The Here and Now

First two games of the Semi-Finals.

Two big time W’s at home.

My dad got to see me play for the first time in a year.

My family, Carlie, the pups, and my dad, all went back to the States.

This year is coming to a close.

It’s easy to start looking to the summer, but it’s also the worst thing I could do.

I need to be here, locked in, finishing the season strong.

The pull to looking to what is coming is strong, but the need to be present and at my best must be stronger.

With all that, let’s lock in together for 10 minutes or so and get better.

Why I Do This:

This message embodies what it looks like to Live Atypical. She has had a lifelong dream, put in years of work, overcame adversity, reflected on her life, and made a bold decision.

Now who knows if this decision will turn out to be the “right” one or the “wrong” one.

It does not matter.

This whole process of self evaluation and making empowered decisions will translate to every aspect of her life.

This is how you take a hold of your life and your experiences.

The fact I even played a 0.00001% role in this type of self-actualization and personal development makes this worth it.

I am proud of you and wish you all the best.

This is an example to all of you.

Basketball Ideas I’ve Been Experimenting With

My Ideal Defensive Philosophy

I have played a lot, a lot of basketball in my career. A ringing absolute that has been clear the whole time is that the best players play both sides of the basketball (offense and defense). In comparison to offense, I would say defense takes less physical talent, but much more IQ, focus, and grit/toughness. You have to want to play defense and you have to be disciplined in your focus. There is no time or place for mental lapses and sleeping on defense.

I have played for a lot of different coaches with very different defensive systems. Every system is similar in terms of having rules and principles, but the difference has been the rigidity of said rules.

Now let me explain and then I’ll tell you what I think players like best.

Learning a defensive system is not difficult once you grasp the basic principles and identity of the system. For example, a coach may want a high pressure, aggressive system where you harass the dribbler and deny passing lanes or a coach may want a conservative, low risk system, where you try to keep attackers in front and pack the paint. Simply put, a coach will choose the system, define rules that reinforce the system and then expect his players follow the rules.

Fairly straightforward…

In a simple game this makes sense, but basketball is dynamic and much of basketball happens outside of “rules” and structure. When it comes to every defensive system, there are going to be lots of “grey areas”. These are moments where the rules are not directly applicable, where players need to be instinctive and make plays. Grey areas frustrate controlling coaches because they are tough to coach, there isn’t always a clear decision.

Here is my solution to “grey areas” and how I became a good system defender.

The best defensive systems have clear rules on clear actions, but they also encourage problem solving against dynamic actions. A coach that empowers his players to search out solutions to certain actions and is open to feedback produces a hungrier and more tenacious defense. Players that are given this freedom now have to take responsibility when their solution to a ‘grey area’ attack does not work. If you feel responsible for the result rather than being able to blame the coach’s defensive system, then you are more inclined to play harder and be more proactive in finding a workable solution.

Again, this freedom can only be awarded once the foundational rules of the system are dialed in, but even during this initial foundation building, I believe it is essential to encourage problem solving and feedback. No defensive system can stop every attack, but the more buy-in from players the more effective the system.

Rigid rules for rigid actions, freedom and responsibility for solutions to “grey areas”… (My ideal defensive philosophy).

I have always been at least a solid defender simply because I am tough and have a lot of ‘want to’ defensively. I play really hard and it covers up some of my lack of physical gifts (I don’t have the typical condor wingspan that most high level hoopers have).

I made the jump from a solid defender to a high-level defender when I began to look for solutions and not simply run the defensive scheme. Especially in Germany, I had become obsessed about simply running the defensive scheme that I stopped problem solving and stop taking ownership if a certain action was really hurting us. It could not be my fault if I was running the system. It had to be a failure of the system, and that there was the problem.

I did not feel ownership of the system because it became rule following and not problem solving.

I say all this to highlight the importance of ownership on defense for players and to encourage coaches to get creative in finding ways to motivate their defense.

Choose a system, but then let your players take the system to the next level.

Heart of Your Training

With the off-season approaching, I have been taking some time to reflect on how I am currently feeling in terms of my relationship with basketball and how to best structure my training this summer.

