firing of Mike Woodson and the Definition of Success

I heard an interview on a sports talk radio station, 790theZone, with Rick Sund, General Manager of the Atlanta Hawks. He was nervously defending the firing of Mike Woodson and the future selection of a new head coach. After having fired Coach Woodson due to wanting to "hear another voice" in that role (careful what you say when a performance psychologist is listening to the radio), he said that, indeed, one year ago, he felt that Mike Woodson was the man for the job. What a difference a year makes.

Unbelievably, then, he went on to say that he was going to sit down with other people connected to the team to build a profile to use for selecting the next head coach. He was planning on putting together a long list and a short list of candidates. Why is that unbelievable to me?

Initially, my first question in the firing of the Mike Woodson was: why get rid of someone who had improved his team every season for six years, made life miserable for the future champion Boston Celtics in the 2008 NBA playoffs, and gotten past the first round of the playoff the last two years running?

Secondly, why would you fire someone and try to replace him with a hypothetical someone? Why remove Woodson, who had proven himself to be capable of keeping the team at that level or above, and replace him with someone for whom you had no discernable evidence that he could keep the team at that level or beyond?

My question now is why would you not have a profile in mind when you evaluated the current head coach and now have to come up with one as you start to select the new coach? It would seem to me that it would be just as important to have a profile for evaluation purposes as it is to have one for predicting the future. In fact, why would the profile be any different for Mike Woodson than for Coach X?

Lastly, why is he just beginning to put together a list? Shouldn't he have one already? Just how many candidates are out there that he doesn't know about? Shouldn't he keep his head coach until all of these things are done? What else hasn't he done yet or thought of?

Finally, what retread or old head coach (who is now probably an assistant) will fit a profile for the future that Mike Woodson alledgedly did not fit? For that matter, what up and coming coach would fit?

Based on GM Sund's performance in the firing and hiring of his head coach, should't his head be on the line? Perhaps that is why he sounded so anxious.

My suggestions to any team or organization that is letting go of someone:

1. Develop criteria for performance and success at the beginning of the process.
2. Let the individual and the team know what success looks like.
3. Make sure that you have looked closely at that criteria before you let them go. 4. Also, make sure that there are people interested in your position and they meet your criteria before you pull the plug.

I really want to see the new coach that can assure the Atlanta Hawks that he/she can top 53 regular season wins, make it to the playoffs and get beyond the second round (in other words, the conference finals) in the 2010-2011 season.

What kind of criteria are you using for your performance and the performance of others? What is your definition of success? Is it realistic? Is it attainable? Is it measurable?

For more on performance psychology, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

Steve Nash: Zen Playmaker, A Peak Performance Case Study

"All any team has at the end of the day is how hard they work and how bad they want it."

--Steve Nash, two-time NBA MVP of the Phoenix Suns, discussing the nature of teams in 2007.

The Phoenix Suns are in the NBA Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, in large part due to their leader and point guard, Steve Nash. Nash, 36, is in his 14th year in the NBA. He is still pursuing his first NBA championship.

"A lot of it with Steve is his conditioning and what he does in the offseason. He keeps himself in such great shape. He's able to control the game, dribble as much as he does and run as much as he does and still have the strength and the balance to make shots. First of all, I think he's the best pure shooter in the game. ... On top of that, he's such a cerebral player. He finds ways to get good shots better than anybody that I've seen who's not a superior athlete."
"

--Phoenix Suns' General Manager, Steve Kerr, discussing the individual brilliance of Steve Nash.

"I really believe in everyone here. I really like my teammates a lot. I'm excited to play for Alvin (Gentry). Only one team wins the championship. I don't know if we're that good or not but to be around a really great group of people that can grow, improve and win a lot of games is exciting."

--Steve Nash, discussing his enthusiasm for his team and his motivation.

"It started in training camp. He (Nash) was just determined. He said, 'We're going to get back to where we were and I'm going to see to that.' (It's) true to form with what he's been able to do our team. I've said all along I thought he had a better year this year than any of the two years he won the MVP."

--Alvin Gentry, head coach of the Phoenix Suns.

"Alvin has done a great job of building confidence in each player. Every player has helped us win. We can count on our second team."

--Ama're Stoudemire, All-Star center of the Phoenix Suns, discussing the role of their head coach.

"We defended well. We executed,'" said 37-year-old Grant Hill, who played outstanding defence against the San Antonio Spurs' Manu Ginobili in the conference semi-finals. "We trusted each other and we didn't get discouraged. Collectively everybody did their part."

