Jeremy Lin is Flourishing as a Leader in Houston

Source: performancevertical.jux.com via Luis on Pinterest

“I think we’re getting more mature as a team and as individuals. We’re understanding not to panic and to get back to what we do best.”

--Jeremy Lin, Houston Rockets, who has led his team to a 31-26 record in the NBA.

He is averaging 12.8 points and 6.2 assists per game this season. The Rockets are noticing what a good job Lin is doing, fitting into what the team is trying to do.  This includes fast-breaks, pick-and-rolls, and spreading the floor for open jump shots.  They are considered the fastest team in the league.

“He’s done a lot better job keeping us in our offense. He’s keeping us in our sets and doing all those little things that Coach was emphasizing.”

--Chandler Parsons, Houston Rockets forward.

Excerpts taken from www.nytimes.com, "Lin Does a lot by Not Doing Too Much" by Beckley Mason (February 24, 2013).


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2013 NBA All-Star Game Highlights (VIDEO)

For those who missed the game, or who can't get enough, this video will do just fine.  Enjoy.  

Kobe Bryant & LeBron James: The Competitive Spirit at Its Finest

“When have I not competed?” 

--Kobe Bryant, talking before the 2013 NBA All-Star Game in Houston Sunday night, reminding fans and the media about his ever-present competitive spirit, despite starting in his 15th All-Star Game.

Kobe Bryant has been able to avoid complacency throughout his 17-year career. The NBA All-Star Game's all-time leading scorer, Bryant finished with nine points, eight assists and four rebounds, but, most importantly, shut down Eastern Conference All-Star LeBron James at the end of the game when it counted. Bryant helped to preserve a West All-Star win on Sunday night at the NBA All-Star Game. In the fourth quarter, Bryant asked to guard the James, of the Miami Heat, the current NBA MVP.  Bryant blocked James shot twice during crunch time.

When asked if he was surprised by Kobe's defensive performance, James said: "No, he does it all the time. I am absolutely not surprised. It was all in good spirit. It was just two guys who love to compete, (who) love to go at it. It was a lot of fun."

"It's fun to be out there with them," New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony said of James and Bryant. "It's fun to see. It brings the best out of everybody, as you can see…I love that competitive spirit, that competitive nature in Kobe and LeBron."

Despite his Lakers' being a long-shot to even reach the playoffs, Bryant remains motivated for more titles.

“I was concerned about reaching the first one, and the second one, the third. There’s always that concern, which keeps you prepared, keeps you on edge."  

--Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers' All-Star, discussing his championship hunger.

Excerpts from the nytimes.com (February 15, 2013), washingtonpost.com (February 18, 2013), usatoday.com (February 18, 2013).



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The Misunderstood Majesty of Rick Barry

"...Rick goes his own way. Superstars always do. They all think differently. If Rick has a drawback—and it's not really a drawback, it's just Rick—it's that he is not very patient. He can't understand why a guy can't play the game the way he does. That is a fault of all superstars. You may say of these people that they aren't regular guys. Well...they aren't." 

--Al Attles, former Golden State Warrior head coach and teammate of Rick Barry.

My first exposure to NBA Hall of Fame legend Rick Barry was about 1967.  As a 12-year old boy in the far-away, West Texas desert wasteland of El Paso, Texas, I received a Christmas present from my family. The gift was the sports simulation board game, the Big League Manager (BLM) Pro Basketball Game.  As many sports fanatics born around the same time know, this game was the equally nerdy, primitive pre-cursor to the video games of today as well as computerized sports fantasy leagues.  I became addicted to the board game while playing with my brothers and friends. My addiction to the game included a fascination with my new favorite team:   the San Francisco Warriors (This 1967 team edition was based on the 1965-1966 season).

Up to that time, I had been a fan of Wilt Chamberlain and the Philadelphia 76ers team.  I regularly watched the televised NBA Game of the Week which often highlighted the big three:  the Celtics, Lakers and 76ers.  But this crazy board game changed everything.  

Though I was extremely fortunate to have Rick Barry on this team as a rookie, in my mind, the Most Valuable Player of BLM was Guy Rodgers, the Warriors' point guard.  His assist rating was through the roof and was the obvious catalyst for the hot shooting of Rick Barry and Jeff Mullins. My Warriors accumulated assists and points at an astounding rate, often routing such powerhouses as the Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers and the 76ers.  Afficionados of the game might be reminded that these players were limited in the amount of time that they could play in each game (which, of course, was correlated to the average amount of time they each played in each real game during the regular season).  I don't remember if I stuck to that limit, especially if I played solitaire.  

Needless to say, as some children did (and, I suspect, others did not) I quickly grew up and left the Big League Manager game behind to gather dust or be ruined by the flash flood waters of the desert thunderstorms in our leaky basement.  Though I continued to be an NBA fan throughout my adult life, I rarely thought much of my 1965-1966 San Francisco Warriors, much less Rick Barry.   However, Mr. Barry continued to star in the real world of the NBA.

Ironically, it wasn't until I began my career as a psychologist and focused on my specialty of sports and performance psychology that Barry began to re-emerge as a major influence.  In fact, it wasn't until I started seriously researching the mindset of a champion that Barry's career looked so impressive and instructive.      

Rick Barry's basketball career is well documented for how disliked he was.  He is as much an NBA legend for how he was shunned and hated as much as for his Hall of Fame accomplishments.  But this article is not about the more well-known aspects of his personality.  This article is about excellence and perhaps that is where Rick Barry's career is most important and interesting.  Despite the scandalous aspects of Barry's career, Rick Barry is what excellence is all about; warts and all.  I leave the scrutiny of the warts to others.  

As most fans and detractors know, Barry is the only player to lead the NBA, ABA and NCAA in scoring. The ABA merged with the NBA in 1976 and now ceases to exist. Among many other accolades, between the two professional leagues, Barry was a 12-time All-Star, nine-time all-league first teamer, and scored more than 25,000 points during his career. Averaging 30.6 points per game, he led the Golden State Warriors to the franchise's only championship, in the 1974-75 NBA season, garnering the Finals MVP award, and has since been named to the list of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players of all time.

