Mental Focus: Spurs Stay Alive in NBA Playoffs

"You really don't think about the magnitude of making or missing it, you just think about trying to get the best shot that you can get.  It went in today, but I think it's the best shot I could have got in that situation."

--Gary Neal, San Antonio Spurs rookie, who miraculously sent the fifth game of the NBA series into overtime with a three-point shot on Wednesday night.  

Neal is an undrafted 26-year-old rookie and former European journeyman who the Spurs signed this season after giving him an audition on their summer league team.  Neal's shot tied the score and helped the Spurs to rally to keep them from elimination.  


Neal was the NBA rookie leader in three-point shooting percentage this year.  

Peak performance in any sport requires a tremendous amount of mental energy to maintain focus on the multiple factors that need your attention. Split-second decisions regarding play selection, direction and speed of your shot, best steps for execution, an assessment of your opponent's capabilities, the condition of the court, etc. all require one to maintain a high level of focus during actual play.

Researchers in psychology and physiology have determined that individuals must regulate this high focus or it will lose its overall effectiveness and potency through continual use, resulting in "focus fatigue."

The time between plays or points needs to be used to relax, to wind down, to move into a lower level focus state and to regroup in preparation for the next point or play. The next play or point will again require a high level of focus.




Excerpts from the HuffingtonPost.com (April 28, 2011) and Focus:  Peak Performance Field Guide #4.  

A Winning Mindset Keeps Spurs As Winningest Team in the NBA

The NBA San Antonio Spurs' season record of 46-9 record is tops in the NBA and the best 55-game mark since the Dallas Mavericks had the same mark in 2006-07 en route to a franchise-best, 67-win season.

This record includes the current long road trip. 

"They're feeling a few bumps and bruises, but they're character guys.  They're professionals, and they know what's expected of them. They know where they want to be at the end of the year and they're working towards that. So no game can be left without trying to get better."

--Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of the lengthy trip that started in Portland and which will end in Chicago this Thursday.

"We just have to stay focused, that's going to be the main thing for us.  Focus on defense, we have a lot of room for improvement. Even if I think we're on the right track, I think we can do a lot of stuff better and we just have to stay motivated because we have to get all those wins and make sure we take advantage of our good start."

--Tony Parker, Spurs' point guard (13 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists).  

Despite many blow-out games and the league's best record, the Spurs don't seem to be experiencing complacency.

"I was kind of shocked, not that we won or we played well, but that at the kind of effort and hustle in the third and fourth quarter.  We played hard and rotated very well, went hard to the rebounds so it was a very complete second half for us."

--Manu Ginobili, veteran Spurs player.  

Ironically, the game also benefited their opponent, the losing New Jersey Nets, who came away with a glimpse of how a good team should play.

"They've been doing it for years.  They've been playing together for years. They know one another extremely well. They are battle tested. What makes them so impressive is they don't really care who scores. They move the ball and whoever gets the open shot, so be it. That's what makes them so good."

--Devin Harris, Nets' point guard.  

"This is a terrific team we played.  They have the best record in the league for a reason. They don't beat themselves. They're pros. They go about their business and they're very methodical in their approach." 

--Avery Johnson, the Nets' head coach, who is trying to rebuild the Nets, who had the NBA's worst record last season. 

So, what are the secrets to the Spurs' success?  What keeps the Spurs' playing at a peak level all season long?  

• Professional attitude
• Character
• Continuous improvement mentality
• Sense of urgency
• Consistent focus
• Continuity of talent and personnel
• Heightened motivation
• Unselfishness
• Discipline 

These traits should serve the Spurs well the rest of the regular season and into the playoffs.


Excerpts from ESPN.com (February 14, 2011)

Danilo Gallinari of the New York Knicks Avoids Superstar Expectations and Just Wants to Win

“I know you expect a lot from me, and people expect a lot from me,” Gallinari said late Wednesday night, “but I’m not a superstar, I’m not an All-Star, I’m not LeBron, I’m not those great players. I’m an important player of the Knicks. And that’s what I’m trying to do, to help the team every time. Sometimes, can be these type of games, sometimes not. But as long as we win, it’s all good.”

--Danilo Gallinari, The NBA's New York Knicks' emerging star, discussing his emergence as a key player.

