Part XI - The Secret Of Longevity - The Rubik's Cube.

My high school team opens the 2023-24 season Wednesday evening! I know most of the teams around the area have played multiple games so far and we are one of the last ones to get on the court.

I, honestly, was in no rush to start the season because for the first time in a few years the majority of the team is inexperienced. The extra week or so has given us time to try and get the basics down pat as well trying to correct the mistakes we have made during the two scrimmage jamborees.

This season, probably more so than any other especially early on, will be like trying to solve the Rubik's Cube. If you are familiar with the Rubik's Cube, there are six sides, each side with nine squares, and there are six different colors which you are trying to match on each side: orange, blue, red, white, green and yellow.

I had a Rubik's Cube when I was younger. There were several ways to deal with trying to solve the formula:

1. Keep Trying Different Combinations Patiently.
2. Cheat by Peeling Off The Stickers.
3. Throw It Away Due To Frustration.

The Rubik's Cube is no different than you coaching your team.

Keep Trying Different Combinations... Patiently.

The Rubik's Cube is in front of you. Solving the mystery can be looked at as "This is going to be a challenge, but I'm up for it".

Those who are competitors look at challenges this way.

Just like the Rubik's Cube you have all the pieces in front of you, but you aren't sure if you should turn the cube this way or that way to get everything on the same page.

This is when you sit the cube in front of you, look at it from all sides and PATIENTLY twist and turn the squares knowing that with each movement there is a cause and effect. If you are worried that your decisions are going to cause a disruption on the team (i.e. "The Cube"), you need to make sure that everyone, ahead of time, understands that what you are doing is in the best interest of the group. You, as coach, are trying to solve the mystery of the cube, with an ultimate goal of getting everyone on the same page (each square color on each side) so you can win.

If each individual square (the players) understands that you are trying to find the path to make them both the best player they can be and the best team they can be, they'll be pulling in the same direction as you.

Maybe the green side is a group of players that play well together and maybe the red side is the green sided players who play better against a zone. Maybe the orange side is another group of players who play well together and the blue side is that the orange players who play better against a press.

It is a constant movement of "squares" with a common end goal in order to solve the mystery of a basketball season.

The key is to be patient, as you, as a coach, are sometimes going to have the wrong combinations on the court and some of your moves aren't going to work out the way you hoped. You learn from the mistakes, try and not repeat them, and keep looking at different ways to make things work.

Cheat By Peeling Off The Stickers

You always have a choice... do the right thing or do the wrong thing. The wrong thing happens when you don't have the patience to work through the process.

Each square on the Rubik's Cub is covered with a colored sticker. You can take your fingernail and peel off a sticker and place it on the side you want over and over to get the desired result. Doing this may solve the mystery but it gets you know satisfaction, it doesn't make you better and it teaches you bad habits. In other words you are basically cutting corners.

This happens a lot of times when you have a team of talented players who are winning not because they are being coached to win, but just because they are better than everyone else around them. This is dangerous because you, as a coach, have skipped the necessary steps it takes to problem solve and so when you run into a challenge (an opponent) you aren't prepared.

It's kind of like a friend of yours asking "Hey can you show me how you figured out the Rubik's Cube" and now you're on the spot and can't do it because you've cheated the process.

Getting yourself to be the best coach you can be means working through problems, it means getting a talented team to understand that there is always a bigger fish, and that there is no shortcut to success. It takes some tough love at times on yourself and on your players, but, trust me, going through the process and learning is a much better choice in the end.

Throw It Away Due To Frustration.

You can always quit. Quitting takes no effort.

You look at the problem, decide I don't have the time for this and not even try.

If you are a competitor, a true competitor, you won't go that route. Coaching, as stated before, isn't easy. Like a Rubik's Cube, there are A LOT of moving parts to deal with and it is a challenge to get everyone on the same page.

However, if you love it, you'll keep at it until things are solved.

I have seen too many coaches, good coaches in my opinion, just up and walk away because the situation they were in seemed too tough or in some cases impossible. Yes, in some cases, walking away is the right choice, but if you have the answer right in front of you and if the answer requires patience with a strategy, quitting shouldn't even cross your mind.

That is what the Rubik's Cube is: an answer to a mystery sitting right in front of you.

Conclusion:

Go to a store and buy a Rubik's Cube... seriously. Sit in on the desk in front of you and begin trying to solve the mystery. Don't cheat by googling "How to Solve the Rubik's Cube" and don't toss it aside when your first ten moves don't get you the desired result.

If you keep at it, you'll solve it. When you solve it, you'll have a new appreciation for the process and what it takes to be successful.

I've said over and over... coaching basketball is not like a microwave but more like a crock pot. Take your time, trust that what you are doing is going to work out. Turn up the heat when needed, turn down the temperature when you have to. Don't be scared to try this move or that move if you think it will solve an issue and remember, if your team knows ahead of time that everything you are trying is in their best interest, they'll go right along with you.

Yours for Better Basketball Always,

Brian Robinson / Coach R