Most unappreciated skill…concentration
I’ve loved having Bobby Knight on ESPN and getting more of his personal insight into basketball and I’m even more convinced that he’ll be back in coaching soon. The other night he threw something out there that I hadn’t thought much about before. He was asked what the most important trait a player could have and he mentioned it was concentration. It got me thinking about a lot of things that I’ve looked at as a player/coach.
I’m a big Illini fan as I’ve mentioned many times before. Illinois has a player named Brian Randle who is an amazing athlete and good at a number of things in the game. He can jump, run, finish at the hoop and guard nearly every position on the floor. The problem is the little things that seem to always get in his way and I think they are a direct result of a lack of concentration on the court. He is constantly in foul trouble and they aren’t good fouls. They are the type that are 50 feet away from the basket and for no purpose. Watching him is like watching a player sabotaging himself. He has all the ability to be a pro but won’t sniff the NBA as a result. He’s the college version of Darius Miles, all the tools but something is missing.
Coach Knight discussed that concentration makes up everything with basketball and life and drew comparisons on both. He spoke of focus and how to be in the moment only thinking of what you are currently undertaking. If you aren’t concentrating and focusing on what you are involved with you aren’t giving 100% and I loved that. You can disagree with the man about how he gets things done but as a coach he has to draw your respect.
