Basketball's Intensity

Dealing with all the pressures of the intensity of a basketball game can fly through my head and cause me to turn into someone that is out of character for me. The game winds down with only five minutes left on the clock, crunch time approaches and the team looks at me to help guide them to a championship. The score is tied all at sixty-five, and I have had the best game of my whole basketball career. Once I realize the game falls in my hands I am suddenly playing the worst game in my life, allowing the opponent to score three consecutive times against me and turning the ball over twice. The tension caused me to allow the other team to narrow down the score and have a high chance of winning the championship. My coach read struggles in my facial

As I storm to the bench, my coach sits me next to him, and as I prepare to be scolded, he just bends down and looks me in the eyes. He knows me well enough to where he understands my strengths and weaknesses, and he saw easily that tense games showed to be one of my weaknesses. My coach said “don’t let the game you love be run by your emotions, play every game like it is your last game”. Once my mind processed that, it switched gears and I began to play like I would never play basketball again. When playing basketball, a sense of competition burns inside of me, but at that moment it had died off; my coach’s words ignited the fire, and I helped carry the team. I continued playing the game to the best of my ability and help the team rather than hold them back. My emotions still broke through at times during a missed opportunity, but I forced them aside and focus on fundamentals. My team fought and tied the game up and sent the game to overtime making a big push. My coach pulled me aside from the team huddle and repeated to me what he stated earlier, but this time he added “be you and play like yourself, don’t let other people intimidate you from being able to play the way you

The overtime went back and forth with scoring, and nearing the one minute mark the score became tied up at 72. My team had possession and decided to run the clock down till the last shot stayed in our hands. My coach called a timeout with ten seconds left on the clock, and he decided to test me and give me the final shot. After one of my teammates threw the ball to me, I drove in, shot the ball and missed; luckily the ref saw a foul and sent me to the free throw line for two shots with no time remaining on the clock. These free throws either sent us to another overtime or got us the championship. I shot my first one and missed, and following that my coach called a timeout to help settle things. He told me the team needed the free throw, but what went through my head was when he told me not to focus on the heat of the game. He said “shoot this free throw like you are alone in the gym”. This settled my mind and helped me make the free throw and win the championship. After the free throw sank threw the net, everything went to slow motion in my