"Mental toughness encapsulates physical toughness," says Nash, who sustained a gast over his eye that required six stitches in the clinching game against the Spurs.

"With Steve it's all about the flow."

--Bill Duffy, Steve Nash's agent.

Flow, of course, is a term for that state of mind that artists and athletes strive to enter into, and which in full flood entails an ecstatic expansion of consciousness that releases them from confines of the self and produces crowning moments of creativity.

"My first and second years in the N.B.A., I used to get really nervous in a tight game. But now I wait for that moment when things are really close - that's what I really love. Having the ball in my hands and the responsibility makes me feel calm and open. Not to have that, not to get to that point in a game, would feel really...really confining."

--Steve Nash, discussing his confidence.

An interviewer asked Nash, "Was there one shot or game when you first felt that way?"

"Probably it built over time - I don't want it to sound like there's anything too mystical about it," said Nash.

"I've always said when Steve retires, I'll retire. I don't want anyone to be able to figure out whether our success is because of my system or Steve's ability to make it work. There's a period in a player's life where the novelty wears off. You've got kids and money, and sometimes your basketball flame begins to flicker. And then a few years later, you realize you've got a limited amount of time and this is the best it's ever gonna be. I think Steve is one of those guys who has always lived for the game. You can have all the money in the world, but for the great players the only thing that matters is winning a title."

--Mike D'Antoni, former Phoenix Suns head coach and current New York Knicks head coach, said in 2007, prior to being fired.

"There are nights when I ask myself, 'Am I really playing basketball?' But that's mostly from the stuff around the game: talking to the media, taking the bus, getting warmed up. Once I'm out on the court, in the game, the game is great."

--Steve Nash.

"I don't know. I have a lot of energy and a lot of motivation. I have a hard time sitting still. I guess in a way I can't live with the alternative to being driven, which is sitting around being bored. If I'm going to go for something, I'm really going to go for it. I think I realized as a kid that I would keep going when other kids stopped. If my legs are there, if my quickness is there, I can have a good game. If not, I try to find other ways of making plays without being quick. Making smart plays. Making the game simple."

--Steve Nash, responding to a question about what drove him and motivated him beyond the obvious goal of a championship.

However, the Los Angeles Lakers pose a great threat in the NBA Conference Finals. As against the San Antonio Spurs, Nash may find a way to win.


Excerpts from AZcentral.com (May 10, 2010), Canadian Press (May 11, 2010) and the New York Times Play magazine (November 2007).


For more on performance psychology, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

Atlanta Hawks Need to Ponder Their Future Without Panic or Shame

The Atlanta Hawks of the NBA have finished their 2009-2010 season and should spend a great deal of time reflecting upon and celebrating their accomplishments as well as focus on their current limitations, recent lessons learned, and developmental opportunities. They need not do anything rash.

They have concluded a season in which they improved their total wins by 6 over the 2008-2009 season. The Hawks have gone from a record of 37-45 in 2007 to 47-35 in 2008 and 53-29 in 2009, without changing a starter.

They had the sixth best season record in the league this year and were the 3rd seed this year in the NBA's Eastern Conference. They have made it to the second round of the NBA playoffs in the past two years, losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers last year, and the Orlando Magic this year.

Individually, the Hawks can claim the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award, given to guard Jamal Crawford. They have two solid NBA All-Stars in Joe Johnson and Al Horford. They were an exciting team that other teams did not want to play during the season or meet in the playoffs.

Developmental Opportunities

So, what does this mean for the future? First of all, this is no time to panic. The basic philosophy that has brought the Hawks to this point is sound. They must continue to build the team slowly and patiently. Though it may appear that the Hawks have reached a playoff performance plateau, they did show an overall improvement based on season wins. What this means is that they must continue to do things that serve to improve the team incrementally. This is no time to dismantle the team because of frustration in the way the season ended.

It is clear from the Orlando playoff series and the previous series with the undermanned but hungry Milwaukee Bucks that upgrades to the point guard position and the center position are required for further improvement. This move also serves the purpose of deepening the bench strength of the team and leaving Jamal Crawford as the first catalyst off the bench. This would allow Al Horford to grow as a strong forward, his best position. He is effective now, but too small to consistently handle the bigger centers in the league.

