NBA Geeks
Picking up from where
GuacamOLI left off, a job as an NBA team analyst is the Mt. Everest for this jock poser who's a true geek at heart. It's nothing new, it's being done by experts and
amateurs alike. I remember reading an article on ESPN The Mag of how Gregg Popovich and the Spurs use game analysis software and statistics to help them scout their opponents and even study their own players' strengths and weaknesses. They watch and re-watch stacks of game tape (with 30 teams and 82 regular season games each, that makes 1,230 games) in order to break down every offensive and defensive play.
Imagine a defender facing up, one-on-one, against Kobe or Dwyane Wade in the dying seconds of a tied game. He is trying his best to avoid becoming the fodder for this superstar's cannon, for all to see, repeatedly, in an ESPN highlight reel. Through a strange brew of math, a keen sense of observation, and innate basketball instinct, this hapless defender could figure out, up to a certain level of confidence, the offensive player's next move---where he'd likely take his next shot---and whether the best ploy is to force him to go to his left or his right where a secondary defender would be waiting. The defender would make his decision, he'd take his chances based on a number, a probability, and let the chips fall as they may. He would gamble, yes, but he would do so with a loaded die. Instead of putting up Xs and Os, and telling his players, "Ok, Chito, this is you, Joey, this is you", while holding a magnetic clipboard, a coach could mouth off numbers like, "61% going to the left, 45% to the right, 36% at the 3-pt line, 28% fade-away jump shot, 16% chance he'll pass up the final shot and give it to an open teammate etc., etc., ".
In the pros where games are played at blinding speed, it's a tug-of-war between instinct and reason, while instinct wins 3 out of 5 times, the numbers, at least, help put some method in the madness. Coaches like Don Nelson, formerly of Dallas Mavericks, relied on numbers to decide whether or not his team would double-team a player of Tim Duncan's caliber on the low post. Even NBA.com puts up players' efficiency ratings*, both in aid of fantasy leagues and sports analysts, so they can say, with some amount of conviction, why they think so and so is better than this or that player.
Notes:
* EFI : [(points + rebounds + assists + steals + blocks) - ((FGA - FGM) + (FTA - FTM) + TO)] / Games
No Thanks
The big, sad, news today is the stampede at the Ultra.
Wowowee host Revillame earlier apologized for the tragic accident. He said, "We only wanted to make these people happy and
help the poor". How does giving a million pesos, or a thousand here and there, to a handful of people help the poor?
Sermon
I believe that a good pulpit sermon does not preach or moralize, but compels one to think hard on the state of one's life. Last Sunday's exhortation could not even spark a flicker of thought in my head. I'm not sure which hit me first, the listener's block or the overwhelming desire to leave and bum around at the children's Sunday School area. As it was, I stood up and spent the rest of the morning outside with the rest of the stray flock. I don't blame the preacher, it's us. We couldn't sit back, in relative discomfort, for a good hour or so and set aside the grim nuisances of our real lives to listen to God's message.
The first few minutes are critical. The preacher virtually walks the fine line between an eye-opening or a sleep-inducing sermon. And I have seen people, as I often sit at the back rows, bobbing their heads like chickens pecking corn, lost in slumbers. It makes me snicker, and alternately, saddened at the thought of what they could be missing. "For each minute we close our eyes, we lose sixty seconds of light"*...
...and gain a minute of rest and respite from the troubles of the world? It depends on where one's mind wanders off while he is asleep.
* * *
I swear, I may have seen every single sports-themed movie featured in the last decade or so. That includes Whoopi Goldberg's stint as head coach of the New York Knicks in "Eddie", and other similarly pitiful outings. There's something in them that draws me in no matter how horrid the trailer looks (think "6th Man"). So when I came upon the trailer of this new football movie, "Goal!", I immediately made a mental note to see it. I was sold on the movie's simple by-line, "one life to live". It lit a spark, so to speak. I find stories of triumph of the human spirit in the face of adversity irresistable, even inspirational. One finds inspiration from the strangest things, and similary, I happen to find myself crying at the strangest of provocations. Like when I'm watching a highlight reel of John Stockton sinking a three at the buzzer to send the Utah Jazz to their first ever finals series, but that story is fit for a different day. Anyway, I'm sure to find myself crying at the heart-rending, triumphant moments of this movie and no amount of potential embarassment and teasing could stop me from doing so.
* Words of Gabriel Garcia-Marquez (according to the widely-circulated farewell letter).
Unfinished
Here's a list of things I've left unfinished over the years. Half-read books, half-finished video games, movies, etc., half-learned sports and skills---half-hearted efforts that are not even worthy to mention, save for today.
