Attitude Trumps All

[NuggetsWY]

Pre-game or post-game; attitude matters: I've never liked a coach that says something like Malone did after the Warriors game:

“I went into the game knowing that the last three games in four nights we lost in New York and this was double that I knew it would be a factor and that’s part of the NBA,” head coach Michael Malone said post-game. “The chances of us winning tonight were slim to none. The fact that we gave ourselves a chance in the first half, I was proud of that.”

If that's what he believed, the team could probably pickup on that attitude. "Coach doesn't believe we can win, so why bother."

Great coaches might say, "Everyone says we are going to lose and maybe we will, but I refuse to accept that. If they are going to beat us, let's make them earn it. Let's make them gasp for breath and make them know that they were in a battle." If the team tries and loses, a great coach might say, "They were a great team and we knew that, but I'm proud of the effort we made in that second quarter. If we could have maintained that effort, we could have won. Let's learn from this game and next time we play them, let's circle that date on the calendar and be prepared to teach them a lesson; the lesson that we are getting better in every game we play."

I know this, when I was in playing shape, I played until I could barely walk and often day after day. Young players especially can recover quickly, if they are in playing shape. Mental shape is where young players get tired - of course that doesn't count the aches and bruises, but that's what depth is for. Play an injured player for 2 more games and he may miss 2 weeks. Give that same player one or two games off and that might be all he needs to get close to 100%. That's called coaching.

[HoopsMalone]

?