April 12, 2021 - The Fundamental Core of the Game

As I browsed through some things on the internet tonight, I came across an article about the current state of college basketball. Back quite a few years ago when I was still active in the coaching world, I would talk often with college coaches about what type of players they were looking for…

Back many moons ago a team was pieced together by specific parts (i.e. a point guard… shooting guards… power players… etc.); yet things started changing and coaches started scouting for players that were simply “long and athletic.” We then started hearing the phrase “position-less basketball” and offenses started spreading out trying to create openings for the athletes to get to the goal… resulting in a lot of exciting slam dunks… and unfortunately a lot of players that focused on that instead of the fundamentals of the game. (Side note: in spite of this new approach, I continued pounding the fundamentals in practices and in camps/clinics… often stating that “fundamentals are the anchor that will hold in the storm.” Strong fundamentals will always allow a player to compete successfully, even against opponents that are more athletic.)

We are now seeing another shift in the game, as players that maybe realized they weren’t going to run the fastest or jump the highest developed yet another shift in philosophy and started taking advantage of the 3-point line… now we see the game back to emphasizing shooting skills, etc. We see some of these new stars stepping over half-court as a threat to launch shots.

The article I was reading talked about how teams like the national champion Baylor Bears breezed through the tourney having the best 3-point shooting team by percentage in the country. Kentucky coach John Calipari was quoted as saying the “guys that were drafted in the first 10 picks seven to eight years ago would be second round picks because they can’t shoot the ball.”

But it was another quote from Calipari that made the article jump out at me and spurred writing about it… he stated, “BUT NOW, if you can have great skills – dribbling, passing, shooting – your skills start negating all the other stuff.”

BUT NOW? He states this as though it is a new concept… I simply think he was stating what I said before (and what my coaches always reminded us)… “fundamentals are the anchor…” Success always has a solid core foundation! No matter how fancy/exciting the stuff is that is built on top of it, it will eventually come crashing down if the foundation is suspect…

We just returned from our ministry’s Clarion Call Tour and I emphasized a foundation of GRACE throughout… it is God’s goodness that not only is the foundational truth for our justification, but also our sanctification. In Titus 2:1, Paul instructs Titus to “Speak the things which are proper for SOUND DOCTRINE…” Later in verse 11 he emphasizes GRACE as the motivating truth/foundation for the instructions to follow…

God’s GRACE is the anchor (the fundamental core truth) that will hold in the storms of life!!! Everything we do as believers must be built upon it…