Laundry (October 28, 2013)

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From: Dave Aronowitz

Sent: Monday, October 28, 2013 1:47 PM
To: Dresie, Lee

Now, this is really the end

STORRS, Conn. -- Wes Bialosuknia, who averaged 28 points a game for Connecticut in the 1966-67 season to set a school record, has died. He was 68.

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For all of you who wondered who Wes Bialosuknia was, now you know.  Dave Arononowitz is/was a college teammate at Haverford (and all-around good guy even though he wore purple Cons at times) with an amazing memory.  When I moved to Connecticut at 12 years old, a guy in the neighborhood tried to impress me my telling me that his cousin was Wes Bialosuknia.  My blank look in response was probably the same as yours when you got Dave’s email on Monday.

I had the same blank look last night at the Laker game.  Music Attorney to the Stars Peter Paterno invited super-son Pablo and me to the Laker – Clipper game last night.  During the first quarter, one Laker guy in a Laker jersey passed to another Laker guy in a Laker jersey, who dunked.  While there was much celebration in Staples Center, there was probably as much confusion.  Who was the guy who dunked?  For the first time in decades (if ever), a Laker guy scored in a game and I had no idea who he was. We later figured out he was a fine fellow named Xavier Henry, Kansas U grad, who was on the Pelicans last year (formerly the Hornets).  

And Xavier (number 7 for your future reference) was three times as famous and familiar as another guy in a Laker jersey named Shawnee Williams – who started at power forward.  Where did Shawnee play last year?  Good question.  The answer, as far as I can figure out:  Nowhere in the NBA.  And he is now starting for “my team”.  And there is another guy named Johnson who I wouldn’t recognize if he was sitting in my office.  This guy named Johnson was also out there wearing a Laker jersey.  One guy I did recognize is Chris Kaman.  Probably a perfectly nice guy, certainly a competent if uninteresting basketball player – and now is he another guy wearing the uniform of “my team”.  Finally, a guy named Nick Young, who shot every time he touched it, just as he did for the 76ers last year, and USC, when he played there.  He, too, is now on “my team”.

All this makes me think of Jerry Seinfeld’s line:

"Loyalty to any one sports team is pretty hard to justify, because the players are always changing; the team could move to another city. You're actually rooting for the clothes when you get right down to it."

So, while I was at the game, and happy the Clippers lost (no band-wagon fan am I), it was rather surreal. My favorite Laker Pau played only 24 minutes.  Former Laker Jordan Farmer returned and played well – but did so playing with the aforementioned No. 7, Shawnee, some guy named Johnson, who cares about him Kaman, and ex-Trojan bad shot taker Nick Young.  It was hard for me to root for the guys wearing this color laundry just because in years past Laker players I really knew and cared about wore that same laundry.  It felt like watching a March Madness game where some team like Vermont is upsetting some basketball power like Syracuse.   Yes, I want Vermont to win, but I am not invested in them like a real fan. 

Although when Vermont did beat Syracuse, that was cool. Here is 1 minute 20 second highlight: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbFNFHsNo3w

 

I think I figured out the problem.  Normally, when your team picks up a new player or two, they are playing with 3 or 4 other guys who you have rooted for in the past.  You root for the new guy to support “your” players, and the new guys magically become your guys too.  With this Laker team, No. 7 is passing the ball to Kaman, who passes it to some guy named Johnson, who dribbles twice, fakes it to Shawnee, and then passes it to ex-Trojan Nick Young.  Who shoots it, of course.  I don’t care about any of those 5 guys!

Knowing this was coming about, I resolved this summer to see if I could transfer loyalty to a team with guys I like.  The Warriors. 

Steph Curry went to Davidson, where he hung out with the son of Haverford College roommate and soccer legend Phil Zipin – Phil’s son says Steph is a good guy.  He is also a great shooter, like I dream of being.  So that’s one.  Laker announcer and former Laker player Michael Thompson’s son is the other guard, also seems like a good guy.  Also a great shooter.  That’s two.  Andrew Bogut is from Australia, and we have 2 great friends from Australia.  And he is a great passer.  That is three.  Iguadola is a great defender, team player, seems like a real good guy.  That’s four.  Harrison Barnes, now back as 6th man, went to North Carolina, who I normally don’t like, but Tar Heel legend Bob Bennett is one of the best people in the world.  So that helps.  I really liked Warrior great Rick Barry growing up.  And former Claremont player and All-American Chris Greene is a Warrior fan from way back.  That is enough for me.  Warriors all the way, baby!

Lakers play Warriors tonight.  I have no idea who I will be rooting for once the game begins.