Review: Improvements and Leasons Learned

What is also certain is that the Hawks must learn from deficiencies this season and develop a stronger half-court game and a stronger defensive game. Both issues could be addresed through focusing on coaching and devising more effective schemes. The ability of the Phoenix Suns and Orlando Magic, two of the five teams left in the playoffs, to get to the Conference finals is directly related to their ability to run plays in a half-court game and rotate the ball for open shots, both short and long-range. Both teams are also able to run and convert fast-break points with their excellent defensive pressure. The Hawks, on the other hand, had few scoring streaks and were inconsistent in their ability to fast break. Their defense was unable to effectively create fast break opportunties.

Often, the Hawks, who typically led their opponents into the fourth quarter, turned to a one-on-one game and would lose the lead at the end of the game. Either through the fatigue of working hard for shots or due to their inability to stop the other team, this team would be left behind by a more disciplined opponent.

The Hawks have improved year by year by having taken advantage of their organization's patience and the team's ability to develop a chemistry through consistency and continuity in its coaching staff and players. The Hawks must continue to improve in this way, otherwise, through implosion, the organization will have to start over with more unknowns than they have now. It could be another 10-year wait for another winning team.

The other of the five teams left in the playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, and Cleveland Cavaliers, are also strong half-court teams with stifling defenses that create opportunties to score that the Hawks are unable to do consistently.

Please, let's keep building the Hawks, don't implode the team and break down a very solid infrastructure. Let's follow the lead of the elite teams in the league rather the continual also-rans.

For more on performance psychology, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

The San Antonio Spurs Still Know How to Win

"We watched a lot of film on [the Dallas guards] to see what they like to do, their strengths and their weaknesses, and the main thing I tried to do was take away their strengths."

--George Hill, San Antonio Spurs guard, discussing the key to their upset of the second-seeded Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the 2010 NBA playoffs. The Spurs move on to the second round to play the Phoenix Suns. Hill scored 21 points in the winning effort.

Homework and Hard Work

"I spent most of my summer working so I could be able to come in here and make big shots," Hill said.

Faith and Trust

“I’ve just got a lot of faith in them. I know owners say that all the time, but we’ve all been together for 14-15 years now. We understand how hard it is to have the kind of decade we’ve had, but also to be able to stay with it in a small market. I’ve got a lot of faith…I mean, I’ve got a lot of faith in these guys.”

--Peter Holt, San Antonio Spurs owner, talking in the corridor of the AT&T Center late Thursday about the staying power of his franchise.

Championship Composure

After the six-game series against the Mavericks, the four-time NBA champion Spurs and head coach Gregg Popovich had advanced out of the first round for the 11th time in the past 13 seasons.

The Spurs never lost their composure after they lost a 22-point lead in the game, lost their touch at the free-throw line and Popovich finally blurted in the huddle:

“Next guy to miss a free throw owes me a car.”

On the way back to the court, Duncan, the worst of them all with six misses in seven tries, stared back blankly at his coach and asked, “What color do you want?”

Spurs Still Hungry

"This matchup was about which team came out and wanted it more," Mavs guard Jason Terry said. "I give the Spurs a lot of credit because they were the hungrier team."

Dreaming of the Challenge

“You dream about playing in big games like this that really count, and that’s the type of person I am,” Hill said. “I like to compete. I like the pressure. I like the challenge and things like that.”

“We’re thrilled that we beat them,” Manu Ginobili said. “We’re really proud of it.” Ginobili led the way with 26 points. Tim Duncan scored 17 points and had 10 rebounds.

Excerpts from Yahoo! Sports.com Dallas Morning News, Austin American-Statesman, NBCsports.com and Kens5.com San Antonio (April 30, 2010).

For more on the San Antonio Spurs, click on San Antonio Spurs, Peak Performance Case Study.

Could Texas Longhorns' Downward Slide Have Been Prevented?

The Texas Longhorns' basketball team was ranked #1 in January with a 17-0 record. Since then they are 6-7. What went wrong? Their mindset is what went wrong. Or, more importantly, their head coach Rick Barnes does not seem to think that his team's mindset is in his or his players' control.

Prior to their Big-12 Conference tournament quarterfinal game with Baylor, Coach Barnes said this about assessing his team's psyche:

"I'd really be guessing if I did. Going into every game, I think that they've have the right mindset and when I watch some of the things happen I'm surprised where it comes from. I don't understand it, because I think we've got a group of guys, you would think with the way they have prepared that they would have things down. But when we do some things during the game it makes me wonder, and I don't know how I can answer that."