But, what was really behind his success?

A Desire for Greatness

“It’s really upsetting to me, because I love greatness.  I love to watch greatness in anything. And that’s the part that bothers me, coaches are supposed to be able to make people better. By making your player better, you make your team better. And that’s your goal as a coach, to have the best possible team.”

--Rick Barry, discussing his high standards, his view about coaching and many players' inability to take coaching well.

"He was a great artist. A Mozart. A Picasso. A Caruso," said Lou Carnesecca, who coached Barry for two seasons on the New York Nets. "I'd diagram a play, and Rick would instinctively see four or five options that I'd never even imagined. In 35 years of coaching I've never had another guy like that."

In 1965-66, as a rookie, under Coach Alex Hannum in San Francisco, Barry averaged 25.7 points per game, In his second season, Barry took his talents to another level. He averaged 35.6 points and scored 38 in the All-Star Game. 

"His intensity was unbelievable," says Mullins, a guard on that team. "Night after night he was brilliant. No one could stop him. He was a threat to get 50 every time he stepped onto the court." 

The Warriors took a Philadelphia 76ers team that had been voted the best in NBA history (prior to the Chicago Bulls' Michael Jordan-led dynasty in the 1990s) to six games in the playoff finals before losing, and Barry's 40.8-point average is still the highest in a championship series.

The Price of Perfectionism

"He was such a perfectionist," says Butch Beard, who played with and against Barry. "He wanted the game to be perfect. And when it wasn't, he would jump all over you. He didn't mean it maliciously, but it could be very intimidating."

This persistent pursuit of greatness, excellence and, perhaps, perfection was both a blessing and a curse.

“It has its good qualities,” says Barry, “but it also makes you frustrated sometimes with things. But it probably was a bonus in that I would never be satisfied with what I did, and so that meant I kept working at it to get better, which is a good thing.”

Billy Paultz, a friend and former teammate of Barry’s, told Sports Illustrated in 1983, “If you got to know Rick you’d have realized what a good guy he was. But around the league they thought of him as the most arrogant guy ever. Half the players disliked Rick. The other half hated him.” 

Even Barry once admitted, “I didn't have a lot of tact.” He notes that a part of trying to be the best means being unrelenting and not accepting mediocrity.

Despite his maddening nature, during his post-NBA playing days, Barry was considered to be one of the best color commentators in the history of television sports.

Free-Throw Mastery

One of the many skills that made Barry unique and so effective was his incredible free throw shooting.

“It's the only part of the game that’s a constant,” says Barry, who memorably used an underhand method to shoot 90 percent from the line during his 14-year professional career. “It’s always the same distance, it’s always the same ball, and it’s always the same size basket. It’s the only part of the game you can be selfish and still help your team.”

“Why in the world can anybody —” says Barry, the perfectionist, pausing a moment to gather himself. He restarts. “How can you live with yourself if you can't make four out of every five free throws you shoot? I just don't understand how guys can do that — how they can possibly go to sleep at night without having nightmares about the fact that they can't shoot 80 percent from the free-throw line?”

A Sign of the Times

“I was the best free-throw shooter in the game for a long, long time,” he says, “and nobody ever copied the technique. It's hard to believe, especially in today’s world, in basketball, everybody copies everything that’s successful. But yet, when it comes to shooting free throws, nobody’s trying to copy it.”

Barry is astounded by the mentality of modern-day NBA players.  

“It's all about the ego.  It’s … all … about … the … ego. They don’t think it’s macho enough for them, and that’s fine. If you’re shooting 80 percent or better, great. If you’re not shooting 80 percent or better, then you better think about making some kind of change.”

“If anybody used that as a reason not to do it, then they’re stupid,” he responds. “That’s ridiculous. Just look at my record. That’s a ridiculous reason not to go ahead and do something that enables you to be better at what you're doing. That would be a stupid decision on somebody’s part. What affect does my personality and the fact that when I went out there I rubbed some people the wrong way because I went out there to kick people’s asses instead of going out to make friends, what would that do with the fact that I made 90-something percent of my free throws? I mean, that’s crazy.”

Execution of the Perfect Free Throw:  A Lesson

"Every shot that you take, you have to take it exactly the same way every single time the ball is placed into your hands," he says. "I don't care if it's bounce the ball off your head three times, bounce it off your stomach, kick it with your knee, I don't care what your routine is, you have to do it every single time."

Barry thinks the mental game is a large and under-appreciated aspect of free throws. He says having a set routine is important because in a critical moment, you won't think about making them, but rather simply go through a consistent and familiar progression.

"The last thing you want to be worried about is, 'Oh, God, I've got to make these to tie the game, or win the game,'" he says. "Go into your routine, like you've practiced thousands and thousands and thousands of times. So your entire being is focused on what? Your routine, not the situation."

With his trademark underhand technique, Barry says the shooter has to be old enough or big enough to hold the ball properly. As he explains it, the shooter's palms should not go underneath the ball with what may come to mind with the typical "granny shot."

"Your hands have to be big enough to get over the top of the ball properly," says Barry. "And your thumbs should be even."

"Everything you do in the game, at least if you're playing it properly, your arms are up in an unnatural position," he explains. "You've got your arms up playing defense, you're shooting the ball up there, you're rebounding up there, and during the course of a game, you're going to get a little tired. When I get to the free-throw line, my arms are hanging down in a totally, completely relaxed, natural position. So I'm not going to get tense and tighten up or anything, because I'm in a totally natural position."

Rather than shooting the free throw with just one hand like every other shot in the game, with his method Barry emphasizes the benefits of using both.

"I control the flight of the ball with two hands, not one," he says. "The technique itself is a soft shot, and it's feel, so much feel, and control.

