I thought this Ringer Article, which revisits the Harden vs Westbrook conversation from last year, deserved its own thread. Here's the first paragraph: In basketball, soloists are divisive. It’s a team sport, after all. What separates the legends from the fleeting superstars and the cult names of a given era is the judgment that they made their teammates better. The soloist’s antihero magnetism comes from the tension between selfishness and sacrifice, between playing the right way and I did it my way. And the last one: Russell Westbrook is a soloist; maybe the most exciting soloist of all time. But the game is moving past him. And his triple-double-laden MVP season increasingly seems like much sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Looked as if the writer didn't like Harden by magnifying the parts of Hardens game he didn't like and wants Brodie to grow up...and be a little more like Harden.
LMAO. That's hilarious! Asterix and Tintin were my favorite childhood comics reads. Thanks for bringing back the memories!
Dude, Tintin is the bomb! Created by Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi under the pen name Hergé, The Adventures Tintin was one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century. Tintin is a short, scrawny, and strawberry-haired young news reporter and adventurer who keeps getting into dangerous situations requiring his bravery and intelligence to overcome. Along with his dog Snowy and best friend Captain Haddock, Tintin travels the globe to cover cases in some of the most exotic locations. Steven Spielberg directly referenced Tintin as an inspiration for Indiana Jones and his globe trotting adventures. Spielberg also directed the 2011 movie adaptation co-produced with Peter Jackson. He called it his "childhood passion project." Just flip through the pages and you realize how much Indiana Jones borrowed from Tintin.
I thought that line about "the game is moving past him" rings pretty true. The sound byte of Lebron last night, "my play is probably an all-time high" has same ring of empty sound and fury. The days of a one star, one note, I-have-great-stats are over. The soul of NBA (to use that interesting phrase) has expanded and finally become the team game that it always has been. And people love the team game. So what's next? Here's are my dream proposals for Adam Silver. They would affect the soul of the NBA. 1. Eliminate all illegal defense and play a team game with superstars. This won't hurt scoring a bit. 2. Allow European shot blocking rules. Yes, let the athletes take the ball off the rim or the glass. 3. Revamp the lottery order and eliminate the idea of tanking. Have a single elimination 14-team tournament (best records play lowest records, best record receives a first round bye). The tournament winner earns a 40 percent chance in the draft lottery. #2 gets 30 percent chance. The remaining squads get a flat 5 percent chance. Also, the winner of the draft tournament earns no lower than the #4 overall pick. Put the rest of the draft in order based on record. 4. Coordinate with the players union to offer bonuses to players who meet shooting standards. Players that shoot high percentages from the floor (or the 3 pt/FT line) during games earn extra pay at the all star break and the end of the season (that doesn't count against the salary cap). And reward teams with bonuses that meet pace requirements (and scoring).
A sad editorial really. "Russell is a mighty folk hero! Brought low by the tragic march of time! We shall sing songs of his feats unto eternity!" "This Harden guy *sigh* all he does is pad stats, flop for FTs, and choke in the playoffs...our beloved sport of fire and steel has been conquered by soulless math nerds... *sobs*" The funny thing to me is that the writer whines about Harden's numbers while excusing that Westbrook's MVP campaign was all about a single stat - the triple double average - and that it was largely achieved by Westbrook distorting his numbers the whole way. Did no one at the Ringer ever see those highlight videos of the big men letting Russ have all the uncontested rebounds? Yeah, the guy is an athletic freak and he gives great highlights, but he makes his teammates worse and he's really good at shooting his team out of big games (but, hey, Harden's the REAL choker, amirite?). The media's continuing obsession with him is just kind of pathetic at this point.
Everyone who is over 30 should have at least looked at one copy. Made my childhood. FYI .... read Asterix, Obelix when I was a lot older. Depardieu was killin it in the movies.