Dealing With Adversity | Cole Anthony and UNC

One of the hardest parts of sports is handling losing streaks! It's so hard to quantify the effect that one basket, one goal, one score, and one point can have on the players, the coaches, and the whole team. We have had games where we played really solid and just didn't make enough shots and lost. We have played games where we played terrible and won. Usually, the locker room after wins and practice the day after wins are so much happier than after losses, no matter how we played.

There is a quote that says, "Winning heals everything." No matter how much we tell ourselves that the process is what matters, and play the game - not the scoreboard, and other great quotes that focus on how we play and not the outcome, at the end of the day, winning sure does cure a lot.

But sports are a lot about managing moments, and we have to be able to manage, learn from, move on from losses 

Cole Anthony just got drafted by the Orlando Magic in the NBA. He went to North Carolina last year, and he came in as one of the highest recruits in the country. It looked like a perfect match - Anthony is a known winner and a high profile athlete, and UNC is one of the best basketball programs in the history of college basketball. But his year was not what many expected. He spent a lot of time out with injury, and when he did return, his team struggled to find wins down the stretch.

Here is a great video documenting his year at UNC:

Legendary coach Roy Williams gave this quote about adversity in the video:

What you can take from adversity is just how to handle it. And that is the way it is in life. When you face adversity, you can't just roll up into a fetal position and go into a corner and start crying - you have to come to play, and you have to try to get better every single.

Cole talked about playing harder and playing better when things aren't going well, and the importance of keeping hope.

Cole Anthony's father, former NBA player Greg Anthony, said that this was one of Cole's toughest seasons because it was the first time that he had to deal with collective and individual disappointment. He said that losing can be frustrating and it can take a toll. 

Losing can be tough. Adversity can be tough. Be we have to fight through it all.

There will be tough seasons, and there will be bumps in the road. The key is to learn from those experiences, appreciate them, and hopefully, those experiences will help you become a better player and person.

When you are in the middle of a losing streak, ask yourself these questions daily:

1 - What I am I doing well?

2 - What can I do better?

3 - What does the team do well?

4 - What can the team do better?

5 - What is my favorite part of this game?

6 - What is my favorite part about being on this team?

7 - What has been the best memory so far this season?

8 - Who is my favorite teammate, and why?

9 - Who is one teammate I want to get to know better, and why?

Having positive thoughts can help you stay positive through adversity. Have fun, keep pushing, keep getting better.