For All the Players Who Didn’t Get Minutes this Year or Felt Like they Underachieved

If you didn’t get minutes this year or felt like you underachieved, this is for you.

It goes a little something like this.

You felt like your coach hated you or just, “didn’t give you a chance.”

You talked with them and implemented their feedback. But still, nothing changed.

You played well in practice, but when the game came around, you got nervous, played tight and didn’t perform as well as you knew you could.

You felt like your leash was so short it choked you. You took — maybe one shot — and if it didn’t go in — you came out.

Or maybe, you turned the ball over in the first 60 seconds and immediately saw a teammate headed to the scores table for a sub.

You thought, “cmon, coach!! I need more time to get in a rhythm.”

Then, you went home and your parents, only trying to help, encouraged you to, “be more aggressive.”

And you wanted to be and you KNEW you could be. But deep down, you were scared.

Scared to make a mistake. Afraid to look foolish. Embarrassed because you didn’t get minutes and your friends were in the stands to see the whole thing play out.

It doesn’t seem fair. You totally underachieved and you’re not sure why. You did the work but didn’t see the results.

That’s not how it’s supposed to be.

Hard work pays off right? Not exactly. You’ve been lied to.

The reality is, hard work is the price of admission for the opportunity to be successful. It doesn’t guarantee anything.

And that’s a lesson you need for the rest of your life.

I, too, felt these same feelings in my career.

In fact, it sucked so bad, when my college career ended, I didn’t watch a basketball game for two years.

It felt too painful to watch players have success, because I didn’t have the success I thought I deserved.

But it doesn’t have to be like this.

It can change, if you change. Don’t wait for your career to end, like I did.

Start right now and make a commitment to yourself to train differently. To think differently. To act differently. To seek out mentors. To surround yourself with different (maybe better) people. To watch inspirational videos on YouTube rather than doom scrolling on TikTok. To go to camps that will truly make you better.

If you look yourself in the mirror, understand where you’re at and make a choice to be better moving forward — next season will be different.

You won’t be the one on the bench during big moments, embarrassed because you know you’re better than you’ve shown.

Hard work turns most people off. But not you. You will be different. You can be more than you think you can, if you have a little belief and a willingness to act.

It won’t be easy. But trust me, it’ll be worth it.

Until next time,
Kyle Koszuta

P.S. If you feel stuck and don’t know how to get the breakthrough you so desperately want, come to a Point Guard College camp this summer and learn from some of the most inspiring basketball teachers in the world.