Yesterday the University of Virginia basketball team beat the Duke Blue Devils. It is a big deal. UVA has not beat the Blue Devils in Durham (their home court) for 23 years. That is a long time. Longer than both of you have been alive. UVA has many rivals – Va Tech and UNC to name a few. But we have one major nemesis when it comes to basketball…Coach K and his much-feared Duke Blue Devils. We hate playing Duke. Most teams do. They are tough to beat, especially on their home court – Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Cameron Indoor Stadium is Thunderdome
I have not watched a game at Cameron, but I visited there many years ago. It is a tiny place – not much bigger than a high school gym. It is an intimidating place to play. The Duke fans are on top of you, and they let you know they are there. The Duke student body is infamous. They heckle the opposing team the entire game. This atmosphere affects many basketball players. It is not uncommon for great teams to play there and not play well. UVA used to fall into that trap. They feared the Cameron Thunderdome mob. That changed for UVA yesterday.
Coach K is a basketball legend
Many would argue that Mike Krzyzewski (better known as Coach K) is the best basketball coach in the country. His career accomplishments are impressive. According to Wikipedia Coach K has served as the head men’s basketball coach at Duke University, where he has led the Blue Devils to five NCAA Championships, 12 Final Fours, 12 ACC regular season titles, and 14 ACC Tournament championships. Among men’s college basketball coaches, only UCLA’s John Wooden, with 10, has won more NCAA Championships. Krzyzewski was also the coach of the United States men’s national basketball team, which he has led to three gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2012 Summer Olympics, and 2016 Summer Olympics. Simply put – Coach K is one of the best. His record proves that.
Coach K is also a whiner
It is hard to explain why, but Coach K seems to turn into a different person during the game. He constantly rides the refs, especially when Duke plays at home. I am guessing that his intent is to get the refs to makes calls to his team’s advantage. It seems to work, especially in Cameron. Coach K. is well known for his antics during the game. He learned this approach from one of his mentors, Bobby Knight. Bobby is infamous. He completely lost his mind during several games to include the chair throwing incident. Unfortunately, Coach K acts the same way at times, although he knows better than to throw chairs.
Tony Bennett is a consummate professional
I am happy to say that UVA’s Coach Tony Bennett is no Coach K. Tony is a great coach. He was hired by UVA several years ago to turn around our struggling program. Tony has done an excellent job making UVA a great basketball team again. Tony is not a legend yet. He may be one day. Tony is also not a whiner. Tony is passionate about the game and does a much better job controlling himself when calls don’t go his way. His professional demeanor helped keep his team calm during the game, especially in the final minutes.
What can we learn from this basketball game
As you both know I think we can learn a lot about life from sports. With that thought in mind – the question is how did UVA beat Duke this year? How did they do it? Why did they win this year? I think there are three lessons to learn from this victory that you can use in your own life.
Lesson #1 – play your game
UVA basketball plays the pack line defense. We have for years. We play it well. UVA is the #1 ranked defense in college basketball. Tony Bennett insists that his Cavaliers play tough defense to keep the other team from scoring a lot of points. We are not a good come from behind team. Everybody knows this. If you play UVA, we are going to put your offense to the test. We grind teams that cannot figure out the pack line defense to dust. Just ask Clemson. They are a top 20 team that UVA held to 36 points in their last game. Less than 40 points for any team in an ACC game is horrible. Duke is the #1 offense in the country. UVA held them to 22 points in the first half. We went into halftime with a 10 point advantage because Tony stuck with what works for his team. He did not try something new or throw in any goofy gimmicks.
Stick with what works for you
Figure out what works best for you, and stick with it. Don’t try untested hacks or rely on gimmicks. They may not work. In my own life, I have figured out several things that work well for me. I mentioned in a previous blog post that intermittent fasting has been a game changer for me. At my most recent annual medical physical, my doctor asked me how I was able to lose so much weight the past year. When I mentioned that I use intermittent fasting she got really excited. Her advice to me – keep doing it. My recommendation to you – figure out what works for you and keep doing it until you figure out a better way.
Lesson #2 – keep fighting when it gets tough
In the final minutes of the game, it looked like UVA would lose. Our two best shooters were fouled and went to the line for free throws. Both of them missed. The mythical curse of Cameron started to surface. Even the television announcers started talking about how great a Coach K. is and how hard it is to win in Cameron. But, the Wahoos did not fold. Instead, they kept fighting. They played hard. They played to win. It was clear to me that they decided to do everything they could to win. Who cares if you are playing in Cameron – keep moving, keep fighting, don’t give up. It worked – they won. They outlasted Duke.
“That was an amazingly hard-fought game. Congratulations to Virginia. They made a couple of really big plays down the stretch, and we didn’t make them.” Coach K.
Don’t give up the fight
Most things in life do not come easy. You will need to fight for them. It is the way of the world. You will face adversity. I guarantee it. In my own life, I have learned how important it is to keep moving, keep fighting, don’t give up. I am comfortable sharing that the past decade of my life has been a struggle. There were many times when I wanted to give up. But I didn’t. Too much worth fighting for in this world. I recommend you do likewise. Fight for what you want in this world, especially for the people you love.
“I will never quit. I persevere and thrive on adversity. My Nation expects me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies. If knocked down, I will get back up, every time. I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my teammates and to accomplish our mission. I am never out of the fight.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10
Lesson #3 – take the shot when you have it
In the last minute of the game, there was a pivotal moment. UVA was ahead by two points and taking the ball down court. Ty Jerome did something that no one expected. He took a huge risk. Ty took a long-range three-point shot. The safer choice would have been to pass the ball around and wait for an easy shot. Normally that is what UVA does. We pass the ball around a lot and look for a high percentage shot. It works well. Today Ty Jerome decided to step away from the norm and take a chance. No hesitation on his part. He nailed the shot and drained the energy from the crowd. Duke took the ball down the court and someone on their team tried to do the same thing. He missed. Game over. UVA wins at Duke for the first time since 1995. Wahoowa!!
Don’t be afraid to take a shot
Most my life I have played it safe. I don’t anymore. I am not reckless. But I am much more willing to take the shot when I have it. I am not recommending you take a stupid chance. Instead, I am saying that you should take more shots. Don’t play it safe all the time. You will regret it later in life. Trust me. I know I have.