Deprogramming athletes not as easy as it appears

Sometimes you hear people make blanket statements that we assume make sense but when
you break down the theory further, you find that the idea makes very little sense at best.

Having watched more football and basketball games that I can count, I have found that many
games that are potentially being decided by one possession, or ultimately reaching such an
outcome, involve a commentator and/or spectator uttering the words, “You don’t want to
score too soon.” That statement is ordinarily made in reference to the team that is trailing on
the scoreboard but attempting to either take the lead in the waning moments/seconds or win
the game as the buzzer sounds.

Having grown up watching quarterbacks like Joe Montana, John Elway, Brett Favre, Peyton
Manning, Tom Brady and Dan Marino to name a few, many times I would hear the
commentator say, “You don’t want to score too soon because you will leave (fill in the blank)
too much time to win the game.”

George Blanda, Ken Stabler, Roger Staubach, and Otto Graham are other quarterbacks in NFL
history known for their last minute heroics. Since I was born in 1972, I only have minimal
memories of Stabler and Staubach in their primes and none whatsoever of Blanda and Graham.

Basketball is a very similar dynamic. In my lifetime, the most clutch players I can remember
in terms of players one would fear taking the final shot are Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson,
Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant, Reggie Miller and Robert Horry.

Jerry West is known as “Mr. Clutch” for his ability to make a big play in a clutch situation,
such as his famous buzzer-beating 60-foot shot that tied Game 3 of the 1970 NBA Finals
against the New York Knicks. However, I have no recollection at all of watching West unless
I dial up a YouTube video.

I have also seen these same scenarios play out at the college and high school level. I spent the
majority of my 18 years as a sports reporter covering the latter but also had the chance to do
so at the college and professional levels.

Regardless of which players are involved, or at which level, I come away from these situations
feeling entirely the same way. While it sounds great to score the go-ahead points with as little
time left on the clock as possible, even no time at all, that situation is too idealistic.

In the moment, your job as an offense is to score. You have no control over what your team
does when on defense. The “don’t score too soon” theory is also flawed because there is no
guarantee you will have that chance to score later.

The other side of the theory is if a team is on defense to allow the offensive team to score so
your team’s offense can get the ball back with ample time to score.

Whether it involves letting a team score to get the ball back or simply going down as some
suggest, it’s not as easy as one might think for players to suddenly deprogram themselves
of something they have been taught to do from youth sports.

No matter how much anyone thinks a certain strategy is more prudent at the time, it’s hard to
suddenly convince a player to do anything other than score or in the case of the defensive
player, stop your opponent from scoring. You can make the same argument for the defense
trying to stop the opponent but for the moment, I’ll keep the focus on the offensive
perspective.

Whether you are carrying a football or shooting a basketball, you are taught that every play
is a potential score. Athletes’ bodies are creatures of habit and are going to do what they
have been trained to do, which is try to score.  

On TV or in the stands it seems so easy to say, “don’t score too soon,” but on the field,
players are moving 100 miles per hour, or so it seems. You figure the average play takes
about five seconds in football. They have a lot to digest in about five seconds: a) Get off
on the snap count, b) Take the right steps, c) Execute your assignment, d) Make the right
reads. If you are carrying a football in the open field, you have to be mindful of defenders
trying to tackle you. In basketball, you have to be mindful of defenders going for a steal
or a blocked shot.

Which is another reason why I get very flabbergasted every time I hear a commentator say,
“don’t score too soon, you might give Tom Brady time to score.”

In a perfect world, you do want to score with as little or no time left on the clock as possible,
but as an offense, your job is to score. You have no control over what your defense does.
Plus, there’s no guarantee that you will have the chance to score later.

Again, it’s not about how big the stage is, it’s a matter of principle.