Everything is opportunity

I hope everyone reading this is healthy, playing good basketball, and has that fire to improve every day. Whether that is you right now or not, do not worry, simply make the best out of your opportunities TODAY.

This newsletter is one: an opportunity to get better. So, grab a notepad, and let’s push our learning.

Basketball Ideas I’ve Been Experimenting With

Reject, reject again, and reject some more:

What is a reject?

To reject in basketball is to attack away from the “action”, think if the screener is approaching from the middle and you drive baseline away from the screen. Another example would be if a down-screen action is happening on the right side of the court and you attack to the left.

Why reject?

A lot of times when an action is happening, the defense begins to prepare for that action while unintentionally ignoring the most important thing (the basketball). Defenders can get caught off-balance or out of on-ball defensive position in these moments. Also, if you feel like you simply have a 1-on-1 advantage on your defender, attacking away from the action is usually where there is the most space.

Secret of the Reject:

The real power of the reject is simply the threat of it. If you reject one time and you score, then it forces the defense to guard honestly. When they know you are a threat to score at any time, it puts them on their heels and now your design “action” will actually be more effective. Sometimes even simply faking the reject will set up your defender to get caught more on the ball screen or less able to help on the off-ball action. Using the reject is an essential tool in controlling your defender and not allowing them to control you.

This YouTube video from Coach Frikki does a great job breaking down the reject and all its greatness…

The Second Bump

We all know that feeling when somebody “little boys” us in basketball. You know that animation that is viral in the basketball content world, the “you are too small” arm straight down. Yeah, it does not feel good.

This week at practice we did a lot of 1-on-1 closeouts and different isolation defense drills. What I noticed was that on defense, rarely was I really bumped on the attacker’s first step, but on the second step, if I did not close that gap, then the “second bump” would really displace me even if the attacker was smaller. Once I noticed that, I began experimenting with being the aggressor at that sort of suspended moment before the second bump. When I was the one to close that space and initiate the physicality, I controlled the driving lane and really where the attacker was going. I rolled this concept over into my game this weekend and noticed that even with increased physicality on the second bump, the referees never even thought to call the foul on me. I believe it was because on the second bump, both players are essentially initiating contact, so in that moment it gives both sides the clearance to really assert their will physically. I just made sure I was the more physical player.

Now, I also noticed how I was not dominating the second bump offensively. It was clear as day when I watched film of my driving lanes in my last game. I kept leaving space and allowing the defender to close the gap or even just altogether avoiding the contact. I was not getting to my spots and found it hard to really get to the rim. Again, fast forward to this weekend’s game, I actively searched for the second bump and small advantages turned to big ones on my drives because I was not going around my defender, but more or less through.

I controlled the space and I controlled the physicality all because of consciously searching for the “second bump”.

Workshop this idea in your own workouts. Feel free to email me back through here with your findings. I want to expand on this idea…

Mindset Ideas I’ve Been Workshopping

Can you want success too much?

I have very intense ambition to reach my goals in both life and basketball. I care a huge deal to make these goals happen, but lately, I have been noticing that maybe I care too much about them. What I mean by that is that I frequently catch my priorities drifting out of alignment. The moment the result matters more than the process, the result becomes harder to achieve. More importantly, when my goals matter more than how I achieve them, I am sacrificing my development.

If I achieved everything I could have ever desired, but I lost myself, would it have been worth it? Of course not, and this hits directly on the idea that what you do is less important than how you do it. Who you are > What you do. Now I know there will be some toxic success bros that will disagree with me on this. I am already imagining someone reading this and saying, “It does not matter how, just get the job done”. To my core, I disagree. I would rather fail and have done it the right way than succeed and have done it the wrong way. Call me old-fashioned, self-righteous, or whatever, but my creed is:

Greatness in the pursuit of greatness.

I do not believe in greatness no matter the cost. Who you are matters, your soul matters, and I have to remind myself this often, especially when I start caring too much about the results.

This directly applies to basketball. Sometimes we want to make shots so bad that we actually compromise what will help us make shots. We tense up and we try harder when the answer is deep breaths and smoothness. This happens to me often and I think it’s because my ambition gets out of check. I’m working on it, and maybe you should too.

Physical tiredness cannot impact mental sharpness

Your body has its natural limits, but your mind only has the limits you put on. Think about that again and reflect on your own experience… which one is in control, your mind or your body?

I really pushed my workload this week, and I noticed that in each of my second workouts, my mind would flood with excuses when I would have lapses in discipline. Maybe I did not hold a follow through or I went half-ass on a pull-up, my mind kept giving me a pass. Now as I reflect on those moments, I need to not beat myself up about them, but more so recognize them as opportunities, space for growth.

Our reaction to fatigue cannot be excuses and lapses of discipline. We have to be non-negotiable with that voice in our heads.

Stay sharp, when the circumstance wants us to dull because that is a repetition of growth, that is a small step towards our goals.

A Look Into My Days This Week:

@treydrechsel

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I’ll Leave You With This:

Another week of work. A lot of the intentional learning. Just making these newsletters and working through sharing my development as a professional basketball player has forced me to be more conscious. I have found myself searching for a “why?” and a “how can I let this better me?” with everything.

Giving back to you guys is very fulfilling, but it also forces me to be better.

So for that, thank you to you guys for all that you do…

It would mean the world if you guys shared this newsletter with your friends and teammates, lets see how many people we can get on the Atypical movement!