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A guy hits a big shot. How is that indicative of him having "heart"...? Because he was a good enough shooter to hit it?
Tied 3-3. Tie game. Great set-shooter hits an open 3 to seal the series. Law of averages. Probative of heart? Pretty silly.
I can think of alot of examples of a Lack of Heart beyond the Rockets.... The Alice Cowgirls, you talk about a meltdown and no kind heart...Denver Broncos...these teams were on door step to the playoffs and blew big time. It's kind early to put verdict on the Rockets. If they lose by 20 in a game they need to win to stay in the playoff race or win a spot.
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*******. Still don't know how to embedd video ANyways.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXeYJOfmVk4&feature=related
As a judge once said about "p*rnography" "heart" isn't something that can be specifically defined but he knows it when he sees it. The problem with terms like "heart" is that there is no objective standards too it and if you're trying to quantify it that will be an exercise in frustration. The beauty of sports though is that you can't always break things down to statistics and often what makes the difference is things like heart and other intangibles. To borrow a Tinman story to explain it. During the 1995 Western Conference Finals Greg Popovich told the Spurs that they shouldn't be intimidated by the Rockets and their seeming toughness, that they (the Spurs) were the more talented team and all they needed to do was to stay focussed and play up to that talent. We all know what happened and essentially the Rockets' heart (their effort, focus, will) was greater than what statistically coming into the series a vastly superior Spurs team. So heart isn't something that can be quantified or really even predicted it is something that a player does and it is either there or not. We can try to quantify that by saying that Dream played unbelievably, Horry got some lucky shots and so on but over a 7 game series the general understanding is that the better team should win. What happened though simply was the Rockets just showed more heart than the Spurs could.
It sure was awesome seeing Tracy's superior talent and bball IQ keep Moon from dunking on him the other night!
dude, it says it on the right side, copy and paste . and besides. I prefer at least 2nd round playoff videos.
I agree with whoever said that heart is something that's undefinable as well as unquantifiable. You just can't explain it. The thing is, you can usually see it. For me it's a player who does everything they can to win the game. Someone who legitimately cares about the outcome of the game. Here are 2 examples from the Rockets: Ron Artest- although Ron Ron may have distractions off the court, when he is on the floor he is busting his ass, doing everything he can to win the game. At times he will make mistakes (gamble on defense, take an ill advised three) but he is trying to win the game. Everything he does is for the team. He wears his heart on his sleeve. When we win he is ecstatic, when we lose he is heartbroken. Steve Francis (original stint with Rockets)- same diagnosis as Ron. At times Francis was distracted (Super Bowl), and there were lots of things to criticize him for (shot selection, ball hogging, thinking about plays, running the offense etc.) but the one thing you can't criticize Stevie for is his heart and effort. He gave it his all for his team. He did everything in his power to win the game and it killed him to lose. He had heart. And here is one obvious example not from the Rockets: Allen Iverson- Maybe in recent years AI has started to not hustle as much as he used to. But if you're going to tell me in his Philly days this man didn't have heart then you must be crazy. He played through pain and injury to try and win. He gave his all. He carried his team on his back to the finals. When he was on the court he gave his all, and it was visible.
Ultimately what happened was that Olajuwon proved that he was a better player than Robinson. Robinson had heart too, Dream was just too freakin quick for him. Our best player destroyed their best player. That was the difference.
Good post. Personally, I take execution as a given. Outside of rookies and younger players, professional players are expected to have the knowledge and discipline to carry out the basic skills, or at least be on his way to learning these skills. But the reality is that this execution isn't always there, whether for an individual player or for the team as a whole. And there is no such thing as a perfectly executed game. Execution takes, for lack of a better word, "effort" and "intensity." It requires hard work and a commitment to a way of playing on the court and preparation off the court. Game-winning shots are great, but I'm also interested in what that player did before that. When I see a player putting in that needed work, working towards achieving that discipline, that's when I say the player (or coach) has qualities like effort, intensity and heart. On the flipside, as fans we don't always know what's going on. It is too easy to question a player or a team's "heart" or effort, when it's most likely a combination of various factors: injury, fatigue, chemistry problems, rotation, playing time, illness, matchups, bad team play, personal issues and so on. So, for us, it will always be a subjective and incomplete measurement.
Couldn't have said it better! RonRon has heart, Stevie has heart, Hakeem, Cylde and the whole 94'-95' teams played with heart. Barkley played with heart, Jordan, Kobe, Malone, Stockton, and Bird. All these guys played the game as if it was their last game. All these guys could put the world on their shoulders if that's what it took. Not all of these guys won championships but they played every game like it was the championship. That's No Fear. The type of "bring it" attitude that brews the competitive fire in each one of them. The type of guys that never want to lose whether it's in a pick up game or a playoff game. If you have to ask "what exactly is heart?" You apparently never played sports and apparently have none.
