Great read.!
This gets to the heart of the matter and the question that demands an answer is both psychological and philosophical in nature. Who is your opponent?
Yes, you are playing ND or SC or USF, or Baylor or TN (well, ok, not them), or Vanguard, or The Little Sisters of the Poor, but when you get down to it, it doesn't matter who is across from you. The competition is within.
Can you do your best, not just on each possession, but on each part of a possession. Can you battle against fatigue, nagging injuries, and distracting thoughts, to stay focused in the moment. Can you buy into the idea that the score only matters when all is said and done. And most importantly, can you embrace the concept that it doesn't matter who scores, or assists, or steals, or blocks, it only matters that the team does.
The article, and many others, accurately identifies that UConn plays each and every possession as a game-within-the-game. It doesn't matter if they are up or down, It only matters that at this moment in time, the attempt to be as good as they are capable of being. Given that most of us, athletes included, live significant amounts of time on one side or other of the moment, that is, in the past or in the future, what Geno teaches about the importance of staying focused is, I think, his finest achievement.
When I was young, a coach told me that you play the way you practice. I didn't get it then, but when I became a professional, it was clear. You bring it, your best, all the time, not some of the time, not in spurts, not when challenged, so that at the end of the day, you could look in the mirror and say you did your best.
