A few days ago on the court our team displayed a variety of emotions. It was like a roller coaster. No doubt everyone wanted to win, but what is winning (especially in the pre-season)?
Coach Morris and I watched the games play out and the word we used to describe many of the actions was "chippy". If you've been around basketball at all you know what this means to play chippy, and it's not a positive trait. It always leads to poor body language, selfish attitudes and a lot of whining.
The greatest tragedy of all is a majority of players confuse "chippiness" with competitiveness. I will often hear players dismiss their negative actions as, "I was just being competitive." But the two are miles apart.
What we have here is a case of mistaken identity. The competitor honors the game, his teammates and opponent above all. The competitor embraces adversity and welcomes a challenge. Let's stop hiding behind the mask of chippiness. It's not who we want to become. We want to put on and always wear competitive greatness!