TwIsTeD Reflections

Basketball is a strange game. It is a great game to watch, as everything is exposed to the viewer. Expressions are not covered by masks(unlike ice hocky, american football), player's build are exposed for all to see(unlike american football or waterpolo) and skill levels are obvious (unlike gymnastics or golf). Anyone can watch a basketball game and immediately pick out who is good and who is not, no matter what level it is played at(NBA, Olympics, neighbourhood court). Even if the person watching does not know a thing about the game.

Yet, at the same time, there is always more about basketball. No one has a complete or total picture of the game. Even the players themselves do not comprehend the game in its totality. The story of basketball cannot be told completely by statistics, unlike baseball or soccer. So while the game is being exposed to such an extent to anybody who watches the game, it seems that there is always more under the surface, like an iceberg. The simplicity, yet complex nature of the game is what makes basketball such a contradictory sport. Which may be the reason why I fell in love with it. Im equally contradictory.

Perhaps im confusing you. Let me try to explain. There are more factors within affecting the game of basketball than any other sport in the world. Lets go through some factors.

Pace
Bball is known as a fast paced game with points being scored in a hurry. However, the pace, while fast compared to golf or soccer, can change a great deal. In an NBA game a slow paced game can average as low as 70+ points to as much as 140+ points not including overtime. That is a range of almost 50 points. Almost half of what the NBA team average scores. No other sport is dictated by pace to such an extent, despite bball having the 24 sec shot-clock.

Range
What other sports has that much concerns of where you shoot from? The further you are from the basket, the harder it is to shoot. Yes, I do know that the same holds true for other sports. But what about the 3 point line? An additional point awarded for being that range, creating a whole new dimension of the game. Soccer do not award extra points if you fire in from half the field away, much as many would like to.


Fouls
Interpreting the rules of bball is an art form. Different people have different thinking of what the rules are. For example, the NBA hardly calls the traveling violation yet most school competitions are not as lenient. No other sport has that, other than the interpretation of diving in the penalty box in soccer.

Team vs Individual
Take 2 teams of any sport and put them head-to-head. Assume both team are of equal strength and talent. Can an individual just forgo the team concept and go solo against the other team and win? The answer is a big NO, except for basketball. There is a strange phenomena that can a player can just score, no matter what the defense does. Will it occur often? Nope. Bt it has happened numerous number of times to various players, regardless of skill level. Thus, it is entirely possible one man can win the entire team on his own.

I must elaborate on this further. Assume that one of the players is extraordinary while the rest are mediocre. Does he shoot a difficult shot, knowing that he has a higher chance of getting it than his teammate, even though his team mate has an easier shot? It is a problem that has plagued many great players(Micheal Jordan, Kobe). It seems that only in basketball does such a dilemma occur to such an extent.

Size
Does size affect other sports? Yes. Taller soccer players have a higher chance to header the ball, while wider waterpolo players have the girth to push around smaller players. However, in basketball, the size of the players greatly affects the game. Since the basket is put at a height, tall usually means an advantage while wider players can bully people in the post. Smaller sized players are normally quick and hard to keep up, while thin players have the finesse to squeeze through crowded spaces. In truth, no one physical aspect is better than the other. Tall does not mean you are better than shot, even with the same skills.

Offence vs Defence
Another age old problem in basketball. Why the argument, one might ask. Because, a game can be won when forgoing one or the other. A power offensive team can just overwhelm another team while playing little defence. On the other hand, tight D can constrict your opponents to the extent that they score less than you do, even if your offence is horrible. Of course you would want to be good at both. But that is seldom the case as offense and defence normally affects each other. A player focusing on defence does not usually have the same production offensively. So a focus on one aspect is usually required.

Complexity in Defence
In the world of defence, bball is more difficult to perform than any other sport. There is just too many factors to involve. Spacing, other offensive players, your own team mates, the restricted area (the dreaded 3 second rule), etc. It normally takes an NBA team years to formulate an effective defensive strategy, unlike the soccer premier league in England.


There are other factors; to write them all will make this a veeery long post, and it is long enough as it is. Other factors include numerous skill sets, positions of the players, strategies (both complex and simple), aggressiveness of the player, etc.

Im not writing this post to proclaim that basketball is the best sport in the world. That is up to the individual. IM just commenting that basketball is a diverse and complex sport, though it may seem relatively simple and straight forward to the average viewer.

To clear any misconceptions, I must state that I do not only enjoy the game of basketball. I love other sports such as badminton, soccer, waterpolo and swimming. But that exposure to other sports has me even more convinced of the diversity and complexity within the sport of basketball.