As i start to come to the end of my season, my teammates are starting to get more injured. we currently have 5-7 fully healthy (rostered) players. two are out until the end of the season. It's not rly putting pressure on me but since the start of the season, our group has gotten pretty close and 2 of some of my closer teammates have been put out or are suffering from an injury and it pains me. I hate that they can't play the sport they love. for one of them, they are playing but not with their usual intensity and then they make just a few small mistakes and i can see they are in pain mentally and physically. what hurts me the most is that i can't help them with their physical pain and some of their mental pain. no one needs to respond to this, i just wnated to get it out there

At this point, I was 22 going on 23. I had already played in Mexico’s top league and had been part of the Pacers G League team. Then I suffered a career-altering ankle injury and went 17+ months without playing in a league. At that point, coming back to basketball felt like a distant thought, let alone coming back as the player I once was. And honestly, my pride almost sabotaged the whole thing. Once you’ve played at a certain level, you never want to go below that level. You set a standard for yourself, and for me, that standard had already been set. In my mind, the ABA was a step down. Almost embarrassing for a player of my caliber. But I swallowed my pride and reached out to the coach. It wasn’t just any team, either. It was a brand-new team made up mostly of guys who had never played beyond high school. A few games in, I realized there was actually some solid talent in the league — overseas players, college guys, and even another G League player or two. Then came the biggest challenge. We lost our first 9 games. I remember thinking I was too good to be in this league. But eventually, I had to be honest with myself: If I was really too good for this league, we wouldn’t be 0-9. That realization changed everything. I swallowed my pride. I moved differently. I became a different type of leader and a different type of player. We started becoming competitive. Then we started winning a few games. And somewhere along the way, without even realizing it, I started becoming myself again. Looking back, I realize this was always the path I needed. Maybe the league was a step down. But I wasn’t too good for it. I wasn’t above it, and I certainly wasn’t above anyone in that locker room. The challenge was never really the league. It was me. Once I understood that, everything started to come together. I moved on to the next league, and before I knew it, I was back playing in Canada’s top league. Sometimes you have to swallow your pride and take a step back.

Elite scorers aren’t defined by having one unstoppable move. They’re defined by their ability to find different ways to score when the defense takes something away. Ethan put on a clinic against the #4 team in the state—and what stood out wasn’t just how much he scored, but how many different problems he could solve. Backdoor cuts. Attacking hard downhill off closeouts. Mid-range pull-ups. Floaters. 3s. Leaking out in transition. Hook shots. Playing off two feet. Using his pivot. Creating advantages without the ball just as effectively as he created them with it. That’s multi-level scoring. Elite scoring is ultimately a decision-making problem. The defense changes the constraints—space, angles, timing, positioning, help—and the scorer has to adapt the solution. Research on skilled movement supports this idea: high-level performers benefit from being able to use different movement strategies while maintaining a consistent outcome. The best scorers aren’t just good at scoring one way. They have multiple answers. With the ball. Without the ball. At the rim. From the mid-range. From 3. In transition. Against a closeout. With their back to the basket. On two feet. Off movement. Different tools. Same objective: get a bucket. And Ethan showed nearly every one of them in a single game against a top-5 team in the state. Multi-level scoring. Trainer: @Logan Hinton, a former 5 year pro across three countries. Train Like a Pro!

There’s something different about having someone beside you who wants it just as bad as you do. Someone who gets you to the gym when you don’t feel like going. Someone who pushes you when you’ve reached your limit. Someone who refuses to let you settle because they know what you’re capable of. Someone with the same goals. The same mindset. The same hunger. Because the journey isn’t just about the wins. It’s the early mornings, the bad days, the missed shots, the setbacks, the doubt, the sacrifices, and the days when you have to choose discipline over comfort. And there’s something powerful about going through all of that with someone who understands. Research consistently points to the role of social support in building self-efficacy, motivation, and long-term exercise adherence. Sometimes the person beside you becomes part of the reason you keep showing up. For me, that person is my brother. We’re not just competing against each other. We’re challenging each other. Pushing each other. Holding each other accountable. Because when two people are committed to becoming better, you don’t just grow individually—you sharpen each other. Iron sharpens iron. And I’m grateful to have someone willing to go through the struggle with me. 🏀 Trainer: @Logan Hinton , a former 5 year pro across three countries. Train Like a Pro!

Every player needs one. Not 20 different moves. Not something flashy just for the sake of looking good. A move you KNOW you can get to. When the game gets tight, the clock is running down, and you need a bucket, you don’t want to be thinking about what move to try next. You want something that’s already in you. Your go-to move should be: • Something you’re comfortable with • Something you have confidence in • Something that fits your game • Something you’ve practiced over and over again • Something you can create separation with and consistently get your shot off That last part is HUGE. A move isn’t your go-to because it looks good in an empty gym. It becomes your go-to because you’ve repped it enough that you trust it when it matters. Research on motor learning and performance under pressure supports this idea: accumulated practice and experience can influence how well athletes execute skills when pressure is added. The goal is to build a movement pattern that becomes reliable enough that you don’t have to consciously think through every part of it when the game speeds up. (PubMed) That’s why your go-to move needs to be practiced with intention and repetition. Same move. Different angles. Different defenders. Different speeds. Different situations. Get so comfortable with it that when you need a bucket, your confidence doesn’t come from hoping the move works. It comes from knowing you’ve done it thousands of times. Find your move. Rep it. Own it. Then trust it when the game is on the line. 🏀🔥 Trainer: @Logan Hinton, a former 5 year pro across three countries. Train Like a Pro!