"The way I teach it is you open up the basket -- the ball has a chance to go in the entire circumference of the basket ... almost two balls can fit in the basket. When you shoot flat, the first-third of the basket is taken out of play, and in essence, you're shooting at a smaller target. And, it's not as soft a shot. [It's] not necessarily a higher arc, but the way that the ball comes, it's coming from such an angle that as it goes up there, the arc is pretty good on it, so you still have a good portion of it that it can go in, but it's a much softer shot. If I shoot a free throw and I missed it a little bit and it hits the rim, the ball hits very softly. If you take a shot and shoot it from up high and go to the basket, it's going to hit much harder than it would going underhand, much, much softer."

After taking a comfortable base, feet spread comfortably apart about shoulder-width, Barry continues his routine by taking a deep breath and positioning his wrists correctly. Then he dips down and prepares to release the shot.

"Just before I'm ready to shoot, I would just make a little cock of the wrist, which puts it into a total natural position, and it was kind of like my trigger to go," he says. "When I bend, there's no motion. There's no movement of my arms, there's no movement of my hands – nothing happens. As I come up, I start to take my arms and swing my arms toward the basket, and that's where you get the feel, to how much effort do I have to put into that arm swing. That's where you have to practice."

"Then it's a matter of the feel of when I actually take my hands and, when I get to about chest level -- parallel to the floor -- I just roll my hands together, and finish," he says. "It's that simple."

Finally, Barry, concludes with a few last pieces of advice about his signature shot.

"It's like anything else," he says. "If you're going to try to do it, you've got to go out, come and learn the technique and then you have to go out and practice it over, and over, and over again. Just make sure you're practicing it properly. But it's repetition. The more you shoot it, the better you're going to get. It's like riding a bike, you never forget how to do it. The whole thing to doing it, as I said earlier, you have to have the proper technique, then you have to practice it enough to get the feel, and you have to continue to practice until you gain confidence in yourself that you're going to make it. And once you get that, it just keeps getting easier and easier and easier. You have to believe in yourself that you're going to make every one that you take. I never, ever thought I was going to miss a free throw.

"Anybody -- anybody -- can become a good free-throw shooter. If you have somebody working with you on the proper technique and you practiced it enough and get confident in yourself, you can be a good free-throw shooter. Your size means nothing. It's your technique."

Seeking to Improve and Perfect Every Aspect of His Game

During his playing days, Barry was also considered the best passing non-guard in the NBA.  He recorded 19 assists in one game in a game in 1976, then a record for a forward.

"...People have this thing about scoring points. I was taught to play the game from a total concept, to be able to do everything reasonably well, some things extraordinarily well. If a guy is simply a great shooter and he has a bad night, he's a liability. If I'm not shooting well, I'll try to be an asset in other ways. So many players are limited in what they can do—and some of them are called superstars. A lot of players don't know what it is to make a pass. It's not that they don't know how; it's just that they're not looking for anybody," said Barry in 1977, two years after leading his Golden State Warriors team to the NBA championship."

The Source of His Perfectionism

“He was a perfectionist,” Barry says of his father Dick. “But it’s probably a better quality to have. I strive for perfection. I also realize I’ll never be perfect, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try to be perfect. I mean, you’ve got to have pride in the things you do in life. That's one of the things my father instilled in me, was a great sense of pride.”

He adds, “Every sport is a game of mistakes. The team or the person who makes the fewest mistakes in their sport usually is the one who wins.”

Provoking Dislike

"The manner in which I play provokes a reaction, either positive or negative," Barry admitted in 1977. "But I don't want people to hate me. I know that people judge me as a person by what I do on the floor," he said. "But I'm just not the same. No one sees me the other way. When you first get an image, you can never completely change it. I know a lot of players the fans think are wonderful guys who are the biggest jerks you'll ever meet. Off the floor, I'm a pretty easygoing, honest person."

"He's an extraordinary guy. There's nothing he wouldn't do for you," says Mike Dunleavy, who, along with Paultz, was Barry's best friend on the Rockets, with whom Rick ended his career. "But he lacks diplomacy. If they sent him to the U.N. he'd end up starting World War III."

The Championship

With Barry at his best and leading the way, the Golden State Warriors won their only NBA championship when they swept the Washington Bullets in 1975.  Barry scored 118 points, still the record for a four-game championship series, and was named playoff MVP.

"To this day I can't find adequate words to describe the feeling I was overcome with when we won," Barry says. "I went into the locker room and cried. I cried and cried. It was terrific. It was absolutely terrific."

An Intense Will to Win

Unfortunately, Barry and the Warriors could not recapture the magic.  The next season the Warriors lost 94-86 to Phoenix in the seventh game of the Western Conference playoff final at home. Barry's 20 point performance was criticized soundly, but without merit.

It was suggested that Barry was so disgusted by his teammates' play that he deliberately quit on offense, as if to say, "Go ahead, win it without me." Barry now says, "Anybody who knows me knows that there's no way in the world I'd intentionally do something that would jeopardize an opportunity to win a ball game, especially when we had a chance to win a championship. There's no way in the world I'd do that." He's angry now, banging his fist on the table. "I didn't pout. I didn't try to prove a point. It means too much to me to win."

Despite his failings, his personality, and others' view of him, Rick Barry has been to the mountain top.  Perhaps, it has been worth it all.  Perhaps, he wouldn't trade it for anything.  Nevertheless, Barry knows how to excel and how to win. 

"...I do know this is what basketball is supposed to be all about. We made reality out of fantasy. This is the type of season you only dream about. It just doesn't happen. I guess that makes us the lotus. I have a friend, a priest," he said. "When things look bad, he always says that from the mud grows the lotus."

--Rick Barry, Golden State Warriors, October 1975.

Somehow, and only in retrospect, I feel like I was on-board for the ride.  Thanks Rick, and Congratulations!

Excerpts from forbes.com (December 11, 2012), sbnation.com (December 13, 2012), thepostgame.com (January 30, 2013), "A Voice Crying in the Wilderness" by Tony Kornheiser, Sports Illustrated, April 25, 1983 and "A Spendid Warrior Who Know His Onions" by Ron Fimrite, Sports Illustrated, May 9, 1977, and "When Golden State Glittered" by Pat Putnam, Sports Illustrated (October 27, 1975).   

