How the game is played

I played basketball with my younger brother tonight. We split two games of one-on-one before joining a full court 5-on-5 game.

It was positively brutal.

In the full-court game I missed every shot I took. CLANK-CLANK-CLANK! Just wasn’t feeling it tonight.

This is certainly nothing new for me. When it’s bad, it’s bad.

But the weird thing was that I still felt like I was part of the game. Like I actually contributed something.

It was like I was seeing the court, my teammates and the game with a different set of eyeballs. I recognized opportunities I can’t believe I never noticed before.

I looked to pass to open up actual scoring chances, as opposed to just something you do when you don’t shoot or dribble. I slashed in the paint when there was an opening, as opposed to just running around in frantic, continuous motion like chicken with its head cut off.

And I learned sometimes the smartest move is the one you don’t make. Instead you use this moment to read the situation and decide on your best tactical move. Sometimes it’s just clearing the way for someone else.

I know I’m just stating the obvious here. I guess it’s called strategy.

But this is weird. This is really weird. I’m the dude who heaves up a three every other time up and down the court. I’ve lived life believing that constant, dramatic, individual activity for its own sake is a virtue.

But now I’m oddly thinking like this suddenly more mature version of myself. Like the Tim who miraculously got the ultimate frisbee strategy. And the cool thing is I think I’m actually applying this to other parts of my life. Like my job, now that I’ve been there all of a month or so.

The physical skills I bring to this job aren’t all that different from my last job. But the game and how I’m forced to approach it is completely new.

I feel like the Quantum Leap guy if he got thrown into the middle of an intense 5-on-5 game in progress. Sure, I can play basketball. But there’s also my teammates, the coach, the thick playbook, the defense, the crowd…

Holy crap, there’s so much to consider than just throwing the ball at the hoop! I guess that’s what makes it interesting and not just some dude by himself in a gym.