Friday, June 22, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
the korean hot sauce i keep putting on the roasted beef tendons my mom cooked, for lunch, well, reminds me a lot of pepperoni.
i just had no idea that hot sauce smelled and tasted like it(the spiciness aside).
all i knew was that it smelled and tasted like something familiar.
but i finally figured it out today.
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you find the weirdest things when you let your mind wander on wikipedia:
the 1st friday of every june is national doughnut day
i just had no idea that hot sauce smelled and tasted like it(the spiciness aside).
all i knew was that it smelled and tasted like something familiar.
but i finally figured it out today.
---
you find the weirdest things when you let your mind wander on wikipedia:
the 1st friday of every june is national doughnut day
The Midrange Game
I spent a Sunday night jotting down a couple of my thoughts on this. I got inspired after reading a small article in HOOP magazine about the midrange game, and how it’s lost from the NBA. Sam Cassell was interviewed by TNT, and did a decent job, but I thought he didn’t really cover it well. Anyways, some of the ideas from various points I talk about blend together.
Why It is Gone
1. Due to the fact that the NBA has tried to constantly market its game towards the fans, offense has been encouraged by the hindrances on defense. In the past NBA, you could drive into the teeth of the defense in the paint and not one single peep would come out of any ref’s whistles. This after banging into 2-3 guys bigger than you are before that poor excuse of a layup was punched back where it came from. Nowadays you just drive, fake being hit and flail your arms, and you’ll go to the free throw line for 2. And don’t forget about the 3 seconds in the lane rule either, forcing big men to stay out of the paint until somebody comes in with a layup, which only makes it easier to get a blocking foul, since their feet won’t be planted firm. The result is that porous paint defense is encouraged, which means that layups are encouraged over jumpers; ie shots where person is leaning towards the basket and possibly draw contact
2. To build upon the argument in point #1, the porous defense has led to the game leaning less and less towards the quality of the shot compared to what the refs will give you. If the refs were less likely to blow their whistles back then, that meant you had to stop trying to get calls, and start trying to knock down shots. That all goes out of the window when whistle blowing’s up. Why should I ever attempt to concentrate upon making a quality jumper by being quicker to a spot than the defense AND elevating up(with proper arm positioning to shoot the ball, of course) before the help comes, when the 3 second rule encourages big men to be outside the paint, meaning they’ll be closer to me to block my jumper? When in comparison, I can just drive into the lane, jump into them and flail, knowing I’ll either get 2 points, or end up on the free throw line, getting my 2 regardless.
3. On the converse side, ppl prefer 3 point shots over jumpers because: 3 point shots are further away, and players are told NEVER to foul a jump shooter, esp a 3-pt shooter. What that means is that worst, most players will just stick their arms straight up and get right up on you if they know you’ll shoot a 3; rarely will they leave their feet for a shot block. So, if you drive, the defense converges and you kick, usually you’ll have a pretty good chance for 3 points.
4. Going again on the porous paint defense background, you see an emphasis on trying to get maximum points on each possession; either go for a 3, or get a bucket and the foul. Or at least get 2 free throws and put their bigs in trouble.
5. There’s a lot of difficulty involved in playing the midrange game correctly; assuming you are going to make a diet living outside of the paint, inside the 3 pt line, it involves a lot of quick sudden movement with your feet while dribbling to get separation from your man, does not get contact as you’re shooting the ball since you’re not leaning forward, does not give you an opportunity to get 3 points unless your opponent just gets a brain cramp and tries to grab your arm as you’re blowing by him, and most likely will be contested all the way through(once you beat your man, you better run hard to a closer spot and get the shot off before the help can arrive, raise up and get the ball). HOOP magazine summed up the concept and difficulty of the shot by saying you needed to drive into the teeth of the defense, plant hard, elevate and get the shot off before the help arrives, and this right after beating your own man.
6. Just because a shot is taken inside the 3 pt area does not equal a midrange game. I think this is sketchy, but true. And I’ll go into that in the next section. But essentially, it’s combining the strengths of a layup(closer shot) with the strengths of a 3 point shot(shot blockers shouldn’t be able to get to the ball). And if you decide NOT to get as close to the paint before pulling up for a shot(that is, as close as possible without risk of the shot blocked), you neglect half of the strengths of the midrange game; might as well go in even further and try to get fouled, or take a step back and nail a 3. In the same vein, if you’re trying fadeaways close to the 3 point line, but inside, you’re not really using a midrange game.