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Welcome back to the fake blog. Normally, the fake blog is only for the playoffs.  But since the Lakers will now likely go 1 – 81, they might not make the playoffs. (Before last night, I would have said 0 – 82.) .  At least my Spurs and Warriors probably will.  Consider this a very-pre-playoff blog

By the way, someone much smarter than me put all of last season’s stuff on a real blog.  I should figure out how to do that someday.  Here it is:

http://leesfakeblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/it-may-always-be-known-simply-as-game.html

 

 

Slogging and Blogging: Pre-NBA Playoff Edition

March Madness is a sprint.  The NBA Playoffs are a slog.

One week after the NCAA Selection Sunday, only 16 of the 68 teams are still alive.  52 of the 68 teams have seen their season end. 

One week after the last NBA regular season game, when the NBA Playoff seedings are finally set, San Antonio will be playing its second game, the second in up to seven games in the first round in playoffs that will finish in late June.  By the time the Spurs play their second game, the commercial with “Jake, from State Farm” will have probably played 68 times.  And it will still be confusing.

Of course, the advantage of the NBA playoff format is that it is much more likely that the best team will win.  Any team can beat another team in a one-game elimination game.  In a best of 7 series, upsets are much more rare.

Who is the best team going in to the playoffs?  The obvious answer is the Spurs.  (Did you expect me to say something else?)  This doesn’t mean they are the most likely to be standing at the end.  Because the Spurs have to play more good teams to get through to get to the Finals than the Heat, the Heat have a significant advantage.  Even without any upsets, the Heat get (1) a Charlotte team that was in the lottery last year, (2) a Toronto team with no playoff experience, and (3) an Indiana team that started the season on fire, and has played .500 ball since then.  (After a day skiing in Telluride the first Sunday in April, super-skier brother Mark and I walked into a pizza and beer place for, you guessed it, pizza and beer.  On the TV was a Pacer-Hawks game.  The Pacers had scored 23 points.  At halftime.  At home.  At least the pizza and beer were great.)

The Spurs get (1) a 49 win Mavs team, (2) probably the Harden-Howard Rockets, and (3) either OKC or the Clippers – both of which won more games than the Heat this year.  (One thing I haven’t heard mentioned elsewhere is that OKC and the Clips will both have home court against the Heat if that is the Finals match-up.  The Heat’s swoon down the stretch may have helped them in the early rounds since they don’t have to play the Bulls, but may hurt them both against the Pacers and possibly the 2^nd or 3^rd teams from the West.  So you don’t have to check, OKC and Clips will have home court against anyone from the East, the Pacers included.)

Perhaps the easier path to the Finals is why the ESPN sport nation poll favors the Heat to win it all.  31% picked the Heat, 29% the Spurs, 19% OKC and 9% Indiana.

That being said, there is much to commend the Spurs.  I saw an interesting analysis based on the teams’ records against other playoff teams since the All-Star break.  In those games, the Spurs were 12-2, outscoring their opponents by 9 points per game.   The other top teams:  Heat 10-9 (+3.4), OKC 7-6 (-0.5), Clips 6-4 (+2.2), and Indiana, a dreadful 4-11, outscored by 11 per game.  (This analysis was prior to the last Sunday of the year, where the Pacers beat OKC to effectively clinch best record in the East – and hopefully started to feel a bit better about themselves.)

Other fun Spurs stats.  They are the first team since the NBA-ABA merger not to have a single player average more than 30 minutes a game.  Compare that to Lebron and Durant, who have averaged about 40 minutes per game for the past 4 years, plus USA team obligations every summer.  The Spurs record on the road was 30-11, five games better than the second best road team (OKC) and eight games better than the Heat.

Before last year’s playoffs, I ran the following about the ageless Tim Duncan:

“Amazing stat: Ten years ago, when Duncan was 27 and in his athletic prime, he averaged 21.3 points, 11.8 boards, 3.6 assists, 2.7 blocks, and 0,6 steals per 36 minutes. This year, while no longer in his athletic prime, he averaged 21.3 points, 11.9 boards, 3.2 assists, 3.2 blocks, and 0.9 steals per 36 minutes.”

This year, my man Manu’s stats per 36 minutes:  20 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, and 1.6 steals.    His career stats per 36 minutes?  19.5 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds, 1.8 steals.  This from a player we thought might be toast last year.

Another great Manu stat:  When he is on the bench, the Spurs outscore their opponents by 5 points per 100 possessions.  When he plays, the Spurs outscore their opponents by 13.4 points per possession.  Essentially, as good as any team ever.  So, yeah, I am rooting for Manu, and the Spurs.

