The last two NBA seasons I've been delving heavily into the fantasy basketball scene. I've probably gotten into it to an unhealthy degree, but if I can find something that increases my exposure to basketball, I'm all for it.
I'm not saying I'm a super pro (as a sixth place finish this year shows), but I have picked up a couple tricks along they way. For instance, draft Lebron James first (aren't you glad I'm here?). Another one is pick guys who make three pointers at an impressive clip. Why? A single made 3-pointer helps you in four categories: FG Made, 3-Pointers Made, Total Points, and FG%. Not bad for a single basket, yeah? And the last one are words of wisdom to live by, and helped me salvage my season with an injury plagued roster to back-door my way into the playoffs: if a starter gets hurt, the back-ups numbers will go up. Always.
Examples abound this season. Darren Collison's numbers shot up when Chris Paul went down. Andray Blatche's production saw a marked increase when the Wizards imploded. George Hill got some run when Tony Parker broke his hand. So on and so forth. It's not rocket science why this happens: if a guy who gets 33 minutes and 10-20 shots a game goes down, there will be an offensive vacuum. So naturally, the injured player's teammates should see production go up.
I have no problem with this. I think it's great. Let other guys get a shot in the spotlight. Let them get actual game experience. One problem, though, I do have, are analyst types thinking that, all of a sudden, these players getting more minutes have somehow become drastically better.
I have to disagree. With a few notable exceptions, guys playing at the professional level are good. Not just good, but really, really, really good. They have the athleticism, natural talent, and killer spirit to make them the best of the best. All of them, no matter where they are from, were the Alpha Dogs of the Alpha Dogs. The best guy you know that plays at your local gym? The worst player on an NBA roster is very likely better than him. Unless your local gym are where the Cavs practice, of course.
The whole point of this is that these players aren't getting better. They're just getting the minutes so showcase their talent. So when I hear people talk about how Collison is really developing into a star, or how Blatche is the future of the Wizards, I shake my head. Those guys just happen to take the most shots. Give any player at that level that many touches and shots and I'm sure we'd be discussing that players star potential.
This of course has implications for stars too. For instance, Kobe's scoring average this season is its usual impressive self at 27 points per game. But, he needs 22 shots a game to get that. TWENTY-TWO. Holy crap. That's so many shots. Imagine, for instance, that another athletic wingman like, say, Mickael Pietrus got 22 shots a game. Currently, Pietrus Averages 8.7 points on 7.2 shots a game. For ease of calculation, if we assume he makes shots at the same percentage, and if we assume he took at as many shots as Kobe, he'd average 26.1 points per game on 21.6 attempted field goals. Well, look at that. It's about the same.
Granted, there are a lot of other factors at play here including crunch-time scoring, creating for other teammates, and avoiding double teams and the like, but it's still something to think about.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Clearin' the Cobwebs
I am reading, perhaps, the most important book I have ever read. It's not a textook for a class and it's not a work of ficiton. It's called "Finding the Open Road," and it reads a little like a self-help book. It's aimed at us graduating college kids and how we are supposed to deal with that next step. I'm usually not a big fan of these kinds of books; the kinds of books that pick a gimmick of sorts, usually revolving around bettering yourself, and then pound it in throughout its pages. For me, life usually resumes as normal when I finally put the book down.
Frequently, a book like that revolves around one guy telling you to not listen to anyone else but yourself. Telling you how to make your life better, more fulfilling, more successful, and so on. The irony in that, of course, is that you end up conforming to the guy telling you to not conform. He just posits a new set of guidelines to live your life by; that is, his guidelines.
This book is different. The authors themselves actually write very little in the book. Those lazy bums. The whole book is actually one long interview between the authors and various people they met on their quest to discover their unique path. I'm only about one-hundred pages in, but so far it's been quite stellar. Wide-ranging cavalcades of successful people tell stories featuring incredibly different routes. No two are the same. Regardless, all are happy doing what they are doing in their own way, and none of them knew what this happiness was right out of the gate.
One quote in particular they cite is from Thoreau. It goes "Most Men Lead Lives of Quiet Desperation." Essentially, most men go through life doing something they hate; they do what is safe, secure, and stamped with society's approval. Sure, they have a house, a dog, 2.5 kids, and a nice car. Yes they have job security and a nice pension waiting for them at 65. But many aren't doing what they love. Quietly, they are unhappy.