Why It Should Not be Ignored
1. Shots taken closer to the basket = higher percentage. A midrange jumper has a higher chance of going in than a 3; there’s less energy needed to jump upward, the basket is closer, meaning your arms don’t have to push as hard(which means you don’t necessarily need a full windup compared to a 3 point shot to get off a jumper, shaving off precious time needed to get that shot off before a shot blocker comes over in time). In essence you have some of the advantages of the layup.
2. But in combination with strength #1, it has some of the strengths of a 3 point shot; the shots are taken out of reach of shot blockers, meaning there’s less chance of being rejected. The way I see it, a midrange jumper will beat his man, drive as close as possible, but then pull up and get the shot off before the help arrives.
3. Given the sudden change of directions(sideways, then suddenly upward), hard to guard. You might not even need to beat your man completely to get a good quality midrange shot. Remember that you’re trying to go hard sideways, and then coming to a complete stop and changing direction to go straight up. Baring any case of ESP, that’s hard for any defender to go against; they can force you to take a bad shot, but it’ll be very hard for them to cleanly block your shot. I also forgot to add, trying to come to a standstill from going sideways hard and then going straight up causes your leg muscles to jump really hard, making it easier to get a jumpshot from max jump height(or close to it).
Ways to Implement
1.Get close to the basket; you can do this by either driving or posting up and backing your man down(and then driving; the midrange game can also encompass the post up game if you have to keep your opponent honest, thinking about you driving out of the post up at any time). Remember though, the key is to make sure to get as close as possible without getting the help to commit ON TIME; it’s ok if you get them to come to you, but keep an idea in your head of how long it’d take them to get to you and cleanly block the shot, and then stop and pull up before that time elapses.
2. Plant hard, square up and face the basket(so that you can aim the ball properly); if you are driving into the paint, pivot to face the basket, crossover to stop momentum, or step back. The 1st method is probably the most useful, the 2nd most flashy if you love driving really hard. Try not to use the 3rd too much; you give up valuable distance. Start to crouch AS you're doing this step, not afterward; it will help you to gain jump height without wasting valuable time.
3. Go straight up with the ball; it should be unnecessary to fadeaway if the process was done right.
Specific examples
While the ways to beat your man or give yourself some space in the name of the midrange game are huge, for the creativity-deficient individual here are some ways to get you started:
Shooting off the dribble – This has MJ written all over it(Jordan said himself on the instruction manual for 1 on 1 – Jordan vs Bird[I have this old DOS game] that he’s a better shooter by shooting off the dribble); the idea is to beat your own man, drive as close as possible, plant hard by pivoting to face the basket, then go straight up. If I remember correctly, MJ used this to nail the game winning shot in game 3 of the 1988 ECF over Dennis Rodman and a late coming-over Isaiah Thomas. I love this example of the midrange game, and if you have quick feet, this is really useful, and not too hard. And if you’re trying to drive towards the baseline, instead of towards the paint, like MJ did in the gamewinner, you can try to bank it off the backboard on the very edge without planting your feet like he did, making it even easier.
Crossing over off the dribble to stop – Again this is MJ(his last shot as a Bull should come to mind; don’t try to subliminally push your defender over though; MJ can get away with it, you can’t); it’s similar to shooting off the dribble, except you need to drive really hard, then crossover and stop on a dime, then get off a jumper. It’s great for defenders who can match your top speed at which you drive; usually, your defender will be going so hard in one direction, it’ll be hard to adjust to you coming to a complete stop. You’ll probably need to start out at the 3 point line(so that you can get him to really try to match your top speed before you come to a dead halt), have some really quick feet, and really good control over your crossover dribble from full speed to a standstill(so that you stop on a dime, instead of slipping and falling). Hard to do, but impressive.
Faking a drive, then stepping back – As Sam Cassell showed in the TNT Fundamentals session, what you can do is lean hard forward and stomp the ground hard like you’re going to drive, but then quickly pull your lead foot back to take a jumper. Works great if you casually bring the ball upcourt, cross the 3 point line a bit, then do it. And it really works great if they’re respecting your drive. Sorta like doing a rocker step, but while keeping your dribble alive.