Barnes and his staff should be able to answer that. That is part of their job. Particularly because, mental mindset is something that you can control. Recent advances in sports psychology and mental conditioning (as evidenced by their usage in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics) are impossible to ignore anymore. The USC and Alabama football teams have used mental conditioning programs to carry their teams to BCS championships in recent years.

Predictably, Texas ran into a buzz-saw at the Big 12 quarterfinals and lost to a Baylor University that clearly had a much better mental mindset. The Baylor Bears won 86-67. Even with the loss to Baylor, Texas will be in the NCAA tournament and they still have time to regroup. But don't count on it.

"I'd like to think we still have time, but it's really mental," Texas forward Gary Johnson said. "It's not like guys aren't playing hard, so that's one positive. It's just the mental part, and I don't know how much time that actually takes to get everybody on the same page mentally. It's been that way for the past two months."

It is about time for coaches to use all the tools they have at their disposal. It is time for basketball to become as progressive as some other sports such as golf, tennis, and the winter sports.

Excerpts taken from ESPN.com.

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Winning Correlated to Touching in Team Sports

In a paper due out this year in the journal "Emotion," Drs. Kraus, Huang and Keltner, report that with a few exceptions, good teams tended to be touchier than bad ones. The most touch-bonded teams were the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, currently two of the league’s top teams; at the bottom were the mediocre Sacramento Kings and Charlotte Bobcats. The same was true, more or less, for players. The touchiest player was Kevin Garnett, the Celtics’ star big man, followed by star forwards Chris Bosh of the Toronto Raptors and Carlos Boozer of the Utah Jazz.

“Within 600 milliseconds of shooting a free throw, Garnett has reached out and touched four guys,” Dr. Keltner said.

To correct for the possibility that the better teams touch more often simply because they are winning, the researchers rated performance based not on points or victories but on a sophisticated measure of how efficiently players and teams managed the ball — their ratio of assists to giveaways, for example. And even after the high expectations surrounding the more talented teams were taken into account, the correlation persisted. Players who made contact with teammates most consistently and longest tended to rate highest on measures of performance, and the teams with those players seemed to get the most out of their talent. The study fell short of showing that touch caused the better performance, Dr. Kraus acknowledged. “We still have to test this in a controlled lab environment,” he said.

If a high five or an equivalent can in fact enhance performance, on the field or in the office, that may be because it reduces stress. A warm touch seems to set off the release of oxytocin, a hormone that helps create a sensation of trust, and to reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol. In the brain, prefrontal areas, which help regulate emotion, can relax, freeing them for another of their primary purposes: problem solving. In effect, the body interprets a supportive touch as “I’ll share the load.”

“We think that humans build relationships precisely for this reason, to distribute problem solving across brains. We are wired to literally share the processing load, and this is the signal we’re getting when we receive support through touch.”

--James A. Coan, a psychologist at the University of Virginia.

For the entire article, click on: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/health/23mind.html

The Mental Game of Business and Sport

“I worked very hard, especially in the mental training. One has to understand that physical fitness alone isn't sufficient. My mental training is very complex and it makes me believe in myself…. To control your mind is more difficult than to control your body.”

--German biathlete Magdalena Neuner.

Neuner came into the 2010 Vancouver Olympics with six world championship titles. However, she also has a history of wildly inconsistency in her shooting that has also left her with some equally poor results.

As in the world of elite athletes and sports, the mental game of business or the inner game of business is the key to improvement, consistency, excellence and success. Interestingly, this is the only area of business improvements that doesn’t necessarily cost anything to implement; however, hardly anyone uses it. The mental game of business – using your mind in a deliberate, orderly, and focused way is the surest manner for achieving business success.

There are several areas of the mental game of business that you can explore, like:

-Using your mental imagery or imagination to plan and to win
-Controlling your attention and your energy
-Finding your strengths, leveraging them, and playing within them
-Curing anxiety and "nerves"
-Learning to develop clearer focus and mental toughness
-Developing clear goals and articulating them concretely and effectively.

It is becoming more clear that accepting and using the inner game of business techniques is what differentiates the top 5% of business executives and managers from the rest of us. The top executives know about and use powerful goal setting and strategic thinking processes, advanced visualization techniques and mental imagery that improve every area of their performance. They understand the importance of, know how to enter "The Zone," and are able to stay there.

