UDL Application 1 - Google Slides

UDL Application 2 - Transcript/Summary

Who is the Redeem Team?

The Redeem Team is the USA Men’s Olympic Basketball Team, who competed in the 2008 Olympic Games. They were named that because the 2004 team had lost the final match and placed second. This was a huge disappointment, so they needed to redeem themselves. In 2004 they had problems including, underestimating their opponents, and failing to work together as a cohesive team. They were all bigshot NBA players from different teams, and they didn’t practice together for very long before the Olympics. So, the Redeem Team was formed to restore the honour of the USA, and they hoped to learn from their mistakes.

We’ll look at the story through the lens of Bruce Tuckman’s stages of group development.

• Stage 1 is forming, when the group first comes together. Group members are just starting to get to know each other and may be reluctant to fully participate.

• Stage 2 is storming, when the group encounters conflict.

• Stage 3 is norming, when the group resolves the conflict and is better for it. The group members come back together as a team.

• Stage 4 is performing, then the group is operating at its peak and achieving its goal

For the Redeem team the forming stage was immediately following the 2004 defeat, and management started working on the Redeem Team. They recruited Coach K, who was a college basketball coach at the time. They recruited players, some from the original 2004 team, and others who hadn’t been on the team before. All the players were world-class NBA players. They made an early start on training, and had their first training camp in 2006. They had some early camaraderie, but they were also hurting from the defeat and not sure how this would be any better.

In 2007 the team entered the Storming phase when Kobe Bryant joined the team. This was a controversial decision because Kobe was widely disliked, and he was implicated in a scandal. Other team members were wary because they thought he was aloof, not a team-player, and too serious. Some even found him threatening. They were expecting Kobe to be a big disruption to what they had been working on for a year.

The team moved into the Norming stage when Kobe Bryant proved himself to the team. He was aware of team USA’s reputation internationally and he made use of that to model chasing after loose balls and persisting in the face of great odds. He brought a new level of passion and intensity and elevated the level of play for the whole team. The other players came to accept him and follow his example in training. They started to understand and respect him.

When the time came to play in the 2008 Olympic Games, the Redeem Team entered the erforming stage. They made their way through the tournament, they supported other athletes, and they defeated Argentina in the semi-finals. They also celebrated Kobe’s birthday, which demonstrated their full acceptance of him into the team. On the day of the big game, they had great teamwork and were performing at the top of their game. It was a close match, but they won!

So, team USA successfully moved through Bruce Tuckman’s stages of group development. They came together and made it through the storming phase. They became an effective team. They reached their goal of redemption. They brought back the gold.