Through the Lense of Intention

Through the Lense of Intention

This week felt long and tiring, but purposeful.

Our practice load was up.

We played more and we lifted more.

A wild travel and game day wrapped into one.

A Portuguese island that has more cows than people.

My first double-double of the season.

(VLOG for this crazy game day coming next Sunday)

Another week full of progression and I give the credit to intention.

Why I Do This:

I think this message says enough. I do this for you guys and it means the world when you guys share with me how it impacts you.

“ur content it’s a must in our world”…. makes me smile…

I’m going to add a section next week where I respond to some of the messages I get on IG or through this newsletter. Feel free to ask away!

Basketball Ideas I’ve Been Experimenting With

Playing Off My Shot

In last week’s newsletter I talked about close out reads and the importance of quick decision making and dynamic footwork. After rereading, I think I missed the most basic and yet most important point of any closeout read: look to shoot first.

Whenever you catch the ball on offense, the first thing you have to do is look at the rim and see if you have a shot. You should be thinking that you are going to shoot the ball every time you catch it. Now do you actually shoot the ball every time? Obviously not, but now, the defense has to respect you as a threat.

Once that happens, you can make the next reads, but the next reads can’t be clean and clear if you don’t first force the defense to respect your shot.

I feel like this needed to be said because I know that when I am overthinking or hesitating when I catch the ball, it is because I am forgetting this first decision. Hoopers tend to want to learn the complicated second and third reads, when in reality if you master the first read and are able to do it at an incredible pace that may be all you need…

Sophistication is in simplification.

Can I shoot it? Yes or no.

Then play from here… don’t skip this question, it keeps the defense honest.

Catch and fire.

Float/Skip/Lift Dribble

The team we played this weekend played a “Drop” pick and roll coverage. This means that when I would come off the ball screen from our 5-man, the defending big would back pedal from the level of the screen in hopes of contesting the pull-up jumper, but also controlling the roll from our 5-man. In my opinion this is the perfect time for a float, skip, lift dribble (whatever you want to call it).

It gives you a split second to read where the big is most vulnerable. This hesitation gives you control over the situation. He’s too high, you throw the lob, he’s too far back you pull-up for the jumper. It makes the decision much more clear.

I know I show his videos often, but I think Coleman Ayers with By Any Means Basketball is one of the best teachers of the game right now. Here he does a quick breakdown of the float or lift dribble:

Now I have this skip dribble pretty locked down in my game, but due to the matchup and what I knew I would experience in the game, I workshopped it a bit more this week in practice. I put in extra reps without defense first early in the week. As the week went by, I would consciously use it every time I would be in a pick and roll situation. By the end of the week, I was more than comfortable in these situations.

I absolutely destroyed in my pick and roll situations in my game ending with a season-high of 10 assists. Keep an eye out for the video breakdown in next Sunday’s vlog and see if you can notice my skip dribbles.

Experiment with this in your own training, it should help make pick and roll reads much simpler and less rushed.

Mindset Ideas I’ve Been Workshopping

Overwhelming Gratitude

Multiple times this week in random moments, I would get hit with this overwhelming feeling of gratitude. It was this intense feeling of, “I am so lucky to live this life with these amazing people. I appreciate this.” One of the times I was watching my wife belting out Taylor Swift in the car as the sun was setting over the tan rooftops of Odivelas, Portugal. The other was when I was walking my two pups around the block with a warm cup of fresh pour over coffee in my hand. Two moments, yes, but more so two moments where I felt uncomfortably thankful.

These moments made me ask some leading questions:

What does it look like to exist from this feeling of gratitude?

Could I play basketball from this place of gratitude?

How would that feel?

What I found was that it’s impossible to always operate from this center of gratitude, but you can increase the amount of moments you do simply through little reminders. When I reminded myself and was conscious of my gratitude perspective, my days, but also my basketball trainings were head and shoulders more fulfilling, vibrant and purposeful. I found myself more “motivated”, energized, and all-around more capable of locking in on what was right in front of me.

I am definitely going to continue to emphasize gratitude in my daily grind of the basketball season because very quickly it did not feel like a grind anymore.

I encourage you to try it as well.

Familiarity Breeds Boredom

I live a very unique lifestyle full of lots of new experiences and wild adventures, but beneath that are a lot of days that look pretty similar. I have to work like everybody else, but my job just happens to be basketball. I have the same commute to work every day, but instead of an office building its a basketball arena. What I am getting at is that even as a pro basketball player my life gets repetitive.

As I grind out the daily repetitiveness of the basketball season, sometimes I feel myself getting too comfortable. I can feel myself going through the motions and less engaged both in my training but also just my life in general. Repetition can lead to boredom if you allow it…

As athlete’s pursuing excellence in our craft and our life, we can’t get bored with the process and we can’t only be engaged when things are exciting and new.

So what is the solution?

For me, I’ve found I need to do two things to avoid this pitfall of boredom.

1. Search for growth opportunities.

   Just because something is familiar does not mean that there is nothing more to get out of it. Often when we begin to be comfortable with a situation, we assume that our learning is done. Not true. Hunt growth and feel how fulfilling it is to constantly pursue more. I have found it very easy to be engaged with basketball practice and life when I am actively searching for new and fresh ways to level myself up.

2. Get some perspective

   When I feel myself disengaging with basketball, the solution is usually found somewhere in the remembrance of how blessed I am to still be playing. It is something all hoopers should remind themselves as much as they can. Basketball is a privilege, honor and acknowledge it and your work will become inspired again.

Basketball people love to say guys like Kobe and MJ, “never got bored of the grind” and part of me believes it. What separated them was their constant quest for learning. They knew something could be learned from every repetition no matter how small. Learn, grow and expand every chance you get. I can’t say they never got bored, but I can say they got bored less because their growth mindsets were the best of the best.

What more could you learn from your current basketball situation?

Double YouTube Drop!

Part 2 of the Sporting Week VLOG dropped this week. If you want some in-depth game breakdown of our rivalry game, then check it out.

I also interviewed my wife in hopes of her sharing more of her side of the overseas basketball life story. She does a great job explaining the realities of settling down in new countries every year and how that affects both her and our family.

A Look Into My Days This Week:

@treydrechsel

Basketball practice day in the of an overseas pro hooper!! #basketball #basketballpractice #dayinmylife #ditlofaproathlete #ditlofaprohoop... See more

I’ll Leave You With This:

I sent this a day late.

That pisses me off.

I will be better next week, but my growth was the fact I still finished it even though it was not on time.

Old me would of just scrapped it and not sent one this week.

I care too much about growing this community and giving back.

Let’s keep chugging along.

Intentions baby, intentionsssssss.

Trey