Observant Fake Blog readers will notice I haven’t mentioned my new other team, the Warriors.  As some of you may recall, early this season I went to a game at Staples Center between the Clippers and some guys wearing the Lakers’ jerseys.  I commented:

“I think I figured out the problem.  Normally, when your team picks up a new player or two, they are playing with 3 or 4 other guys who you have rooted for in the past.  You root for the new guy to support “your” players, and the new guys magically become your guys too.  With this Laker team, No. 7 is passing the ball to Kaman, who passes it to some guy named Johnson, who dribbles twice, fakes it to Shawnee, and then passes it to ex-Trojan Nick Young.  Who shoots it, of course.  I don’t care about any of those 5 guys!

Knowing this was coming about, I resolved this summer to see if I could transfer loyalty to a team with guys I like.  The Warriors. 

Steph Curry went to Davidson, where he hung out with the son of Haverford College roommate and soccer legend Phil Zipin – Phil’s son says Steph is a good guy.  He is also a great shooter, like I dream of being.  So that’s one.  Laker announcer and former Laker player Michael Thompson’s son is the other guard, also seems like a good guy.  Also a great shooter.  That’s two.  Andrew Bogut is from Australia, and we have 2 great friends from Australia.  And he is a great passer.  That is three.  Iguadola is a great defender, team player, seems like a real good guy.  That’s four.  Harrison Barnes, now back as 6^th man, went to North Carolina, who I normally don’t like, but Tar Heel legend Bob Bennett is one of the best people in the world.  So that helps.  I really liked Warrior great Rick Barry growing up.  And former Claremont player and All-American Chris Greene is a Warrior fan from way back.  That is enough for me.  Warriors all the way, baby!”

Well, it worked.  I went to the Warriors – Lakers game last week with BYU and masters hoop legend Steve.  Both of us long-time Lakers fans rooted for our new favorite player Steph Curry.  Along with a bunch of other Warrior fans walking around Staples in Warrior uniforms.  Curry did not let us down – the first triple double I have seen live since Magic in the Forum.  And as a special Fake Blog gift to you all, here is the Curry Flurry from last season’s playoffs that really started the Curry frenzy:

http://deadspin.com/steph-curry-is-still-a-folk-hero-484282341?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=s

Let’s see how the W’s, my new other team (behind the Spurs) hold up against the Clippers.  And, no, even though I am temporarily off the Lakers bandwagon (which will likely be stuck in the mud for at least 5 years), I have not been able to jump across onto the Clippers bandwagon just because they are “local”.

For those of you who believe I need to stay with the Lakers through thick and thin, I did that once already in the 90s because I still liked the players.  These 2013-2014 Lakers played hard, if not well or intelligently, but I am not invested with them.  Indeed, neither is Lakers management – most of them were on one year contracts.  It is a bit difficult to become invested in a bunch of guys who were intentionally designed to be placeholders.  Especially if they were placeholders for guys who I have never liked.  Carmelo Anthony, as one example. 

Shouldn’t we all root for teams with players we like, not just for the laundry they wear, or because we share the same zip code?

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For those of you who asked, here is the link to the actual fake blog, with past entries:  http://leesfakeblog.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2013-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2014-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=22

Post March Madness

I designed this fake blog to be about the NBA Finals.    But even though the Finals have not started yet, occasionally things come up that I want to comment on. 

Last spring, it was my super-daughter’s soccer season during her senior year in high school.  As  readers of this fake blog may remember, there was much Sad Water at the end of her season, but we learned that Sad Water is a good thing.  Teams shed Sad Water when they care.

This year, just before the start of the NBA playoffs, I have some thoughts about our past March Madness.  Every March Madness, I remember that of the 68 teams that start the NCAA tournament, 67 of those teams shed Sad Water after their final game.  Most painful are the games where the loss happened after a mistake – a missed shot at the buzzer, a silly turnover, a bad foul, a questionable call.

This year, however, there were many games in which both teams played great ball down the stretch, but one team had to lose.  Wichita State played a great game – and lost to an under-seeded Kentucky team.  Michigan played a great game – and lost to that same Kentucky team. Arizona played a great game – and lost to an excellent Wisconsin team. (That was the one game that ended on a questionable call.) That Wisconsin team made it to the Final Four for the first time in decades, and lost to that same Kentucky team, which then lost to a “no-one outside Connecticut even had them going to the Elite Eight” UConn team in the first 7 vs. 8 Final Game ever. 

Amazingly, UConn went 10 for 10 from the free-throw line in the final game.  I assume 100% from the line is a record that won’t be broken.  Kentucky went 13 for 24 – proving that great free throw line defense wins championships.

