I think there's something there: conscious thought and muscle memory (which is always imperfect anyway) aren't friends. Maybe that's why very smart players are so rare: the frontal lobes churning away on conscious thought create a sort of fog that the lizard brain playing the "hunting simulation" game can't see through.
Not stated but implied: better players are more confident. Michael Jordan was more likely to feel confident his next shot was falling than Ruben Boumtje Boumtje. And he was right, not due to any "magic" or "psychology" but because he was, to put it mildly, a better player. And yes, lack of confidence can screw up muscle memory, or other tasks, for that matter. Haven't we all had "those days" where several things go wrong and we start thinking EVERYTHING is going to go wrong, then we end up making mistakes we don't usually do? Because our concentration is shot, we are too busy worrying about screwing up to pay attention to what we are doing.
More important than momentum is the score. We know we can steal one in Phoenix. They know they can completely annihilate us if they want to.
I can tell I've been spending way too much time in the OT section of this forum because when I first glanced at the title of this thread I thought it said, "What role does Muhammad play...?" I was going to say not much unless instead of a red-out we go for the full Burka-out. No that would be pretty damn intimidating.
Not to get all Ayn Rand, but yeah, that's the core of it: some people are better at some tasks than others. Not types of people, but people individually. Very true, even if it wasn't necessarily proven by the results of that experiment.
Nothing to do with Ayn Rand at all. Jordan is a great basketball player but KP is a better GM. We all have different talents. Does not mean we need a society where a selfish elite rules the world, and women fall in love with rapists because of their "mastery". Please.
I have no love whatsoever for Rand; I was legitimately trying to distance the thought of "natural mastery" from Rand in that post. I really hope you didn't take it the wrong way! Now, go blazers!
Bad momentum can certainly have an impact on individuals and teams. The Clippers are used to losing, so even in games where they still stand a chance you'll see hunched shoulders and downward stares. They give up, so they lose. If you think you are going to lose, you are always right. Similarly, bad momentum works on individuals. Rudy has absolutely no confidence in his shot because of a random sequence of missed shots, so it's become self-fulfilling. He's over-thinking and non-aggressive. "Hot hands" are really statistically predictable. "Ruts" are often the consequence of statistical failings that go on longer than they should because of psychological weakness. I don't think there's anything like positive momentum, just like there isn't anything like "clutch." Guys don't magically get better at the end of games. Some simply don't choke under the pressure, so they look better compared to the ones who do. I don't really see how there will be much negative momentum going into tonight's game. The Blazers still have a great record against the Suns over the regular season. They've got a good coaching staff that will inspire confidence with their adjustments. They've got 20k fans cheering them on. They won't be the Clippers and just give up.
Not much. I have seen home and home swings swap the score by 40 points. Team loses away by 20. Comes home and wins by 20.