Recently, American Olympic women skiers Lindsay Vonn and teammate Julia Mancuso, using mental conditioning techniques, finished in the gold and silver positions at the Winter Olympics.

"Lindsey and Julia are really skilled skiers ... but there are probably 20 other women with talent close to that level. What sets them apart, in different ways, is the mental game."

--Sean McCann, senior sports psychologist for the U.S. Olympic team.

Thus far in the the Vancouver Olympics, Vonn, who lives and trains in Vail, Colo., has won gold in the downhill and bronze in the super-G, but skied out in the super-combined. Mancuso, born in Reno, Nevada, collected silvers in the downhill and super-combined.

However, all may not end well. Under difficult weather conditions, Lindsey Vonn spun out of control during Wednesday's Olympic giant slalom, breaking a finger and ending her latest medal bid, while Julia Mancuso -- Vonn's teammate and lifelong rival, not to mention the defending champion -- sped toward that same spot.

The race official waved a giant yellow flag through the driving snow and dense fog to warn Mancuso that she needed to stop. Otherwise, Mancuso would risk slamming into Vonn or a course worker helping her. Mancuso stopped and returned to the start only to ski badly on her next run.

While the race will be re-run on Thursday, Vonn is probably out due to injury and Mancuso certainly must re-group mentally to compete.

Excerpts from ESPN (February 25, 2010) the Christian Science Monitor (February 22, 2010) and The Washington Post (February 22, 2010).

For more on peak performance, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

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Business Requires Increased Use of Mental Conditioning

As I work with clients and listen to colleagues, it is clear that the old days of business are over and gone. Organizations and the environment in which they operate have changed dramatically. Owners, executives, managers, and employees are caught up in the process of doing more with less, as budgets have been slashed, and many departments have been decimated. Despite the sense of urgency, it seems to take more effort, more communication, more influence, more negotiation, and more time to execute and get results. People endure a great deal of mental pressure just to perform at yesterday's levels and the market is demanding more and more.

In addition, the margin for error with so many businesses is approaching zero. Business at any level has always required mental focus but today with so much competition and so many demands day in and day out, the mental side of doing business has become even more difficult.

The need to think strategically is equally as important. If you look at most industry verticals, the difference between winning and losing business is miniscule. That difference can be equal to hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue, not to mention the direct effects on employee morale and shareholder value.

You hear many executives talk about staying with their game plan; focusing on results; playing to win; aggressiveness; but without a solid, well-thought-out strategy the difference between winning and losing starts to widen considerably. It doesn’t take much to lose focus, reduce efficiency, alienate customers, and fall below revenue targets.

Though many executives say they do, most of them don’t think enough about strategy, mental focus and conditioning; but they should if only to perform more consistently and effectively; and get more satisfaction, success and enjoyment out of their jobs. Today there are an increasing number of tools and resources to draw from to develop an effective mental conditioning program that is specific to business professionals and management teams; proven mental techniques to help you control your emotions and stay focused on getting business results; and strategic tools and techniques to help you develop and communicate a clear and well thought-out game plan.

Thinking a bit more deliberately and strategically about how to approach business scenarios (based on your particular talents and strengths and those of you team) can make a huge difference in how you ultimately perform.

Ironically, it is the most talented executives that have the most to gain from mental conditioning. Though an average performer may benefit somewhat, with a higher-potential and more talented executive it may be significantly more; and what a difference that could make in anyone’s performance (let alone their enjoyment of their effort).

For more about mental conditioning, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

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Evan Lysacek Wins Olympic Gold With Pre-Skate Routine

"When I'm getting ready in my room, I drink the same thing, I light the same good-luck candle I have — it's a brand from England called Cire Trudon — I listen to the same playlist, with songs from Jay-Z to the Virgins or the Killers, happy music that will keep my emotions even and not get my heart wildly pumping. I'm engaging all my senses, telling my body, 'Okay, it's time to go to that place.' When I get to the rink, I go through pretty much the same warm-up off the ice every time, so my body is continuing to get into that super-focused mentality. About twenty minutes before I go on, I put my suit and my skates on — that's my alone time — and I talk to myself. Self-talk is very important to me," he says. "I try to conjure really difficult days, days when I was sick or jet-lagged and felt horrible, and then think, If I can get through that, I can get through anything."

--Evan Lysacek, U.S. Olympic gold medal skater, who upset Russian Yevgeny Plushenko.

