<span style="color: #9932cc"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 100%">Winning the Right Way[/size][/color]by "Real Deal" Brandon NealI've been playing the sport of basketball since I was in elementary school. I'm nearly 24 years old now, so I'm rounding third and making my way towards my second decade with a ball in my hand. I grew up watching the Chicago Bulls dominate the NBA, saw Kobe Bryant put on a Hornets cap, cringed when Tim Duncan was united with The Admiral, dropped my jaw during the Pistons and Pacers brawl, and shed a tear when Kobe scored 81. The 90's were fantastic, and for the last seven years, it was incredibly tough to find a reason to complain about anything associated with the game.At around noon today, I was walking past my television, on my way out the door to grab a bite to eat, when I caught a glimpse of the Blazers' Greg Oden. I stopped to listen, and to my surprise, it was being reported that he would miss his entire rookie season. I was immediately reminded of Nick Collison, who underwent double shoulder surgery after being drafted by the Sonics with the 12th pick in 2003. I also thought about the Lakers' Lamar Odom, who played the second half of last season with an injured shoulder, waiting until season's end to repair it. Dwyane Wade, Elton Brand, Grant Hill, Amare Stoudemire...all have ran into severe injuries, either currently or in the past. The Los Angeles Clippers' season looks grim as we speak. Wade is still suffering from his dislocated shoulder, as he will not be ready to play by November.Honestly, it's not exactly the injuries I remember the most, though. What hurts me would not only be the fans that enjoy the depressing news, those that don't support the team, but also those that do support them, for what seems like all the wrong reasons. A perfect example of this would be the current discussions over the Blazers and next year's draft prospects. It's perfectly fine to say they will land a top pick in the draft, but to be excited about the upcoming season only because you want the lottery pick?Everyone who knows me understands that I dislike the San Antonio Spurs. I'm a Lakers fan; it's my duty to despise our rivals. Unfortunately, our rivals are an astounding team, but the way their supremacy was born gives me reason to question their heart and desire to win. After a long recovery from David Robinson, which seemed to drag out longer than any other injury in recent memory, the Spurs were in perfect position to select Wake Forest's superhuman, Tim Duncan. It was no laughing matter: the Spurs were already on track to win it all within three years, and it was sooner than that.Supporting defeat is something I'd never resort to. With the turmoil brewing daily in Los Angeles, you could walk up to 50 percent of Lakers fans and ask them what they think, and you may hear plenty of them speaking in favor of rebuilding, looking forward to the 2008 Draft, hoping that Kobe doesn't show or that the Lakers send him packing. If your desire starts with losing, you may feel the same way. You may be excited about lottery draft picks and a large amount of cap space. Frankly, I'm the complete opposite. When I was a junior in high school, I shattered my ankle sprinting around the track during basketball conditioning. If you want to know what real pain feels like, mix physical pain with emotional suffering. Sit down in the doctor's office, shaking because you're so nervous, awaiting to hear the good news, only to find that he has declined to tell you any. Try going through extreme physical therapy, on your own, while dealing with low blood sugars and four or five insulin shots a day just to get back on the court. I did it because I couldn't live without winning. You can't deny the feeling that jets through your veins when you release the perfect shot, when you watch the ball elevate and you are so sure it's automatic, you drop your arms and make your way back down the court. Do you get goosebumps when you view an aerial of fans in a stadium sling their arms in the air when a game-winning jumper falls through? I hope so, because if your body contains any emotion whatsoever, and you are dedicated to the game of basketball, you feel just as I do.There's no excuse; if you're rooting for defeat, you might as well cheer for the opposition for the rest of your life, not only in sports, but for every job you apply for, every contest you enter, and every goal you set. You may have trouble coming to an agreement with all of this, which is absolutely fine, but the difference between a winner and a loser is success. For any cause, for any reason, due to any scenario or negotiation, losing is never an option until it forces itself upon you. If you fail 99 percent of the time, make sure you come out on top the other one percent, because it not only develops a sense of strength and pride when your peers are tuned in, but also a small boost of self-esteem to ride on until your next victory.Where I'm always looking for a good quote, I'll take a step forward and write something special myself:Success isn't defined by how much you win, but by effort in dealing with the wins and the losses.
