# chapter 7 of the shape of agency **Opening (not a real abstract):** Pistol Pete Maravich was a skilled basketball player. You can look up his numbers. One thing the numbers don’t show, however, is the unpredictability of his game. His passes, his shots, the way he moved the ball in space— somehow routinely, he violated expectation. Expectations are currency in basketball. If you know your opponent’s expectations, you can plan to violate them. Violated expectations buy time, and create advantage. Maravich’s strange skill set was due in part to his father—the coach Press Maravich. From an early age Press had Pete going through unorthodox drills. The young Maravich may have just wanted to please his dad. But his training regimen instilled a unique set of skills in him. Pete’s biographer Mark Kriegel explains: The gloves and blindfolds were just the beginning. There were so many