WEEKLY MOTIVATIONAL PIECE!

Greetings!

Right now the Chicago Bulls of the NBA  have become a shot in the arm for other team’s – regardless of level – that are facing an uphill battle, to never look defeat in the eye. That no matter where your team is seeded or how high of a hurdle you must jump, success can be attained! The one aspect of this Bulls’ team, that jumps out at me is their “belief” in one another and a willingness to  take on whatever role is needed to win! The Bulls have certainly laid out the Blueprint for other teams to follow.  

In all of my years in sports, I’ve never seen a team so shorthanded with such little margin for error that has overcome greater adversity to do the unthinkable? As you know, the NBA suits up ten players each night and then there are the Bulls, who are deep into the playoff season and doing so minus three of their key starters - Derrick Rose, Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich.

Every night a different player puts on a suit of armor and plays the role of Superman! On Monday, for example, there was the sight of back-up guard Nate Robinson getting 10-stitches after smashing his lip on the floor diving for a loose ball with Miami’s LeBron James and ends up pumping in 27 points. Here’s Robinson, one of the smallest players in a big man’s game (at 5-9), stomping his feet, waving off a screen and blitzing past Ray Allen for a game-clinching fourth-quarter layup that sent Heat fans home in silence (with a 93-86 loss).

It was the signature moment for a third-string player on a team that stands for GRIT playing against a team (like Miami) loaded with the BIG STARS! How can you not admire the scene of Robinson during Monday’s post-game press conference when he was holding an ice bag nearly as large as his head - who even had me pumped up - when he stated:  “Had to get stitched up and continue the battle! We're playing for each other. We're playing for the city of Chicago."

You talk about enamoring one’s self with a city! Then, who could forget last Saturday’s Game #7 playoff series clinching win against New Jersey when the Bulls’ Joakim Noah came up with a career statement game when it mattered most! He produced 24 points - his second-highest total of the season at a time when his team had no other options - and collected 14 rebounds. He also blocked six shots. "Before the New Jersey series, I didn't know if I was going to be able to play," said Noah. "I could barely walk." He was playing through pain after being diagnosed with an inflamed plantar fasciitis (which makes it very painful to walk, let alone run and jump out on a basketball court).

A fired-up Noah said after that game. “We’re a team of fighters. We keep getting punched in the face but we fight back. It’s going to take all of us sticking together through all kinds of adversity. This has been a real hard year. But I’m really proud of this team.”

Noah gutted it out with an injury to accept the responsibility of doing whatever is needed to be a leader of the team.  "In the last month, I must have done 40 or 50 different treatments," Noah said as soaked his feet in a bucket and had his knees covered with ice bags! "I don't know exactly what it is that has helped me. But it's a little better. I'm still playing through it."

Worn down by minutes and struggling with injuries, the Bulls have endured and excelled based on coach Tom Thibodeau's "Next Man Up" philosophy. If a player is in the game, Thibodeau expects the same from him as the player he replaced.

“Our chemistry is amazing,” said team veteran Carlos Boozer. “We play really well all together. That’s one of our strengths. We’ve been depleted. We play hard and grind and we’re a good team. 

For those of you that are inspired by motivational quotes, be sure to frame the Vince Lombardi message posted below. It’s exactly the message that’s fueling the Chicago Bulls to a man! They are fun to watch and putting out an effort that is a recipe we should all bottle up!  

All the best!

Jim Loria

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COACH THIBODEAU ON NATE ROBINSON: "He's about as confident as they come, and that's the thing that makes him good! If he misses a shot, he has a very short memory. He always thinks he's hot."

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“What you are thinking, what shape your mind is in, is what makes the biggest difference of all” – stated by the legendary Willie Mays, considered baseball’s greatest living player

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"Every time a player goes to apply his trade he's got to play from the ground up — from the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That's O.K. You've got to be smart to be number one in any business. But more importantly, you've got to play with your heart, with every fiber of your body. If you're lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he's never going to come off the field SECOND” – stated by Vince Lombardi, legendary Green Bay Packers NFL Head Coach

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In the end, it's extra effort that separates a winner from second place. But winning takes a lot more than that, too. It starts with complete command of the fundamentals. Then it takes desire, determination, discipline, and self-sacrifice. And finally, it takes a great deal of love, fairness and respect for your fellow man. Put all these together, and even if you don't win, how can you lose?" – stated by Jesse Owens, the great Olympic Track & Field Champion (won “4” Gold Medals at the 1936 Summer Games in Germany).

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