One Shot at Glory vs. Sustained Success

Of course, all eyes are now on the Super Bowl in two weeks time.  It is a media event, a grand spectacle that captures the imagination of an entire nation every year.

But, make no mistake.  The NFC Championship Game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Atlanta Falcons was a great game, particularly for students of the game.  Only one team could represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, but I believe that both franchises have the opportunity for sustained success, competitive excellence and a long championship-quality rivalry. What did we learn from this outstanding game?  What really happened?  What will happen in the future?

Confidence is an extremely fragile thing for individuals and teams alike. How a team responds to losses of this type and magnitude can easily dictate the short- and long-range future of a franchise. How losses are analyzed and interpreted can make or break a team. How players and coaches react to the criticism from fans and the media can have a profound influence on the mindset and culture of a franchise.  Confidence can be enhanced or self-esteem issues can be created by what the players and coaches do with their post-season assessment and learning that is done in the off-season.

Both team must be able to see this game as a stepping stone to greatness, evidence of success, an indicator of excellence and a valuable learning opportunity.  Regardless of the outcome of the Super Bowl, both teams can build upon this superb season and improve.

It is likely that we will see the future Super Bowl champion as "the winner" and their opponent as "the loser."  These labels can be deadly to teams, whose winning chemistry is fleeting and fragile at best. Many will look at the newly crowned winner with admiration and respect; and the other as a complete failure, an embarrassment to their city, their division and their conference, unworthy of its position as the representative of said group.  Additionally, it is a mistake to look superficially at the stylistic differences in the quarterbacks, the offensive and defensive schemes and packages, the coaching and players personalities and style.  Jumping to conclusions about the validity of one's team's characteristics, strategy, culture and philosophy over another can be highly misleading.

For example, the Falcons' head coach, Mike Smith, is often seen as a stoic, low-key leader who maintains a calm demeanor.  The loss to the 49ers will shine a critical light on these coaching characteristics and many will scoff at his style and personality.  Also likely is the notion that his outward game face contributed to the loss.

One the other hand, Jim Harbaugh, the 49er head coach, is a high-energy, frenetic, volatile bundle of emotion and hyperactivity.  In the glow of a 49er win, it will be argued that Harbaugh's approach is more effective; a flavor of the month, prerequisite coaching style of the future and a necessary ingredient for success. That would be wrong.  Obviously, both styles can (and do) work and neither should be changed or copied.

Despite the loss, the Falcon's offense has become a highly talented, precise, well-oiled machine that seems highly structured and controlled.  The entire team led the league with the fewest penalties and penalty yards this year, suggestive of a highly disciplined and focused team.  This team is just right for the New South, the steel and glass of an upscale Atlanta.   The loss to San Francisco could alter this perception and create a need for change when little is needed.  

By contrast, the 49ers are characterized by an aggressive, explosive, athletic, and star-studded defense.  A caffeinated team like this accurately reflects an undisciplined and unbridled franchise. This style may perfectly suit a West Coast, Silicon Valley team.  Offensively, Colin Kaepernick, who won the starting quarterback job from steady veteran, Alex Smith, is the epitome of that loose, freewheeling approach.  Smith has always been  seen as the opposite of Kaepernick: a game manager who despite his effectiveness was seen as a liability as a quarterback of a championship team.  However, true or false, the Kaepernick-influenced 49ers style works for them and would not necessary work in other situations with different personnel.

Even if the 49ers lose in the Super Bowl, their recipe for success has been established.

The conference championship game was a viciously fought battle between a proud franchise with a history of winning and a rebuilt franchise learning to win one step at a time.  However, neither franchise had approached this level of competitiveness and success since the mid-1990.  The proud 49ers are 5-0 overall in their Super Bowl appearances and eager to have the opportunity to win a sixth.  Over the past half-decade, the Falcons has slowly but surely developed into a regular season, home field juggernaut that has only recently won its first playoff game with this core of management, coaches and players.

The Falcons' quarterback, Matt Ryan, played two wonderful halves of football, one in the Division Playoff against the Seattle Seahawks, and one in the the first half of the 49er game.  His precision and surgical-like dissection of the defenses in each game was impressive, masterful and highly effective.  He led the Falcons to seemly insurmountable leads in each game.  In the first half of each game, he appeared in full control of an explosive offense.  Ryan displayed a gift for execution and technical abilities found in few quarterbacks.  Critics of Ryan point to his inability to run effectively or improvise on the fly as a fatal weakness, especially in contrast to Kaepernick.

What the Falcons seemed to lack after halftime in each contest was the flexibility and the ability to make adjustments that would allow them to continue to dominate the game.  It appeared that they succumbed to the natural tendency toward complacency that often follows short-term success.  They shifted to an mentality that focused on the avoidance of losing rather than winning.  This mindset prevented them from finishing the game with a flourish. They became tentative, cautious, and protective; wishing for the game to end as it were.    Rather than keeping the pedal to the metal, they rode the brakes.

In contrast, it appeared that the 49ers second-year quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, was more flexible, more resilient, more creative, with a greater capacity to adjust to the evolving game conditions.  His ability create a balanced threat to run or pass kept the Falcons defensive on their heels, particularly in the second half.  The fatigue this created within the Falcons' defense was a key to the 49er victory (as well as the Seahawks' impressive comeback).  The victory was a team victory attributable to many facets and factors beyond the young man in the quarterback slot.  A win or a loss in the Super Bowl should not blind the 49ers to their strengths, build over time and attributable to much hard work.

From this game, the Falcons can learn and improve simply by learning to adapt and finish.  They were able to close out games and win in close (sometime ugly) games in the regular season but seemed to wilt under the increasing and extreme championship pressure of the playoffs.  It would be too easy, to place excessive, confidence killing blame on Matt Ryan for this loss.  It would be equally unfair to point toward a porous defense or an ineffective offensive running game for the loss.  The Falcons' performance must be seen within the context of a highly successful regular season, and two almost perfect halves of playoff football against highly competitive and excellent opponents.

