March Madness

 I learned to play Chess as a boy but never had much of a chance to play until I retired fifteen years ago. Since then I have been an avid, if average, player, playing every Wednesday with a group of similar players at our local Senior center. I also play daily blitz or speed games online with players all over the world. 

Despite the common perception, I have come to believe that chess is a team sport. We all have the image of the solitary chess master hovering over the board and lost in thought while contemplating the next move. But to my mind the chess player is the coach and the real players are the pieces on the board. It doesn’t take much experience to realize that if these pieces don’t work together, they will not win.

It is the coach’s job first to get his players into the game. In other words, they must be placed out in the field of play as quickly as possible. In chess it is called development. The major pieces (knights, bishops, rooks) are more powerful than pawns and constitute the starting team. Not only must the coach put them into play quickly, he must place them properly so that they cooperate and defend one another. If they can’t work together, the game is inevitably lost. 

Even the Queen, the most powerful piece on the board, usually cannot capture the opponent’ s King by herself. She needs the support of at least one other piece to checkmate. Only the opponent’s Queen can confront her power alone, but she can be neutralized and sometimes captured by being double or even tripled teamed by less powerful pieces working together.

Team work is the key to success in most sports. Basketball, with only five players on the court, is no exception. March is the month when the basketball season reaches its apex. The NBA regular season, where most games are little more than exhibitions, is coming to an end. The Pros will soon start to get serious in the playoffs. 

Despite the magnitude of the stars in the NBA, it is still a team game. Some think that  LeBron James is the best player to ever play the game, but the Los Angeles Lakers are struggling this year without a strong supporting cast.  The continued success of the Golden State Warriors is due to the way in which they have integrated super-stars  Steph Curry and now departed Kevin Durant into their team concept. On the other hand, fans will remember how the  New York Knicks could not rise above mediocrity  because they could not induce superstar Carmelo Anthony to embrace the team concept. 

The NCAA collegiate championship series is reaching its climax. It is usually called March Madness but insanity might be a better description. All over the country millions of people have filled out their brackets only to be disappointed when lowly St. Peter's turned out to be a real bracket buster.

Interestingly, the most successful college team in the past decade has been the University of Connecticut’s Women’s team. It is true that the success of the team has enabled UCONN Coach Geno Auriemma to continually recruit all-star high school athletes from all over the country. The team is loaded with talent and their average margin of victory often has exceeded 30 points per game in past seasons. This season has been different especially when the team's star player suffered an injury that kept her sidelined through much of the season.  Nevertheless, the team continued to win.

Earlier this week the UCONN women made it into the Final Four by beating a talented North Carolina State team in double overtime. It was a magnificent display of team play on both sides. UCONN's star sophomore, Paige Bueckers, excelled in the second half but she did not do it alone especially when the NC State defense clogged the middle and took away the three point shot. She had the savvy and skill to shoot off the dribble and sink one mid-range jumper after another, but she never forced her shots. As a result the whole team contributed to the win. In a brief interview after the game a visibly shaken Coach Auriemma discussed the team concept as well as the great responsibility he felt as a coach to his players. (click on link.) 

Obviously, Auriemma’s stature as a coach has enabled him to get his extremely talented athletes to play together as a team. I remember reading about a local high school men’s coach who urged his young studs to emulate the way the UCONN women play defense.  In other words, Auriemma has been able to get the UCONN stars to not just think of individual stats but to play defense as well as offense.

A few years ago, one of the UCONN women remarked that Auriemma would find it difficult to coach men because they are so thick-headed when it comes to team play.

Even on the high school level it takes a strong coach to get young men to play together as a team. The natural desire of athletes to show their stuff is magnified these days by pressure to get college scholarships. Also, sports reporters often become star-struck and concentrate all their attention on the high scoring players and their stats. 

It has often been said that legendary players like Larry Bird and Michael Jordan were able to bring out the best in their teammates. In doing so, they also won numerous championships. This is true not just in chess and basketball but in business, politics, and practically every aspect of life. It is certainly true in family life where mothers and fathers give themselves to bring out the best in their children.

###