Last Game, Next Game

Bobby Knight had a "Last Game-Next Game Theory." Essentially this was how quickly a team could get over one game, no matter the result, and get their minds' focused on the next game. The really good teams have the ability to put a BIG win behind them immediately and get on to the next game. They also have the ability to get over a loss, and not let one loss linger into the next game. Knight said, "The first job we have today, is putting yesterday aside to be remembered later." During a 30 game college season, you cannot afford to let one loss lead to another loss, or let one win lead to complacency, and a let down.

Next Play, Next Game

In Rudyard Kipling's famous poem "If" he stated, "If you can meet with triumph and disaster, and treat those two impostors just the same." This is key in basketball as it is in life. At some point during every game and every season, a team is going to experience some sort of success and some sort of adversity. The great teams handle success with humility and know how to bounce back from adversity. They do not let either linger around. They have the ability to almost immediately get to the next play or the next game. Like Kipling said, you must be able to handle both triumph and disaster, and treat them the same. One of the keys words here is that he calls them both "impostors." I think this has to do with the fact that nothing is ever as good as it seems, and nothing is ever as bad as it seem. No matter what happens in life, you just have to keep moving, and on the court you have to keep playing.