Despite a season of objective success, losing in the playoffs is often followed by intense criticism, second-guessing, loud calls for complete overhauls of coaching staffs and player personnel, and knee-jerk reactions.  Questioning of commitment, effort, talent, excessive age or youth is prevalent during the off-season.  Despite the fact that only two NFL teams have achieved more this season, the Falcons and their AFC counterpart in so-called failure, the New England Patriots, are being raked over the coals.

Regardless of the outcome of the Super Bowl, all the Final Four participants, the Falcons, Patriots, 49ers and Ravens would do well to carefully and logically assess their seasons, keep their wits about them, and avoid panic and overreaction to celebrate and build on a job well done.  Only in this way, can each franchise capitalize on the hard work and success of this incredible NFL season.  They must cultivate a mentally tough mindset that keeps them on the road to sustainable championship-caliber contention for the long term.    


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Newly Confident Sloane Stephens Upsets Serena Williams

“Last night I was thinking about it. And someone asked me, ‘Do you think you can win?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I think so.’ But I wasn’t too clear about it, and this morning when I got up I was like, ‘Dude, you can do this. Go out and play and do your best.’ ”

 --Sloane Stephens, female professional tennis player, after upsetting Serena Williams in the 2013 Australian Open.

Stephens snapped Williams' 20-win streak 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 in two hours and 17 minutes. Stephens has never won a title of any kind. She beat the best player in the world to reach the semi-finals in Melbourne. She will meet Victoria Azarenka. She is the first American teenager to reach a semi-final of a grand slam event since Serena at the U.S. Open in 2001.

Excerpts from nytimes.com and theguardian.com (1/23/2013).

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The Origins of the Creative Flow State (VIDEO)

In his classic New Yorker article published in 2000, The Art of Failure, Malcolm Gladwell made the distinction between "choking" and "panicking"  He emphasized the notion that choking is the act of thinking too much, while panicking is thinking too little. Obviously, neither act is conducive to peak performance, success or excellence.

Perhaps, the probability of choking is increased by overpreparation, while the probability of panicking is increased by the lack of preparation.  It could also arise from fear produced by the emerging awareness of the lack of preparation or the perception of threat or failure based on a lack of preparation.

Freestyle is a style of rap, with instrumental beats, in which rap lyrics are improvised,  i.e. performed with no previously composed lyrics, or "off the top of the head".  The improvisational nature of freestyle is similar to that of jazz.  This quality is likely to create the the impression in many people that there is not considerable preparation or discipline involved.

Relatedly, Allen Braun, the chief of the language section of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), said that the same cognitive functions displayed during freestyle rap are used by athletes.

”If an athlete starts paying attention to what they’re doing, how they’re going to move their body to catch a ball, they’ll clutch and they won’t do it.”

He is not wrong; however, there is more to freestyle than meets the eye.  The ability to improvise is based on extreme amounts of practice, intense preparation, and even a great deal of study and analysis.  The skill of improvisation could not be mastered without hours of trial and error, practice, and diligent rehearsal.  At that point, effective improvisation can occur.

Similarly, only through this preparation can athletes perform and improvise as the situations evolve on the field, court, or track.

Many creative endeavors are mistakenly seen as simple acts of expression or manifestations of raw talent that need very little cultivation or development.  In fact, the opposite is true.

The creative process involved in freestyle is crucial for successful rapping. The creative process requires a state of consciousness where we experience a task so deeply that it truly becomes enjoyable and satisfying.  Excellence and success in rapping is often a result of Flow or the Flow State, first identified and popularized by the work of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.  He is the universally hailed as the father of Flow and after decades of researching the characteristics of the “optimal experience”  he wrote Flow: The Psychology of the Optimal Experience.  Freestyle is a great example of importance of Flow as an ingredient for success.

The popular rapper, Eminem,  brought freestyle to the masses in the film "8-Mile,"  Eminem, along with Lil' Wayne, is considered by many to be the pre-eminent freestyle rapper today.  In an interview above, Eminem, displays the deep understanding and passion, the spontaneity, and the raw emotion that are the foundation of improvisation.  Here he describes his history and approach to freestyle.  As the interview evolves, he mentions several important key elements in development of his particular style and his ability to improvise.  These elements have important implications in their application to any performance situation or opportunity.  These elements also are a source of creativity.  

• Initial failure, disappointment and/or rejection.
• A period of disenchantment or quitting the activity altogether.
• Re-emergence from failure or quitting.
• Re-dedication or obsession with activity
• Motivation and challenge of "figuring out the puzzle."  
• Strong need to study, study, study (mastery of the craft through practice and analysis).
• Appreciation of those who have gone before him.  
• Discovery that this is "what I want to do with my life."
• Activity provides individual a source of strength, a voice, emotional outlet, or a means of expression.
• Provides a sense of belonging, teamwork, and/or comraderie (though, it can be an extremely solitary endeavor at times).     

It is clear that the seminal experiences that Eminem described were the necessary ingredients for him to learn his craft, ultimately, perform at a high level and receive the critical and popular acclaim that he has received in the past decade.  Thus, successful improvisation and creativity are products of hours and hours of intense and focused preparation.

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/458510/rappers-brain-in-flow-researchers-study-science-of-creativity-by-watching-freestyle-rap/#FFl7WvrDpsVom5D1.99

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Russell Wilson, Rookie QB, Loves the Pressure

“I love it when the game is on the line, when everyone else is nervous and I’m excited.” 

--Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks rookie quarterback, discussing his mindset with under pressure.

Wilson played the game of his life in the NFC Divisional Playoffs against the Atlanta Falcons. Down 20-0 at halftime, Wilson lead the Seahawks to a comeback in which they led 28-27 with 31 seconds left in the game. Although, the Falcons kicked a game-winning field goal to defeat the Seahawks, Wilson was already looking forward to next season.

“The greatest thing about it is, we get to look forward to the next opportunity,” Wilson said.

