Doers and Watchers

So I had contemplated writing about Nationals again, but decided that two posts would be enough as I'd only end up repeating the same things over and over.  It was a good trip, and although I'll never tire of revisiting those days, I'll give you all a pass.  But, since I lost my camera, I will borrow a pic of the team outside of ESPN's Wide World of Sports -

And that brings us into today's post....

While at the Field House of ESPN's Wide World of Sports, I noticed that along the walls are little banners, defining the term "doer".  Obviously, its not a dictionary type definition, but just a few things that doers would do.  For instance, "Doers play to the whistle.  Doers practice as hard as they play the game. Doers get stronger as the game goes on.  Doers deliver in the clutch."  Everyone wants to be a doer - at least you'd hope so - and if the team does these things consistently, then there's a pretty good chance we'll see some form of success.  Makes sense.

Just the night before making the trip to the WWS complex, I decided to download a free book from Amazon (thanks to lifeonthejtrain for telling me about that).  In this book the villains are called "Watchers" because, well they are lazy and just, um...watch things happen.  They just watch the victim, staying out of the way, patiently waiting on the sidelines until a large enough window of opportunity appears before they make a move.  Essentially, the less work, the better for the watcher.

I've seen my share of both doers and watchers in my short time coaching,  and the crazy thing is that all teams need a some of both.  I know, you are probably wondering what coach wants a "watcher" on their team.  I do - remember there's a time and place for everything.

Teams obviously need doers on the court.   In a perfect world, you've got 10-12 (sometimes more but I'm still not sure why) doers that every time they step on a court, they come with the intent to put in work.  Not that half way, "I had a long day at school, coach" work either.  Focused, determined, inspired to become better than they are, and if that means someone on the other side gets a loss - so be it.  Putting it all on the line from the start of practice to the meeting prior to dismissal, from tip to final buzzer, anything less that 100% just doesn't exist.  But you've also got a coaching staff that is locked in ready to go.  They have work to do, too.  Whether its keeping stats, helping the head coach reemphasize a point, or managing personnel, coaches have to be doers to.  Maybe it starts a little earlier than the players and last a little longer - such is the life of a doer.  Just as players have to come to practice ready to work, coaches have to come to practice ready to lead the work and help channel the energy in the right direction.   Everyone wants referees who are doers - they'll call the game right, utilize proper mechanics, maintain control of the game, etc.  We've all had that one game that came down to a referee who either did or didn't blow the whistle on a clear foul...  Lastly, you need fans that are doers.  They'll cheer their team on the whole way and afterwards show their support for the team's efforts.  Doers are only good though when they stick to their roles.

Fans, and bench players, when they aren't cheering, need to be watchers.  I already talked about that in April (if you missed it - click here), so I'll just say that you don't need to be coaching, and you put your team in danger of a technical foul if you are bothering the referee too much with obscenities and the like.  They also don't need to be on the court during halftime or time outs, as that's distracting and rude.  All they need to do is cheer and show support.  If you aren't doing that, you are watching - waiting for your opportunity to cheer again.  The players on the floor, when they aren't playing need to also watch.  No trying to referee the game, no talking back to fans - just play the game.  If you think you got a foul, but there was no whistle, you aren't allowed to stop and beg for a call - doers play to the whistle, remember.  When there is a whistle, you become a watcher - waiting for your opportunity to strike, whether its a rebound on a missed free throw or executing an inbounds play.  Coaches, being tasked with the responsibility of the team, get to blur the lines a little, but being a doer, they'd know how far they can push the limit.  But generally, they don't do a lot of officiating, they leave the scoring to the players, and you can't always cheer - sometimes you just have to get in some one's face and tell them to wake up.   If it's not your role, don't be a doer.  Be patient and your time will come...

I really got to appreciate this at Nationals.  I saw some games where there were a lot of Doers staying in their lanes - fulfilling their, and only their, roles. There were some games with a little of both, and some games felt like the Watchers had taken over.  I definitely didn't like those games of the latter type.  I know sometimes I don't live up to the "doer" standards - I am human, after all - but this trip and, for whatever reason, the signs around the building about what a doer is just makes me want to push harder to live up to it, because the one thing that I didn't see on the wall that day is that "A doers job is never actually finished.  Doers are never satisfied."