These games were a great example of what it means to be an athlete.  Sometimes you play as well as you can, but you lose when the ball bounces the wrong way, not because you did something wrong.  Much as fans want to blame players, coaches and referees for a loss, sometimes the coin lands the wrong way.  As Pete Gent, former pro football player, wrote in North Dallas Forty, speaking for all athletes:

“My fate is determined by meticulous planning and heedless happenstance, ingenious strategies and wild swings of the pendulum.  I flip for both sides of the coin and get the edge.

Every day I confront unlimited contradictions with limited skills.  I must succeed, though failure is inevitable.  I keep on, each day expecting victory in the face of insurmountable problems, ever-increasing humiliations.  I accept pain, fear, defeat as due.  I do not expect any luck but bad and know that if gods or spirits exist, they are arrayed against me.  But each time I’m beaten down I get up and start over, reinforced only by my ignorance.

I refuse to quit the hopeless battle against chaos and darkness.  My commitment is to life and man’s place in an endless war with death.  I never quit and will die heard.

I am an athlete.  It’s my curse, my hope, my dream, my nightmare … my excuse.”

Other thought about 2014 March Madness:

OFFENSIVE REBOUND PERCENTAGE: This March Madness had a stat I have never seen before.  As past readers know, one of my favorite secret stats is the percentage of rebounds a team gets back after its own misses.  An average NBA team will get about 30% of its misses back.  So if a team shoots 30 for 70 in a game, and gets 10 offensive rebounds, that would be 25% (10 out of 40).  Not too bad, not great.  I assume the same 30% average is appropriate for an NCAA tournament game between relatively equal teams.  Like Kentucky vs. Michigan, for instance.

However, in that game, Kentucky was 31 for 58 from the floor:  53.4%, including 7 for 11 from 3.  Kentucky had 27 missed shots, and got 17 offensive rebounds – 63%.   Michigan got only 10 defensive rebounds, which must be some sort of a record. Amazingly, Michigan only lost by 3.

JAKE, from STATE FARM:   One problem with a sporting event that goes on for a while, like March Madness or the NBA Finals, is watching the same commercial over and over again.  Like the commercial with Jake, from State Farm.  For one thing, nothing about the commercial makes me think State Farm is a good insurance company.  More importantly, why is the husband calling “Jake from State Farm” at 3 in the morning?  No wonder his shrew of a wife is suspicious.

ONE and DONE:   Wouldn’t you think that the guys deciding to go to the NBA after only one year in college would be the ones dominating at the college level?  “This game is too easy for me, I need to be challenged by the very best, not these kids”.  Zach Levine from UCLA announced he was turning pro after scoring a total of 9 points in his last 5 college games.  The consensus best high school senior since Lebron was Andrew Wiggins, who spent his freshman year at Kansas.  Wiggins announced he was turning pro after leading his team to a 60 – 57 defeat to 10 seed Stanford in the second round of the tournament.  Wiggins went 1 for 6 from the floor in that game.  He had more fouls (3) than baskets.  And he had the same number of turnovers as points (4).  Go to the NBA young man! 

BRACKETS:  My bracket was as bad as everyone else’s. But everyone does a bracket – even though most of us, me included, don’t know very much about most of the teams.  A guy on SportsonEarth.com (Jeb Lund) described it well: “With the exception of the Olympics, March Madness brackets might be the greatest intersection of popular involvement and ignorance in sports”. 

Not that being an “expert” helps.  No expert I saw had both Kentucky and UConn in the finals, let alone the Final Four.   Even the great Nate Silver, applying his statistical genius to his bracket, had Louisville as team with the best odds to win. 

Defending champ Louisville was yet another team that lost to Kentucky.  Not to overwhelm you with quotes – but the one from Louisville star Russ Smith after his team lost (and his career ended after four great years, including a crown) was a classic, and classy:

“At the end of the day, this was a loss.  I just empathize with the fans.  I wish I could’ve given them the win.  I’m so sorry.  But for me, we lost to a great team.  And I have great respect for them…. 

I’m just glad that I have a lot of respect around the state, and people respect my craft and my body of work.  I love my teammates.  I’m glad to have gotten to play a part in their lives, from my teammates to managers to trainers to new freshmen.  I’m glad I’ve gotten to meet all the people I’ve met.  And I’m glad to have Coach Pitino in my life.  He’s helped shape me into a man.  Without him in my life I’d be upset right now off crying or yelling or making excuses.  But I am in front of you now, manning up.”

As an ex-coach at a school where my players stayed four years and built relationships with teammates, managers, trainers and coaches, I just love that.  Russ Smith is talking about what the One and Dones miss out on:  Four years with a program, and a coach, and all that goes with that.  Maturity.  Russ Smith learned enough in his four years to thank the managers and trainers, who never get thanked. 

Good for you Russ Smith.  That was the highlight of March Madness for me.