Basketball Cuts

There are dozens of opportunities in life where a person’s skills are judged by others: a job, an assignment, a promotion, a roster position, a contest (essay, baking, etc.), subjective sports (gymnastics, figure skating, diving, etc.), just to name a few. The judgement results in one (or more) winners.

When we don’t get the result we want, we say, “How did so and so make it?” “I know I was better than…” or “They already knew who they were going to pick.” While these comments may or may not be true, ultimately, it doesn’t matter. If you are not undeniably the best, you leave the decision in the hands of others.

In boxing and mixed martial arts they say, “Don’t leave it up to the judges.” That means finish the fight before the final bell dings. That ensures that there is no opportunity for someone else to determine the outcome. The same is true in any of the competitive scenarios I mentioned earlier.

I started learning this lesson when I was cut from my middle school basketball team two years in a row. The awful feeling of not being good enough motivated me to do everything possible to make the freshman team. Lifting at the YMCA, shooting on our backyard hoop, and weekend runs all helped me improve my stamina and speed in preparation for tryouts. Then, for three days in November of 1996, I left everything on the court, ultimately making the Canandaigua Academy freshman basketball team. We went 16-0 and I was the star shooting guard. Okay, not all of that is true. I did get cut two years in a row. I did make the freshman team, and we did go 16-0. But I didn’t put in the amount of work I said I did (I hadn’t yet discovered the Rocky IV soundtrack). I wasn’t the star, and I didn’t start. I was probably the 13th or 14th man on a 14-man roster.

In reality, there is (and was) very little difference between the 11th best playing trying out for a freshman basketball team and the 18th best player. Let’s call this the Negligible Mediocrity Gap. Depending on the day, drill, skill, and position, the ranking of the 11th to 18th best players is constantly changing. Player X might be great in a team drill, where Player Y shines at spot shooting. Player Z can lockdown the best offensive player on the team, but can’t dribble worth a lick.

Coaches rank players based on what they value or what they need. A perceived slight from a player who didn’t make the team may have assigned value to skills that differ from the coach(es).

If a player established themselves early in the tryouts as a top ten player, they wouldn’t need to worry about how a coach ranks specific basketball attributes. Falling into the Negligible Mediocrity Gap is leaving it up to the judges.

In Ants, Bag Boy, Final Fantasy & Lucky Charms I discuss how I would level up several times more than necessary in Final Fantasy, in order to easily defeat main bosses. I wouldn’t leave it up to a chance. You must have the same mentality when it comes to winning subjective competitions. If you leave no doubt, you’ll never have the need to make excuses.

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