Driving, getting a bump, then stepping back – And again, like Sam Cassell showed, what you can do is drive diagonally towards the basket, bump into the opponent slightly, then step back(the video shows him going left-towards the basket, then stepping back left-away from the basket), creating space. Be careful not to slam full speed into the opponent, or you’ll get a charge.
---
end article
("normal" post to come a few days later; i have some videos i want to post up, as well as a video highlighting the incoming players for team usa)
I spent a Sunday night jotting down a couple of my thoughts on this. I got inspired after reading a small article in HOOP magazine about the midrange game, and how it’s lost from the NBA. Sam Cassell was interviewed by TNT, and did a decent job, but I thought he didn’t really cover it well. Anyways, some of the ideas from various points I talk about blend together.
Why It is Gone
1. Due to the fact that the NBA has tried to constantly market its game towards the fans, offense has been encouraged by the hindrances on defense. In the past NBA, you could drive into the teeth of the defense in the paint and not one single peep would come out of any ref’s whistles. This after banging into 2-3 guys bigger than you are before that poor excuse of a layup was punched back where it came from. Nowadays you just drive, fake being hit and flail your arms, and you’ll go to the free throw line for 2. And don’t forget about the 3 seconds in the lane rule either, forcing big men to stay out of the paint until somebody comes in with a layup, which only makes it easier to get a blocking foul, since their feet won’t be planted firm. The result is that porous paint defense is encouraged, which means that layups are encouraged over jumpers; ie shots where person is leaning towards the basket and possibly draw contact
2. To build upon the argument in point #1, the porous defense has led to the game leaning less and less towards the quality of the shot compared to what the refs will give you. If the refs were less likely to blow their whistles back then, that meant you had to stop trying to get calls, and start trying to knock down shots. That all goes out of the window when whistle blowing’s up. Why should I ever attempt to concentrate upon making a quality jumper by being quicker to a spot than the defense AND elevating up(with proper arm positioning to shoot the ball, of course) before the help comes, when the 3 second rule encourages big men to be outside the paint, meaning they’ll be closer to me to block my jumper? When in comparison, I can just drive into the lane, jump into them and flail, knowing I’ll either get 2 points, or end up on the free throw line, getting my 2 regardless.
3. On the converse side, ppl prefer 3 point shots over jumpers because: 3 point shots are further away, and players are told NEVER to foul a jump shooter, esp a 3-pt shooter. What that means is that worst, most players will just stick their arms straight up and get right up on you if they know you’ll shoot a 3; rarely will they leave their feet for a shot block. So, if you drive, the defense converges and you kick, usually you’ll have a pretty good chance for 3 points.
4. Going again on the porous paint defense background, you see an emphasis on trying to get maximum points on each possession; either go for a 3, or get a bucket and the foul. Or at least get 2 free throws and put their bigs in trouble.
5. There’s a lot of difficulty involved in playing the midrange game correctly; assuming you are going to make a diet living outside of the paint, inside the 3 pt line, it involves a lot of quick sudden movement with your feet while dribbling to get separation from your man, does not get contact as you’re shooting the ball since you’re not leaning forward, does not give you an opportunity to get 3 points unless your opponent just gets a brain cramp and tries to grab your arm as you’re blowing by him, and most likely will be contested all the way through(once you beat your man, you better run hard to a closer spot and get the shot off before the help can arrive, raise up and get the ball). HOOP magazine summed up the concept and difficulty of the shot by saying you needed to drive into the teeth of the defense, plant hard, elevate and get the shot off before the help arrives, and this right after beating your own man.
6. Just because a shot is taken inside the 3 pt area does not equal a midrange game. I think this is sketchy, but true. And I’ll go into that in the next section. But essentially, it’s combining the strengths of a layup(closer shot) with the strengths of a 3 point shot(shot blockers shouldn’t be able to get to the ball). And if you decide NOT to get as close to the paint before pulling up for a shot(that is, as close as possible without risk of the shot blocked), you neglect half of the strengths of the midrange game; might as well go in even further and try to get fouled, or take a step back and nail a 3. In the same vein, if you’re trying fadeaways close to the 3 point line, but inside, you’re not really using a midrange game.
