From Distance: Formerly “The Point-Fourward” (An Ode to Zach Lowe)

Four points I’m thinking about the NBA…

1. Any fan of basketball, or sports writing in general, should be sure to follow the work of Zach Lowe. He is the most balanced, comprehensive sportswriter and podcaster currently out there. Lowe was one of the first NBA writers to fully utilize GIF video work to illustrate and analyze basketball play-action. He is concise, witty, educational, and amusingly self-deprecating. I am a better writer and smarter basketball guy for having read him.

If I have any criticism of Lowe’s outstanding work, it would be that he tends to qualify his very well-thought-out takes with “am I crazy?”. No, Zach. You are most certainly not crazy. Yes, I understand that in an era of blowhard know-it-alls (or no-it-alls), Lowe is only using the phrase to illustrate his openness to the ideas of others. His humility forces him to mitigate his genius in an effort to appease his partner and open discussion. It’s an honorable notion. I just wish he didn’t employ that conversation device with such regularity.

He knows things. We need the people who actually know things to say them with certainty and without mitigation. (Un)fortunately for the world, most of the true experts in a field only become experts because of their constant desire for new information. That desire forces an expert to ask new questions at every turn. It leads a less curious person to conclude that said expert actually doesn’t know anything at all. Questioning is the source of all knowledge.

Lowe is right to do so. He is a good podcast partner precisely because be opens the door for his guest’s opinion. But, perhaps he could offer that same latitude without casually, if seemingly innocuously, questioning his own sanity.

2. That detail aside, I very much appreciate Lowe’s courage of conviction and his decency as a human(to be clear, the “am I crazy” thing certainly isn’t an indication of a lack of courage. It is that very strength that allows the question). It is apparent that Lowe appreciates the good fortune that has brought him success. He understands that his substantial talent and intellect aren’t the only things that have allowed him to live his dream. It comes through in his writing and especially in his podcasts. This is a man to respect both as a creator and person.

For that reason, I would like to retire the title “The Point-Fourward”. It was the title of Zach Lowe’s column when he was still at Sports Illustrated. I’m not sure exactly how it began on our fine site, but the title has served us well. It has been a regular column for quite some time, having been penned by a few different talented writers. I’ve very much enjoyed the flexibility and exposure it affords.

Still, I have always been a little uncomfortable writing under its heading. Since sportswriters don’t have jersey numbers to hang in the rafters, this is about as close as I could come. After wearing the jersey for awhile, I think it’s time to forge a new identity.

“From Distance”. As I live in Berlin, I am shooting from serious range over here. Regardless of what the NBA ultimately decides, I think I am entitled to an extra point this far beyond the line. I’ll still break the column down in the same way: four different points about the NBA. Really, it will only be the name that changes. And rest assured, as the season gets going again, you will read less of my occasionally prolix philosophical discourse and more of my basketball analysis. Don’t worry, dad. I won’t completely abandon the former. I am your son after all.

3. With that out of the way, I’d like to examine Cedi Osman’s potential on the 2017-2018 Cleveland Cavaliers using Alfred North Whitehead’s conception of reality(okay, just a little more for my dad). Very basically, Whitehead challenges the idea that matter in the universe is generally a fixed entity. He believes that all things are subject to process and context, thus any specific bit of matter is transient by its very nature. Whitehead would warn us about the “fallacy of misplaced concreteness. Things are not in a place. They are relative to their surroundings and always fluid and changing.

Yep, we are still in the off-season. Anyway, what I’m getting at is that Cedi Osman has never played basketball with LeBron James in the NBA. He has never been as old as he is right now. Et cetera, et cetera. We really don’t know how this is going to go down. Nevertheless, the talent that does seem to be the easiest to project from league to league is not rebounding or shot-making.

It’s general personality. A process of processing information in relationship to other processes(basketball). Osman plays his tail off on every possession. He will not be Manu Ginoboli. He won’t be Christian Eyenga. In the most obvious sentence yet, Cedi Osman will be Cedi Osman.

The most macro aspect to his skill-set as a player should be the thing that we primarily judge him by. I love his work ethic. I’m a fan of his physical tools. His shooting percentages don’t really bother me either way. Osman will soon be in a context that is beyond foreign to him. I expect the best.

4. Speaking of best, C:tB favorite, C.J. McCollum is unsurprisingly not listed as the best player in the NBA in recent off-season media rankings. Nor was C:tB anti-favorite Carmelo Anthony. Looking at the list so far, it isn’t surprising that multiple players are more than a little annoyed.

In general, the rookies are hilariously overrated. Lonzo Ball shouldn’t be in the top 100, let alone number 63. Most rookies are terrible defenders. Ball is likely to be an all-time train wreck on that end of the floor. Carmelo was straight-up mad(adult language alert). C.J. was funny.

We need to start ranking these weak ass journalist. With descriptions of their strengths, weaknesses and ability to make up "sources"

— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) September 12, 2017

While I am amused by the player’s reactions to a seemingly fluffy ranking, it is important to remember that such things do affect the lives of these players. These haphazard rankings that are clearly done on the fly can have huge consequences in contract negotiations and trades. No, it isn’t as though an agent would directly cite his client’s media ranking as a bargaining chip. A GM wouldn’t justify a trade by announcing he got ESPN’s 13th best player.

However, the rankings do give us insight as to what the “average NBA person” thinks of these players. A player’s popularity absolutely plays into contract negotiations and trades. Kyrie Irving isn’t the same entity without “Uncle Drew”. “The Beard” gives James Harden power. To a lesser extent, being ranked above Carmelo Anthony and host of other better players gives Lonzo Ball power while directly taking it from those below him.

For that reason, I’ll shy away from off-season rankings and error on the side of Verdi and Leibniz. It’s seems the prudent thing to do. It’s either that or cover the pickup game exploits of “Hoodie Melo” or the Warriors’ jersey sponsorship deal with Rakuten. Am I crazy? Eh, Go Tribe!