These past two summers have been interesting to say the least with both of them ending with an injury popping up right before report date to my new teams. Both times resulted in extremely stressful and high stake months of August that had entire contracts riding on medical results.

I think it’s clearly time to learn…

From my reflection on the last two off-seasons, the glaring problem was my heart going into both offseasons.

What I mean by that is, my sources of motivation and where my emotions were at were both very toxic both summers.

After my third year of my career in Poland, I was depressed, burnt out, and angry. I had a difficult experience with the club, my then fiance (now my beautiful wife), and just my relationship with basketball was bad. I had lost my joy, my drive, and my body was beat down badly.

Going into that summer, I was training off of anger and pain. My mindset was not to develop, but to work so hard the anger and pain would go away. Surprise, surprise, my nagging injury did not heal and zero momentum was gathered going into the next season.

Fast forward to last summer after my fourth year of my career in Germany, I was bitter and filled with resentment after the club had ended my contract after what I felt was a solid season. It was simply business, but I had felt I had given so much to that club that it became personal for me.

Similar to the last summer, I trained off of resentment, insecurity, and bitterness. I felt I needed to make leaps and bounds that summer if I was going to prove them wrong for cutting me. This lead to overtraining, an inability to be present, and just a general sense of anxiety. I was training to prove something to others and not prove it to myself…. a very bad place to be in.

Like every crash course ends, disaster, I ended up tearing my meniscus the last week of my summer training.

I tell the story of my last two offseason to encourage you to reflect on the heart of your training going into this offseason.

Ask yourself what your true motivation is.

Why are you so hungry?

Are your intentions pure?

To finish my reflection, I checked to see where I am at right now a week before the Finals and two weeks before my next offseason.

This moment feels different. I feel at peace in both who I am as a person and player as well as who I feel I am becoming.

My motivation is at an all time high, not fueled by some negative emotion, but instead at the prospect of my potential. I feel I have so much more to learn and grow in. I feel ready to expand. It feels like healthy development.

You can get to this place. It takes a lot of work and perseverance, but use me as an example that it is there for you.

We will talk more this summer of how to actually get here.

Mindset Ideas I’ve Been Workshopping

The “What Next” Trap

I’ve noticed a recurring misstep in my thinking that happens either when I am really excited about something in the future or am struggling with something in the present.

The misstep is usually happening if I am a saying things like,

I can’t wait for ‘x’ or When will ‘x’ be over?

As humans and hoopers, we fall in love with the next best thing. It can be a new move, a new experience, a new opportunity, hell it could even be a new team. Looking for what is next can be a very easy trap to fall into.

But even more than easy, the ‘what next’ trap is very dangerous.

When we are looking forward to what is next, then we are forfeiting getting anything out of what is now.

We give up the opportunity today for the potential opportunity tomorrow.

I see this a lot in young hoopers when they start to experience some success at their current team, school, or whatever. There creeps in this planning for the next step meanwhile the current step is not a done deal.

For many things of tomorrow, they can be handled tomorrow.

Things today, can only be handled today.

In order to not sacrifice our development, we need to handle today with the utmost attention and care, and once that is done and we still have energy, maybe we start considering the next step.

Keep your priorities in the present in order to keep your performance at its best.

I have some mentors in my life and they all often say the same thing when I start getting ahead of myself and thinking to much towards the next step:

Their advice is simple:

“Keep the main thing, the main thing”

The main thing is today.

Keep dominating today.

Sunday YouTube Drop

We are in the middle of the Semi-Final playoff series, but don’t think I would not still get a YouTube video for you guys.

This is a shorter and more condensed shooting workout. I did this because I need to prioritize feeling sharp in these playoff games, but still wanted to get some work in.

If you have any questions about the workout, feel free to comment on the video and I’ll get back to you.

Quick Merch Update

The final samples came in and they are beautiful. They should be dropping this next week, we just have to confirm some shipping and logistics with having to ship both to the EU and the US.

Again, these are really cool, so if you want to be in the first group alerted for the pre-order, fill out this little survey to be put on the list.

I’ll Leave You With This:

Every day is an opportunity to grow and improve.

Treasure the opportunity.

Get excited for the future but not at the expense of the present.

One more game in these Semi’s…

One game at a time.

Talk soon.

Trey