Nice job, Brandon; very well-written and I completely agree with the motives of the article. Winning should NEVER be secondary, and it hurt to have to deal with that last season, as a Celtics fan. Every local TV station, every fan you talked to... they all wanted more losses for a shot at Greg Oden or Kevin Durant. Obviously, that would have been great, but blatantly tanking games in order to get that pick... which we never got in the end... is ridiculous. Watching the Celtics and Bucks put on a tank-fest near the end of the year was ridiculous. As a die-hard that watches all 82 a year, I continued to watch the rest of that game, but I was in disgust. Each team purposely tanked that game, as well as the previous Celtics/Bucks matchup, and it's disgraceful.</p> As a Celtics fan, I went apeshit when we ended up with the 5th pick, but deep down I knew that we deserved it. Once again, winning should never be secondary, and to pull something like that during a season dedicated to Red Auerbach??? Come on now. While I'll have to deal with bandwagoners, I am so grateful that we have restored the winning attitude/atmosphere in Boston. </p>
Man, only two replies? There better be more when I shoot out that Lakers season preview. </p> I know people will end up disagreeing with this article, though...which is somewhat understandable. However, if I had the choice to be the bubble team, or the worst team in the NBA, knowing there's a top pick involved, I'd still pick the bubble. It's tough losing, for me anyways. I can't imagine losing 60 games and being called the worst in the league, no matter what "reward" awaits in June.</p>
I see where you're coming from as a passionate fan and can appreciate it. </p> Idisagree though. There'sthree things a franchise should be doing. Going for the title because they have the necessary talent, blowing the team up and starting over because the talent is aging or not good enough to win it all or at least contend or developing young talent to one day be good enough to win it all. Making the first round of the playoffs or just missing and getting a mediocre draft pick so you can be a middle of the pack team is not what I want my team to do. If you're more than 1/2 way through the season and you team doesn't have it, they smart thing to do is look towards the future. Teams that don't do it or kid themselves about the level of talent they do have are bound to be stuck in mediocrity for even longer. </p> It takes a superstar to win a title in this league for the most part. Look at the last9 champions. Tim Duncan, Shaq O'Neal won 4 each of those 9. Prior to that it was Jordan and Hakeem winning in the 90's. The only abbreviation over the last 28 years really is the 2003-2004 Pistons. They're the only team that didn't have at least one of the best players in the league on their team. Instead they had 4 all-stars and a defensive stopper who knew his role. Even the late 80's had Isiah Thomas, a special talent who can be considered one of the top 5 or 7 best PG's of all time. (depending on who you ask)</p> So if you're one of those teams that isn't a contender, and doesn't have young talent that may one day make you a contender, what is purpose of winning a bunch of games that are in essence meaningless? What's the difference between losing in the first round and finishing 9th in your division? about 4-6 games normally. I understand your passionatereasoning about trying to always win, I'm just more pragmatic about the whole thing. I want to see my team going for the title or loading up to have a shot in the near future. A few extra wins when my team is average.. doesn't mean jack to me.</p> </p>
I'm going to assume I'm the coach instead of the player. If I want to rest my starters, knowing we aren't going to make the playoffs, then I will. That is also a way to get that draft pick...but I'm going to tell my bench (those that I start from it) that you need to go out there and impress, and play like you're in the Finals. I know that there's a chance we aren't going to win those games, but for better reasons (resting my starters, making sure they won't tear their achilles, and giving my other guys a chance to pull off some upsets), I can accept that. That would be the only way I could add more losses to the season without literally telling my guys to accept defeat.
But what if the owners insist that you lose (so you could get the pick in the lottery) and you have no choice because if you disagree, you're basically out of the job? I'm sure it happens a lot throughout the league.