That quote really struck me, because I can see myself fitting in that category. Sure, I don't have all the pinnings of a modern, grown, quietly desperate man (Thank God!), but I feel its seed has been planted. I went to college because that's what I was supposed to do. I didn't have a burning desire to go to college (do they have a cream for that burning sensation?), but I never even considered anything else. Now that I've slogged through four years of classes, papers, and tests, I'm faced with taking that next step. People ask if Graduate or Law School is on my radar. I lie to them and say I'm considering it. I lie to myself and say I'm considering it. But honestly, I'm not entertaning either option. Neither are a right fit for me. I'll be the first to admit I don't know a lot of things. But one thing I do know is that I have no interest in furthering my Undergraduate Degree.
Where does that leave me, then? Well, one man interviewed was Mike Lazzo, senior Vice President of Programming for Cartoon Network. He mentions how he would slog through his job during the day and then do what he really loved at night, which was watching, thinking, discussing, and debating all things TV. He eventually sought a job so he could be around TV all day. He didn't care what he did exactly, so long as he was around it. When I read that, I immediately related. Not about the TV part, but the surviving the day part. I get through class in the day so afterward I can do what I love to do.
And what, exactly, is that? Look at this blog and what I usually like to write about. Maybe the fog has been lifted just a bit for me.
Frequently, a book like that revolves around one guy telling you to not listen to anyone else but yourself. Telling you how to make your life better, more fulfilling, more successful, and so on. The irony in that, of course, is that you end up conforming to the guy telling you to not conform. He just posits a new set of guidelines to live your life by; that is, his guidelines.
This book is different. The authors themselves actually write very little in the book. Those lazy bums. The whole book is actually one long interview between the authors and various people they met on their quest to discover their unique path. I'm only about one-hundred pages in, but so far it's been quite stellar. Wide-ranging cavalcades of successful people tell stories featuring incredibly different routes. No two are the same. Regardless, all are happy doing what they are doing in their own way, and none of them knew what this happiness was right out of the gate.
One quote in particular they cite is from Thoreau. It goes "Most Men Lead Lives of Quiet Desperation." Essentially, most men go through life doing something they hate; they do what is safe, secure, and stamped with society's approval. Sure, they have a house, a dog, 2.5 kids, and a nice car. Yes they have job security and a nice pension waiting for them at 65. But many aren't doing what they love. Quietly, they are unhappy.
That quote really struck me, because I can see myself fitting in that category. Sure, I don't have all the pinnings of a modern, grown, quietly desperate man (Thank God!), but I feel its seed has been planted. I went to college because that's what I was supposed to do. I didn't have a burning desire to go to college (do they have a cream for that burning sensation?), but I never even considered anything else. Now that I've slogged through four years of classes, papers, and tests, I'm faced with taking that next step. People ask if Graduate or Law School is on my radar. I lie to them and say I'm considering it. I lie to myself and say I'm considering it. But honestly, I'm not entertaning either option. Neither are a right fit for me. I'll be the first to admit I don't know a lot of things. But one thing I do know is that I have no interest in furthering my Undergraduate Degree.
Where does that leave me, then? Well, one man interviewed was Mike Lazzo, senior Vice President of Programming for Cartoon Network. He mentions how he would slog through his job during the day and then do what he really loved at night, which was watching, thinking, discussing, and debating all things TV. He eventually sought a job so he could be around TV all day. He didn't care what he did exactly, so long as he was around it. When I read that, I immediately related. Not about the TV part, but the surviving the day part. I get through class in the day so afterward I can do what I love to do.
And what, exactly, is that? Look at this blog and what I usually like to write about. Maybe the fog has been lifted just a bit for me.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Catch Me If You Can
Haven't done an actual blog post about basketball. Time for that.
Can we talk about Derrick Rose for a second? Holy crap, that is one fast human. He had a Mr. Lebron James on skates in that fourth quarter of tonight's Cavs/Bulls game. Needless to say, I was giddy when Lebron stepped up to take on the challenge of stopping the lightning quick second-year. I got even more giddy when Rose then called off a Noah screen so he could take the best player in the world to the rack. Talk about balls. And then you know what Rose did? He took the MVP to the rack. Dribbling the ball 35 feet from the hoop, Rose took two bunny hops, and then like a race-horse, rocketed towards the hoop. Not even the athletic freak that is Lebron could stay in front of him.
Then on the other side, Lebron worked his magic. Weaving in between defenders, evading double teams, finding passing lanes a beat before everyone else. It was great. I'm not a Lebron fan at all, but I'd be a liar if I said I don't enjoy watching him play. He's a marvel, and I'd give anything to have his basketball skill for just a day. Or even for just one game of pick-up at the ARC.
