Trust your feelings. Stoudemire and Lebron wouldn't have been much in the days before the zone and defensive three second rule.
taking it back ten years, Karl Malone and Gary Payton. Hate hate hate and enjoy the fact that even though they were great players, they could not get a ring. On the other hand, big fan of Mario Elie.
Something about Trevor Ariza's on court demeanor rubs me the wrong way. I don't think I'll ever be a fan of his, no matter how much he might improve.
Nope, my perception doesn't change based on how I feel about a guy; at least not my perception of their skill. There are several great examples going both ways: - Kobe Bryant. I despise his personality, but recognize that he's an amazing scorer that can make shots from anywhere under any defense. - LeBron James. Despicable narcissist but damn he can play. - Shane Battier. Awesome person, but quite obviously on the decline. Still has use, but it is declining unfortunately. What matters to be is what happens on the court, or as in the title of another thread you created Jeff: games matter.
I am suspicious of people with a sense of humor and appear to be good team guys since these things make me think they are only in the league because others like him. Bren Barry, Brad Miller, Ron Artest are all suspect in my book.
Perhaps an easy way to tell is to picture some of your favorite players playing for another team. For instance, as much love as we give Scola here - imagine if he played the same exact way, but did it for San Antonio, or Dallas, or Utah? He would be among the most hated and despised players in this board's members' minds, there is no doubt about that. Another one is Lowry. We love him, but those same things he does FOR us, he would be doing AGAINST us, and I know I would hate the guy, if that were the case. Now imagine a guy you hate on another team - Jason Terry comes to mind, for me, as I would rather give up watching basketball forever rather than ever root for the guy - but I know objectively that that vomit-inducing hatred I feel for that little POS is because he has done so well against us, and always has that smug little idiotic look on his face, which make me just want to stick my shoe through it. Anyway, if he had come up playing FOR us instead of AGAINST us, something tells me we would all love the guy, which makes my skin crawl to admit, but there it is. So, yeah, sure, our perceptions of players has a lot to do with our investment either for or against him. Jeff's antipathy against Amare Stoudemire is understandable emotionally, but if for example we had picked the guy up last year and he played well for us, then no doubt his opinion would have changed completely by now. The corollary of course is that this difference in perception affects not only our *emotional* response to a player, but also the way we think and perceive of everything about the player, including their stats - ergo Jeff's attitude about Stoudemire's stats. Indifference can work the same way: a lot of people still have a tepid attitude toward Kevin Martin because they really don't have anything invested in him one way or the other, due to him having toiled in relative obscurity for the last few years. Even though his stats are top-shelf, people all-too-easily are willing to send him packing. However, after this upcoming season, once he gives a full season of his blood, sweat, tears and heart to Houston, there will be an investment there, and we will be much more reluctant to consider parting with him.
It shades the degree to which I'll admit a player is good or not. I can't deny that Kobe is great, but my dislike of him, probably will have me searching and looking for ways to deny how great he is. I find myself saying, "yeah player x was good, but wasn't THAT good." Then when stats are shown to me, I kind of admit to myself that maybe the player really is amazing. I might not admit it out loud though.
I think Lebron's hype has played into him being the best player in the NBA. Although I don't care for Kobe that much, it's obvious just by watching him, that he will do everything he can possibly do to win. Lebron? He gets ten turnovers in the Eastern Finals when he has a much better overall team than Kobe does... Also, I personally think that Dwayne Wade is every bit as good of a player that Lebron is. He has even already won a championship!
FAN is short for 'fanatic'. That should give you a clue as to the motivations of people talking sports, politics or religion.
Hype colors my perception too. Because Hype is reenforced with STAR CALLS and getting away with things. Take two players of equal talent. One gets every call his way the other one is called straight it is night and day Take away LeBron's star calls . . he becomes more guardable I'm not saying he will be bad . . but he would not be as dominant probably not near dominant. Rocket River
I guess Dirk can play somewhat Take two equally good players. One is hyped up in your opinion, the other isn't. Who would you say is better? No doubt the second one.
Some people have the personality of not caring for stats when they don't agree with their perception. Seriously, I think most people would admit that they tend to dismiss certain players' achievements because they don't like the players. Kobe is one for me. Lebron is getting there fast because of what he did this summer. On the flip side, I defend players who I like, guys like Battier, Hayes, Yao, Scola. I freely admit that my judgment of these guys' accomplishments is not fair. I always feel that character is as important as skills and talent. I want to cheer for people who are good people, not just good basketball players.
as much as i don't want it to be the case, unfortunately it is. i never liked tracy mcgrady for example, not even before he came to houston. there is something i just dont/cant respect about a person for whom things come so easily that they assume they don't need to put in the work. to me, you define your life through the effort you make to live it, and to see someone (even as great as he was) disrespect the gifts he had by not doing everything in his power to maximize his potential made me dislike him immensely. on the exact opposite side, i love kobe. despite his arrogance, meanness, and selfishness, that is a guy who does a TON of work on his game. he works out hard. he's always trying to learn from the greats, refine his game, add new moves and counter moves, trying to make sure he stays at his peak as long as possible. so, if both kobe and tmac did the same questionable thing (within the realm of basketball), i'd probably hate tracy for it and excuse kobe for it immediately. its because the very fundamental things about the two people define them in such a way in my head that i will never respect tracy and i will always respect kobe, as professional athletes at least.
I love a player that has a motor that doesn't quit, that never gives up on a play, that goes to the floor for loose balls, that plays hard on defense, even if he isn't very good at it, a player who uses his intelligence to make up for his deficiencies. In short, players like several of the Rockets. Guys like Scola, Lowry, and Hayes. I love to watch guys like that and am not as partial to guys still looking for the "always on" switch for their motor, who seem to worry about injuries when driving into the lane, who take plays off on defense, who don't always move without the ball and hit their spots on offense. We have some of those players, as well. Things like that have a big impact on my feelings for a player, regardless of who he plays for.
always been drawn to players who are hardworking, humble, overachieving, and a team player.... basically thse that are role models for kids. i guess thats why i overvalue battier, yao and scola most of the time. but i pretty much like all the rockets anyway, with the exception of tmac. but it is more due to how TOFs defend him after what he did to the team and yet blame everyone else when people call him out.
