Choices by Saban

My son has always played BASKETball, as much as baseball until three years ago when he devoted summers to baseball only, but the other 9-months of the year it's 50/50 baseball and BASKETball.  

Long story short, son is a Jr. and a second year varsity guy.  Coach has him coming off bench as #6 guy, again.  Son understood as a soph but now is having a hard time with same role again.  There's a lot more to the backstory but I'm not going to complicate the simple situation he is in.  Which is, the fact that he could be a starter, I'd even say should be a starter, he believes he is definitely "starter" material, but the one person whose opinion counts, the coach, doesn't.

Been a tough pill to swallow all season long, but I believe this will make son better in many ways, perhaps least of which his hoops skills.  Truly the first major time in son's life he's been relegated to bench.  First time in his life that a coach has basically told him, "No."  Truly the first time a coach has not used him to his maximum, or what he believes to be his maximum.  But through this experience he is learning this year to be a better teammate, make the most of his opportunities, and to bust his butt to prove himself like he never has been challenged to do.  

I of course, would prefer to see more PT, but I have faith in what the coach is doing.  I mean, after all, what other choice do I have?  Be "that dad" and tell the coach he should be playing son more?  Yeah, right!  Son is learning to deal with failure, rejection, adversity, learning to believe in himself when no one else appears to, and having no good choices other than making the best of his situation.  

Having faith and "buying in" to the coach's system is all one has in that situation.  It can be lonely, but understanding your role, and maximizing that role to help team win, is usually the best choice.  

Hope my post above, as an  honest attempt to react to OP's Saban quote, is appropriate.  I think the coach's quote is kind of wide ranging, and can be taken in many  different ways.  Phrase that jumps out to me is, "a generation now that doesn't always get told no."  

Son is definitely hearing "no" from his coaches and choosing every day to make the best of it.  It is a choice, and one that does not come natural to him.  I do have faith it will make him better in many ways.  

Do you remember the great Boston Celtics teams. Sam Jones "Hall of Fame" guard was on the Army team I coached and watched his 13 seasons with the Celtics and understood the value and role of the 6th man. Sam and I discussed when we visited.

http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/Top6_121103.html

It takes a special player to accept this role. His team mates recognize the value.

The relief pitchers, the DH and pinch hitter and the "back up" QB are the assets to a strong team.

Bob

Consultant posted:

Do you remember the great Boston Celtics teams. Sam Jones "Hall of Fame" guard was on the Army team I coached and watched his 13 seasons with the Celtics and understood the value and role of the 6th man. Sam and I discussed when we visited.

http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/Top6_121103.html

It takes a special player to accept this role. His team mates recognize the value.

The relief pitchers, the DH and pinch hitter and the "back up" QB are the assets to a strong team.

Bob

Yeah, even much more so in basketball where the 6th guy typically plays a LOT in every game.

hshuler posted:

Some of you me have seen or heard this but for those who haven't hopefully, you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

“[Young Athletes Today] all think they have this illusion of choice,” Saban said. “Like I can do whatever I want to do. And you kind of have a generation now that doesn’t always get told no, they don’t always get told this is exactly how you need to do it. So they have this illusion that they have all these choices.

I think this is another one of those quotes/threads that's going to end up devolving into how coddled today's kids are and how terrible it is that they always get everything handed to them, and yadda, yadda, yadda.

Assuming the quote is accurate, it may be that Saban really feels that way too, but I just don't see it.  Athletes (and anyone else that wants to excel in a field of endeavor) have always had to bust their asses to succeed, and for the most part the ones that do succeed have busted their asses and are aware of what it took.

What may be different today is the number of options kids actually do have, and therefore the number of things that might vie for the attention/dedication of the kids who a generation or two ago might have had more limited choices.  As an extreme example, it's possible to become a pro video gamer these days, and even if that's no more likely than becoming a pro baseball player, that, along with all of the other potential options, is perhaps going to have an impact on the numbers of people truly dedicated to any particular option, like Saban's football.

I guess it depends on how you look at it. The biggest takeaway that I got from the quote is there are no shortcuts to success. The only real choice is a combination of hard work, dedication, being coachable, basically doing things the right way. 

That fact is that some kids are told no all the time and some aren't. Regardless, of whether you've heard no or yes a thousand times, your choices will still have to line up with the success you're wanting to reach your ultimate goals. 

Devolution is natural and normal.

cabbagedad posted:

Consultant posted:

Do you remember the great Boston Celtics teams. Sam Jones "Hall of Fame" guard was on the Army team I coached and watched his 13 seasons with the Celtics and understood the value and role of the 6th man. Sam and I discussed when we visited.

http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/Top6_121103.html

It takes a special player to accept this role. His team mates recognize the value.

The relief pitchers, the DH and pinch hitter and the "back up" QB are the assets to a strong team.

Bob

Yeah, even much more so in basketball where the 6th guy typically plays a LOT in every game.

It doesn't matter who starts in basketball. What matters is who is playing when the game is on the line. Aaron Holiday is the 6th man for UCLA. He will play in the NBA. The 6th man often has important role. His job is to change the current tempo of the game.