Yup, great examples. Obviously those plays benefited from the element of surprise, but regardless when you have someone like Lamar Jackson it seems worth trying this at least a few times a game.
I think the armchair psychology here is backwards. The biggest egomaniacs - eg Michael Jordan and LeBron James, let’s say - are the most likely to adapt because adapting is what allows them to keep winning. Both players adapted their style of play at a later age - MJ with turnaround jumpers, LBJ with more three pointers - because they could not excel playing the same way as they did when they were both the athletic peaks of the league.
Hmmm yea there's definitely an interesting interplay between pathological competitiveness and ego where one can supercede the other. We could also point to examples where aging players refused to change their game (allen iverson, russell westbrook) and faded out quickly because of it.
I think in Russ’s case, his pathological competitiveness is what keeps him from adapting in service of his ego. He steps on the court and becomes singleminded - stuff the ball down the opponent’s throat.
The best way to square the "feel like you're the best but still being willing to adapt" circle is to center your ego around being smarter and more thoughtful than everyone.
Haha thanks. Bought the book when I thought being a stoic was cool, never ended up reading it...but at least I was able to mine it for this quote so I guess I got my money's worth
Did it occur to you that... tricks don't work at the high level?
It's a stretch of a comparison but I'm one of the top players in one of the most popular online games and a lot of "barking dog" like plays work on the lower level (<90-p players) and might even work on good ones (~99p), but at the very top levels those competing are "built differently" and will execute the correct set of actions/reaction regardless of how expected/unexpected his opponents moves are.
This is the exact attitude that makes one susceptible to tricks. The element of surprise cannot be suppressed, it is a fundamental force of the universe, like entropy.
Do you have any experience doing anything competitive at the professional or semi-professional level?
Because what you are saying is good on paper but doesn't work. As I said, you need to consider that those doing anything competitive professionally are superhumans, including the psychological aspect. The barking-the-dog style plays you are saying will be so paradigm-shifting will perturb the opponent for 1 millisecond before they already have a counterplay to exploit the obviously stupid "play" you attempted.
you are missing the point and in doing so only proving my point. Again I say: Tricksiness is as fundamental to the cosmos as gravity or electromagnetism. The element of surprised cannot be suppressed - your hubris will be your downfall. Heed my words FA, heed them!!!
Yup, great examples. Obviously those plays benefited from the element of surprise, but regardless when you have someone like Lamar Jackson it seems worth trying this at least a few times a game.
I think the armchair psychology here is backwards. The biggest egomaniacs - eg Michael Jordan and LeBron James, let’s say - are the most likely to adapt because adapting is what allows them to keep winning. Both players adapted their style of play at a later age - MJ with turnaround jumpers, LBJ with more three pointers - because they could not excel playing the same way as they did when they were both the athletic peaks of the league.
Hmmm yea there's definitely an interesting interplay between pathological competitiveness and ego where one can supercede the other. We could also point to examples where aging players refused to change their game (allen iverson, russell westbrook) and faded out quickly because of it.
I think in Russ’s case, his pathological competitiveness is what keeps him from adapting in service of his ego. He steps on the court and becomes singleminded - stuff the ball down the opponent’s throat.
The barking dog play should 100% happen
The best way to square the "feel like you're the best but still being willing to adapt" circle is to center your ego around being smarter and more thoughtful than everyone.
Your post was vastly better than the book
Haha thanks. Bought the book when I thought being a stoic was cool, never ended up reading it...but at least I was able to mine it for this quote so I guess I got my money's worth
Did it occur to you that... tricks don't work at the high level?
It's a stretch of a comparison but I'm one of the top players in one of the most popular online games and a lot of "barking dog" like plays work on the lower level (<90-p players) and might even work on good ones (~99p), but at the very top levels those competing are "built differently" and will execute the correct set of actions/reaction regardless of how expected/unexpected his opponents moves are.
This is the exact attitude that makes one susceptible to tricks. The element of surprise cannot be suppressed, it is a fundamental force of the universe, like entropy.
Do you have any experience doing anything competitive at the professional or semi-professional level?
Because what you are saying is good on paper but doesn't work. As I said, you need to consider that those doing anything competitive professionally are superhumans, including the psychological aspect. The barking-the-dog style plays you are saying will be so paradigm-shifting will perturb the opponent for 1 millisecond before they already have a counterplay to exploit the obviously stupid "play" you attempted.
you are missing the point and in doing so only proving my point. Again I say: Tricksiness is as fundamental to the cosmos as gravity or electromagnetism. The element of surprised cannot be suppressed - your hubris will be your downfall. Heed my words FA, heed them!!!