Today’s NY Times has an editorial by Noam Cohen with a list of life lessons that a pickup basketball game can teach President Obama. I immediately saw a connection to business strategy and decided to step in and steal the ball. I didn’t copy it verbatim, just “batim.” Enjoy, and see how many you can convert directly to business activity…
LET THEM THINK YOU CAN’T PLAY. It’s a time-honored way to gain an edge: look like a scrub. Wear glasses, dress socks, maybe a Warhol Museum T-shirt, and be overweight. Fast is fine, but it’s no different from merely being faster than your opponent thinks you are.
STACK YOUR TEAM. In pickup, you often go through the motions of making the teams fair by “choosing up.” That is, evenly dividing the players based on size and skill. That’s why you need to look like a scrub. It also pays to come early and propose a team of five that includes your 6-foot-6 friend who used to play big-time college basketball. All’s fair.
IF YOU MAKE A BAD PLAY, ACT INJURED. Basketball, like all competition, is wrapped up with ego and human frailty. So when someone makes you look silly on the court, grab your ankle. Let those watching think you sprained it in the play before you were stripped of your dribble.
WHOEVER YELLS LOUDEST WINS. Pickup basketball is played without a referee. Players make the calls themselves. When there is a dispute, invariably the side that most insistently argues its case wins. This requires the other side to recognize that it’s only a basketball game, no need to get into a screaming match.
REMEMBER, NO UNIFORMS. In pickup basketball, team lineups change. So from game to game it can be hard to keep track of who is on your team. Confuse the opposition and call for the ball as if you were a teammate at a crucial moment. A steal is a steal.
FREEZE OUT THE CHUCKER. A team can be cursed with a player with an inflated sense of skill, the chucker. Pass the ball to the chucker, and that’s the last you will see of it. Next comes a missed shot, and the other team rushing toward you on a fast break. It’s best not to pass to the chucker in the first place. (Oh man, does THIS apply!)
THE RULES CHANGE AT GAME POINT. A friendly contest can turn into a pitched battle when the score is tied and the team that scores next wins. Trip and hack the opposition before it can score that final basket. Pull a jersey. And be sure to call fouls that would never have been noticed earlier in the game.
WINNER STAYS ON THE COURT. The most profound lesson of pickup basketball is that winning — and only winning — is what keeps you playing. Otherwise, you are sent to the sidelines, reduced to calling out “I’ve got ‘next’!” If you want a second chance, you need to prevail in the first.
"Half this game is ninety percent mental." -- Phillies manager, Danny Ozark