Over the past week few weeks in the NBA, there have been examples of players losing control of their awareness and judgement and making poor decisions.
Tony Allen of of Memphis Grizzlies recently struck a camera man in the face after not agreeing with a call made by one of the officials.
During a basketball game, it is normal to play with extreme passion and aggressiveness. The key is trying to have control over your emotions so they will not negatively effect you or your teammates.
In basketball, like life, there are going to be things which happen throughout the game in which you might not agree with, and which actually make be the incorrect call at the time.
It is important to stay balanced throughout the game as there will be many highs and lows throughout the contest.
For instance, if you are feeling good after making a few shots, it should not give you the liberty to chuck a shot from anywhere on the court. Also, if you have missed a few shots and are not feeling very confident, you do not want to pass up a good open shot because you think you are going to miss.
As you watch professional basketball players, you will notice how some players have a short fuse and disagree with every call made against them and it often takes them out of their rhythm. Basketball is a fast paced game in which the officials are going to miss a foul, a travel, or an out of bounds calls. However, in the end, calls on both sides tend to even out.
DeMarucs Cousins of the Sacramento Kings has been notorious for mentally self destructing during a game. DeMarcus Cousins is one of the most skilled young big men in the NBA and puts up impressive statistics when he is on the court. However, he has had a history of racking up technical fouls and not being available when his team needs him. This is an area he has worked on the past few years, and really made some progress playing this previous summer with USA Basketball.
As a basketball player, you should expect contact, and take it upon yourself to still try and finish the play after you are fouled. Too many players go up for a shot looking for fouls and are not focused on the task at hand. Yes, it can get frustrating when you know someone hit you and threw off your shot, but do not let it lose your focus. Keep driving and keep attacking and you will eventually get rewarded.
Do your best to remain level headed throughout the game and don’t focus on waiting for the referee to blow the whistle and will eventually because a master of completing the shot after you are fouled.
Contributing writer Jasen Sousa for Premier Hoops is the author of a number of poetry and fiction books for young people. Jasen has an M.F.A. in Creative Writing and is a life-long participant and fan of the game of basketball.