Wilson passed for 385 yards on 24 for 36 passing, his career high, in his second playoff game.   Wilson completed the first 10 passes of the second half and rushed for 60 yards in the game.  The passing total was the highest in history for any rookie quarterback in an NFL playoff game.  

Wilson, an unheralded third-round draft choice, emphasized the Seahawks' resilience in coming back. "What defined the game was our attitude," Wilson said. "The way we played, and our resilient focus to play the game at a high level for the rest of the game.

"Anybody watching this game that knows football knows that was an unbelievable comeback, unbelievable game and an unbelievable atmosphere against a very, very good football team in the Atlanta Falcons."

Excerpts from nytimes.com, bleacherreport.com and seattletimes.com (January 13, 2013).

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Joe Flacco Has The Ravens Believing in Him

“When you lose three straight, people look at the quarterback, that’s part of the job. I think a lot is made and sometimes it really isn’t that much, and it’s not my job to really listen to [the criticism], so I don’t. … I believe in myself. I believe in this team.”

--Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens Quarterback, who leads the Ravens today against the Indianapolis Colts in an AFC wild-card game, despite a current three game losing streak. 

Flacco has displayed resiliency as a fifth-year quarterback. He has now led the Ravens to AFC North titles in back-to-back seasons, and has another shot at a playoff run.

The Ravens have won at least one playoff game each year since Flacco became their starting quarterback as a rookie in 2008, and they are going back to the postseason this year. His individual performances, however, haven’t matched his team’s success.

Over his career, Flacco has only completed 60.5 percent of his passes in regular-season action, and has thrown at least 10 interceptions per season. His postseason numbers are even worse.

While he has won five playoff games in four seasons, he has completed just 54.3 percent of his passes for 170.2 yards per game in nine career playoff games, and has an even number of touchdowns and interceptions thrown with eight apiece.

In spite of his overall success, Flacco is not seen as an elite quarterback by many critics. This year Flacco was the 12th-ranked passer in the NFL with 22 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and 3,817 yards.Though, it is doubtful that the Ravens would be back in the playoffs without his leadership.

 “I think it says that he’s a very good quarterback, number one,” Head Coach John Harbaugh said. “It also says that he has a lot of determination, a lot of pride, and he was able to handle that. That’s probably the biggest thing. You have to have thick skin, skin like an armadillo.”

His teammates spoke highly of what Flacco was able to do with his back against the wall.

“I’ve always said that he’s handled the pressure better than anybody I’ve ever seen,” running back Ray Rice said. “He’s done a great job handling it – and as I said, we go as Joe goes.”


“I think Joe plays big every week,” tight end Ed Dickson added. “When Joe is in the zone, he looks like one of the best quarterbacks out there. We told him as an offensive group that we have his back. … I think Joe stepped up big and he showed a little emotion today.”

 It appears that the Ravens have committed to have Flacco as their long-term quarterback. He is in the last year of his contract and many expect him to re-sign with the Ravens.

 "In terms of arm talent, he's a top five guy," Rich Gannon, pro football analyst says. "For a 6-6, 245 guy, he's very athletic. The question for Joe is about stepping up — with Ray Lewis retiring, Joe is going to have to step outside his comfort zone and be more demanding of teammates, play more of a demonstrative leadership role."


Excerpts from Bleacher Report.com (12/17/2012), USA Today (1/4/2013), ESPN.com.



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Ricky Rubio Works to Get Back to the Court

“It’s everything. I want to improve in everything. I know I can do good things. I can do it even better. I want to improve my skills like passing, like dribbling, like scoring, like leading the team.”

"I just want to be better."--Ricky Rubio, 22-year old point guard for the Minnesota Timberwolves, who was injured in March of this year.

Rubio is working hard to return to his spectacular rookie form and beyond. He is tenacious and like all highly successful professional athletes has a great degree of perseverance and determination. He has the willingness to fight through the difficult and slow process of rehabilitation. He is willing to endure the pain, suffering and hard work to get back to the status he reached last year, his first in the NBA. He is committed to being the best he can be through hard work and sacrifice. He has a continuous improvement mentality that requires him to focus on the day-to-day task of getting better, step-by-step. He pushes himself and does not let up.

Would you work this hard to rehabilitate and improve? 

Excerpts from Grantland.com (December 5, 2012), article by Joan Niesen, "The Place for Doubt in the Celebrated Return of Ricky Rubio"; and the book, Razor Thin:  The Difference Between Winning and Losing by Luis F. Valdes (2012). 

You Suck!: The Pressure to Win Immediately, Win Always, and Win Forever

NOTE: Today, as I write this blog, it was reported that Kansas City Chiefs football player, Jovan Belcher, killed his girlfriend and then turned a gun on himself at the Chiefs' training facility. He proceeded to kill himself. This is the fourth current or former NFL player to have commited suicide in the past eight months.  

Though, we do not yet know the circumstances behind this tragedy nor can we make a case for any specific factor contributing to this apparent murder-suicide, the Chiefs are 1-10 and mired in an eight-game losing streak that has been marked by devastating injuries and fan upheaval, with constant calls the past few weeks for GM Scott Pioli and Head Coach Romeo Crennel to be fired. The situation has been so bad this season that Crennel fired himself as defensive coordinator.

The Chiefs lead the league in turnovers, cannot settle on a starting quarterback and are dealing with a full-fledged fan rebellion. The Twitter account for a fan group known as Save Our Chiefs recently surpassed 80,000 followers, about 17,000 more than the announced crowd at a recent game.

With this as the back drop and lead-in to my post, I am disturbed by another (and, perhaps related) significant trend in sports.

The Los Angeles Lakers fired Mike Brown on November 9 from his position as head coach after a 1-4 start.  Under Brown, the Lakers struggled to an unacceptable 0-3 start, the first time the Lakers have done so since 1978-79, the season before Jerry Buss bought the team.

