August 22, 2022 - Avoid The Traps!

Evaluate where you are going and what you are doing…

I’ve written many many many times about former players and the one that has most certainly received the most attention has been a guy that was in middle school when he played high school ball for me… not just played, but dominated… Lil’ T (Tyler Lewis).

As a youngster he already just had this incredible mind for seeing the game… almost like it was in slow motion to him. I coached many guys that were more athletic… and some guys that were more skilled… but no one that saw the game like him.

I was reminded of him while reading the Proverbs today. I will get to the Proverb in just a moment, but first the memory that came to mind. It was actually after T had moved on to a different school and his team was playing a bit short-handed against a very solid… very athletic… pressure-oriented opponent. Some of the guys that went to watch this game with me were in high school and were talking much smack about how they would shut T down if they were playing… all the while I knew that T’s team is getting ready to play against much better defenders than the guys that were talking so much, and I told them so. (In fact, to the one that was talking the most, I finally stated, “How would you do that, you aren’t a good defender to start with?” I then told the boys with me, “Just watch…”)

T didn’t disappoint that day… against a higher rated team, that had stronger athletes than T and his teammates… we watched as the opponent simply could not take advantage of their pressure defense… why?... BECAUSE THEY COULD NEVER GET T IN ONE OF THEIR TRAPS!

You see Tyler simply was a step ahead always… making reads that kept him out of “danger” and freed his team up to play their game. Tyler’s team won that game to many peoples’ surprise, but not to the surprise of this old guy that knew what an incredible mind for the game T has!

In life we will face many opponents/obstacles that are bigger and badder than us… but the secret to success is not always in being better but in being smarter… evaluating or “making reads” about what is ahead. And for those of us that are believers, we know that God’s Playbook gives us warnings and directions that will help us avoid the opponent’s (enemy’s) traps!

Proverbs 22:3 A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished.

Are you just blindly “dribbling” through life, or are you making good reads to make the right plays?