Why It Should Not be Ignored
1. Shots taken closer to the basket = higher percentage. A midrange jumper has a higher chance of going in than a 3; there’s less energy needed to jump upward, the basket is closer, meaning your arms don’t have to push as hard(which means you don’t necessarily need a full windup compared to a 3 point shot to get off a jumper, shaving off precious time needed to get that shot off before a shot blocker comes over in time). In essence you have some of the advantages of the layup.
2. But in combination with strength #1, it has some of the strengths of a 3 point shot; the shots are taken out of reach of shot blockers, meaning there’s less chance of being rejected. The way I see it, a midrange jumper will beat his man, drive as close as possible, but then pull up and get the shot off before the help arrives.
3. Given the sudden change of directions(sideways, then suddenly upward), hard to guard. You might not even need to beat your man completely to get a good quality midrange shot. Remember that you’re trying to go hard sideways, and then coming to a complete stop and changing direction to go straight up. Baring any case of ESP, that’s hard for any defender to go against; they can force you to take a bad shot, but it’ll be very hard for them to cleanly block your shot. I also forgot to add, trying to come to a standstill from going sideways hard and then going straight up causes your leg muscles to jump really hard, making it easier to get a jumpshot from max jump height(or close to it).
Ways to Implement
1.Get close to the basket; you can do this by either driving or posting up and backing your man down(and then driving; the midrange game can also encompass the post up game if you have to keep your opponent honest, thinking about you driving out of the post up at any time). Remember though, the key is to make sure to get as close as possible without getting the help to commit ON TIME; it’s ok if you get them to come to you, but keep an idea in your head of how long it’d take them to get to you and cleanly block the shot, and then stop and pull up before that time elapses.
2. Plant hard, square up and face the basket(so that you can aim the ball properly); if you are driving into the paint, pivot to face the basket, crossover to stop momentum, or step back. The 1st method is probably the most useful, the 2nd most flashy if you love driving really hard. Try not to use the 3rd too much; you give up valuable distance. Start to crouch AS you're doing this step, not afterward; it will help you to gain jump height without wasting valuable time.
3. Go straight up with the ball; it should be unnecessary to fadeaway if the process was done right.
Specific examples
While the ways to beat your man or give yourself some space in the name of the midrange game are huge, for the creativity-deficient individual here are some ways to get you started:
Shooting off the dribble – This has MJ written all over it(Jordan said himself on the instruction manual for 1 on 1 – Jordan vs Bird[I have this old DOS game] that he’s a better shooter by shooting off the dribble); the idea is to beat your own man, drive as close as possible, plant hard by pivoting to face the basket, then go straight up. If I remember correctly, MJ used this to nail the game winning shot in game 3 of the 1988 ECF over Dennis Rodman and a late coming-over Isaiah Thomas. I love this example of the midrange game, and if you have quick feet, this is really useful, and not too hard. And if you’re trying to drive towards the baseline, instead of towards the paint, like MJ did in the gamewinner, you can try to bank it off the backboard on the very edge without planting your feet like he did, making it even easier.
Crossing over off the dribble to stop – Again this is MJ(his last shot as a Bull should come to mind; don’t try to subliminally push your defender over though; MJ can get away with it, you can’t); it’s similar to shooting off the dribble, except you need to drive really hard, then crossover and stop on a dime, then get off a jumper. It’s great for defenders who can match your top speed at which you drive; usually, your defender will be going so hard in one direction, it’ll be hard to adjust to you coming to a complete stop. You’ll probably need to start out at the 3 point line(so that you can get him to really try to match your top speed before you come to a dead halt), have some really quick feet, and really good control over your crossover dribble from full speed to a standstill(so that you stop on a dime, instead of slipping and falling). Hard to do, but impressive.
Faking a drive, then stepping back – As Sam Cassell showed in the TNT Fundamentals session, what you can do is lean hard forward and stomp the ground hard like you’re going to drive, but then quickly pull your lead foot back to take a jumper. Works great if you casually bring the ball upcourt, cross the 3 point line a bit, then do it. And it really works great if they’re respecting your drive. Sorta like doing a rocker step, but while keeping your dribble alive.
