From Grantland's 'NBA shootaround' today:
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/nba-shootaround-no-days-off/
Jason Concepcion: Some months ago — never mind how long ago precisely — with only a paltry 10 field goal attempts per game in my purse, and no respect from my peers, I dreamed of setting out from Cleveland and sailing west in search of a place to call my own. Whenever my mood fell dark under the spell of those grim and gray Rust Belt skies, I would raise my arms to the heavens and pray for some ship to deliver me to new pastures.
I got my wish. I resolved to shoot more and shoot more and shoot again.
Dion Waiters Island Journal, Game 33
The Celtics are on the island, fighting for a playoff spot, just like us.
First quarter.
Men lie, and it was men who created numbers as well as methods of dividing numbers to create shooting percentages, which, by extension, are obviously lies. I’m shooting 35 percent in March. I begin the game 3-of-5; Russell shoots 1-of-7. The air is fragrant with the scent of flowers in bloom, and the spray off the waves feels like kisses upon my upraised arms.
Second quarter.
I miss all five of my shots. Some huge bastard — Canadian, they tell me — with hair like an Amazon and rough-spun hands like leather mitts, disrupts my layup, a sure bucket if I ever saw one. I corral the ball, and, spotting the giant again lumbering toward me, fade backward, releasing the shot like a rainbow tracing a perfect arc towa— and he blocks it again. The sun darkens, and the wind screams off the rocks.
Third quarter.
I miss both of my shots. Why only two shots? John Donne once wrote that no man is an island, but in every picture I’ve ever seen of him, John Donne is wearing a doily around his neck.
Fourth quarter.
I stunned Steven Adams by passing him the ball with two seconds left on the shot clock. Thunder win. I shoot 4-of-14 and score eight points. Four of my layup attempts smash against the glass like dead birds and never even hit the rim.
I’ve
now missed 80 of my last 121 shots, which includes missing 25 of my last 31 3s and 10 of my last 26 free throws. I have 23 assists in 10 games. Men lie, it’s true. Buckets, though, buckets …