Duke's Greenwell looks back on USA training (and Geno)

[UConnCat]

Becca Greenwell wrote about her experience and what she learned from Geno. No, she didn't say he's "dope."


Throughout the week Coach Auriemma gave a series of insightful lectures on various topics around the game of basketball and life. A few points stuck out to me…

1. There are 2 types of players
• Dynamic and Static. Static players stay consistent. They do the bare minimum and expect others to drag them along. These players are focused on themselves and bring down the energy of the team. Then there are dynamic players. These players come prepared every day with a consistent work ethic. They practice as hard as they play and focus on how to make others around them better. They lead, work hard, and bring life and energy to a team.

Read more at: Greenwell Looks Back on USA Basketball Training

 

[Biff]

Boom. Another set of eyes opened.

 

[CocoHusky]

Incredible recall by Becca . I'm sure she was not writing this down as Geno was speaking.

 

[bags27]

definitely, BOOM!

But, hey, it's still summer, so let's start an argument. Geno also apparently said this (and we know he does say this a lot):
In reality no one cares. In today’s society with social media everyone is worried about what everyone else thinks of them. People have become obsessed with trying to show everyone else what they’re doing through social media and getting as many likes and followers as possible. But in reality, no one cares about what you’re doing, but is only cared about what you think of them. It’s easy to give into today’s trends of individualism, but relationships and real life interaction go way farther. The special kids don’t give into this. They keep their personal business to themselves, don’t care what others think, and spend time investing in making others better.

Well, David Riesman published in 1950 his best-selling book that made the cover of Time Magazine called The Lonely Crowd, pretty much saying the same thing. That would be, if you're counting, even before Geno was born. So, it's not just "kids today." Maybe it's more evident today, but the transition between "character" and "personality" or between "inner-directed" and "outer-directed" is something that sociologists think is a reflection of modernity generally. When did "modernity" start? Some would say the 1870s/80s (discovery of oil in Pennsylvania bringing on the 2nd Industrial Rev & invention of the camera a bit earlier); others might say 1905-6 (Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity); others maybe even a little later.

But Geno's point of view is that of a self-made immigrant who can still well remember the poverty of his native Italy, and so his perspective is a bit shorter than most. (And by the way, since the ancient Greeks [Hesiod's Ages of Gold, Silver, Bronze, Heroes, and Iron] every generation claims that previous generations were greater and more noble, more sacrificing, more disciplined, etc.)

 

[Bigboote]

I think every bullet will probably be quoted eventually in this thread. This one caught my eye:

2. There are 2 types of teams
• Teams coached by the coaches and teams coached by the players. Teams coached by the coaches expect the coaches to bring the energy every day. Eventually this becomes exhausting and the coaches end up dragging their teams to get through every day. On teams coached by the players, the players make sure everything is running smoothly. They make sure everyone is dressed properly, knows the plays, and speak up before the coaches have to. These teams are the most successful and have the best team chemistry.

This had never really occurred to me, but this might be some of Tennessee's problem. Might it be that Holly's losing control by trying to exert too much control?

Part of what Bags quoted -- that the special kids are those who try to make others better -- has been pretty well established in the business world. The highest-performing employees are those more interested in the success of the team rather than their own success.

 

[JordyG]

Ho-hum. Another day, another reason (rash of reasons) given why this man is a national treasure. Sorry rest of the basketball world, we have Geno and you don't.

 

[Gus Mahler]

definitely, BOOM!

When did "modernity" start? Some would say the 1870s/80s (discovery of oil in Pennsylvania bringing on the 2nd Industrial Rev & invention of the camera a bit earlier); others might say 1905-6 (Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity); others maybe even a little later.

The Rite of Spring, 1913.

 

[bags27]

The Rite of Spring, 1913.

+1
certainly in music and in the same year, the Armory Show in art (for America, at any rate, though Cezanne had been at it for > a 1/4 century). In poetry, Arthur Rimbaud a few decades earlier, and simultaneously with Nietzsche in philosophy.