Driving, getting a bump, then stepping back – And again, like Sam Cassell showed, what you can do is drive diagonally towards the basket, bump into the opponent slightly, then step back(the video shows him going left-towards the basket, then stepping back left-away from the basket), creating space. Be careful not to slam full speed into the opponent, or you’ll get a charge.
---
end article
("normal" post to come a few days later; i have some videos i want to post up, as well as a video highlighting the incoming players for team usa)
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
I’ll post up the long overdue post I was going to write on the midrange game 1 or 2 days later; it’s pretty long, so I’d thought I’ll give time for this post to get digested first.
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Forgot to mention one of my favorite Futurama lines last time; it’s when Bender’s in a poker casino and he holds the dice up to his eyes to calculate the chances of it landing on a certain number. Then he goes all in and throws the dice; turns up wrong. Then as the carddealer’s filing the chips away, he goes “Wait my cheating unit malfunctioned! I want a do-over!”
Dealer: Sorry, house limit is THREE do-overs.
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So y’kno how I LONG ago thought about updating my mp3 player with mp3s from the KJV?
The idea came because of this fuzzy tv channel that I got while at home when my mom was out bible studying one Friday night and I was bored, just flipping through channels. I got to around 28, and then it was just this background of a scenic nature view as text from the KJV was scrolling upward while somebody was reading it. I know, it sounds boring, but it seemed somewhat neat. And of course, I got the idea that if I could buy some mp3s of somebody doing that, that’d be cool to listen to while driving.
Anyways, I still had no idea what the programmers behind it were; I tried looking up various leads on Google just on channel 28; had nothing else to go by. But finally I stumbled upon this:
http://worldwide.familyradio.org/zusa/english/connect/audio_archive/fbrf/
http://worldwide.familyradio.org/zusa/english/admin/
I find it amazing that it’s all free.
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My bro’s started to drive back to LA yesterday. Michelle and kids tag along in the airplane today I believe. (Nooo, my niece and nephew are going to grow up Laker fans! What type of horrible parent lets their kids grow up loving Kobe Bryant?!? Child negligence I say!)
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7-eleven’s helping promote the new Simpsons movie. I found this out, because, well, the medium sized slurpees? The designs of the cups have been changed so that it’s light green and features the word “Squishee” on it. Oh yeah; on the bottom, “Kwik-E-Mart” has been added. Keeper; yes I saved my container. “Thank you please come again” [/apu] And one more thing; they’re actually going to transform each 7-11 store into a Kwik-E-Mart for the movie’s release date. I suggest you head over to a 7-11 on 7.27 and just see how far they take it.
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Here’s some (mostly) throwback tunes that I love; I intend to eventually buy and download most of these; I have my way of being able to find out the artist and song title of any song I hear on the radio, as long as I pick up some of the lyrics. Most of these are 90s tunes that I’ve rediscovered recently(by hearing them on the radio, and then quickly jotting down some of the lyrics on notepad as my car’s parked). Anyways, here’s the youtube videos:
better than ezra – desperately wanting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93jpMGNdgsA
candlebox – far behind
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maOchgZrMqA
I actually had this song(as well as “you”), but wanted to post this regardless. Both of these candlebox songs are awesome. “Far behind” is slightly better IMO.
jimmy eat world – sweetness(live on david letterman)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayzH57Jf6V8
Ok, not really 90s. This song sounds way better when they’re playing it live than the studio version. No, I haven’t attended one of their concerts. I’m just saying they sounded better on snl and on david letterman than they ever did with this song in the studio. The drummer’s drumset looks slightly different.
rush – the spirit of radio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmLg6BjBY4s
phil’s musical influences still running some strong through me (I couldn’t find a video for this song, so I guess this’ll have to do)
stone sour – through glass
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIzDsGyxsQM
(honestly I thought this song was a 90s song, almost remember hearing it when I was a kid; so why does it seem like this is a recent addition to music stores?)
the verve pipe – the freshmen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVNAp1C8LIw&mode=related&search=
The dude in the comments who talks about this song being created because the lead singer’s wife had an abortion is so dead on. Gives it a creepy overtone; anyways, this is still a cool song.
the wonders – that thing you do
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xdn5sKmgKEk
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