Brown began his tenure as coach at the start of the 2011-12 season, leading Los Angeles to a 41-25 record (.621 win percentage) in the lockout-shortened 66-game season. The Lakers suffered a second-round exit from the NBA playoffs in a five-game loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Lakers were expected to make a big improvement over last year with the offseason acquisitions of Dwight Howard, Steve Nash, and Antawn Jamison.  However, Howard is getting back to normal following back surgery; while Nash has been out much of the season with an injured leg.  Jamison began the season languishing on the bench. 

Since hiring Mike D'Antoni to replace Brown, the Lakers are 3-4; not a great improvement. The Lakers do not look significantly better after the change and in some ways look worse. Though Dwight Howard is looking better, Nash is still out.  Did Brown deserve such a quick hook?     

On November 25, 2012, Gene Chisik, Head Coach of the Auburn University football team, was fired. Chisik, with Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton as his quarterback, led the Tigers to the BCS national championship in 2010. However, things turned around quickly. Auburn completed its worst season in 60 years two Saturdays ago.

Auburn finished 3-9 overall and 0-8 in the SEC, its worst conference record ever. Chizik was fired immediatelyafter losing to Alabama 49-0. Auburn must buy out Chizik's contract for $7.5 million. Have Chisik's skills eroded so quickly? Is he no longer the coach he used to be? 

"I’m extremely disappointed with the way this season turned out and I apologize to the Auburn family and our team for what they have had to endure," Chizik said in a statement. He added, "When expectations are not met, I understand changes must be made."   Really?  Does Auburn deserve more? 

Three weeks ago, the San Francisco 49ers replaced their quarterback, Alex Smith who possessed a a league-leading 70% completion rate and a fourth-in-the-NFC 104.1 quarterback rating. Smith led the 49ers to a 13-3 regular season record, and a berth in the NFC championship game last season. He was benched for a second year QB Colin Kaepernick after suffering a concussion. On Sunday, with Kaepernick at the helm, the 49ers were upset by the Seattle Seahawks. The 49ers are 8-3-1 at this point in the season.  

Finally, the San Antonio Spurs were fined $250,000 for keeping four starters out of a scheduled game with the Miami Heat this week. The players were not only keep from playing, but sent home by the team to rest. NBA Commissioner David Stern fined the team and issued this statement: “I apologize to all N.B.A. fans. This was an unacceptable decision by the San Antonio Spurs and substantial sanctions will be forthcoming.”

Spurs' Head Coach Gregg Popovich maintained that “my priority is my basketball team and what’s best for it.” Popovich has done this before, without being fined, when he felt resting his players would be beneficial in the long run. Obviously, Stern felt that the pursuit of a win in one game was more important for the integrity of the league than for the championship pursuits of one team. 

What are we to make of these firings, benchings, and fines?   My take is that the sports world is reflecting the win now and win at all costs of our society. Despite a lack of evidence that any of these actions would be improve these teams, these decisions were made. Each decision was costly, but was made with immediate improvement as the desired outcome. None of the decisions seem to make any real difference, especially when seen in the short-run, which is why the changes were ostensibly made.

Are our expectations and standards as fans, administrators, commissioners, teams and players unrealistic?  Is our winner take all mentality all out of whack?  I think so. 

Should we strive for success and excellence?  Of course.  Should we expect maximum effort?  Surely.  But, do we deserve and demand perfection?  Is winning everything, all the time?  Our evidence and experience should tell us that we can't attain it or sustain it.  More importantly, this mindset is counterproductive, and, perhaps, unhumane. 

Exerting excessive pressure to win now, win always, win forever doesn't necessarily improve performance, in the short or long-run. More importantly, both the short- and long-range implications (selfish play, inconsistent performances, lack of teamwork, excessive emphasis on money, loyalty, drug use, cheating, etc.) are much more costly.  It's time to reflect and look closely at our values and expectations of ourselves, but more importantly, of others.

What kind of perfectionistic expecations and standards are you harboring?     

Excerpts from businessinsider.com, nytimes.com, AL.com, and aol.sportingnews.com/ 

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The San Francisco Giants Make Their Luck as a Team

“It’s amazing what a team can do when they set aside their own agenda and that’s what they’ve done all year.  Really, it’s been a beautiful thing to watch.  The only thing that bothered me through all this was that I kept hearing people say we were lucky. We were getting the breaks, the bounces.  You don’t luck into 94 wins.  You don’t luck into the postseason.  You don’t luck into the World Series.  You don’t sweep a great team like the Detroit Tigers by being lucky.”

--Bruce Bochy, San Francisco Giants' manager, discussing how the Giants won their second World Series in 24 months.

The Giants are World Series champions because of their emphasis on pitching excellence. This emphasis is truly important in the postseason where hot bats can rarely be counted upon. However, perhaps more importantly, they value team play as well.

“We’ll still keep a low profile. That’s who we are as people. That’s who we are as an organization.
We don’t promote ourselves. That won’t change. That will never change.”

--Giants' general manager Brian Sabean.

Are you a team player?  Are you selfless?  Can you describe your team or organization like the Giants describe their championship team?  Do you hire selfless people who can set aside their own agenda?  Can you achieve excellence any other way? 



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Mental Conditioning is About Focus, and Freshness

“I think any time you get that break, it can be a good thing if it’s utilized properly. I think there definitely was a sense of relief from all of us – coaches and players – of just not having a game-plan last week, and having the whole mental pressure of coming up with a game-plan, and each day thinking about game-plans and adjustments. … The weight of studying for a final exam, if you will. You’re grinding through a week of preparation and then you go for the final exam. After you’ve had eight of those, it’s nice to have a week where you don’t have to study, you don’t have to game-plan, and you don’t have a final exam. You don’t have all the mental adjustments you have to go through. Now this week, we’re back into that and hopefully we have a little bit of a freshness, or a better approach to it than that after eight weeks of doing it.”

--Bill Belichick, head coach of the New England Patriots, following a mid-season bye week.

Mental conditioning is certainly about focus and intensity, but is it also about staying fresh and combating mental, emotional and physical fatigue. 

Do you take regular, systematic, structured breaks to recharge?  Do you find your thinking more creative, more effective after a break?

