It Will Happen

My second playoff series win.

A trip to my first playoff finals.

So much has happened this season in order to get to this moment, a lot of it unexpected, a lot of it exactly how I imagined.

The journey has been a rollercoaster full of highs, lows and everything in between.

It has been perfect.

Not perfect in the sense of sunshine and rainbows, but perfect in the sense that it unfolded exactly how I needed it to in order for me to reach the point I am at now.

It became perfect because I allowed each moment to grow me and push me to new heights.

That is the key.

Hunt for growth in everything.

Give me 10 minutes of your time and let’s grow together!

Why I Do This:

A lot of kind words here that I appreciate, but what stood out was the second to last sentence:

“There’s nothing more beautiful than inspiring others…”

I thought the happiest version of myself would occur from accomplishing my own personal dreams.

I was wrong.

The happiest version of myself happens when I feel I have inspired someone else to accomplish their dreams.

It’s a completely different feeling.

It is a feeling of purpose, togetherness, and belonging.

I do this because it makes me the happiest version of myself.

Basketball Ideas I’ve Been Experimenting With

A Wounded Animal

While driving on the bus to Game 3 of our Semi Final playoff series, I had this ringing thought or saying in my head. I am not sure where it came from, but it was along the lines of, “It’s harder to kill a wounded animal, than a healthy one”. A bit morbid, yes, but it embodied the exact situation that I knew we would be playing in that night.

We were up 2-0 in a best of 5 series. We had absolutely whooped them the first two games. They were badly wounded. So, going into that game, I knew for certain that they would scratch… and claw… and fight no matter what the scoreboard said. It was a matter of life and death for their season. It made them a wild, dangerous, and aggressive team.

The game went exactly how I expected, we got up 15 or so points not because we were necessarily playing great, but because we were more talented. Then around the middle of the fourth quarter, they made their last flailing attempt, and it was valiant. They brought the game to within 3 and had two open, open, 3s to tie it.

Miss, offensive rebound, miss again.

We ended up getting back to our game and finishing the job.

There was so much for me to take away from this game in terms of playoff experience and just experience about how to win in general.

The takeaways were as follows:

1. A wounded team is searching for a glimpse of hope. You cannot give them ANY.

2. When aiming to close out a series, it must be approached with rationale and calm thinking. The advantage swings to the wounded team if the environment gets hectic.

3. Everyone, who is not the hunter, is going to want to give the wounded team a chance, the fans, the referees, ect. It is your job as the hunter to not allow them to impact the game. Tune out the extra noise and focus on the task at hand.

These takeaways apply to any scenario where you are competing and are clearly the favorites.

Remember these to be more consistent in securing the win.

How I Watch Film

I have been watching a lot more film this year compared to years past and I believe it’s been making a huge difference. When watching my own film, I try to relive the play that I am watching. I reflect on what I thought I saw, why I made the decision, my emotions during the play, and then see how it worked. I watch my plays with the intention of analyzing the options I had on the play.

What did I do?

What could I of done?

What was the best option?

This simple reflection expands your creativity. It is a repetition of that problem solving muscle that is critically important for basketball players.

I also reflect on the actual skills that I observe.

Did that move look strong and decisive?

Did I extend my follow through all the way through my shot?

Did it look and feel like how I have been practicing?

The idea is that I want to learn the broader game with the various reads and nuances, but also to reflect on how I can improve my actual skills and movements on the court.

I’ve also found it really impactful to use my film takeaways as guidelines for my individual skill workouts. For example, if I feel I made poor closeout reads, maybe I shot when the defender had a good contest or I drove to a clogged area of the court, then I will include 10 close out read repetitions from each wing in my next workout.

When you own your development, you have to have consistency of intention through each area. Film study collaborates with your skill workouts which collaborates with your weight room work which collaborates with your diet…

The development chain goes on…

This concept of holistic development is essential if you want to make lasting improvement as a player.

If you want to watch me analyze the first two games of my Semi Final playoff series, watch the YouTube video below:

Mindset Ideas I’ve Been Workshopping

You Need To Choose

These last couple weeks, I have had a lot on my plate. My wife and I had to maneuver through the home buying process while living 6,000 miles away from where we were purchasing the home. I have been problem solving how to get merch to you guys while also working really hard to upgrade the YouTube content. Oh and then the most important thing, I have been battling through my first ever deep playoff run as a pro basketball player.

You get the point. A lot of things going on.

