maroon 500

to my lodis in the UP fighting maroons mens basketball team: practice 500 shots a day

-----------------------------------------

table of contents:

I. rare opportunity
II. mental and emotional conditioning
III. logistics and scheduling
IV. rick hamilton

update 10/4/19

-----------------------------------------

I. rare opportunity

you have a very rare opportunity to TRY and make history. an ateneo or la salle championship is not "history", it's just inflationary. 

basketball is just a game. there are other more important things in your life, especially your academics or career goals. if paras and rivero will not be playing for UP next year, i would not be advising you to TEMPORARILY sacrifice a big chunk of your life and take 500 shots a day. i know what i just said is contrary to sports mantras and may even be insulting to you (as if hindi nyo kaya pag wala si paras at rivero). but one of the most important things i learned in life is that being too idealistic can be dangerous or disastrous. it's always safer to be pragmatic and flexible. when facts on the ground change, adjust your strategy. cliche slogans such as "never quit" are too simplistic and general to be useful.

in the end, you will realize that it's not really the achievements that are important. what's important is you never wasted opportunities.

II. mental and emotional conditioning

just relax. just go through the motions and don't worry about anything. just do it and forgedaboudit. there are just too many variables out of your control like your star player could get injured.

ask your coach to make watching the tv series "cosmos" part of your training routine because it conditions your mind into a perspective that relaxes you. a UAAP trophy is not really a big deal from the perspective of the cosmos.

we are all stimulant addicts. we just have different stimulants or inborn roles. example mother theresa was addicted to helping the poor. in your case, knocking in those 500 jumpers is like a steady morphine drip. it's like going to starbucks to get your caffeine fix, instead you are going to the gym to get your serotonin and endorphin fix. 

"it's better to try and fail than regret forever what might have been". if you don't win it, then you can cheer up, smile and say, "oh well, i did everything i can do. no regrets".  example, i am aware there is zero chance you get to read this letter because i'm just a nobody. i'm just writing this so that my imaginary readers and followers will share it and it will eventually get to you. nobody really reads my facebook posts or blogs much more share it. so this is like fantasy sports but instead of assembling my virtual team i'm fantasizing you will take 500 shots a day. so that in the end i can cheer up, smile and say "oh well. i did everything i can do. no regrets".

however, if by some surreal chance you are a UP maroon fan reading this, share it or forward it to the proper personnel so that in the end you can cheer up, smile and say, "oh well, i did everything i can do. no regrets".

III. logistics and scheduling

this is not a walk in the park. 500 shots may take only 2 hours (including rests). but be aware it will take a huge bite out of your quality time. example if i play a round of golf which is only 4 hours, actually it will take over my entire day. after that i can't do anything productive like coding. i can force myself to write code after a round of golf but it will be very poorly written and only introduce a lot of bugs it's better to just rest and write code the next day. all i wanna do after a round of golf is lie down and watch tv or a movie.

that means you need to take time to carefully plan the logistics and scheduling of this special endeavor. example, just for this year, take the least amount of units you can take. anyway the character building and life experience you gain will be more valuable than anything you learn in the classroom.

maybe create a wiki page or any online collaboration tool so that your team can collaborate with student volunteers to assist you. maybe in the wiki page you can have a schedule table where any student can volunteer and put their name to be the ball boy or ball girl for that day. maybe transfer to a dorm that is near a basketball practice gym. do not underestimate those few minutes you save here and there because they can add up to be a significant factor.

don't forget to have fun in everything you do even in the planning. pretend like you are planning the logistics and training schedule to climb mount everest. never create a plan that will give you the slightest amount of stress or fatigue. learn to make sacrifices and make cut backs.

