Ciekawe Artykuly

[barcalover]

Nie artykuł, a dłuższa wypowiedź jednego z fanów Sixers nt. Embiida:

 

 

Saturday, July 11th, I found myself with my head in my hands, sitting alone on a bench, smack dab in the middle of the busiest mall in the United States. Contrary to popular belief, The Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota is actually the second largest shopping mall in the US, the 2.86 million square foot King of Prussia Mall, just outside Philadelphia, owns the top spot.

I never thought that at any point in my life I could be upset within 40 feet of both a Cinnabon and a Chick-fil-A, but there I was.

Heartbreak and disappointment are the the meat, the body of any fan. It has long been said that without a low there can't be a high, and in sports, there are no true moral victories. Only the first loser and so on.

The news had broken that 21 year old Sixers center Joel Embiid would undergo a second surgery on his foot, ending a second consecutive season before it would begin. Every basketball fan in the world had heard the warnings since the moment it was revealed Embiid had a fracture of the navicular bone. We all knew this meant trouble for big men, but Embiid was a Sixer, he was part of the process, we were giving him the time he needed, trust the process.

An injury like this would devastate any fanbase, but Embiid was, and is more than just a twitter handle and a walking boot. The kid ran like a gazelle, moved with generational fluidity, had touch softer than a down pillow. He was excitable, personable, childish yet determined. He was the type of player than every fan in the league could smile along with as he ran down the court.

It began with a high school mixtape, "7 Footer Joel "Jojo" Embiid has CRAZY NBA Potential!", the subtitle read. "Craziest part is he's only been playing basketball for one year". It was almost unfathomable. He was so incredibly raw, almost indistinguishable from the player we would see a year later in Jawhawk blue. But the athleticism was obvious, and occasionally out would peek a flash of something that could make you wonder just who the hell this kid was.

It was the speed of progress that would turn heads, taking the young product of Cameroon from a project, to the expected number one pick in the NBA Draft.

Embiid was a man by the time the start of his freshman season rolled around. His body started to fill out, he was looking strong, fast, explosive. And those little flashes we used to see? They we're happening more, and more andmore. He had the poise and composure in the post of someone who had played well more than a few years, and at times his play outshone that of #1 recruit Andrew Wiggins.

That kid from Africa, the one who modeled his game after Hakeem Olajuwon? He was starting to look like he might be a damn good imitation.

Towards the end of the regular season at Kansas, Joel began to see his minutes dwindle. Not due to his play, but his body. He was listed as having a sprained knee and a back injury, ailments which would eventually hold him from the NCAA tournament.

Draft boards across the country saw Embiid at the very top. He drew absurd comparisons like "A combination of Tim Duncan and Hakeem", the hype machine was in high gear.

The release of his draft workout on Youtube further confirmed suspicions that this kid was one of a kind. He had the body control of a man a full foot shorter than he was. Springs for legs that kept the 19 year old bouncing around the gym like a child. Throwing down monstrous dunks with such precision and power that the net had no hope of slowing the ball, jabbing and faking his way to step back jumpers, powering his way to soft hooks and crafting seasoned post moves.

He had an NBA ready body at such a young age, and had displayed such an enormous learning curve that it was damn difficult to see how he couldn't go first overall.

That was, until a stress fracture in his navicular bone was discovered right before the draft. This was the same injury that sidelined dominant NBA big men of the past, Bill Walton and Yao Ming. This was bad. There had been enough chatter about the health of centers, specifically with regard to their feet, that Embiid would fall to the 3rd overall pick, and wind up in Philadelphia.

Philly could not offer a chance at a winning record that year, but they could offer something almost no one else could. A pressure free environment to get better. They had already seen the previous year's pick, yet another injured center, Nerlens Noel, sit a full season. There was no reason it couldn't be done again.

He was an immediate hit. From his hysterical tweets, to his commanding locker room presence, he was one of our own. Philadelphia is a city that can be incredibly harsh on athletes that don't perform to standard, but with Embiid, he wasn't playing, it was all gravy.

Towards the end of the winter, The Sixers were in the midst of a west coast trip that was sure to produce some pretty solid ass beatings at the hands of the boys cross country when a report let slip that Embiid was closing on 300 pounds, and has missed a few rehab assignments. If you want to know what a city's worth laptops and smartphones crashing into a wall from across the room sounds like, you missed your opportunity.

