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Thursday, December 15, 2005 Adversity can be a good thing if the response to it is a renewed spirit and work ethic. To cruise along, without any apparent blemishes, is to risk having those blemishes exposed once it’s too late to correct them. There’s a point where perceived success dulls whatever edge was used to attain it. In the words of a great man – you still have to play the games. So go back to the hardwood and sweat. Don’t worry about the critics – because you should be the one analyzing what’s wrong more than some blowhard with a keyboard. The blowhards are just feeding the machine – why else would there be something as ridiculous as power rankings before anyone has played 10 games, or any rankings at all before the third week of January? Losses happen. Learning from the loss and applying that towards the future is what brings real success. Because at the end of the day only you – and you alone – can look in the mirror and answer the question did I get better today? It’s every person’s challenge in life – not just in basketball -- if they truly want to live it to the utmost. So remember what it feels like to lose badly on another team’s floor. Keep it so close to you that the next time you start to leave the gym on a miss it pulls you back. Stay so connected with the feeling that it doesn’t allow you to half step anything on the court. Set every screen and shoot every shot with that feeling right next to you. Because if you use that feeling to help make your team better – no matter what the final result – you’ll be a success.