Basketball

Well, at least the season is almost over.

I think one of the take-home lessons from the team/season is that you should be careful getting competitive people together without clearly defined goals, no matter how minor the event is. Even if you're getting together to play pickup, you want to discuss what level of pickup you'll be playing and how seriously everyone take the outcome. Sure, you can go and attempt to determine all of that by feel, but then you'll end up with something like my basketball team.

We all talk about winning games and how much fun it is, but none of us plays solely in a fashion that maximizes our chances of winning. If we were doing that, there would be 3 options on offense, no more (I'm not one of the) and everyone else would focus on getting those guys good shots, not turning the ball over, rebounding and playing defense. Those three players who should be shooting would work to get the ball in situations where they would succeed. You can motivate selfless acts by your teammates by converting the opportunities that their actions give you. Success breeds happiness.

The thing about this team is that we had players who felt they should stay in all game despite it being a thrown together team in order to increase our chances of winning. Frankly, they're right. But there were definitely players on the team whose goals for the season were things other than "winning." These goals were dismissed by the "win" crowd while the goal of winning with our team (at the expense of essentially even playing time for everyone) was dismissed by the "equal pt" crowd.

Of course, as so often happens with men who need to prove themselves, no one ever talked about it. I'm pretty sure I could have been the person to bring it up, but I didn't feel comfortable with that full leadership role since I didn't know anyone on the team save for a fellow ultimate player I brought in to round out the numbers. (Turns out he was one of our top 3 players)

In any case, the season has been fun despite my frustrations. Basketball is still a fantastic sport. I just wish someone had stepped up and taking the reigns a bit. Just a little guidance and direction. We had a nominal captain, but he seemed to be a figurehead for the no one who were actually in charge.

If you actually care about your team, set clear goals and determine how you plan to reach those goals.

I'm happy the ultimate season is warming up...
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Workout total:
40 Minutes Baketball