Defensive Killer Instinct

I'm watching the Knicks-Heat game right now, and I just noticed that Ronnie Brewer is guarding Lebron James. I wonder what that feels like. I wonder what goes through his head when Lebron has the ball.

Thinking about it, the mental game is huge for playing defense. You need to really believe you can guard the person you are on to do an effective job of it. In sports, when we say that a player either has or lacks that "killer instinct" and the "ice in his veins", we mean that he truly believes that he's going to make the clutch shot, and that belief helps him make it. It isn't that if someone believes hard enough, they'll make the shot all the time, but believing it allows a player to more effectively use his skills and talents to make a play. We don't usually associate this mental strength with defense, as we do with offense, but I experienced how important this "defensive killer instinct" is first hand recently. I'm talking about the need for that reckless, over-confident belief that you're going to shut down whoever you guard and the eagerness to defend the best player on the other team

I experienced this last weekend playing in a small ultimate tournament here in Fort Wayne. Those of you who've played sports with me, you know that I take pride in playing good, hard defense. I always truly believe that I can shut down whoever I'm put up against, no matter how much better they are supposed to be. As I've played ultimate here over the last few months, I've noticed that I've transitioned from a more defensive player to a much more offensive player, as I was slowly reacquainted with the flow of the game and the movements of the game. Offense just became more fun for me to play, as I began to really believe that I was unguardable and was just faster than anyone guarding me. And maybe I still felt that way towards the people I was playing against, so I just got used to poaching more and helping on defense (translation: I played lazy defense).

So last weekend, we brought a group of people we play pickup with and played in a small 5-team tournament. In one of the games, we were playing another team who only had 6 players. One of their players is a kid who currently plays for the Indy Alleycats (the "pro" ultimate team - he's number 37). And I was scared of him. Luckily, I didn't need to guard him, and the super-stud on our team decided to guard him the entire game. I've never been good at guarding the give-and-go kind of handler guys, because I always feel like I'm a step behind, so I had a horrible feeling when we got switched up on defense and I was all of a sudden guarding this amazing player. This happened twice in total, each for probably around 30 seconds each time. And I did alright - I don't think he threw or caught a score in that minute that I was on him, but guarding him for that thirty seconds felt like forever, and I was totally spent after each time.

In reality, he's not that much faster than me, and I didn't run all that much when guarding him, but it really seems to me that the "This is not good" repeating in my head just made my body shut down. I really can't describe it. In my head, I really didn't want to be in that situation, and my body seemed to respond accordingly. I felt tired, probably more tired than I actually was or should have been. I think I was physically capable of playing him competitively, but my mind told my body after thirty seconds "I can't do this; I can't take it anymore", and so my energy just seemed to disappear with my morale.

So I wonder what it's like to defend Lebron. I wonder what it's like being put on Kobe in the last minute of the 4th. I think this is what really makes guys like Kobe and Lebron great defenders. They know and believe that they can take you. That's part of why guys like Shane Battier and Bruce Bowen were as good as they were, despite not necessarily matching up physically to they guys they were guarding.

But don't worry guys. I'll get that mental strength and defensive confidence back. I actually think I only lost it for ultimate, and not basketball. So next time we ball, expect good defense and hard fouls. No easies.

"All this is, it's fun to me. There's no pressure in it. There's no fear. A lot of guys, I think, when they match up with other great players, there's a fear of embarrassment, you know, to guard them, afraid that they might make you look bad. I really don't care. It's just fun going up against them. If you're playing a great player, of course he's gonna make you look bad at some times, but that's part of the game. It is what it is."

- Kobe Bryant in Kobe Doin Work

Check out my sweet 2-inch vertical. Oh by the way, we went undefeated in that tourney!