What Basketball Coaches Can Learn From Boxer Terence "Bud" Crawford
I think all coaches could take a page out of boxer Terence "Bud" Crawford's playbook.
On Saturday he dominated Errol Spence in the biggest fight of the year... and is now widely considered the best fighter of his generation.
Truth be told, I'm more of a casual boxing fan... but I just had a conversation with a diehard who gave me an in-depth breakdown of what makes Crawford so great.
And the one thing that sets him apart is something all coaches can learn from.
See, Crawford isn't the most athletic or the quickest..
And he's not the hardest puncher or the biggest fighter (in fact, he's undersized for his division).
What makes Terence Crawford so great is his ability to make adjustments mid-fight.
As ESPN analyst and former two-division World Champion Tim Bradley explained when making his prediction before the Spence fight:
"I'm going with the guy that can make the best adjustments in all of boxing - that is Terence Crawford. The best fighter of this generation!"
And what really enhances Crawford's ability to make mid-fight adjustments... is the fact that he can fight equally well from both left and right handed stances.
Which means he can go into every fight with double the gameplans.
It also means that his opponents basically have to prepare for two different versions of Crawford... because a left-handed stance (called a "southpaw" stance) is the complete opposite of a right-handed stance.
Remember Rocky I when Apollo Creed's trainer advised him not to fight Rocky because he was a southpaw...
"He's a southpaw... I don't want you messing around with southpaws, they do everything backwards."
![they do everything backwards](/coaching/graphics/crawford1.gif)
But unlike Rocky, Crawford can do it all from both the southpaw AND orthodox stances.
Which doubles his options when he's forced to make mid-fight adjustments!
As a basketball coach, it's easy to admire Crawford's adaptability.
We've all been in games where plans A, B, and C just aren't working... and we have to dig deep into the well to find the right solution.
With that in mind...
You may want to add a few different options on defense that you can use to make adjustments.
You'll basically become the Terence "Bud" Crawford of your conference, with a list of mid-game adjustments as long as your arm to choose from!
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