Half-Read Books
1.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (J.R.R Tolkien)2. The Island of the Day Before (Umberto Eco)
3. The Contender (Robert Lipsyte)
4. Foucalt's Pendulum (Eco)
5. The Taming of The Shrew (William Shakespeare)
6. Heaven and Hell (Aldous Huxley)
7. Walden (Henry David Thoreau)
8. Leaves of Grass (Walt Whitman)
9.
The Sorrows of Young Werther (Goethe)10. How To Be Good (Nick Hornby)
11. The Alchemist (Paolo Coehlo)
12. The Bible (though I vow to read it from Genesis to Revelation)
13. Automechanics For Dummies
14. Harry Potter, 1st book (J.K Rowling)
15. Lord of the Rings, Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
Half-Finished Video Games & Movies
1. Fable...stopped playing it right before the final battle; I dread the moment when I would have to kill my "sister" to get the Sword of Aeons :)
2. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City...couldn't get past the part where I had to chase the goons on motorbike
3. Grand Theft Auto 3...dropped it when GTA: Vice City came out
4. War Craft...cheated my way through the first few chapters and consequently grew tired of the game
5. Sims: Bustin' Out...bust
6. The Sopranos Season 1 DVD...foul language, violence
7. Capitalism 2
8. Constantine...got weary of the game's theme
9.
Project Gotham Racing 2 ...AI opponents were relentless so I gave up
10. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004...could never beat Tiger's record
11. 24, Season 1 DVD
Half-Learned Sports and Skills
1. Golf...I knew I'd never be good at it unless I devoted time and money---all or nothing---I chose nothing.
2. Tennis...would give it another shot if given the chance
3. Piano...never had the patience to learn to read notes
4. Bass Guitar...same as above
5. Guitar...since I never learned to read notes, I rely mostly on chords so I consider myself to be a novice
6. Watercolor painting...lacked patience and basic skill set required
...Of course this is just half of the real story.
One-track Mind
The Orlando Magic
take to the road and will be playing the Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills tomorrow. The game will be on telecast (Solar sports) at 8:30 am. It will be Grant Hill's first, much-anticipated (by me), appearance on local cable tv since coming back from hernia surgery. I belong to the ambiguously-dated (as there were a gazillion MJ comebacks to speak of), pre-post-jordan generation of NBA fans and Hill is one player I ardently admire.
It occurred to me that I haven't played basketball for over a month now. Our Sunday night hoops club is on hiatus. It explaines how i've been lethargic and uninspired lately. Something is missing. The curious thing is, unconsciously, I may have been avoiding the game on purpose for entirely superificial reasons. I've been told, many times, that I would find it difficult to attract a prospective husband because basketball is all I do and think about. These people of "well-intentions" are relatives, neighbors, the ones who often see me as a regular on the local court, and my former boss. Am I starting to let it get to me?
Egad!. Could I be that foolish? May the heavens intervene!
Who would you give up to get
Ron Artest---a premiere NBA defender, adequate perimeter shooter, and ideal sidekick to the superstars (as long as he keeps his sanity in-check)? Wally Szczerbiak? Grant Hill? Corey Maggette? Quentin Richardson? Peja Stojakovic? Either one of these mentioned surely will turn the Pacers into a serious contender. As it is, Artest's absence has
improved the Pacers' chemistry on the court but not the team's chances in the Eastern Conference.
What...where...?
What...
...presently, enjoying a couple of days leave from work
...playing "The Bad Boys" in the NBA Finals on Xbox (my Clippers won Game 1)
...on odd hours, ventures on a trip to the mall to scour, still, for holiday gifts for my relatives, in time for the annual New Year's day reunion
...reading "Heart of A Champion" (non-fiction). After just finishing "Pride and Prejudice", I got hit by a massive separation anxiety as I've grown attached to the Ms. Bennets and Mr. Darcy (this is exactly why I prefer non-fiction).
...listening to "Rooney", but the real song playing in my head is an "Orange and Lemons" song.
Where...
...at home, or stuck in traffic along the hellish Alabang-Zapote Road
...hospital. Yesterday we visited my aunt who's in the ICU where she spent her Christmas. Lately she's doing better, and her vital signs are stable.
Go Fish!
There's a flowerhorn show over at Glorietta 2 starting October 18 and will run until the 21st. If you're a flowerhorn fish enthusiast or someone who's simply fascinated by all things that swim, better check it out before it's gone. So far, some of the aquariums are still empty and will probably be in place by tomorrow. There's this gigantic, adorable flowerhorn the size of a super-bowl and for a moment I regretted not having a camera at hand. I suppose I'd come back for it. I heard they'll feature goldfishes, arrowanas (spellcheck?), and other fresh-water types as well. Would you believe there's a competition going on for the best flowerhorn and such? How would you judge a contest like that? Would criterias such as best fish-face matter? Or would there be a free-style, or back-stroke category? A best swimwear event, perhaps?
