I have had those thoughts myself. But you're a coach, you know how it is...you control the process, you focus on what is in front of you, and you get better day by day. Odds are, you won't be back in the championship game, only 2 out of 300+ teams get there. But odds were against them this year, and they made it happen. You can easily psych yourself out by thinking of the long-odds and the road ahead, so you go myopic and think about tomorrow's workout.
That, and you work with the sport psychologists to develop a broad sense of self. If the team goes into next season thinking championship or bust, and all their eggs are in that basket, they are going to tighten up and gack at the first sign of adversity. But if they believe they are as good as anyone, and don't fear a loss because they know it isn't the end of their lives, they play fast and free, and that is scary for any opponent.
