tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939543443166847471.post426903792483011609..comments2023-09-29T01:48:26.874-07:00Comments on Scott in Tempe: Even non-sports fans should love this articletempe turleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00906350838729139212noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939543443166847471.post-24431388327566175712009-02-21T23:16:00.000-07:002009-02-21T23:16:00.000-07:00This was a great article. He is truly a remarkable...This was a great article. He is truly a remarkable player/person. It is refreshing to hear of a selfless player at this level. "How many points a player scores, for example, is no true indication of how much he has helped his team." This is a missed fact in the league. On the night that Kobe scored 81 points, approximately 65% of his teams points, he missed nearly 20 shots. Most players would never dream of taking 20 shots, much less missing that many. When the article speaks about the Spurs game:"Battier privately went to Coach Rick Adelman and told him to bench him and bring him in when Ginóbili entered the game." Are you serious? No other elite player would sacrifice his own time like that (after reading this article, I think he is elite). I liked his mindset: "My job is not to keep him from scoring points but to make him as inefficient as possible." You have heard it a million times..you can't stop him, you have to contain him. This is an amazing statistic: "A team scores on average about 100 points a game, but two out of three N.B.A. games are decided by fewer than 6 points — two or three possessions." This is why Battier is so valuable. How valuable is he to his team? " ...he not only guards one of the greatest — and smartest — offensive threats ever to play the game (Kobe). He renders him a detriment to his team." It's not that so many players today can't play defense,they can learn, but they are unwilling. Look at Amare. When he wants to be a defensive force (after the press and fans rip on him), he is. He has the ability to impose his will on both ends of the court. But he won't do it more than a couple of games because it's not his "game." The Suns are the perfect example. Porter was a defese first kind of guy (and a pretty good defender in in time) and the team revolted against him. They say defense wins championships. Players like Battier prove that to be true. As far as the trade idea, in today's NBA, it would never happen. Until the uncalculated stats get notice, it will never happen. I guess we just need to get Stat to play on both ends! One last thing...Don't quit being a fan, just don't be a fanatic! Even one of your hero's is sports fan. Unfortunately, Obama is a Steelers fan!Billhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01312791403900596490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939543443166847471.post-89826598549983534822009-02-21T17:23:00.000-07:002009-02-21T17:23:00.000-07:00I agree with you on this one Scott, that was an ex...I agree with you on this one Scott, that was an exceptional piece of journalism on an exceptional athlete. <BR/><BR/>The part I liked best was the discussion of the tension between players on the same teams. As a non-sports fan I have always assumed players only played the other team but there is another games going on altogether - the players playing against each other for their own stats. <BR/><BR/>The remarkable thing is what happens when just one player begins to play only a single game. Battier may be the only player in the league who goes out and plays only one game on the court. And because of this his team wins. Remarkable. <BR/><BR/>Kierkegaard said "purity of heart is to will one thing". That's what's going on here Battier is the only one out there who is on the court doing one thing and look at what he accomplishes. <BR/><BR/>I must say though that one of the reasons I liked this article so much was because of some work I did for the Anasazi Foundation, a non-profit youth intervention program. We used the philosophy of a business consulting firm called The Arbinger Institute to intervene with kids, one of the primary emphases at Arbinger was the identification of times when we are focused on ourselves instead of our results (or the kids as it were). Battier was a beautiful example of this. Less emphasis on himself led to greater success for his team. My boss always used to say that he couldn't afford to pay me to do my job, the only way he could afford to pay me was if I did my job in a way that helped other people to do their jobs too. Arbinger has some articles available on their website, Scott, I think you'd love themDaveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00318410719611737009noreply@blogger.com