Allen Law -- The Good Point / Straight Out Of Vancouver
When you're a Grizzlies fan living an hour outside Cleveland, Ohio, life isn't easy. Not only is it nearly impossible to get a quality feed of games, but you have to put up with 20 Facebook posts a day notifying you that the Cavs are guaranteed a championship this season.
The Cavs didn't get their championship, but I did get one simple moment of enjoyment. With the game tied and a second on the clock, Rudy Gay catches the ball in the corner, turns, and makes an ever-so-slight head fake while still moving. The Magic's defender is frozen solid. Maybe it was his instincts; but I'm guessing it was mostly shock that a young cub could pull that move.
With the defender on his heels, Rudy rises up and fades slightly. The ball hits back rim, rattles for a fraction of a second and falls, but there was never doubt. Rudy jumps and flaps his jersey with no smile, just pure emotion. He doesn't really strut, there's no pride in growing.
According to my newsfeed, LeBron hit a pretty big shot over the Magic this season too, but isn't that just expected of the King? Rudy's shot meant so much more because it was something new—a veteran savvy, youthful humility and hope.
Andrew Perna -- RealGM
I covered the Dec. 3 game between the Pacers and Celtics in Boston and witnessed what was then the best game of Rajon Rondo's young NBA career. Not surprisingly, the Celtics won the game 114-96. The victory was due in large part to the production Rondo provided over his 41 minutes.
His performance was as dominating as I've seen from a player that took just 10 shots. He notched his first triple-double, posting 16 points, 17 assists and 13 rebounds as he dominated from baseline to baseline. For me, that was Rondo's coming out party - not his first-round performance against the Bulls in April.
That night, Indiana's point guards (T.J. Ford and Jarrett Jack) combined for 22 points, 12 assists and four rebounds. Rondo took half as many shots as Ford/Jack, but thoroughly outplayed the tandem. The statistics tell the story, but only a portion of it. Rondo looked like an MVP that night.
Matthew Noe -- 3 Shades of Blue
Halloween night 2008, FedEx Forum. Home opener for my beloved Grizzlies, the game coming on the heels of a tough, but close, loss to Houston the previous night - it was a fresh season pregnant with potential for growth. For the second year in a row, the home opener was a hard-fought game against what many expected to be a contender - the Grizzlies scored and defended right with the Magic. Then came the tie with but a few ticks on the clock. Kyle Lowry inbounding the ball, O.J. Mayo flashes to the elbow - covered. Rudy Gay tries once to break free in the corner, spins, twists, manufactures a couple of feet between him and his defender, but he's going toward the corner, away from the basket. Kyle gets the pass to him the instant before a five-second violation… Rudy catches, spins instantly, draws a bead on the basket, and drops it… the backboard lights up as the ball drops through and the roof just about caves in due to the happy pandemonium breaking loose. No matter how many times it happens, there just ain't nothin' like a buzzer-beating game-winner for the home team on opening night.
Royce Young -- Daily Thunder
There's really one moment that sticks out above all the rest for basketball fans in Oklahoma City. When David Stern walked to mid-court at the Ford Center and said, "Oklahoma City, welcome to the National Basketball Association", everything changed for us. We went from perceived cowtown where everybody still went to work in covered wagons to Big League City. We were professional, in the same league with Los Angeles, New York, Miami and Chicago. That's a lot different than Frisco, Pawtucket, Toledo and Rochester. Opening Night was something we never thought we'd see here. It was a night to let out the emotions and build-up of finally getting a franchise, a night to just celebrate what was on the court. The final score didn't matter. The only thing that did was that the NBA had come to Oklahoma.
Austin Kent -- The Good Point
Last February I sat in an economics lecture with a university professor. He was the youngest of the four or so that I had, and by far the most consumed with basketball and technology. He sat us down in the classroom one day and presented Michael Lewis' essay on the Houston Rockets and Shane Battier.
I had already been a fan of Moneyball, the Sabermetrics-based baseball novel released in 2002, but had always been a basketball fan at heart. Although today, advanced baseball research has certainly been broken down into a science, the NBA is still a relatively unexplored frontier. We've grown too accustomed to ineffective measurements of success in basketball while the secrets to winning remain out there undiscovered, ripe for the picking.
This NY Times article opened my eyes to the uselessness of traditional statistics and allowed me to view the game I've long obsessed over in a different light. From that point on I realized how little we really know about the science of basketball.
Current Comments
2 comments so far (post your own)great job, thanks..
I'm Peja fan :)))
Posted by pame stoixima opap on Sunday, August 9, 2009 @ 12:45pm
Wow,really nice job!
Posted by King of Rome on Thursday, August 20, 2009 @ 2:12am