Ball games are won or lost in practice sessions. A player's character is more important than his talent. There's no substitute for experience, and most players aren't really capable of understanding the game until they're twenty-six or so. More important than how many points a player scores is when he scores them. Coaching basketball can be dangerous to one's mental, physical, and psychological health.
Pro basketball requires a discriminating brutality from even the most marginal players.
The perfect game doesn't match the good guys against the bad guys, but features ten players playing one ball game. And, yes, life is indeed a metaphor for basketball. Filling a lane on a fast break to create a space for a teammate. Hitting the open man. Playing balls-out defense, rotating, boxing out.