What It Takes

This week was the last week of the regular season…

This season marks over 8 months of hard work, discipline, consistency, and overcoming adversity.

I’ve learned so much and discovered so much about myself.

I believe that this learning and discovery is not possible without the 8 months of work, the 8 months of day and day out commitment, the 8 months of overcoming…

Becoming more takes everything out of you.

It’s not always pretty, but I promise you that it is always worth it.

Read until the end for important information on getting priority on the first ever Atypical Merch Drop.

Why I Do This:

My game this weekend was 3 hours south of Lisbon in the Algarve region of Portugal. This is worlds away from where I grew up in Woodinville, Washington, USA.

After the game my brother right here asked for a picture. If ANYONE EVER asks for a picture, and are respectful about it, I will always say ‘yes’ with a smile on my face.

Why?

Because every time I take a picture it is a reminder that who I am and how I interact with the world matters.

I can impact others by simply being willing and doing the bare minimum like taking a picture.

So much love to my brother here and to everyone who ever asks to take a picture with me.

Basketball Ideas I’ve Been Experimenting With

Mover vs. Handler

With the highlight culture of the internet, I feel like a lot of young hoopers are searching for the shortcut to “handles”. I mean it is cool to have a nasty crossover or to be able to string together crazy dribble combos.

You want Darius Garland level handles. I want Darius Garland level handles.

Like come on, who doesn’t haha

I get it.

But the truth is that most of us don’t need a real “handle” (unless you are undersized). What we really need is just to be smooth and confident dribbling the ball to get to our simple moves (think coming off a ball screen or attacking a close out with a dribble drive or even pushing the ball on the fastbreak). At the highest levels there are usually only 1-2 players on a team that actually have a nasty “handle”, but the rest are expected to be strong and consistent making simple plays and correct reads.

With this in mind, I think young hoopers “over-train” the simple dribbling motor skills. A good example of this is stationary dribbling drills. Yes, there is a baseline of dribbling that needs to be achieved and maintained, but I don’t think much translatable growth happens doing those drills after that baseline is achieved.

So, what is the alternative?

The emphasis of any sort of ball-handling work should be smoothness and connectedness with body movements. It is no longer about how fast you can do a crossover, but how smooth and unconsciously you can do one, so that when it comes time to make that read or move in an actual game, it is simple, efficient and repeatable.

I have not made a full workout on how to develop this yet, but Coleman Ayers with By Any Means Basketball, put the best one I have found yet.

Check it out:

Notice in this workout it is all about moving with the ball and not neccesarily just ball control. In my experience as a pro player who is usually the secondary ball-handler, my “handles” are all about efficiency and simplicity. Unless you are an undersized and super-dynamic playmaker, usually you need to be more of a good “mover” rather than a good “dribbler”.

The goal is to get better at the game of basketball and not just at the skills inside of the game of basketball.

Think about it.

Mindset Ideas I’ve Been Workshopping

The Frustration Mindset

I am not sure what the true cause was, but this week I found myself getting way more frustrated at practice than normal. The strange part is that it was not the same thing each day. One day it was not getting foul calls, another day it was missing shots I normally make, and another day it was the choppy rhythm of practice.

Everyday I found something to be frustrated with, and maybe that was the issue.

I was choosing to be frustrated with things that do not normally frustrate me.

My frustration was a chosen mindset.

I see this a lot with young basketball players and this week I saw it in myself. Now reflecting on it, I can to the conclusion that this uncharacteristic frustration was due to a victim mindset.

I was viewing my experience this week as frustrating things were happening to me. When I perceived experiences as happening to me, I was at the mercy of those experiences. I gave up my control of both my emotions and my development.

Now, I asked myself this question:

What if I viewed this week’s experiences as happening for me instead of to me?

This simple question shifts my perspective from a victim to ownership.

Now think… When you see your experiences as moments meant to help you , you give yourself the beautiful opportunity to seek out that how it will help you. Things that once seemed frustrating are now motivating. Adversity is less scary and surprisingly more almost hopeful in a way.

The world is propelling you to more instead of holding you back.

It is your mindset that is holding you back.

Shift it and stop choosing frustration when growth is out there for you.

A Standard For Yourself

This week was a weird one in terms of motivation and timing. Our game this Sunday was against the worst team in the league. Our playoff spot was already locked in. We have a lot to look forward to with the League Cup next weekend and the playoffs starting the weekend after that.

So, why not relax?

It sure would of been easy to, and honestly I think our sharpness as a team was a tad below normal in our trainings this week.

It is these exact type of moments that are really important in terms of strengthening your commitment to your standard. It’s the moments where it would be easy to slack or not be as sharp that your standard for yourself has to shine through.

Your standard is what you hold yourself to no matter the circumstance, environment, or emotions are. It essentially is who you want to be, who you are becoming and who you are, all in one.

It is the base from which you make decisions from.

Define your standard. Be hungry to grow in your commitment to it.

Real Madrid was up 13 with 25 seconds left, the game was over, but take a look at how Real Madrid’s stud point guard, Facundo Campazzo, who is in the MVP race for the Euroleague, shows his standard at which he plays basketball:

basketnews

View more on Instagram

This is exactly what I am talking about. This is how I aspire to be.

Excellent no matter the circumstance.

Excellence in everything I do, and still that looks different in a lot of domains (basketball, relationships, faith, business, diet, ect.). Of course, I am still learning and growing in my understanding of what excellence truly is, but I am committed to it and I want to be Campazzo level of commitment to it.

My hope is to inspire you to find your excellence and grow in your commitment to it.

Sunday YouTube Drop

This week’s YouTube video was a 3pt rhythm and flow shooting workout with my teammate Edu. It has some drills that hit on the principle of moving with the basketball rather than having “handles”.

In this video you can also see I am wearing the first sample t-shirt of my upcoming merch drop. The back reads, “Excellence in the Pursuit of Excellence” because as I said above my standard is excellence and I want everyone that interacts with Atypical to be inspired to their own standard of excellence.

Quick Merch Update

Everybody in this newsletter community will get first dibs on the merch drop as it will be a limited 7-day pre-order drop.

There will be two types of T-shirts, one white with more of an athletic workout type fit and one black with a heavier over-sized lifestyle type fit.

If you want updates for the drop fill out this quick survey, this will get you on the VIP list for this specific drop.

Days With Me Overseas:

@treydrechsel

Off-Day in the Life lf a Overseas Pro Basketball Player! #ditlofaproathlete #offdaysbelike #offdayinthelife #restdays #probasketballplayer... See more

@treydrechsel

Work Day in the Life of an Overseas Pro Basketball Player! #ditlofaproathlete #ditlofaprohooper #probasketball #probasketballplayer #overs... See more

I’ll Leave You With This:

Becoming more practice by practice, day by day, week by week…

That’s the atypical life.

Excellence in the pursuit of excellence.

Let’s hold each other to the standards we set.

Love you guys,

Playoffs just around the corner…

Trey