- The NBA has dozens of real stories of young people overcoming the most dreadful kinds of childhood, with brutality, gangs, a lack of parents, and the like. For those NBA players, I have a question: Have you seen Slumdog Millionaire? Love to hear your take on it. (The Cavaliers watched it as a team, which helped them bounce back nicely from a loss to the Lakers.)
- Related to that last idea: Writer Ben Sherwood talked to Freakonomics about surviving plane crashes, but the same lesson would be useful being last in the standings, never getting playing time, or being down 30 to the Celtics: "Optimism is a critical survival tool, but only when it's balanced with realism. This concept is known as the Stockdale Paradox, named after Admiral James Stockdale, the highest-ranking American prisoner of war in Vietnam. The idea was popularized by author Jim Collins in his best-selling book Good to Great. When Collins asked Stockdale to explain which American prisoners did not survive captivity in Vietnam, the admiral replied, 'Oh, that's easy. The optimists.' Collins was perplexed, but Stockdale explained that the optimists 'were the ones who said 'we're going to be out by Christmas.' And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go; and then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.' Stockdale went on: 'This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end - which you can never afford to lose - with discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.'"
- Zach Lowe, Celtics fan, forms some impressions about the Mavericks: "With 30 seconds left in the half, [Kendrick] Perkins got the ball deep in the post against [Erick] Dampier. Dirk [Nowitzki] walked over for a double-team--he literally walked. Strolled. Ambled. When it was clear Perkins wasn't going to shoot, Nowitzki walked back toward his man. Was the game over by that point? Sure. But that's when your leaders have to show everyone else that they care, that the performance is unacceptable and that the team is going to play better starting right now. Everything about Dirk's effort said, "I don't care and I just want to go home." Hey--but don't worry, Jason Terry hit a three with 30 ticks left in the half to 'cut' the lead to 74-47, and he was so excited he made the 'three' sign with both hands as he trotted back on defense. Totally embarrassing."
- A bunch of TV commercials of the past featuring NBA players. Total head-scratcher is Darryl Dawkins barking the line: "Before I slam my gorilla dunkies, I get the eaties for my Wheaties." That is so not 2009.
- The latest in the Stephon Marbury wheel of samsara.
- Phil Jackson says his team is not as physical as Boston or Cleveland. I have to think he says that in part to set up the narrative that his Lakers will be wanting referees to watch for those bullies from the East in the Finals. He also points out a key difference between Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan: Bryant has little hands.
- Brian Windhorst of the Plain Dealer talks about what would appear to be an enduring schedule advantage for the Utah Jazz. Anybody have a way to assess of the Jazz get more than their fair share of teams on the second night of a back-to-back? Here's how Windhorst describes it: "Year after year, Eastern Conference teams and even those Mississippi River West teams that make routine three-game trips to the far West, finish off trips in Utah as they head home. Now, the NBA will never schedule regular season games on Sunday in Utah because of the role of the church here and how the Mormons devote Sundays to family. TNT has exclusive rights on Thursdays and the NBA always tries to end long trips on Saturdays or Sundays. So, often teams come in here on back-to-backs, in the altitude usually off a game on the coast where they lose an hour on the trip. It has happened for four teams just this month in Utah."
- Matt McHale of By the Horns: "[Al] Jefferson's 39 felt more like 60. Poor Joakim Noah had a double-double (14 points and 10 rebounds) plus a career-high 7 blocked shots but got used like a movie prop."
- Britt Robson of Secrets of the City: "Does anyone know why the hell Vinny Del Negro lifted [Joakim] Noah, enjoying one of his best-ever games as a pro, for Chicago's final offensive possession? Noah was shooting 7-10 FG and had two putbacks in addition to 6 offensive rebounds. Hulking journeyman Aaron Gray, who muffed the decent-look tip-in try of Rose's shot, scored 2 points on 1-3 FG with one offensive rebound."
- John Krolik of Cavs the Blog on LeBron James: "He hit a beautiful pull-up where he used his dribble to get to a spot just inside the key-great. He then hit a three with a man in his face flying to his right. Okay, heat-check I guess. Now, at this point, if you remember, LeBron should have established his jump shot enough so that he could drive to the basket. That's the point of shooting jumpers when you convert 70% of your shots at the basket. But LeBron likes to just see what he's capable of, and his next shot was a pull-up early in the shot clock from what must have been 37 feet away. I am serious. It was at the corner logo. And this wasn't surprising to anyone familiar with LeBron's heat-checks. There needs to be an intervention here. Shooting progressively tougher jumpers until you miss enough to lose confidence in your shot does the EXACT OPPOSITE of what you want to accomplish with a perimeter game."
- Josh Childress, who says he has not made his mind up about where he'll play next year, talks to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Sekou Smith about the competition in Greece: "The competition level is considerably different than in the NBA. In the Greek league, there are some lower level teams who aren't super talented, but they beat the [crap] out of you physically. Once you get to the top three or four teams, you see more talent. In the Euroleague, the talent level increases a lot. The teams have bigger budgets and have much better players. There are a ton of former NBA players [Euro and American] playing here. Every Euroleague game is similar to an NBA playoff game in intensity."
- Dwight Jaynes: "... the Wizards Saturday night were the poorest excuse for an NBA team I've seen in a long time. They really just phoned it in. ... Washington's pre-game workout routine mostly consisted of a bunch of guys standing around goofing off and having shooting contests (for money) from nearly halfcourt. They might as well have been playing poker."
- Stephen Jackson is named the eighth best Australian basketball player ever. A couple of quibbles: He's not Australian, for one, and he's not vastly overshadowed by Luc Longley.
- A student enters an online contest to design the jerseys for the Sophomore vs. Rookie game. Vincent M. Mallozzi reports for the New York Times: "'We were having dinner one night and Tim comes down the stairs and, very calmly, throws both of his arms up in celebration,' said Mr. Ahmed's mother, Nasrin, of East Meadow, N.Y. 'He took us up to his room and showed us a message on his computer that said he was the winner, and I just started screaming.'" You can see the designs.
- Frank Madden of BrewHoop on Michael Redd's season-ending knee injury: "There's no silver lining here -- whether you wanted to ride the season out with Redd or trade him for cap relief and picks, a major knee injury makes either scenario irrelevant."
- A rookie decked out in a very professional suit for every game. Jerryd Bayless is, thanks to the effect this'll have on David Thorpe's subconscious, due to jump about ten spots in the rookie rankings.
- Wow. You really have to read this. Parsing Kevin Pelton's work, and learning that little guys who shoot a lot of free throws tend to get hurt. It makes sense. But knowing that, do you really want your little guys screaming into the lane all the time? (Also ... by one count, Tracy McGrady stepped foot into the lane twice. All game.)
- Rick Barry just wanted LeBron James to curl off screens, catch the ball on the move, and tuck his elbow in when he shoots. Is that so wrong?
- The Suns had to beat the Hawks yesterday. They have been touring their ex-comrades. And they had already lost to Mike D'Antoni and Quentin Richardson in New York, and then to Raja Bell and Boris Diaw in Charlotte. Joe Johnson and the Hawks would have been too much.
Sort comments by: Most Recent | First Posted
Comments that include profanity, or personal attacks, or antisocial behavior such as "spamming" or "trolling," or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our terms of use. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
TRUEHOOP CONTRIBUTORS
Henry AbbottTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
J.A. AdandeTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Kevin ArnovitzTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Chris BroussardTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Chad FordTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
John HollingerTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Chris SheridanTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Marc SteinTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
