"Left Hand Layups" -Thursday- 10/24/19

Okay, I'm starting to think my life isn't as interesting as I made it up to be, oof. I realized that all I'm doing is GRINDING EXTRA for this SAT, and just playing basketball. OUU, speaking of grind, I've been doing pretty good in school so far. My junior year is starting off good, and I'm actually doing well in Health Tech for once. The past two quizzes, I recieved As, and I actually understand  the complex things we're learning! (Yay Jade!). I mean, to be honest, your performance does improve when you know what you're doing it for, and if you've been keeping up with these posts, you kinda already know what I'm doing this for! Anyways, my strategy of studying little by little, section by section, and reading ahead of notes has been REALLY beneficial for myself and my performance in school. Along with little by little practices of SAT, and little by little of the other subjects as well has proven good for me so far. I like that early in the year, I found an efficient way of studying; it'll definitely help later on! 

So, I missed two open gym days for basketball at my school this week, but it was for a really good reason though lol. For the first open gym, the coach made us run basketball drills that are meant for the team, and to be honest, that wasn't fun. Not only did I not know how to do the drills in an instant, but the people I was doing the drills with messed me up ugh. It was really embarrassing though, but the coach can't expect new people to know the drills instantly, compared to the people who've been playing there. Like, I watch basketball, but I guess I don't really understand the game that much. When they say a player has "high basketball IQ", I'm confused because it's just a game of putting a ball into the net. I've been watching for more than 5 years now, so I should know it's much more than that. But man, players like Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors make it as simple as putting the ball into the net. Anyways, I also screwed up on left hand layups (which I HATE), so I've been practicing that for a good week now. Hopefully there will be some improvement, when I go on Tuesday. It's weird, everything I do with my left hand feels so wrong. Like I always have to be using my right hand. But, I have to adjust to left hand, to the layups at least... if I want to compete for a spot. 

THE NBA SEASON STARTED YESTERDAY! MAN, I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS DAY FOR MONTHS LIKE YOU DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND! Basketball is so important to me, like it's crazy. I don't love it enough to the point that I see a career out of it, but I love it to the extent that it's just a fun thing to do as a hobby. When I'm feeling any type of negative emotion like sad, stressed, angry, etc, I just turn to basketball. Well, God first, but you get the idea. I don't know, maybe it's the adrenaline rush when a player hits the game winning shot, or my heart beating in the morning to see if my team won the game last night, or maybe because it's just fun to talk trash to other people about lol. I started watching basketball in 2014, and started playing it 2016. So, my most recent memory of me being exposed to basketball was the 2013 NBA Finals with the San Antonio Spurs vs. the Miami Heat. It was a young and hungry Lebron James with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosch, against an experienced and well disciplined Spurs squad. I became a Spurs fan that year, mostly because they were in the Finals already, and for some reason I hate Lebron James. But, Spurs v Heat, game 6, Ray Allen of the Heat hit the clutch three pointer to tie the game.The Spurs went on to lose that year, unfortunately. With disappointments all around, and being so close to winning a championship, the Spurs lost. But, 2014, THE SAN ANTONIO SPURS BEAT THE MIAMI HEAT 4-2 to win the championship. This is why I like them:

See, the Spurs resemble such a way of life that I think is valuable for success, which is: discipline, hard work, focus, consistency, and humility. Almost every Spurs player is developed and molded into a type of player that will fit into the "Spurs" system of playing basketball, which is team basketball. This means that you don't play for yourself, you play for the team. Rarely will you see a certain player on the Spurs score 50 or even 40 in a game. In this system, you can't "pad" your stats or play for the spotlight. That's another thing, the Spurs are so lowkey and quiet, that their success is only talked about when they win games. The Spurs have made the NBA playoffs with a current record of 23 consecutive times and counting. For 23 STRAIGHT YEARS, through three decades basically.  In life, consistency is key. Remaining consistent doesn't leave room for error, but makes massive space for improvement. Discipline. Head coach Gregg Popovich is very strict. Whenever a player doesn't follow the designed play or forgets their role in any given situation, Coach Pop will sit them down immediately.  Discipline is ESSENTIAL for success, without a doubt. Humility. The Spurs are humble. They call legendary Spurs power forward Tim Duncan the Stone Buddha. Because of his quiet and calm nature, he lets his game do the talking. No trash talking whatsoever, show people who you are and how you do through your actions, this is trivial to success. With the values I've learned from the Spurs, Tim Duncan says "Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better, and your better is best." #BreakTheLimits

Cover Picture Credits: IG @spurs @laclippers