Coach Brett Brown went so far as to send Embiid home from the trip, in search of a more "structured, stable environment". That sounds more like a reason that your aunt shipped your dickhead cousin off to boarding school than a program to get a slightly chubby 7-footer in shape.

But as winter melted into spring the internet began to get glimpses of would be in store come the next season. Like I said, being a Sixers fan is an ongoing voyage, each tiny bit of good news overshadowed by the next bit on the horizon. Joel began appearing before games, shooting jumpers with set feet that extended out well beyond the three point line. Eventually, his mobility would increase, and the excitement of an Embiid with a consistent three point shot left Philly fans salivating. Brett Brown would go so far as to say he believed that Joel was the Sixers' second best shooter, likely behind sniper Robert Covington.

As the season drew closer and closer to the eventual mercy killing that was game 82, clips of Embiid dunking, running, even hammering home a between the legs dunk made their rounds. A new slogan was introduced "This starts now", and the Sixers' faithful could throw their hands up in relief that this emotionally scarring era may be on its last legs.

The Cameroonian center was like a mythical beast. He could only been seen in glimpses. Texts would come in daily, "Just saw Embiid, NO BOOT. He was riding one of those JR Smith handsless segways". We know his individuality hasn't had a setback.

But what was he, 7'1'', 7'2'' now? Hinkie had made it clear a while back Embiid was not to play in the Summer League as a precaution, but mysterious and implicit tweets from the giant's account nudged the fans into a buzz. Come draft day, when the 76ers selected yet another center 3rd overall, every fan in red white and blue could be seen nodding his or her head, eyes glazed, muttering "Best player available" again and again.

But on July 11th, on a wooden bench, in the middle of the largest mall in America, a guy in his 20's, in a vibrant blue "Together We Build" T-shirt, sat with his elbows on his knees, and both hands covering his face. Was I being selfish? Of course. Every fan is selfish.

I gleefully watched Bobby Abreu jack 24 first round home runs out of the park in 2005 knowing FULL WELL that those sewer pipes he had for forearms might not have been from LA Fitness. We're all selfish.

But Damn. Joel Embiid was something special. Not just on the court, it was clear that his talent was unbelievable, and his potential as nearly limitless. If this spelled the end of the road for Joel Embiid, it didn't mean it was the end of the Sixers. The Sixers, terrible as they may be, will remain. It didn't mean the end of the talent he'd displayed. That was secured on Youtube the moment he pulled out a dream shake against New Mexico playing for KU.

It might have meant the end of the future of Joel Embiid.

Everything we've witnessed, everything we've read, all the youtube clips, the tweets, the vines, they've all been amplified by what we expect to see from Joel going forward. There is this guy in our imagination. The big grinning, shot blocking, floor running, joke making, Joel Embiid that we will likely never get a chance to see. Another year will have to come and go before we see what Joel Embiid get to enjoy. But every fan on earth should hope for the one we know he can be.

Heartbreak and disappointment are the body of a fan, but hope is the foot on which he stands.

 

https://www.reddit.com/user/ank1613

Edytowane 17 Lipca 2015 przez barcalover

[robert_blk]

Zapraszam do zapoznania się z moją publikacją "Jaka jest międzynarodowa przyszłość NBA?". Dużo uwagi poświęciłem w niej organizacji meczów poza Stanami Zjednoczonymi, oczekiwaniom NBA względem gospodarzy tych meczów i najbliższym planom globalnej ekspansji. Poparte jest to przykładem styczniowego spotkania w Londynie pomiędzy Milwaukee Bucks a New York Knicks. W jego kontekście poruszone zostały między innymi aspekty organizacji imprez towarzyszących. Mam nadzieję, że będzie to ciekawa lektura.

 

https://robertblaszczyk.wordpress.com/2015/06/21/jaka-jest-miedzynarodowa-przyszlosc-nba/

[Kubbas]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2544665-behind-the-scenes-in-los-angeles-the-wide-ranging-summer-world-for-nba-players

[matek]

Do poczytania na spokojnie, przed snem

 

http://eurosport.onet.pl/koszykowka/nba/moses-malone-czlowiek-ktory-zmienil-koszykowke/mxq90e

[goldfinger122]

Analitycznie o Wesley'u Johnsonie
http://clippers.com.pl/2015/08/16/wesley-jonhnson/
Jescze dwa artykuły napisane przeze mnie
http://sixers.pl/?p=5653

http://www.ussports.pl/jonas-valanciunas-wart-tylu-pieniedzy/

Edytowane 19 Września 2015 przez goldfinger122

[goldfinger122]

Analitycznie

http://clippers.com.pl/2015/09/20/przechwyty-a-zdobywanie-punktow/

[Mirwir]

 

Analitycznie

http://clippers.com.pl/2015/09/20/przechwyty-a-zdobywanie-punktow/

 

 

Nie nazwałbym tego ciekawym artykułem, bo to raczej draft artykułu niż skończony artykuł.