YOU CAN ONLY ENJOY IF YOU ARE NOT STRESSED OUT OR FATIGUED.

by the way maybe you should just do this 6 days a week or maybe 5 days a week. maybe you need a day or 2 to recuperate. also 500 is not carved in stone. maybe you can only do 300 at the most and maybe some of you can do 700 a day. listen to your body and make adjustments as you go along.

also pay special attention on your nutrition. people don't realize that nutrition is a very big factor. maybe you must eat 1 banana a day. maybe you need to eat lots of rice. maybe refrain from partying and alcohol just for that year. wag munang mag shabu (biro lang tol ma tokhang tayo nyan). 

IV. rick hamilton

you probably never heard this or this may come as a shock to you but shooting is important in basketball. all you hear from  experts and analysts are things like team unity, defense, teamwork, ball movement, etc ... of course they are all important but nobody ever talks about the most important thing which is shooting. that's  because it's too simple - just throw that damn rock. there is nothing to analyze. i was varsity for a short while in UP los banos and sharp shooting was never stressed as a virtue. we didn't even know who was our best shooter because it was not suppose to be important. even if there is no team unity and you hate each other if you are all sharp shooters you will still be champions. of course i'm just exaggerating but you get my drift.

getting a good shot is not rocket science. a flare screen or even just a simple screen will almost always get somebody open. the hard part is converting the shot.

example, lebron james is unstoppable. he can always get a good shot anytime he wants to. that's because you have to give him space around the perimeter or he will leave you in the dust when he slashes to the basket. lebron james should have 10 championship rings by now if only he consistently converted 50% of his open mid range jumpers. 50% even sounds low but just remember that saying - you don't have to outrun the bear you just have to outrun your friend (if you are camping in the woods and you encounter a grizzly bear). hahaha that's just cruel.

when kobe and shaq came along everyone was like this could be the rivalry of the century. who will win more championships? kobe or shaq? but next thing you know they are playing on the same team. WHAT ??? that's like michael jordan and charles barkley on the same team in the early 90's. so of course it would be impossible for anybody to beat them. but they got their ass kicked anyway. by a team with no superstars. and this was during kobe and shaq's PEAK. what really caused their humiliating defeat was a player with no special gift or talent. he didn't have a size advantage or speed advantage. he was not gifted with fancy moves or agility. he simply rolled of a screen, caught the ball and threw the ball towards the basket. kids who want to be lethal basketball players should be studying his clips instead of jordan or kobe. his name is:

 richard hamilton.

------------------------------------------

update 10/4/19:

9 months ago i wrote an op-ed piece "maroon 500" (search "ian's knowledge bombs" in the net and search "maroon" in table of contents). after watching replays of their recent games in youtube it's more like maroon 50. it's such a waste. they have the talent to win it all they are just not working hard enough. the experts and analysts try to make basketball more complicated than necessary to justifiy their pay but it really just boils down to shooting.

i just watched the 4th quarter of the 1969 game 7 finals between celtics and lakers. so much  great history - bill russel (11 rings), wilt (2 rings), don nelson (5 rings and long time coach of my home team golden state warriros), hall of famers elgin baylor, havlicek, sam jones, etc ... wilt twisted his knee and they sprayed r-22 freon which caused the famous hole in the ozone layer. the MVP of that game was jerry west (the nba logo and later had a long tenure as NBA president). they tried to double team him but he was still unstoppable. west is not tall, just 6'-2", he is not that athletic or fast. he is not strong or powerful. his moves are SIMPLE - jumper off the dribble. what set him apart is his shots simply went in.

then i watched a documentary of the 1984 finals series between the lakers and celtics. the lakers were clearly the better team. but the celtics became champions simply because larry bird spent extra 2 hours every day practicing his shots after their regular practice. in one of the games, celtics had possession, the game was tied with a few seconds left. during the time out bird told his teammates. "you guys wanna win? just give me the ball and stay out of the way". so the celtics gave the ball to bird, and bird shot the game winner.

(for more of my knowledge bombs, click the "ian's knowledge bombs" banner at the top of this article and choose any article in the table of contents that piques your interest)