J.D. Crabtree: The year 2020 was signalized by a remarkable incident, a mysterious and inexplicable phenomenon, which doubtless no one has yet forgotten.
Basketball stopped.
Carter, I write you from my quarantined apartment, staring deep and wide into the Rocky Mountain range that lies on the other side of my window. That pleasure too has been snatched away from my arsenal of leisure activities. The world is now forcing is to partake in second-tier delights: Peloton. Rice and beans. Literature. And Tik Tok.
The NBA, a league known for its year-round drama, and the NCAA, a sport known for having the best postseason format, came to a screeching halt because of the coronavirus, leaving an unprecedented void for professional players, student-athletes, and fans alike.
Look, I know we are all trying to get through this it, but I want it back. Talk to me Cooks.
Carter Pearson: Hey John – this sucks. And, like you, I’m pretty lucky. I’m sitting in a house by the fire, looking at a river outside while I sip the finest Coors (Keers) Light. Cheers to those Rockies, by the way. Lots of people have it way worse than us right now. I hope everyone reading this is being safe, not going outside and, if they have the means, supporting things that make their normal daily lives great. Go buy a gift card to your favorite restaurants, books from the best bookstores, and clothes and crafts from small businesses. Not to sound like either a) an alarmist or b) a Republican – but buy things from places close to you that make you happy. It will make for a softer landing for everyone on the other side of this.
Okay, lecture over. I’m sad about the NBA, because I really like the NBA. But, they’ll be okay. The league will cancel the rest of the regular season and perhaps begin the playoffs a bit late. Maybe the Finals are in July or August this year. There is obviously some career level stuff that is tough – was this LeBron’s last chance at an MVP? Maybe. He also lost 30ish games and 900ish points off his career totals. Is that going to keep him from catching Kareen as the all-time scoring leader? Also maybe. But the league will come back soon and be fun and maybe Zion will be in shape next year.
I’m pretty distraught about college basketball. I write you on Sunday, March 22nd at 2:30pm. We should be starting the second games of the second day of the second round. I should have 4 windows open and be tabbing between Baylor-Maryland and Duke-Northeastern (big upset by them in Round 1). I should’ve learned a lot about Tareq Coburn, the 2019 CAA Scholar Athlete of the Year as he locked down Duke’s wings and made me sweat out what was ultimately a 10-point Blue Devil victory. Instead, I’m sitting here writing to you and trying compulsively to not google or look at the New York Times.
College basketball will be back next year and it will be great, but these kids, especially the seniors, don’t get to come back. That really sucks. For everyone who hasn’t seen it yet, please go watch SVP’s Senior Nights from this week.
More broadly – I feel bad for everyone else who is a college senior this year. These next 6 weeks are literally the most fun of your life, and now you’re taking classes on-line and having to stay away from all your friends– so you get to do the worst parts of college but none of the fun ones. That is pretty awful and I’m sorry to everyone going through that. And again, I know there are way worse things than losing your basketball season or the chance to act like idiots with your best friends. But losing those things, especially when you’ve been working towards them your whole life, really sucks.
How are you doing? What’s on your mind with this?
JD: Thanks for taking the correct thoughtful route on these chemical times. Across any industry this is about those dependent on the greater governing body for existence and survival.
Like you said, the NBA will be fine. Their assets, the players, are paid at galactic levels. We might even see them again this year. Outside of Jamal Murray, people are probably doubling down on their social dependence of having these athletes entertain them in their free time. The smallest of break-ups.
My heart breaks for the college players, primarily the seniors or anyone that decided this was the last round of campus immortality. This means the Tre Jones and Cassius Winstons of the world. The fellas who looked up at the banners of the prestigious schools, looked their legendary coaches in the eye, and promised a community greatness.
Unfortunately this also goes out to the Daytons and Obi Toppins of the world too. Who don’t have the same amount of prestige and banners to look up at, but knew this was the year to create one the university could be proud of. They have already left campus. It’s over, in the most bitter fashion.
I’ve got a plug. And of course it will be for two Tennessee seniors that helped resurrect the program into a national powerhouse. Jordan Bowden was fire. Lamonte Turner was ice. And together they provided so much happiness for us folk hailing from middle and east Tennessee.
As for me? I’m fine sir. I’m heading South soon. God’s country. Clear eyes.
Do you think there is a proper way to resume professional basketball in 2020? And if so, does any team have an advantage? Or, gasp, a disadvantage?
CP: Glad to hear you’re safe, my man. Its a scary time out there full of lots of misinformation. I’ve been taking lots of long walks, cooking a lot, and probably drinking too much. Two of those things are good–and I’ll give myself a pass on the third for now.
Onto basketball – I think the NBA should bag almost all of the final 20 games and go right into the playoffs, whenever they resume. I think you give each team approximately 5 games to get back into a groove, and then go right in to the good stuff. Does this suck for teams like the Pelicans who probably would’ve caught the Grizzlies? Yes, totally. But, I think its more important to finish the season on a semblance of the correct schedule and give these guys an offseason. With the Olympics coming up in 2021, the best players need to rest or the 2022-23 season could be an injury bloodbath. And we don’t need that at all.
