The Essence of Winning - Part 1

"Before you can win, you have to believe you are worthy."

-Ben Hogan 

Winning is a psychological state we athletes cherish and strive for. May it be a blowout or a hard fought championship game. As one famous athlete once said, its a habit. Winning cannot be achieved when one doesn't first and foremost believe in himself and the capabilities of his team. 

To me, there are 4 different kinds of "wins"; for team sports that is. 

Win no. 1: The Superstar Takes Over

In every given team, there is what Bill Simmons calls, an Alpha Dog. The Alpha Dog is the superstar of the team. The guy everyone wants to play with because he eases the game with his skills. He is the one you look for when you need a basket. He is also the one the opposing team wants to stop from dominating the game. 

There are games wherein the superstar takes over. The day when he goes off. Throw one man, two men, the entire frontline, the whole team, he is U-N-S-T-O-P-P-A-B-L-E ! One memorable game that I witnessed someone took over and changed the entire complexion of the game is Game 5 of the 2007 Conference Finals where a young LeBron James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a pivotal win after scoring 25 of the last 29 points of the Cavs. The "Bad Boys" had no way of stopping the young LeBron. 

When a superstar takes over a game, he goes beyond his limits. He defies the odds and his team notches a W! 

Win no. 2: Robin steals the show. 

When Batman, the Alpha Dog, struggles horribly from the field, is all hope lost? Not necessarily since  a role player, to whom we can refer to as Robin, will and can steal the show. Superstars or people in general have to accept the fact that we are far from perfect. We can't make all the shots even if we consistently put time in the gym to develop. At times, pressure takes over but its not an excuse we can use. This doesn't necessarily have to be when the star player struggles. This can also be used when a reserve player makes and takes a clutch shot and changes the complexion of the game. 

During the 1976 NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics and the Phoenix Suns were playing in what I consider to be one of the best NBA Finals games ever. Its Game 5 with the series tied 2-2 with both teams winning both games away from home. It was a very controversial game with too many things to write about. You can just look at it in Wikipedia for crying out loud. With foul trouble and fatigue sidelining their players, a barely used Glenn McDonald rose to the occasion and scored 6 of the last 10 points of the Celtics leading them to a pivotal Game 5 win. 

That game of Glenn McDonald was the most famous in his short career. After that game, he disappeared mysteriously from the game leaving with a bang! 

That game of Glenn McDonald gives hope to all other players. ( I don't want to the term bench warmer, I find it too derogatory) You are not expected to produce 20-30 points but if you can, why not. You are placed there to give your niche; may it be rebounding, defense, hustle, energy. All hope is not lost when you don't play but when you do, you have to give it your all. 

That basically sums up half of the kinds of wins in my opinion. Watch out for Part 2 whenever I post next.