It’s Thursday before the Final Four games begin in Texas this weekend and I am sitting here with my old, warm Kentucky sweatshirt thinking about the fact that my beloved Wildcats have overcome significant odds to make it this far in the tournament. And what a tournament they have had so far:
It’s Thursday before the Final Four games begin in Texas this weekend and I am sitting here with my old, warm Kentucky sweatshirt thinking about the fact that my beloved Wildcats have overcome significant odds to make it this far in the tournament. And what a tournament they have had so far:
- A win over the talented Kansas State squad in the first round
- Knocking off the #1 seeded Wichita State in one of the most exciting tournament games in history
- Ending the defending national champion Louisville Cardinals’ run (led by former Kentucky coach Rick Pitino…yes, I’m still holding a grudge)
- And this past weekend…a three-pointer by freshman Andrew Harrison sealed a victory over the Michigan Wolverines to stamp their ticket to Texas for the Final Four.
This path through the Midwest bracket is said by many to be the toughest of any team in the tournament this year. But how did they do it after such a disappointing regular season? How did Coach Cal get them ready to play with the “big dogs?”
He didn’t scream at players, throw chairs, threaten, or even deliver his best pep talk. What he did was genius.
Earlier this week, a story broke that Coach Cal had delivered another type of speech to the guys as his #1 preseason ranked team began losing games they shouldn’t have lost. He was wheeled into practice in a real coffin. When he sat up after it opened, he said five simple words: “We ain’t dead yet, boys.”
This was powerful for the team of five freshmen. They began playing like a team instead of five individual future NBA stars. Instead of a crushing loss to the #1 ranked Florida in the last game of the SEC tournament, Kentucky had the win within their grasp and only lost by only one point. (I think we would have one had Young not slipped and fell before getting a shot off, but I’m not on ESPN.)
The point is Calipari delivered an important message in an impactful way…he visualized the team for them and made this team come together by evoking emotion and challenging the way they were thinking about themselves.
Motivating your team is most effective when you’re able to deliver important messages in impactful ways for your audience. Put yourself in your team’s frame of mind and address their challenges head on and you’ll experience the same teamwork and camaraderie that the Kentucky team did after this practice. And it will stick with them for weeks to come.
Let’s go Cats!
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Amanda
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