You see it in players sometimes, helpfully flipping narratives, authoring different plot twists. For years, Alex Rodriguez wore the collar of playoff gagger. In 2009, he had a 1.308 OPS in 15 postseason games and fueled a Yankees championship.
The afternoon of Nov. 25, 2007, Eli Manning threw four interceptions against the Minnesota Vikings, three of which were returned for pick sixes. There was hullabaloo if Manning was “elite.” Exactly 70 days later, he told a huddle in the final minutes in Phoenix, “Let’s win a Super Bowl,” and the other 10 players believed Eli would be equal to that task. He was.
Hell, just look at what Mikal Bridges has done since scoring zero points in Game 3 of the Hawks series 16 days ago. Not a lot of angst about draft picks strangling Knicks fans right now.
It’s different with coaches, almost always different. Coaches get where they get by having strict and unbending belief in themselves, by being intractable, stubborn. Often, it doesn’t dawn on them until it’s too late that it might be a useful tool in the utility belt to listen to other voices, heed other opinions, see the game through different eyes.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
