On Saturday night, Duke beat UNC in a competitive and entertaining game. They pulled away at the end to win 89-76, sweeping the regular-season series.
The highlight of the game for me was watching senior walk-on, Justin Robinson, have a huge impact in his final home game after rarely playing throughout his career.
I grew up as a dedicated fan of his dad, David Robinson, so I was cheering hard when Justin hit four threes and had four blocks in his big moment.
In looking back on the game, I think the key reason Duke won was because of how well they played in transition. It seemed every time Duke got the ball back after a UNC miss or turnover, a player was running the floor for an easy layup or a trip to the free-throw line.
Duke was consistently pushing the ball up the court and in the first half outscored UNC 15-0 on fast-break points. UNC only added five fast-break points in the second half.
Heading into the game, this was Duke's main emphasis and an area they wanted to improve on after UNC was effective in transition during the first matchup of the season.
Basketball is the type of sport that requires players to play both ways and quickly respond to being on defense and then offense or offense and then defense. When a team transitions well between the two, they are more likely to succeed.
When it comes to a team transitioning to offense after a miss, they must take advantage of the opportunity to push the ball down the court in order to score.
It’s trickier when a team goes from offense to defense during a fast break because they’re having to quickly move on from the missed shot or bad turnover and get back on defense. They can’t dwell on the miss but must shift their attention to getting a stop on the other end.
During an uptempo game like we saw on Saturday, teams often find themselves in transition and go back and forth between offense and defense. Duke scored 19 points in transition and overall made the most of the transition game, which helped them win.
A good question for us to unpack today is how do we handle transitions in life? We know our journeys are always filled with change and we’re required to quickly adapt when our situations shift, but how is our “transition game”?
Many of us may find ourselves in the middle of a transition at work or home and we’re trying to keep our head straight. Are we on “offense” and excited about a new opportunity and finding the “open lane” as we head toward the basket with confidence?
Or are we frustrated and discouraged by an unfortunate circumstance and find ourselves on “defense” dwelling on the missed shot or turnover?
Either way, it matters how we respond during the transition and both situations give us the chance to trust God.
Transitions are hard because often we're stepping into something new or stopping something we're used to or comfortable with. Transitions stir up emotions like worry and stress and feelings of being unprepared or overwhelmed.
The reality is, we’re regularly transitioning from one phase to another and we often experience a different stage, condition, or status.
When this takes place, are we willing to properly leave behind what we need to so we can embrace the new season? Most importantly, will we focus on the one constant, Jesus, during any period of change?
If He remains our focus and He never changes, then even when a transition is happening all around us, our peace, joy, and contentment remain the same.
Hebrews 13:8 (ESV) tells us, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
When our faith and trust remain rooted in Him, it won’t matter what kind of transition we’re in (if we just got the ball or lost the ball), we’ll keep praising Him.
The Bible provides us the example of Job when he quickly transitioned from “offense to defense” after losing everything he had.
Job's powerful response was, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!" (Job 1:21; NLT).
Today, let’s allow our “transition game” to lead us to trust...praise... and contentment. I’m Bryce Johnson and you can UNPACK that!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I pray the transition I'm going through will lead to great change in me as I trust and depend on You. Help me not to worry about what I’m gaining or losing in the transition, but rather keep my eyes fixed on Jesus because He's always there and always the same. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Discussion Questions for PACKS:
What transition do you find yourself in today?
How do you normally handle transitions and how would you like to handle this one differently?
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