Make sure that you plan downtime.  Make sure that you are not just escaping or procrastinating.  Give yourself permission to take a break to recharge the batteries.  Escape and procrastinating is not as satisfying as a structured, planful break to decompress. 

Bill Belichick understands this as well as anyone.  Belichick has taken his team to 5 Super Bowls and won 3 of them. 

Excerpt for ESPNBoston.com (11/6/2012).

Razor Thin: The Difference Between Winning and Losing (VIDEO)

Razor Thin: The Difference Between Winning and Losing

Matt Ryan's Resilience Keeps Falcons Flying

"What's impressed me more than anything is probably his resiliency of not playing our best the last two weeks and still being able to have success and get the outcome that we wanted. His ability to handle those types of situations is impressive. He's had 18 fourth-quarter comebacks in four years and six games. Matt, he's a guy that doesn't get rattled easily. You've got to have that. He's a calming influence across the board for the entire team."

--Mike Smith, head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, talking about quarterback Matt Ryan's mindset and leadership.

The Atlanta Falcons are the only undefeated football team in the NFL after a last second field goal defeated the Oakland Raiders on Sunday afternoon. 

Excerpt from "Ryan shows he knows how to win" by Ashley Fox, 10/12/2012, ESPN.com.

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Alex Rodriguez Shows Leadership

"I couldn’t be happier for Raul.  Ten years ago, I might have reacted differently. I admit I might not have taken it as well. But I have matured. I told Joe when he came to me that he had to do exactly what he felt he had to do." 

--Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees All-Star, celebrating a winning home run by the Raul Ibanez, who replaced him in the lineup in the ninth inning.  

Wednesday night in the Game Four of their best-of-five American League division series with the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium, with the New York Yankees behind and facing a 2-1 series deficit, Alex Rodriguez saw Yankees Manager Joe Girardi walking toward him.  It was the ninth inning, the Yankees were trailing by a run, and Rodriguez had gone 0 for 3 in the game, with two strikeouts.  Girardi told Rodriguez that he was going to replace him with Raul Ibanez, a pinch hitter.
Ibanez tied the game, 2-2, with a home run to right field. Perhaps surprisingly to many people, Rodriguez was the first Yankee to greet Ibanez at the top step of the dugout after he rounded the bases.

Then, in the 12th inning, Ibanez did it again, winning the game, 3-2, with a second homer.

Asked if he was insulted by Girardi’s decision or if he would harbor any hard feelings, Rodriguez shook his head.

“No, no way,” he answered. “I’m one of the leaders of this team now. It’s about winning. We won; I’m pleased. Whatever it takes.”

Excerpts from nytimes.com (October 11, 2012), "Slumping in Middle of Lineup, Rodriguez Is Center of Attention" by Bill Pennington.   

Has Lionel Messi Got the Right Idea?

"I prefer to win titles with the team ahead of individual awards or scoring more goals than anyone else.  I am more worried about being a good person than being the best football player in the world. When all this is over, what are you left with?  When I retire, I hope I am remembered for being a decent guy. I like to score goals but I also like to have friends among the people I have played with."

--Lionel Messi, considered by many to be the best soccer player in the world.  

Messi has won three consecutive world Player of the Year awards and may win a fourth in 2012 after scoring a record 73 goals last season.

Excerpt from nytimes.com "Messi Wants More Than Just Accolades" (Reuters, 10/1/2012).

QB Geno Smith's Vision is Artful

“His visions of things have always been beyond his years."
--Tracey Sellers said of her son, Geno Smith.

Smith is West Virginia’s quarterback and a serious Heisman Trophy contender for the ninth-ranked Mountaineers (4-0), who beat host No. 25 Baylor 70-63 on Saturday. Smith had a remarkable, video game-like 656 yards passing. He was 45 for 51 and threw for 8 touchdowns.

“On the field, he’s visualizing,” his mother said. “It’s like a puzzle, his masterpiece."

On-the-field vision requires sharp visual acuity but also requires much more.

Quarterbacks must see the field in three dimensions, in real time, as well as like in a chess match. A great quarterback also must see and anticipate several moves and plays in advance throughout the game.

Excerpt for nytimes.com (09/29/2012) "West Virginia Displays the Art of Quarterbacking" by Tim Rohan.

Watch the highlights and interview with Geno Smith below.

Robinson Cano Can't Remember, and That's Good

“I’ve been struggling with men on base.  You just go out there every game, every at-bat, and forget about what happened in the past.”

--Robinson Cano, New York Yankee second baseman.

One of the most useful mental conditioning techniques that elite athletes use is the ability to quickly get past a mistake or error quickly.  During game conditions, it is highly valuable to be able to erase, recover, and move on.

Although you want to be able to learn from your mistakes, often game situations are not the place to dwell or analyze.  The time to analyze and evaluate is through debriefing and videotape sessions scheduled after one's competition is over.

As Robinson Cano emphasizes, a poor memory is perhaps the best tool that a hitter can utilize. Despite a recent slump, Cano's "poor" memory has allowed him to hit 30 home runs, knock in 82 runs, and hit for an average of .297 with 177 hits.

In addition, the Yankees are leading their division and have the second best record in the American League.  

Quote from nytimes.com (9/27/2012).  "With  Swisher and Cano, It's Trust and Symmetry" by Pat Borzi.

Patience Leads to Success

“You never drop a ball you take the time to catch.”
--Hall of Fame receiver Fred Biletnikoff of the Oakland Raiders.

Your success is highly dependent upon the quality of your execution. It is not always the quantity or speed of your actions that breeds success. Excellence is about the precision of your actions. Are you always rushed? When others ask how you are, do you usually tell people that you are "crazy busy?" For many, that may be impressive or a badge of courage.

However, you may be sabotaging your success by being too concerned with speed and not concerned enough with proper planning and execution.

Slow down and get more quality in your performance. You might even get some more satisfaction out of your life.

Try it.

Quotation taken from nytimes.com (09/22/2012), "Jets Rookie Wide Receiver Is in a New World of Zigs and Zags" by Ben Shpigel.

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