Survive and Advance - How to Handle Pressure During the Playoffs

Our team was waiting in the hallway, down in the bowels of The Hearnes Center. In just a few minutes we would run out on the floor and play for the state championship, the pinnacle of high school basketball. It was tense. Guys were all getting focused in their own way.

I was eating chocolate Dippin' Dots. Our trainer, Scott Nichols, asked me, "How can you eat right now? Aren't you nervous?" I took another bite and told him, "I don't get nervous."

In hindsight, I was only 23 years old, and maybe I was too naive to be nervous. And the truth is, I did get nervous for the district championship game against Oran just a couple weeks prior to that state title game. Oran had a really good team and had beaten us twice that year: by 2 points at the beginning of the season (we missed a shot at the buzzer), and in double overtime at the SEMO Christmas Tournament. We had beaten them one time, by 8 points on our Homecoming night, but they didn't have their best guard the only time we'd beaten them.

So going into that district title game, and really for our entire march through the state playoffs, here is the mentality that I tried to instill in our team:

1. You have to embrace the moment. If you're a senior, you know this is it, no "do overs." If you're an underclassmen, you're never going to be HERE again, not in this moment, playing in this game, against this team, with the exact same teammates. You're only going to be here, in this moment, once in your lifetime. So embrace it.

What if today is the last day you ever get to wear that jersey? What if today is the last time you ever get to be in the huddle with your coach? What if today is the last time your family gets to see you play? What if today is the last time you ever get to play ball with your friends? EMBRACE THE MOMENT, BECAUSE CHANCES LIKE THESE ARE TRULY ONCE IN A LIFETIME.

2. You've got to have an attack mindset. You can't play timid or be afraid to make mistakes. In playoff games, both teams are good. Both teams had to beat people to make it this far. And both teams are going to make mistakes. The team that can maintain that edge and keep attacking, keep being "smart-aggressive," is going to have a tremendous edge.

I've seen this happen so many times... you've got two teams from different parts of the state, not familiar with each other, feeling each other out... One team is not playing well, shooting poorly, and their fans are like, "What's wrong with us today? I've never seen them play this bad?" Then in the last 3-4 minutes of the game, with their back against the wall, they unleash some pressure defense and start attacking on offense, and the comeback is on. Often times, it's "too little, too late," and those fans drive home saying "If we could have just played the whole game that way!" YOU HAVE TO ATTACK FROM THE OPENING TIP!

3. You have to want it to be hard. You can't go into this game and want an easy game. You can't get surprised when they come out hot. You can't get upset when the refs (who you've probably never seen before) make strange calls. You can't get down on each other if you come out cold or somebody gets into foul trouble. You have to want it to be hard. You've got to want their best shot.

Your mentality has to be, "They can play their best game, and they can get every call, and it still doesn't matter. We're going to find a way to win." Like John Wooden says about Competitive Greatness: "Be at your best when your best is needed." You have to love a tough fight, and you've got to go into this relishing the fact you get to beat a good team.

4. Just remember, it's a long game. If you start red hot, or if you start ice cold, don't get too excited. It's a long game. There is a lot of time to play. The team that can get over the hype and just settle in and truly play their game, at their pace, and play their style... that team has a tremendous advantage.

5. You have to adjust, adjust, adjust. By this point in the year, there are no secrets. Everybody has scouted everybody. Even the refs have a scouting report and an idea how how the game might go. So it's all about adjusting to the officials. The team that does that early has a tremendous advantage, even if it's just backing up half a foot on defense, or just accept the fact you're going to get killed in the lane and no foul is going to be called. You have to adjust.

The same is true for the coaches and players in regards to execution. You have to adjust. My good friend Joe Bowling made a funny observation one night. He said the team that calls a timeout first in the 3rd quarter usually loses. It's funny how often that is true. But the point is, those early timeouts and the first quarter break and halftime are CRUCIAL. Make that time count. This is a chess match. As they're trying to take something away, can you find another opening? Or can you still get to your first option, maybe just by being a little more patient? How are they scoring on you? What adjustment can you make that will disrupt their rhythm?

This time of year, it's all about who can make the quickest adjustment, who can make the right adjustment, and who can get away from a bad idea and back to a good idea as soon as possible.

The bottom line is, you handle pressure by loving it. This is fun. Sure, if you get beat, it means your season is over. But if you win??? Oh man, every win means you're playing for something bigger and bigger. It just gets more and more fun.

Good luck to all the teams out there still playing. Go make some memories. Thanks for reading. #JWT