a. It’s not an opinion, this is a fact.
b. Let’s start from that premise.
c. No one or no team is unbeatable, no one or no team is without flaws.
If you don’t believe this, you are not one of the people who will pull off a huge upset. I really believe that what prevents more BIG-game upsets from happening is the Mindset of a basketball player and not their Physical ability.
There is a plethora of Mental Barriers you must overcome to beat a team like the Gold State Warriors. (I am in no way putting down anyone on their team because they are good players who have pulled off plenty wins and upsets in the past years).
But, how did the Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors in 2016?
a. The Cavaliers were losing 3-1 in the finals, and ended up winning 3-4, giving Cleveland their first pro sports championship since 1964.
b. They didn’t win because the Warriors stumbled and choked in the finals.
c. Failure is easy to do, to do it, you literally do not have to do anything.
d. Winning is a different story, Defying the odds that stretched 3 games and 52 years, that requires the Cavaliers to individually pull themselves together and have great team chemistry to perform the way they did.
e. By doing this, the league’s first championship in about 4 decades, won game 7 of the NBA Finals away from their home court.
I will never discount the importance of being physically prepared. They are solid basketball players with great technique, strength, and conditioning. In fact, they won 73 regular-season games with a NBA’s first unanimous MVP.
There players are absolute beastly and work their tails off every day. This dogged work ethic is absolutely necessary but there has to be more or we would see many more upsets.
Here are 3 of the mental constructs necessary to pull off big upsets:
- CONFIDENCE: To pull off a big upset you need to be confident that you can and will beat your “unbeatable” opponent. Easier said than done against a team like the Warriors! To truly be confident that you will get your hand raised against a basketball team of that type of talent, you likely need to do active work on your Mindset in order to build a higher level of Confidence. So, few basketball players actively work their Mindset to improve confidence. Thus, these upsets are seen very infrequent. Perhaps, only some players on the Cavaliers were the only ones in the gym to believe they were going to win. One or two people is not enough when it comes to a team sport, they would have to get everyone else on board with their Mindset. As long as they truly believed it, they could get everyone else to think the way they did.
Rest assure- LeBron James and Kyrie Irving planned on winning Game 7, and the rest of the team started to believe this as well.
2. CALM/RELAXED: After a game is over, the greatest players are Calm, Relaxed, and Confident. Often times in “BIG” games, basketball players will get overly fired up, emotional, or will change their approach. The players who pull off these upsets remain calm and level in their approach to these games. They don’t make these games “special”. When we make a competition special, we tend to add more pressure and perform poorly (refer to one of our thesis on anxiety & perfectionism for more info, you can find this on our website). Staying calm even in the 4th quarter with an upset looming. An over anxious basketball player or a team who freezes up in the situation, will not pull off the big upset.
3. FOCUS- It is overbearing to focus on the right things to pull off a big upset. Most people go wrong at this point. When most basketball players compete against some highly ranked opponents, they shift their focus onto what their opponent does. Probably all of us were guilty of that at some point. It’s easy to get caught up in Steph Curry’s missing his shots or Kevin Love not being able to play the whole series because he was suffering from a concussion. Watch Film! if you haven’t watched yourself and the team, check it out after the game during film sessions or on your own. You need to be AWARE of what your opponents do, but still focus on your own skills. Everyone has tendencies, but you cannot become overwhelmed with your opponent’s techniques. Basketball teams who pull off big upsets are able to focus on their techniques and strategy despite playing a dominant opponent or team.
Key Takeaways:
a. No one is unbeatable!
b. Being Physical prepared is a requirement for the big upset.
c. Lack of Mental Training prevents many big upsets.
d. Confidence, Relaxing Under Pressure, & Focus are necessary mental tools for upsets.3 qualities needed to pull off the big “Cavaliers” upset
I will start by saying- All basketball players can be beat.
a. It’s not an opinion, this is a fact.
b. Let’s start from that premise.
c. No one or no team is unbeatable, no one or no team is without flaws.
If you don’t believe this, you are not one of the people who will pull off a huge upset. I really believe that what prevents more BIG-game upsets from happening is the Mindset of a basketball player and not their Physical ability.
There is a plethora of Mental Barriers you must overcome to beat a team like the Gold State Warriors. (I am in no way putting down anyone on their team because they are good players who have pulled off plenty wins and upsets in the past years).
But, how did the Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors in 2016?
a. The Cavaliers were losing 3-1 in the finals, and ended up winning 3-4, giving Cleveland their first pro sports championship since 1964.
b. They didn’t win because the Warriors stumbled and choked in the finals.
c. Failure is easy to do, to do it, you literally do not have to do anything.
d. Winning is a different story, Defying the odds that stretched 3 games and 52 years, that requires the Cavaliers to individually pull themselves together and have great team chemistry to perform the way they did.
e. By doing this, the league’s first championship in about 4 decades, won game 7 of the NBA Finals away from their home court.
I will never discount the importance of being physically prepared. They are solid basketball players with great technique, strength, and conditioning. In fact, they won 73 regular-season games with a NBA’s first unanimous MVP.
There players are absolute beastly and work their tails off every day. This dogged work ethic is absolutely necessary but there has to be more or we would see many more upsets.
Here are 3 of the mental constructs necessary to pull off big upsets:
- CONFIDENCE: To pull off a big upset you need to be confident that you can and will beat your “unbeatable” opponent. Easier said than done against a team like the Warriors! To truly be confident that you will get your hand raised against a basketball team of that type of talent, you likely need to do active work on your Mindset in order to build a higher level of Confidence. So, few basketball players actively work their Mindset to improve confidence. Thus, these upsets are seen very infrequent. Perhaps, only some players on the Cavaliers were the only ones in the gym to believe they were going to win. One or two people is not enough when it comes to a team sport, they would have to get everyone else on board with their Mindset. As long as they truly believed it, they could get everyone else to think the way they did.
Rest assure- LeBron James and Kyrie Irving planned on winning Game 7, and the rest of the team started to believe this as well.
2. CALM/RELAXED: After a game is over, the greatest players are Calm, Relaxed, and Confident. Often times in “BIG” games, basketball players will get overly fired up, emotional, or will change their approach. The players who pull off these upsets remain calm and level in their approach to these games. They don’t make these games “special”. When we make a competition special, we tend to add more pressure and perform poorly (refer to one of our thesis on anxiety & perfectionism for more info, you can find this on our website). Staying calm even in the 4th quarter with an upset looming. An over anxious basketball player or a team who freezes up in the situation, will not pull off the big upset.
3. FOCUS- It is overbearing to focus on the right things to pull off a big upset. Most people go wrong at this point. When most basketball players compete against some highly ranked opponents, they shift their focus onto what their opponent does. Probably all of us were guilty of that at some point. It’s easy to get caught up in Steph Curry’s missing his shots or Kevin Love not being able to play the whole series because he was suffering from a concussion. Watch Film! if you haven’t watched yourself and the team, check it out after the game during film sessions or on your own. You need to be AWARE of what your opponents do, but still focus on your own skills. Everyone has tendencies, but you cannot become overwhelmed with your opponent’s techniques. Basketball teams who pull off big upsets are able to focus on their techniques and strategy despite playing a dominant opponent or team.
Key Takeaways:
a. No one is unbeatable!
b. Being Physical prepared is a requirement for the big upset.
c. Lack of Mental Training prevents many big upsets.
d. Confidence, Relaxing Under Pressure, & Focus are necessary mental tools for upsets.