"The Art of War"

In Sun Tzu’s The Art of War  one of the most important parts of battle is to win the hearts and minds of the people. Sun Tzu calls it “Moral Virtue”. Doing what is right in battle. By doing what is right the people will rally to the side of the military and fight for what they believe is right. 

“The System” is “The No child left behind of basketball”. Yet for it to work you must have the people on your side. By that I mean the players, parents, and the administration must back you. To not have one of those on board will cause a break down at some point of a season filled with many battles large and small.

The second thing in The Art of War  that is remarkably similar to running the system is what Sun Tzu called the “Death Ground”. Sun Tzu believed that in order to get his soldiers to fight to their greatest ability, he had to place his soldiers in a position where they had to fight for their life. This meant that there would be no easy way out and he would get his soldiers best effort. 

So this is true in running The System”, Your players must press without a safety back so that they press with reckless abandon. To be halfway is to not be “System”, your players must commit to the press.

A third thing Sun Tzu talks about is that a sense of familial bonds ensures commitment. It identifies the leader with those he is leading in both name and spirit. He states this outright, saying that when the general “regards the troops as his beloved children, they will be willing to die for him.”

This is true in “The System” as well, by involving multiple players with playing time. By giving them key responsibilities, by making your team environment one like a family environment, you will get your team to play harder and with more passion then it ever has before. Their commitment to the team and you will become a bond that will last for a lifetime.

Sun Tzu presents the ideal war as a triumph without fighting a battle at all. Skirmishes, ambushes, and espionage are all favorable to massive confrontation. As Sun Tzu says, “One who excels at employing the military subjugates other people’s armies without engaging in battle, captures other people’s fortified cities without attacking them, and destroys other people’s states without prolonged fighting.”

“The System" with its 35-55 second lines is small skirmishes, ambushes, and a small bit of espionage as you move players around in different lines. System teams playing against stronger more physical teams would not have as much success in more traditional basketball (warfare). 

The Art of War talks about how crucial the ch’i (unorthodox) is. He talks about how there comes a certain time in every battle that you must allow your subordinates to be spontaneous and unpredictable.

This is so very true in “The System”, as you must allow your players to be play makers and breakout of the pattern and be critical thinkers on their own. Perhaps the ch’i is what allows "The System" to have the success that it does.

There are multiple other similarities between The Art of War and “The System". I urge you to take your time to read this classic.