Re: Great job, Danny!

[Ryan W <ubiquitous_am_i@xxxxxxxxx>]

Shawn Niles wrote: 

> "The playoffs are always better than non-playoffs"
> 
> Disagree. If you go all out to make the playoffs,
> and playoffs come at the 
> expense of your young guys getting no experience in
> a developmental year, 
> then I don't think the playoffs are better. You
> think making the playoffs 
> (while Hunter, Perkins, and Banks sit) only to be
> promptly dismissed in the 
> first round in better than not making the playoffs
> but having Hunter, Banks, 
> and Perkins log major minutes and get major
> experience so that they can 
> contribute to next years team? I don't. Because next
> years team will likely 
> be built to make a big playoff run. Not a title
> team, but maybe conference 
> finals. And you'd be better off then if the three
> young guys had a boatload 
> of experience instead of none. Just so that you
> could say you made it to the 
> first round. YIPPEEEE!!!

Here's my point about the playoffs.  They're important
because they are what players play for (let's not
forget the players).  Further, if you don't make the
playoffs, you run the risk of developing a culture of
losing (Ricky Davis has been immersed in a culture of
losing his entire career).  

Let me try and explain: the benefits to making the
playoffs cannot be measured.  Players are changed for
the better by making the playoffs; they become more
dedicated, more willing to bust their asses, more team
orientated.  Further, by making the playoffs, a player
finally realizes what it takes to get there.  If you
know the amount of energy, dedication, and hard work
necessary to accomplish something, it's that much more
easy to accomplish it the next time.  Further, by
remembering how much work you put in last time, you
can guage how much more work will be needed next time
and thus will be better prepared to perform at a
higher level, thereby elongating one's playoff run. 
Think about it this way:  Have you ever done anything
really really difficult?  Imagine you take this job
right out of college or post-grad and it's really
really hard.  The first two months are brutal; you
don't know what to expect, you don't know what's
expected of you; basically, you're just hanging out,
taking everything in.  Time passes.  The next year
rolls around.  You're more comfortable.  You know what
you're supposed to do, how to do, and how to make it
easier.  You're getting better because of the
experience.  The same holds true with the playoffs. 
Once you finally get there, it just like getting a pat
on the back from your boss.  You feel vindicated.  All
your hard work was rewarded.  Your self-worth
improves.  You start seeking ways to better your game.
 Your whole outlook changes.  

These are the things this team will miss by not making
the playoffs (which, btw, I still think we have a
chance at).  These are important things.  As fans we
can't appreciate it, but as players it is what
separates winners from losers, from those willing to
bust their asses from those just looking to CTC.  

> "Yeah, we'll be better in the future, but who gives
> a F%$* today when we 
> just got abused by the Bulls?"
> 
> Short-sighted people see a single loss now and
> proclaim doom and say the 
> team has no direction. Far-sighted people see it as
> a uncomfortable and 
> painful but necessary step towards becoming a
> legitimate team. Not one that 
> sneaks into the playoffs as a 6 seed and pulls a few
> upsets fooling everyone 
> into thinking they are the second coming of the 86'
> celts and should never 
> be broken up.
> 

You know what the problem is with reciting you
far-sightedness in an argument?  You can never be
wrong.  And if you can never be wrong, then why bother
arguing?

Ryan

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