Style Points

OK, notwithstanding my own old school, fundamental basketball affectations, I enjoy creative "flashy" play as much as the next guy. It's become an important part of the game: the behind-the-back no-look pass, the backdoor alley-oop, the strong, in-your-face finish with a high-flying dunk. Sure, sometimes these things go embarrassingly wrong, which always brings the "Fundamentalists" to their feet in smug, self-righteous "I told you so" indignation. But when they go right, they are magnificent things of beauty to behold -- an eloquent testimony to the athleticism of the people who play this game at the highest level, and whose "skills" embody not just good technique, but the authentic work of real artists.

I'm certainly not the first person to compare basketball to jazz. The dynamic interplay of innovative improvisation within a familiar structure is a large part of what makes both what they are, and the better one understands the latter, the more appreciative you are of the first. Mastery of technique simply creates greater opportunities for creativity itself, as with any art form. Basketball players leap into the air with the grace and power of a Baryshnikov, only they carry a ball with them and improvise their movements spontaneously in the moment. And when you have five artists playing together, sharing the ball as they move as one mind in complex patterns to surprise both their opponents and their appreciative observers...well, all I can say is who needs "The Nutcracker?"

On the home front here, a very satisfying run last night. Suddenly occurred to me that just because we've moved our starting time up to 7:30 didn't mean I had to scramble to get ready by starting to dress as if we were still playing at 8:00, and then rushing out of the house. So I actually dressed early and arrived at the gym about a quarter past seven, where I found several other players already there warming up. Had a chance to stretch more thoroughly, and even to shoot around a little...and it really made all the difference in the world. Still had a fairly rough night shooting from the field, but I knocked down important shots when I needed to, and at least my misses weren't humiliatingly off-the-mark. Was a little more lackadaisical on defense than usual, I think in part because I got on a team with a couple of guys not generally known for playing tenacious "D" and just didn't feel like trying to do it all myself. But it was kind of nice to watch them both step up, and we won some games that we really had no business winning simply because we were able to get the most out of the players we had, including the two guys who would much rather basket-hang or launch a deep three than show over the top of a screen when defending a pick-and-roll.

Best play of the evening...or at least the best that I was involved in. Stole the ball from a defensive rebounder when he put it on the floor to try to start the break, threw a quick pass into the lane to a teammate who'd seen the steal and was flashing to the basket, which was deflected by another defender who managed to get his hand into the passing lane at the last moment, beat THAT player in the scramble to the loose ball, and without ever really getting both hands on the pumpkin, made a quick, one-handed pass back to my original teammate, who was at that point standing all alone under the basket, for an easy lay-up. Just like we'd drawn it up that way.

I know I'm never going to be able to finish a fast break with a high-flying jam, but you know, it doesn't really matter, I can still be creative, I can still improvise and innovate, I can still play at the highest level of MY ability, and bring out the best in those around me. It's all good. Actually, it's better than good. It's fan-tastic....