Gallinari just posted consecutive 20-point games for the first time this season — 21 in Denver and a season-high 27 in Sacramento — and was simply asked if he needed a performance like this for his confidence.  Danilo showed some flashes of brilliance last season including a 28-point performance, also against Denver and Carmelo Anthony.


This season, Gallinari also put up 24 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the floor (including 4-for-4 on 3s) against the Chicago Bulls on November 4.    


“He’s very secure in who he is and he’s very confident,” his coach, Mike D’Antoni said. “He can tell you one thing, but he may think another. But I think he knows he has a lot of work to do to get where those guys are. He’s not up there. I don’t think that says he can’t get there, he’s just not them yet."


D'Antoni once called Gallinari the best shooter he had ever seen.  But, Gallinari does not focus on stardom.  

“It’s not my goal,” he said. “You know me, so I never say that. It’s not in my mind. It’s not in my mind. My mind is to win with this franchise. I’ve been selected and picked by this franchise three years ago. I want to stay here. I want to win with this franchise. That’s all that is in my mind. I’ve been working with the coaches; the coaches know what I can do and I’m just trying to be the best player I can.”

What about you?  Is your mindset to be the star or to help your team be successful?  


Excerpts from the New York Times (November 16 & 19, 2010) and ESPN.com (November 5, 2010).


For more on mental conditioning, 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.

Kobe Bryant: Having His Best Year Ever?

From Yahoo Sports:

Is the NBA's Kobe Bryant better than ever? What keeps him motivated? How long can he go as he ages and withstands injuries?



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

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The NBA's Kobe Bryant: Never Satisfied and Always Improving

“When you first come into the league, you’re trying to prove yourself as an individual, do things to assert yourself and establish yourself. But then once you’ve done that, there’s another level to the game that’s more complex than figuring out how to put up big numbers as an individual.”

--Kobe Bryant, 31, Los Angeles Lakers, discussing his evolution as a player and teammate.

Bryant has earned four NBA championships with the Lakers. He started his NBA career out of high school at the age of 17.

Kobe has refined his game by:

*Traveling with a portable DVD player queued to games to analyze and review.

*Working with Tim *Grover, Michael Jordan’s former trainer, to address weaknesses in the physical aspects of his game.

*Hiring a consultant to analyze various NBA teams' and individual opponents' weaknesses.

*Visiting the former Houston Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon over the summer for a 5-hour tutorial on low-post play.

“The strengths that I have now were weaknesses when I was a kid,” Bryant said. “The strengths that I had as a kid may be weaknesses now. So you just kind of flip-flop and get the same results.”

“He’s always trying a new angle,” Knicks Coach Mike D’Antoni said about Bryant. “His work ethic is better than anybody I’ve seen, so he’s going to improve.”

D'Antoni added, “Whether he can do the same things he could do when he was younger, I don’t know, but he’ll keep getting to be a better basketball player.”




Excerpts from the New York Times, November 24, 2009.

For more on mental conditioning, peak performance and Kobe Bryant, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

Ricky Rubio: Basketball Prodigy with a Dream

“It’s my dream.”

--Ricky Rubio, 18-year old Spainiard, who is widely considered the second best propspect available in the 2009 NBA draft, discussing his desire to succeed in the NBA.

Though Rubio has yet to prove his worth as an NBA player, he is off to a good mental start. Successful athletes have been found to be successful due in part to their personality characteristics, including: their vision (the ability to focus on a dream), their drive (ability identify specific goals and work hard toward them), their resilience; and their ability to find personal meaning in their mission.

“I don’t think about what they say about me,” Rubio said. “I only think about my objective. I have my own dreams and I don’t listen to people who say you’re going to be in the top or you’re going to be all hype. I don’t care. We’re going to see what they can do on the court. I talk on the court.”

Rubio is a 6-foot, 5-inch point guard who has been playing in the Spain's top professional league since the age of 14. He played well against NBA talent in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He has been rumored to be coveted by some teams but not others. It is unknown where he will actually land in the draft due to his age or the perception of his potential skills.

European basketball players are known for their hunger to prove themselves and their preparation in basketball skills and fundamentals.

And, at least, he has his head on straight.

For more on Rubio and other European NBA players, go to http://peakperformancetheblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/european-nba-players-fundamentals.html

Excerpts from the New York Times (June 25, 2009)