Can Mentality/Approach be unsustainable?

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Can Mentality/Approach be unsustainable? 

Post#1 » by OhayoKD » Sun Sep 11, 2022 11:43 am

We often see players who have outlier shooting seasons be dismissed because they were on an unsustainable hot streak. I'm wondering if this can also be applied to players who approach the game differently for a season but then revert back to their old habits right after.
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Re: Can Mentality/Approach be unsustainable? 

Post#2 » by penbeast0 » Sun Sep 11, 2022 12:59 pm

It can be, isn't necessarily true of course. A player may put more effort in during a contract season, or may focus on defense for a year (see Bob Lanier, 1974 -- cue Owly, lol), or may be featured in an offense under one coach where another coach used him differently.
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Re: Can Mentality/Approach be unsustainable? 

Post#3 » by Im Your Father » Sun Sep 11, 2022 1:09 pm

I feel like Shaq is a prime example of this.
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Re: Can Mentality/Approach be unsustainable? 

Post#4 » by LukaTheGOAT » Sun Sep 11, 2022 10:50 pm

SOME might argue that MJ took a break in the middle of his career, because he needed sometime to recharge and go full throttle with the same intensity before coming back to basketball.
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Re: Can Mentality/Approach be unsustainable? 

Post#5 » by ronnymac2 » Mon Sep 12, 2022 12:58 am

Of course it can be unsustainable. In fact, when it comes to competition at the highest level, most mentalities are unsustainable.

We just lost the greatest competitor in North American team sports history. Bill Russell was so cloaked in success from high school to college to the pros that's it's almost unfathomable how he was capable of coming back year after year to conquer contentment and comfort within. Success is the easiest path to weakness and quit, but we had a man who stared down that path and opted for competition and no excuses every time.

If you make an NBA career of 10 years for yourself, in any era, you are exceptional and will be respected by your peers as a veteran who had discipline and smarts to stay in shape, stay prepared, and be a positive for teams. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James both have careers where if you split their careers in two, they'd each make the HOF twice. 20 years. That's a whole other level of discipline and commitment.

Mentality is generally unsustainable. That's why the exceptions are so notable.
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Re: Can Mentality/Approach be unsustainable? 

Post#6 » by HeartBreakKid » Mon Sep 12, 2022 12:28 pm

Mental energy is still energy, so it can be unsustainable.

Using motor racing as an example, racers become worse in part due to their mentality as they get older. There are physical disadvantages of course but their mentality is usually cited as the biggest reason for their decline.
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Re: Can Mentality/Approach be unsustainable? 

Post#7 » by Ron Swanson » Mon Sep 12, 2022 4:38 pm

I don't see how this is even a question, or have some people become so hyper-focused on data science that we actually try to remove the human element from sports? The "contract year" is certainly a thing for a lot of guys, as is most cases of offensive star players strategically focusing less on the defensive side in order to fully optimize their offensive impact for the benefit of the team. Aging players in much the same way. Winning back-to-back titles is an incredibly difficult achievement even in a "best-of series" sport because athletes and even coaches get complacent and stubborn.
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Re: Can Mentality/Approach be unsustainable? 

Post#8 » by henshao » Mon Sep 12, 2022 4:55 pm

ronnymac2 wrote:Of course it can be unsustainable. In fact, when it comes to competition at the highest level, most mentalities are unsustainable.

We just lost the greatest competitor in North American team sports history. Bill Russell was so cloaked in success from high school to college to the pros that's it's almost unfathomable how he was capable of coming back year after year to conquer contentment and comfort within. Success is the easiest path to weakness and quit, but we had a man who stared down that path and opted for competition and no excuses every time.

If you make an NBA career of 10 years for yourself, in any era, you are exceptional and will be respected by your peers as a veteran who had discipline and smarts to stay in shape, stay prepared, and be a positive for teams. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James both have careers where if you split their careers in two, they'd each make the HOF twice. 20 years. That's a whole other level of discipline and commitment.

Mentality is generally unsustainable. That's why the exceptions are so notable.


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Re: Can Mentality/Approach be unsustainable? 

Post#9 » by OhayoKD » Tue Sep 13, 2022 3:35 am

Ron Swanson wrote:I don't see how this is even a question, or have some people become so hyper-focused on data science that we actually try to remove the human element from sports? The "contract year" is certainly a thing for a lot of guys, as is most cases of offensive star players strategically focusing less on the defensive side in order to fully optimize their offensive impact for the benefit of the team. Aging players in much the same way. Winning back-to-back titles is an incredibly difficult achievement even in a "best-of series" sport because athletes and even coaches get complacent and stubborn.

well then the follow up is...should we treat "mentality" when it's not sustainable like we treat hot streaks?
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Re: Can Mentality/Approach be unsustainable? 

Post#10 » by sp6r=underrated » Tue Sep 13, 2022 5:15 am

Yes, a consistent finding in psychology is personality traits are fairly consistent. So when you see a player try to behave differently than their established pattern of behavior it is reasonable to expect a reversion back to the norm.

As an example, I suspect Kyrie will try to be conscientious this year to get a max contract but I doubt he'll be able to sustain it for the duration of the max contract if he gets one.

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