Smart Thoughts of the Week: Sept. 18 -25
Throughout the week some of you drop some brilliant or at least somewhat thoughtful comments and so this is a try at highlighting some of them. Disclaimer: It’s not that I necessarily agree with all of them, but they were interesting and for the most part, well put. Consider everything [sic’d].
“I read.” “Books Jerry. Books.” (Jax Raging Bile Duct): I read a lot of basketball articles, and I forget when and where I read what I read, if that makes sense. But, I do remember reading that it takes players about 5 seasons to establish themselves as a defender. Of course, there are always players that come into the league just for defense. Guys like Thabo and Ariza and D12.
It took Mello a trip to the Olympics to figure out that his colleagues were focusing their efforts on defense. But when he did, he got much, much better in one off-season. That was the start of his 5th year.
Kevin is ahead of the curve when it comes to offense, so he may be able to focus on defense sooner than other players, thus establish a defensive presence sooner than other players. Time will tell. But if not, then we’ve got this season and next to go before Kevin hits that magical 5th year of defensive growth.
On the player swapper machine. (Cody Thrasher): These things are always interesting to try out, but they never take into consideration the intangibles the star players bring to the table. A Tim Duncan or Kobe Bryant would do so much more than bring good numbers to a team. Either guy would make the Thunder a contender for 45 or 50 wins.
Nonetheless, it’s still fun to flip flop players and see the results.
Well played good sir. And if you don’t get it, you don’t read the comments enough. (Dooney): Let me preface this comment by saying that I’ve finished top 3 in my Fantasy Football Leagues the past 3 years and my girlfriend’s brother-in-law asked me to help coach her nephew’s soccer team for 4-year-olds.
I would have gone “The Great State Fair of Ok-lahoma” rather than “The Great State Fair of Okla-homa or I would have accepted these top half-dozen alternatives:
-The Great State Fair of O-klahoma
-The Great State Fair of Okl-ahoma
-The Great State Fair of Oklah-oma
-The Great State Fair of Ook-lahoma
-The Great State Fair of Ooo-klahoma
-The Great State Fair of Ok-la-homa
But I’ve said enough. Though you can determine for yourself by going to http://www.okstatefair.com/. I’ll wait. And next… I will argue with myself.
Statistics don’t taste as good coming up as they did going down. (Vince): You can regurgitate statistics, but you can’t analyze them. That’s why there’s a general condescension toward many of your posts. Going to a website and using player pair data to make judgments on a player who played 23 — twenty-three! — games in a Thunder uniform is silly. It’s like flipping a coin five times, getting four heads, and assuming that the coin is weighted. The sample sizes are way too small.
Basketball stats have advanced, but they’re notoriously subjective, and different formulas can produce wildly different ratings. You produce stats from 82games.com or wherever and assume that they are all you need to prove your point. This is not baseball — it’s far more subjective statistically and analytically.
On the picture in the practice facility. (KingGondo): But in a way, it’s awesome that the organization is cultivating that kind of culture. Create a marketing campaign around one player, and it creates all kinds of potential problems. If KD gets hurt, attendance goes way down. If he (knock on wood) gets traded or leaves via free agency, the organization is crippled for years to come. At this point, they might as well call the Cavaliers the Cleveland LeBrons.
The Thunder realize this, and have done an admirable job of creating identification with the organization, and not with the team’s superstar–because let’s face it, we’re not always going to have a player of KD’s talent and charisma. As awesome as KD is and has the potential to be, we need people to be fans of the Thunder, not just of him. Wonder how many Cavs fans will be left in Cleveland if/when LeBron leaves?
