Have you ever noticed that a team that is playing well begins to stop  doing the things that got them into the lead in the first place.  It happens in every sport.  The team that is winning begins playing too conservatively in order to protect its lead.

The team that is losing will take more chances because they are behind, what they are doing is not working out well and they feel they have nothing to lose if they take more chances.  Soon the teams switch roles and the team that is winning plays with less force and the team that is behind picks up more energy and begins to catch up.

This dynamic often happens  when it is the lower ranked team that is ahead.  Subconsciously they can’t believe they are winning the game so they begin to be very careful not to make mistakes.  They begin to lose their spark.  They slow the game down too much and lose their momentum.  The losing, but higher ranked team, puts pressure on and the lower ranked team starts losing their confidence and begins to wilt.

It is very difficult for an athlete to be focused at all times, especially against weaker competition.  This may be the reason why the higher ranked team fell behind in the first place.

A good coach has to do his best to get his players to concentrate.  The great players are the ones who rarely let down and are able to fully focus   when the pressure is the greatest, at crunch time.