Basketball Notes and Observations

Andrew Wiggins: LeBron like, explosive and cerebral player, the ball comes off his hand very softly both from 3 and off pull-ups, quick release when in rhythm, can really cover ground with dribble in the full court, gifted at timing and blocking shots, young-Carmelo like in his ability to second jump and rebound his misses instantaneously, much of the game comes easy to him -- definitely a fun guy to keep your eye on. Will go to Kentucky for a year.

I find it very enjoyable to watch the Team USA bench cheer and encourage their teammates on the floor.  They really let loose.  It is a role that none of them generally get to fill, so they can both embrace it and be creative with it.  They all seem geniunely interested and sincere in their rooting for teammates.  You even see it with Kobe.  LeBron has always been very good at it.  Russell Westbrook, for my money is my favorite to watch cheer.  Tyson Chandler is amazing at it too.  Kevin Durant.  Now is that a Coach K inspired revelation?  I think he does a fantastic job of building the system and infrastructure and tone.  The players take the lead from there. 

Dion Waiters, in the games that he played in Vegas, was much better than what he was given credit for.  He shot the ball like shit, but that doesn't take away the fact that guys were melting off him when he attacked the rim.  He was able to get into the key and finish plays and did a good job making good passing decisions.  I only saw selected highlights.  But from what I saw, I thought he had great driving ability, which was why we picked him.  Now the trick just becomes getting his ankle and knee healthy and cutting 15 pounds.  Shedding weight should without losing strength should help both the knee and ankle problems. 

I hope Tristan Thompson is grinding and getting better.  He's another guy who I think could look into losing 10-15 pounds.  He just seems to get a little heavy in there when he's tired.  He loses his ability to explode through contact.  But his game needs serious renovation if he wants to make a year two leap.  What sucked for him, was that the Cavs just got so bad in those last 40 games that there was very little opportunity for healthy development.  He was also hurt.  He has to be much more authoritative with his post move decisions.  Last year, you just saw too much hesitation and indecision with him trying to figure out how his defender was playing him and in turn what move should he try.  He's gotta have a more clear plan of what he wants to get done in there.  He has to be able to make jumpers from the elbows and short corners.  And if nothing works in his progression, he at least has to keep his legs injury free so we can include him in a trade for a big player.

Jonas Valuncias is going to play for the Raptors this year.  We very well could have grabbed him instead of Thompson.  It will be interesting to see him play and adjust to the NBA game. 

Mike Kidd-Gilchrist, Brad Beal and Harrison Barnes are gonna be really tough.  Which is gonna make Dion Waiters life tough.  Especially if he struggles to find big role with the Cavs.

Good Question Sequence to Work Through

What do I need to do differently to solve this problem?

What do I need to do to be the right kind of guy in the midst of this problem?

What are the constraints keeping me from solving this problem?

After I solve this problem, what will be possible?

A year from now, what kind of story do I want to tell about this problem? 

Taco Tuesday

Seneca: "What progress have I made?  I am beginning to be my own friend. That is progress indeed. Such a people will never be alone and you may be sure he is a friend to all."

To hit high long iron shots: Rickie Fowler: play ball up in stance a bit, hands just behind the ball, relax, don't try to help it, hit the ball first

Entrepreneurship: the pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled. 

When trying to helping people on things big and small ask: what's the home run for you?

Telling someone they will make X amount of money if they call, giving a person great sales training to learn and study < being in a room with a good salesman calling all day

For a job you want to do in or within your job or a cool surrounding job: just start doing it on the side for free.  do what you think the job is, and every week create a 1 page report and ship it to your boss or the respective boss. If you deliver the right value in the 1 pager, eventually they'll let you fill that job

Victor Frankyl: "Live as if you were living already for the second time and as if you had acted as wrongly as you are about to act now."

Ray Bradbury: "Don't think.  Thinking is the enemy of creativity.  It's self-conscious, and anything self conscious is lousy. You cannot try to do things.  You simply must do things."

Momentum comes from pushing, not from planning.  Confidence comes from scars and risk, not from indecision. 

What's your plan B, C and D?

Build ambitious friendships with ambitious colleagues. 

Over-prediction fear: belief by most people that terrifying events will be worse than they really are...unsuccessful people struggle with this sometimes, people who don't free their mind up to be more creative

Exert your will on the universe, or the universe will exert its pressure on you

How can you get in the middle of the growth in your field and be a positive difference?

Get a ping pong table

Be honest and tell her exactly what you're looking for

There is fundamentally VERY LITTLE difference between people who do amazingly well and people who are average.

Act immediately as if you had the balls to do it.

Lose money, lose nothing.  Lose health, lose something.  Lose integrity, lose everything. 

Can't we do better than just being busy?

We can live fantastically, robustly or we can live on cruise control.

1000% accountability.