http://www.thebigfundamental.com/soothing-yourself-in-the-spurs-way/
May 30, 2012
Wayne Vore
@wayneTBF
Soothing Yourself In The Spurs Way
I’m a mess. A stressed out, overworked, old man chair injury having, barely
hanging on mess. All season I have used watching the Spurs as my out. My time
to relax and ignore everything else. It was great. Until they started
winning. All. The. Time. And then the playoffs happened.
Now, they are also stressing me out. As we get deeper into the playoffs, I
get more and more nervous before each game. As the winning streak gets
longer, as the national media starts to ooooo and ahhhhh over them, as the
national media starts to predict great things for them, as I believe more and
more, then the more nervous I get.
With Memorial Day weekend looming, a cancelled anniversary vacation opening
time up, and then business partners arriving in town on Wednesday, I decided
to line up a trip to see the Spurs-Thunder game two via a media pass (because
I’m a big-time blogger as all 15 of you know). Call it a planned vacation
day. When Tuesday finally rolled around, after the Spurs great comeback in
game one, I was getting very nervous for game two. I’d be in the building. I
might jinx the team with my presence. Yes, this is what I was thinking.
By the time I had made the trek from Austin, had lunch with friends, and got
to the stadium I had been on the road for 4 hours. It was still only 5:00. A
full three hours before game time and my stomach was churning a bit. It might
have been the combo plate from Taco Garage, or possibly all the ice tea I
drank. However, it was more than a little bit of nervousness for the game. In
fact, I was getting a little twitchy about the game. I also knew I would be
this way, which is why I got to the arena so early.
You see, the Spurs take the court exactly 2 hours and 45 minutes prior to
tip-off (remember it was an 8:00 tip Tuesday) to begin their pre-game
shooting activities. After the Silver Dancers finish their practice, a guy
runs a dry mop over the floor, the coaches — first out was Sean Marks —
trickle out, and then one or two players come out to get in their shooting.
For me, it is meditative. You watch the same thing over and over. Pass,
catch, shoot. Pass, catch, shoot. Mid-range baseline shots. Mid-range angle
shots. Corner 3s. Angle 3s. Catch and shoot. Pump, dribble, pull. Catch pump,
dribble, step back. Over and over. Player after player.
It happens every game. Whether the first game of the season or game two of
the Western Conference Finals. The coaches and players do the same thing.
They take the same shots. They come out to shoot in the same order. They
talk. They clown. They laugh. They visit with other players. They play games.
It’s always the same.
This is the Spurs Way. It is not happenstance that it is meditative for me.
The Spurs treat every game the same. Whether the first game, the 30th game,
or a playoff game. They do their work. They don’t change things up because
playoff games are more important. They prepare for the tenth game of the
regular season the way they prepare for the tenth game of the playoffs.
In addition to the assistant coaches, many you know like Jacque Vaughn, Chip
Engelland, Chad Forcier, and Sean Marks; there are also a handful of ball guy
types (they might also be called assistant coaches, but I’m not positive).
The ball guy types play the role of defenders during shoot around. They jump
at the players while they shoot. They put a hand in the face. They fly by on
the side. They bump and bang. When the player is doing a pump and dribble,
the ball guy flies by on the side like a defender biting on the fake, and the
player shoots. They had also added a new wrinkle I hadn’t seen. They were
bumping Danny Green on the hip and in the ribs as he shot. They were
attempting to simulate the kind of contact you have to take when taking a
shot in the playoffs.
Tuesday, the ball guys were doing their same things. They were talking trash
to the players as they missed shots. They took abuse back as the players made
shots. At one point, the coach — an assistant coach is always the passer —
and two ball guys tackled and dog-piled James Anderson in the corner.
After about an hour of watching shoot around, chatting with Andrew of 48MoH,
a quick howdy to Chip, and some schmoozing with other courtside characters; I
was calm. All the stress and all the nervousness had faded away. It was back
to being just a game. A game to look forward to watching.
A couple years ago, while answering a question, Malik Hairston really drove
home how the Spurs preparation was meant to help the players relax and not
get excited. He said the season was too long. You couldn’t get too up for
one game or two excited about playing against any particular player. You
wouldn’t be able to sleep if you did. You just do your work and focus on
executing the game plan. That’s how he, and I assume all the players,
approach each game.
It’s because of this approach that Pop can do what he did in between
quarters three and four of game one. He told the guys, “Hey, I need a dose
of nasty”. He told the guys they needed to bring just a little more than in
the game before. He hadn’t given them a pre-game speech. I don’t know for
sure, but I’ll be he didn’t.
Everyday from the very first day of camp, Pop has established the system. The
routine. He doesn’t have to tell players that there is an important stretch
of the schedule coming up. He doesn’t have to tell them there is a big game.
They all get treated the same. This approach really pays dividends in the
playoffs.
In the playoffs, when the pressure increases. When the craziness around the
game increases. The players have their routine to fall back on. They have
their system to make things seem normal. It’s working for them and it works
for me. Thankfully, because otherwise I’d be a wreck.
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