Welcome back to another weekly edition of the Playbook. As always, my mantra 👇

Let’s Build Confidence + Consistency™, on and off the court!

In this week’s Playbook I share some Christmas gift ideas for Young Hoopers based on what I’ve learned over the years (biggest tip: SLEEP. GET MORE SLEEP).

But first….

Looking Back 🏀

We’ve played a LOT of basketball. Ups and Downs. Most recently…

ASVEL - LOSS - 97-82

When it comes to Asvel, I think most people try to show up and think, okay the standings, the rankings, etc, this team isn't THAT good. And it's kind of like a trap, because you're like, okay, we will beat this team. But ANY team can win on any given day. And Asvel has the fire in them because of the doubters.

We got up early, but then in the third quarter, they just came out and punched us in the face and we never punched back. And we lost the mental battle. We started talking to the refs, including me.

I will stress this because it’s something I am working on and really want to manifest it for myself. DON’T TALK BACK TO THE REFS.

I know you wan to say “oh that was a foul or wasn't a foul”. Don’t. It splits your focus and takes you out of the driver seat. Take control out of what you control. Don’t give that power to the refs, the other team, etc.

BAYERN MUNICH - WIN - 101-90

I think we played solid against Munich. They play really fast. They shoot a lot of threes. We were able to keep our composure when they would make runs and not talk to the refs and just play our game and we got a big win at home, finally.

And this is with Obst going off and hitting 11 threes to break the EuroLeague record the game before (sorry Shane), so they had momentum.

ZALGIRIS - LOSS - 85 - 72

Whenever you play Zalgiris at their home, you know it's gonna be a dog fight every single time. This time, we didn’t come up on top.

I would say we only really fought in the third quarter. The third quarter we showed some life, but we need to get into our groove on the defensive end much earlier.

Zalgiris at home is probably one of the best environments to play in.

No matter how many wins they have for the season, no matter who's in their roster, they play hard in front of the fans.

And what I love is these fans are respectful fans. They are cheering for their team like crazy, but they’re gonna ask to give you a high five out of the game. I have a lot of respect for these type of fans who make the game fun but also a safe environment for everyone.

Moment of Reflection 🙏

This is the first time in my life, dealing with the loss of someone really close to me.

And the grief has come in waves and it’s been strange.

I'll be happy sometimes thinking about them and the memories together, and then I'll be sad, then I'll be happy.

And even in games, like after I hit a big shot in the Bayern game at the end of the first quarter, I was about to cry. I felt like I was about to cry, which is something I've never felt before. It's definitely been a learning process, but that's life, right?

I know that my grief is a reflection of how much she meant to me and shaped me. And I will miss her dearly, but I am also so thankful for all the time we had together on this earth and know that families can be together forever through the plan of salvation.

Looking Forward 🎄  

Obviously, Christmas overseas is not the same as it is in America, especially if you're in a different country. As a predominantly Muslim country, they don't celebrate Christmas in Turkey, so you don't see too many Christmas lights.

So we have just our little Christmas tree from Ikea, and Jenelle makes it feel like home by having an elf on the shelf and doing little things like that.

I think the biggest thing is if you're a family or if you're single, it's creating traditions that you can have overseas.

So whether that's movie nights, whether that's elf on the shelf, whatever that is, create traditions so you make it feel like home, and that's what we try to do. That's one reason why we went to London to really connect with the Christmas spirit.

In my vlogs on YouTube I’m going into this throughout my game day routines, but I thought I would put a little list together here for any young hoopers or parents of young hoopers.

SOME CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS FOR HOOPERS

• Sleep Mask

  • Cheap and effective, mostly I’m using this while traveling to try and nap on buses, planes, and hotels if their blinds aren’t blocking out all light.

• Chilipad

  • Quite expensive but SLEEP IS THE MOST IMPORTANT RECOVERY TOOL. So if you have issues with sleep because of temperature regulation, I strongly suggest investing in this (ie. in YOURSELF).

• Proper Insoles

  • Do some research or go to a store which can help with mapping this. Getting a proper insole will be a game changer.

• Oofos Sandals

  • All-around a good sandal and helps to absorb more shock and impact. Ideal for joint alignments & recovery from athletic activities

  • Also water resistant, so could be a good locker room purchase to avoid athletes foot and other nasty things you might get in the high school or college shower.

• WHOOP 4.0

  • All around health-focused wearable. I LOVE mine. Expensive but really worth it if you’re a stats nerd like me and want to optimize your health.

  • And here’s a link for a month free if you’re interested: https://join.whoop.com/C590A0B4

• Toe Separators

  • Because we’re spending so much time on our feet and in shoes, our feet tend to have issues which affect the rest of our body and our performance. These are cheap and help our toes get back to their natural position instead of all clumped together like in a shoe.

• Massage Gun

  • A bit expensive but amazing for releasing tension and knots. Huge for recovery. A cheap alternative is a tennis ball and a hard surface but it just won’t deliver the same results and will be much more annoying to work with.

• Foam Roller

  • A cheap but super useful tool for releasing tension and improving muscle recovery. Another must-have at home with the yoga mat and massage gun.

• Red Light Therapy

  • There’s a lot of good studies showing that this can help promote recovery and reduce pain. I use it in ADDITION to foam rolling, stretching, massage gun, etc.

I’ll keep adding more things I think would be useful here in the newsletter, not just for Christmas gifts but in general for athletes.

Q&A ❓

Hilario asked…

I think the biggest thing I've learned is understanding to enjoy the highs and the lows. 

And even the lows, try to look at your problems as something to learn from and something to solve and understand that no one's immune to lows, no matter what they're pushing out on social media or saying to you in person, everyone has lows.

So embrace your lows, learn from them. And if you see someone else having a low, try to build them up and offer some advice.

One thing that I’ve found really helping me deal with the pressures of performance is “Art of Accomplishment” and specifically their episode about “Failure”. I highly recommend checking out the podcast. Let me know if you find it helpful!

🚨Want to see your question answered above? Reply to the newsletter or reach out to me on social. I will group all the questions together and be answering them on the newsletter and vlog in the coming weeks. Cheers!🚨

YouTube Journey ▶

We go back to Round 8 to dive into the game against Mike James and the Monaco team.

I believe we can learn from everything, and most from failure. We want to win every single game, of course, but when we lose, we can learn the most about how to be better.

Hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think in the comments!

Thank you for grabbing your Playbook 🙏

I hope you like the new version of Playbook. If you have comments or questions or suggestions, PLEASE respond to the newsletter about anything. I want to hear from you and I promise, I read every response. My goal is to continue making a great Playbook and building a great community where we all get better together. And you’re a part of that journey!

Let’s Build Confidence + Consistency™ , on and off the court!

Elijah