Lysacek is the first U.S. male gold medal winner in skating since 1988. He attributes his win to a mental conditioning routine that includes self-talk, pre-skating rituals, self-hypnosis, and visualization.

Are you as prepared for your important events?

Excerpts from the New York Magazine, February 19, 2010. For more click on http://nymag.com/daily/sports/2010/02/how_evan_lycasek_got_ready_to.html


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Super Bowl XLIV: Peak Performance Case Study

"Everyone has such a passion for living. They deserve this so much."

--Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints' quarterback and Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XLIV, discussing the city and the people of New Orleans.

Let's take a look at the New Orleans Saints' win over the Indianapolis Colts yesterday and their building blocks of success.

Vision

New Orleans Saints were playing for an entire city and state. Brees said the Saints "played for so much more than just ourselves. We played for our city ... and the entire Who Dat nation that was behind us all the way."

"We have a 1-year old son, and we're attached to this community now," Brees said. "We've made it our own, and we need to continue to help in whatever way that we can."

"I feel like we have fate and destiny on our side," Brees said. "We have the strength of not only a city and a community but I feel like an entire country, that there's a piece of everyone who wants to see us win the Super Bowl."

"Four years ago, who would've thought that we'd be here?" said Brees in reference to his signing with the team in 2006, a couple months after Sean Payton had taken the head coaching job. "Eighty-five percent of the city was underwater. People had been evacuated to other parts of the country. But the organization and the city decided to rebuild together and that's what we did. Today was the culmination of all that work."

For the Indianapolis Colts, the focus may have been too much on Peyton Manning's legacy. The media was ready to annoint Peyton Manning as the Greatest Quarterback of All-Time with a second Super Bowl win. From the end of the regular season on, the Indianapolis Colts also appeared to be planning very cautiously, including playing the regular season to avoid injury, rather than preparing and playing for success and victory. The irony being that the Colts sustained several injuries during the playoffs which did not help them in the Super Bowl.

Advantage: Saints

Mental Mindset

"We just believed in ourselves and we knew that we had an entire city and maybe an entire country behind us," Brees said after being voted MVP in New Orleans' 31-17 win over the Indianapolis Colts. "What can I say? I tried to imagine what this moment would be like for a long time, and it's better than expected."

Advantage: Saints

Fast-forwarding

The Colts seemed to be on their heels, particularly on defense, in the second half. They did not anticipate the Saints' onside-kick to begin the second half and did not adjust to the Saints' "fast-break offense."

The Saints' Tracy Porter intercepted Peyton Manning late in the second half through anticipation and preparation. He sniffed out the pass and knew it was coming.

Advantage: Saints

Preparation

Payton will forever be known for one of the riskiest calls in Super Bowl history. The Saints practiced the onside kick they call Ambush for two weeks, and in their meetings before the game Sunday Payton told his special teams units that they were going to try it in the game; it was just a matter of when. During the long Super Bowl halftime, Payton made the decision to go for it. He was so confident in its success that he scripted the first eight plays of the drive that followed, too.

The Colts' Manning is the king of preparation, but this match-up might have to go to the Saints as well.

Advantage: Saints

Game Plan

"The first thing we cared about coming into this game was taking care of the football," said Brees, whose efforts helped the Saints secure their first championship in team history. "And the second thing was to be patient. We did both those things and they resulted in a win."

"I think they had a smart, patient game plan," said Indianapolis free safety Antoine Bethea. "They didn't make many big plays in terms of long yardage, but they made a lot of big plays in terms of timing. [Brees] was all about location. Their receivers found the open spots and, to his credit, Drew put the ball right where he had to, again and again. He didn't make great passes, but he definitely delivered [the ball] when he had to, and to the right person. He used the people around him really well."

Advantage: Saints

Execution

Brees finished one of the most productive Super Bowl appearances ever for a quarterback — completing 32 of 39 passes for 288 yards and 2 touchdowns. He was 30 of 33 in the second half.

Advantage: Saints

The Future

Continuous Improvement

“There is something about what we do that maybe allows you 24 to 48 hours before you start eyeing up the next challenge,” Payton said. “Somewhere last night we talked about Dallas, Texas and one of the greatest stadiums our league knows, and there’s probably never enough in regards to the challenge. When you get a quarterback like Drew Brees in the prime of his career, it’s not enough. Last night was great, and yet still there is something that burns in you to separate yourself more.”