It's NBA playoff time, people. Best time 'o year. Go Thunder, Blazers, Jazz, and Bucks!
Can we talk about Derrick Rose for a second? Holy crap, that is one fast human. He had a Mr. Lebron James on skates in that fourth quarter of tonight's Cavs/Bulls game. Needless to say, I was giddy when Lebron stepped up to take on the challenge of stopping the lightning quick second-year. I got even more giddy when Rose then called off a Noah screen so he could take the best player in the world to the rack. Talk about balls. And then you know what Rose did? He took the MVP to the rack. Dribbling the ball 35 feet from the hoop, Rose took two bunny hops, and then like a race-horse, rocketed towards the hoop. Not even the athletic freak that is Lebron could stay in front of him.
Then on the other side, Lebron worked his magic. Weaving in between defenders, evading double teams, finding passing lanes a beat before everyone else. It was great. I'm not a Lebron fan at all, but I'd be a liar if I said I don't enjoy watching him play. He's a marvel, and I'd give anything to have his basketball skill for just a day. Or even for just one game of pick-up at the ARC.
It's NBA playoff time, people. Best time 'o year. Go Thunder, Blazers, Jazz, and Bucks!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Oh, the Humanity! (Or lack therof)
I was sitting on the bus, waiting for it to leave campus today. Having finished reading anything in the paper of interest, I was absent-mindedly staring at the rain streaking down on the scurrying students outside. It can be pretty boring fare waiting for the bus to leave. So lately I've adopted a new hobby: people watching.
More specifically, I've been keeping track of the people that walk on to the bus (No, not in a stalkerish way, shiiit! But seriously, cute girl I see on the bus all the time, call me). I'm looking at their technology usage. It's absolutely incredible. Today, for instance, 70% of people on the bus were either listening to music or texting away. A rare few were doing both (or mexting, as they call it). On the bus ride home, those that were attached to their devices rarely looked up from them; frantic fingers pounded away, crafting text after text. Others scrolled through their music collection, looking for that perfect song to accompany them home.
People sat in the corners, absorbed in their own little worlds. A fucking comet could smash into the bus and they'd not notice.
There is a comedian, Louis CK, who has a stand-up bit about this. It's all really funny shit, and you should listen, laugh, and enjoy all his stuff, but his thesis in this case is essentially this: Everything's amazing and nobody's happy.
People think they need their phone to communicate with the world. Without it, they are are a raft without a paddle, peanut butter without jelly, Jordan without Pippen, etc. Well, it's not true. Entire empires have risen (and fallen), battles have waged, love has been found, friendships have been made, and countless other events have happened well before cell phones were ever invented. So life without cellphones obviously can be done. And when we make everything digital, turn real friends into text messages or acquaintances into pokes on Facebook, we lose our humanity.
I'm challenging myself to use my phone less and just enjoy the day. I'm challenging you to do it too. Who knows, maybe next time I won't be busy texting and I'll actually have a chance to talk to that cute girl.
More specifically, I've been keeping track of the people that walk on to the bus (No, not in a stalkerish way, shiiit! But seriously, cute girl I see on the bus all the time, call me). I'm looking at their technology usage. It's absolutely incredible. Today, for instance, 70% of people on the bus were either listening to music or texting away. A rare few were doing both (or mexting, as they call it). On the bus ride home, those that were attached to their devices rarely looked up from them; frantic fingers pounded away, crafting text after text. Others scrolled through their music collection, looking for that perfect song to accompany them home.
People sat in the corners, absorbed in their own little worlds. A fucking comet could smash into the bus and they'd not notice.
There is a comedian, Louis CK, who has a stand-up bit about this. It's all really funny shit, and you should listen, laugh, and enjoy all his stuff, but his thesis in this case is essentially this: Everything's amazing and nobody's happy.
People think they need their phone to communicate with the world. Without it, they are are a raft without a paddle, peanut butter without jelly, Jordan without Pippen, etc. Well, it's not true. Entire empires have risen (and fallen), battles have waged, love has been found, friendships have been made, and countless other events have happened well before cell phones were ever invented. So life without cellphones obviously can be done. And when we make everything digital, turn real friends into text messages or acquaintances into pokes on Facebook, we lose our humanity.
I'm challenging myself to use my phone less and just enjoy the day. I'm challenging you to do it too. Who knows, maybe next time I won't be busy texting and I'll actually have a chance to talk to that cute girl.
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