Overall – I think this helps veteran teams and teams that have experience playing together, and hurts the youngsters. I think the strong get strong and the weak fall away. If you were hoping to see a semi-spunky challenge to the Lakers in Round 1, I think you can forget it. A fully rested LeBron and non-banged up AD are rolling to the conference finals. A random team this could help–the Nuggets. For some reason, I feel like they’re gonna come back from this playing well and darting around Jokic like never before. At the very least, we know Jamal Murray has had a good break.
In the East – its probably Bucks or bust, but hopefully Philly is using this time to get Ben Simmons healthy and back in the mix. They are such divas, but I still want to see Ben-Al-Joel against Giannis in the playoffs. Let’s hope Giannis doesn’t have to quote Billy Beane after this season – “My shit doesn’t work in the playoffs”. Also, I think Kyle Lowry and the Raptors come out of this thing humming. Canada seems to be doing better than we are, and I think they, like the Nugs, have such continuity that they can jump back in after this mini-offseason.
Really – its weird to even be talking about sports right now. For the first time in my life, I’ve gone over two weeks without watching any kind of game of consuming any type of sports news. (For the most part–I was weak and read some stuff about NFL Free Agency for a quick fix, but then realized I didn’t give a shit about that.) I like that ESPN has started to add some thematics to their coverage (eg Fed-Nadal day today), but I can’t summon the interest to watch old games. I’d rather read a book or do a puzzle or look out the window. I hope that’s the biggest takeaway from this–that people remember how to unitask, or how to not do anything. I’m getting some vague recollections of what boredom used to look like, and am kind of enjoying them.
What about you? Anything you’re particularly enjoying? Don’t say Tiger King–if I hear one more person talk about that I’m going to lose it. I’ll watch, just give me a second.
JD: You are correct on the NBA regular season and playoff route. Everything should be. designed to get the sea legs warm for some type of finish. We didn’t get the ultimate Los Angeles cross-town showdown. We didn’t get the Zion revival. We didn’t get to see if Houston’s hobbit lineup was sustainable. We didn’t get a lot of things. But you know what? Most of us don’t even get to go outside anymore, so I think this will be fine.
To your Lakers point, I always believed this year was destiny. Nothing has changed for me on that front in the past five months. To your Nuggets point, and as a Nuggets season ticket holder (weird flex!), I will believe it when I see it. Gary Harris and Will Barton would be the weakest 2-3 combo in history to win a title, so not happenin’ is my rebuttal. The Nugs not gunning for Bradley Beal made me sad.
The East is……..well…….in my opinion…………………..
Sorry Cooks, fell asleep three straight days trying to write about the East teams and their repetitive storylines. This is the last season I will show affection to the Sixers. Process me once, shame on Sam Hinkie. Process me twice, shame on me. Let’s just fast-forward to Giannis trying to beat a West powerhouse in seven and call 2020 a wrap.
Back to my emphatic side. Excited that collegiate spring athletes are getting another shot at the most fun phase of their life. Unfortunately I thought about high school athletes shortly after. I can’t imagine my senior season being cancelled due to a global pandemic. As you know, I still talk about my high school campaigns whenever I hear a trigger word (Friday Night Lights, Cumberland Plateau, hello, etc.) so let’s beat this thing for the next wave of high school heroes.
Ya, re-embracing boredom might be a roundabout pro for society/me. Knowing that I can’t retreat to watching basketball till my eyes bleed, or hitting a speakeasy till 2 AM, has forced me to engage in more wholesome activity. Asking my mom to tell a story about my childhood. Listening to entire Van Morrison albums. Touching trees. Staring out windows, like you.
I haven’t watched Tiger King. You know me.
In an attempt to eliminate the dreary, is there anything you truly miss that you’ll appreciate more once basketball returns to full force? Patrick Beverly defense? Cinderella stories in the tourney? Dare I say NBA on TNT?
CP: Don’t watch Tiger King. It is all spectacle and will just make you sad. All very weird sizzle–nothing of substance except some sad people dick-measuring with tigers.
I will appreciate: solid pick and roll coverage, a clean flex cut, a pin down screen to free an open shooter, offensive rebounding, improvements by third year non-lottery draft picks, unheralded second rounders, and discussions of wingspan as it relates to one’s height.
I’m getting a little stir crazy though – although I am making about a two book per week pace. I just read “Wolf Hall”, the first book of Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell series. I cannot say I have a ton of insight into Henry VIII or that period. But, I can say that I’d rather be cooped up in the house now than either a peasant during the 1500s or a member of court who was worried that my head would get cut off because I was mean to Ann Boleyn. The book is really good though and like 620 pages, so definitely will take some of your quarantime.
So, yeah, this stinks but it could be much worse. That’s really all I have to say about that.
Stay well – enjoy the puppy and the outdoors.
JD: Apparently a sequel is already in the mix, so there’s that. I’m sure there is too much money to be made there. But like the 06-07 Phoenix Suns showed us, sometimes its best not to touch a thing that’s working.
Woah, weird quarantine book flex. Recommendations and advanced metrics. I’ll check ’em out, will have to wait till I am done with my Hunter S. Thompson binge.
Lovely readers of The Mid Range, we are going to get basketball back one day. Hang in there. In the meantime practice your foul shots.
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