“When you get back into the swing of things, it’s all about that 2010 season,” quarterback Drew Brees said. “There’s 32 teams that feel like it’s going to be their year. We know what it’s like to build something from the ground up. What’s going to be fun is using the term repeat all next year.”

Excerpts from www.cbsnews.com (February 5 & 8, 2010), New York Times (February 8, 2010), ESPN.com (February 8, 2010), Canadian Press (February 8, 2010).

For more on Peak Performance, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

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Alabama Crimson Tide Rolls to 2009 BCS Championship with Mental Conditioning Program

With great interest and anticipation, I drove Sunday, January 24, 2010 to Birmingham, Alabama to attend a celebratory program to award Alabama Crimson Tide Head Coach Nick Saban with the 2009 Leadership Innovation Award. The program and award highlighted the accomplishments of the Alabama football team.

During the acceptance speech, Coach Saban directly attributed his championship team’s chemistry and success to a mental conditioning program he employed. The mental conditioning program provided a "success mindset" that resulted in a BCS Championship win against the Texas Longhorns in the Rose Bowl.

Saban openly discussed his desire to change the culture of the team, after a 2006 losing season that, more importantly, included off-the-field misconduct and poor decision making by several members of the team during the off-season. With the help of the Pacific Institute of Seattle, the Alabama team learned about mental conditioning approaches to help them to achieve peak performance.

Opposing coaches could see the difference in the players right away.

“Alabama played with an attitude and viciousness that we did not,” Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said in 2008.

“I just saw a team that had a mentality,” said Georgia coach Mark Richt, “They were going to be physical, they were going to play physical and they did.”

“I think it’s the identity that we’ve always tried to create,” Saban said. “Be aggressive, physical, play with a lot of toughness. Strike them, knock them back. Be aggressive and relentless in your style of how you play and how you compete.

Though these types of mental conditioning programs are perceived as new and cutting edge, the fact is that mental conditioning involves the application and teaching of cognitive and positive psychology. This approach is based on scientific research and principles that have been around for close to a half-century. It is one of the most widely used and validated mechanisms for behavior change. Many organizational and sports psychologists have been using this approach in their practices for years with considerable success. This area of applied psychology looks closely at an individual's beliefs and self-talk and the effect it has on behavior and performance. It is highly results-oriented.

“I don’t think the message is that different,” Saban said. “I think the things that it takes to be successful are the same regardless, whether it’s passion, commitment, hard work, investing your time in the right things, perseverance, pride in performance, how you think in a positive and negative way, the discipline you have personally -- you have to make choices in your decisions.”

Saban emphasizes that you must “develop champions before you can create championship results.” He also emphasizes the importance of creating the right processes to get the right outcomes.

The players who spent the summer on campus were enrolled in a dozen mental conditioning classes, designed to improve, in Saban's words, the "self-actualization, self-confidence [and] self-esteem" of his players. Twelve times each summer, the Alabama football team sits through 30- to 45-minute classes devoted to mental conditioning and character development. The Pacific Institute of Seattle was hired to design a program and lead the players through a series of awareness exercises and affirmations, such as:

"We are a team that's committed to excellence. It's represented in everything we do."

"Our defense is aggressive. We fly to the ball seeking always to cause big plays on every down. We intimidate our opponents."

"Our offense is consistently on top of their game."

"Our team is a family. We will look out for each other. We love one another. Anything that attempts to tear us apart only makes us stronger."

These affirmations reinforced the vision and outcome that the Alabama coaching staff was looking for and provided a language to communicate expectations and establish behavioral habits related to mental focus, teamwork, determination and priorities.

Saban also made the point that the program never once talked about winning, they only talked about their commitment to success, pride in performance and being the best you can be.

“That’s exactly how it was. To me, I thought it helped us out as a team. It made us realize that we have to focus night and day.”

--Marquis Johnson, cornerback.

Nevertheless, the program’s emphasis is on personal choices and accountability. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.

“Honestly, you have to look inside yourself. The coach can only tell you and say so much. To play as a man, you have to look inside yourself.”

-- running back Glen Coffee.

Excerpts from Chattanooga Free Press, July 28, 2008; Tuscaloosa News, August 10, 2008 and September 8, 2008; Forbes, September 1, 2008; and Sports Illustrated, September 8, 2008.

For more on mental conditioning and peak performance, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance, and for the latest mental conditioning tools, click on: Peak Performance eCoach and request access.