Za dużo tabelek za mało tekstu.

Podział na "Rozgrywających, wysokich i skrzydłowych." i przypisanie dość losowo literek "B" "W" "P" i pytanie co autor miał na myśli.

Jeśli chcesz pisać analityczne artykuły to raczej wzoruj się na Kirku Goldberry z Grantlandu niż na tym co teraz robisz.

[barcalover]

Średnie pozycje poszczególnych graczy w poprzednim sezonie:

http://nyloncalculus.com/stats/nba-playing-time-estimates-by-position/

[bankrut]

Throwing down a monster dunk, swatting somebody’s shot or beating the buzzer is usually a pretty good way to make it into the SportCenter Top 10. But let’s be real: It ain’t a highlight reel until someone’s ankles get broken... czyli Isaiah Thomas i jego top 5 ball handlers. 

[Mirwir]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13723434/team-team

 

Ranking zawodników według ESPN z podziałem na drużyny.

 

Kobe top 250!

[RappaR]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13723434/team-team

 

Ranking zawodników według ESPN z podziałem na drużyny.

 

Kobe top 250!

Nawet już w top ~170. GRUBO. 

[Mirwir]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13815620/losangeles-lakers-the-kobe-bryant-issue

 

Ciekawy artykuł na temat Bryanta.

[Baptizia]

http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blogpost?blogname=4152896&id=13951189&src=desktop

[barcalover]

Grantland o Westbrooku – kreatorze.

 

http://grantland.com/features/russell-the-creator-westbrook-nba-oklahoma-city-thunder-western-conference-kevin-durant-serge-ibaka-kevin-love/?ex_cid=story-twitter

 

Na zachętę fragment:

 

Thunder players converted 55 percent of the 1,053 shots they attempted within two seconds of receiving a Westbrook pass last season. For context, Dirk Nowitzki attempted 1,062 shots in 77 games last season; he made 46 percent of them. In other words, aside from winning the scoring title himself, Westbrook used his passing skills to turn his teammates into a composite of a player who’s more efficient than Dirk Nowitzki.

[LeweBiodroSmoka]

sporteuro.pl/sport/wywiady/372-koszykówka/23976-wojciech-michałowicz-w-sporcie-szukam-wyższych-wartości.html

 

 

 

 

Nigdy nie myślałem o tym, aby stać w pierwszym szeregu, na samym piedestale. Nigdy też nie zabiegałem o większy rozgłos i nie chciałem być jakimś celebrytą, który może zobaczyć swoją twarz w kolorowych gazetach. Nie potrzebuję tego. Myślę, że najważniejsza w tym zawodzie jest rzetelność, szeroko pojęte zawodowstwo, bo pozerów, quasi-profesjonalistów jest w tej chwili wielu.

 

 

Skromny ten Wojtuś jak nie wiem...

 

 

Przem, oddychaj...

 

edit: adres należy skopiować ręcznie inaczej odsyła na główną

Edytowane 29 Października 2015 przez LeweBiodroSmoka

[Monty]

Dla mnie ciekawy wywiad, dobrze się czytało.

Edytowane 30 Października 2015 przez Monty

[Mirwir]

Ciekawy artykuł odnośnie Kevina Duranta

 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2582899-with-pivotal-season-ahead-can-kevin-durant-be-what-kevin-durant-was

 

Dodatkowo warto posłuchać podcastu Lowe, gdzie Zach rozmawia z autorem powyższego artykułu.

 

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-lowe-post-podcast-howard-beck-on-pursuing-kevin-durant/

[falcao]

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/nazr-mohammed-nba-toughest-players-ever-guarded/

[KIJEK_PL]

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/stephen-curry-is-the-revolution/

[falcao]

http://www.slamonline.com/the-magazine/features/klay-thompson-interview-warriors/#rOd6XDqrKXoXMZB1.97