Through all this perceived chaos, a principle was made crystal clear to me:

In order to make real progress in any direction, you have to chose a direction first.

When you have a lot of things to do or a lot on your mind, it is common tendency to go from thing to thing and never fully complete one task or project. It is like you are trying to take one small step in a million different directions…

What is the result?

You feel like you are working really hard, but then realize you are still in the same spot you started.

The counter action is to choose one project or thing and work on it until you either finish it or make tangible progress in it. Once you feel you are at a good stopping point, now you can pick the next thing.

Choose a direction, walk that way until you feel a good distance has been covered, assess the progress, maybe change your direction or simply keep chugging along the same direction.

The ability to make this choice is key in making real steps towards where you want to be or what you want to accomplish.

I also believe that as you progress, your ability to bounce between projects improves, but still the importance of picking one thing to work on whether it be for 2 hours or 2 weeks remains the same.

Pick one thing you want to work on today, work on it until you feel you made some good progress on it, then assess what the next step is.

Plan vs Principle

I have noticed with a lot of driven and committed hoopers that they become obsessed with a ‘plan’. Whether it be an off-season workout plan, a plan for an individual workout, a broad plan on how they are going to go D1, ect., this plan becomes the most important thing. I can relate because this was me my whole college career. I had this idea that if I made a detailed and good enough plan and stuck to it no matter the circumstance then my goals would come to fruition.

Now with the experience I have from my basketball journey, I know this was a flawed way of thinking for a multitude of reasons.

Reason #1: A plan is not dynamic in nature.

When making a plan, you are making it from a set point in time and a set point of circumstance. This plan cannot take into consideration variables that will arise. Maybe you have a small injury, maybe you were not able to sleep well the night before, maybe a mandatory family vacation got planned, life is unpredictable, a plan cannot account for this unpredictability.

Reason #2: A plan does not guarantee results.

No matter how you plan, at the end of the day, you do not have absolute control of an outcome. A plan can encourage you to do everything within your power to get the outcome you desire, but it cannot promise.

Reason #3: A plan should not take priority over your well-being.

The plan can be important, but it cannot be the most important thing. The quickest way for a plan to not work is adherence to it no matter the cost. Often times the cost to adhere to the plan becomes greater than the end goal of the plan.

Plans are not inherently bad, but I see young, driven hoopers destroying themselves for “the plan”.

What is the remedy?

Make a plan, but make “principles” that take priority over the plan.

For example, I had a 200-make workout planned for after practice on Monday. The principle of the plan was to feel more in rhythm and confident for the first game of the finals. I got about 90 makes into the workout and my game was feeling really crisp, but I felt my patella tendonitis starting to flare up due to this workout being my second of the day at the end of a 10-month long season. I was feeling the overload.

Old me would have pushed through in order to finish the workout I had written down.

New me listened to my body, prioritized the principle, and finished the workout at 120 makes.

Did I fail the workout because I did not follow the plan?

Of course not, and honestly I got more out of the workout than I would have if I had finished it.

This example embodies the idea of ‘principle over plan’.

Apply this idea to every plan you make.

Have guiding principles that are dynamic and applicable to any variable that could arise.

Be demanding in your adherence to those principles more so than the plan.

Sunday YouTube Drop

Tons of YouTube content for you guys this week!

I really hope that you guys appreciate the effort I am putting in to level up the channel and increase the value I am providing with each video.

Keep running up these numbers, the support goes a long way!

The videos this week covered the whole Semi-Final playoff series W from chillin with my teammates to game day impressions to in-depth game breakdowns.

Make sure to check them out!

Merch Update

The T-shirts are done and will be dropped within this next week or two. The oversized style and fit for the black one is unavailable, so both shirts will be the same material and fit of the white one. A bit disappointing yes, but it makes more sense for the hot summer months.

I want to wait until after the finals to drop the merch, so that’s why the timeline is pushed back a bit. As for the shorts, we are finalizing some details and we will see if they will be included in this drop, but I think so.

As for shipping, we will for sure offer shipping in the US and EU, and will figure out what we can do for outside of those two locations. This is still up in the air.

I appreciate all of your guys’ patience and am so excited to see how this pre-order goes. If you want to be the first notified when we drop the pre-order, fill out this little survey to be put on the list.

I’ll Leave You With This:

Time to go win a championship.

My best will be there, when my best is needed, as it will be for you guys reading this.

Trust your preparation.

Let’s go be great!

Trey