AROUND the NBA: ATL Jumps from #10 to #1 in Lotto| Pistons Mull Firing GM

[omahen]

Okay, this isn't a shot at you, but just a general question about how our fan brains and emotions work.

At this particular moment, you were very negative about Maxey - even going so far as to call it an "epic choke job".  But here's ESPN's evaluation of his game:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/4006...win-knicks

So, because of (1) his heroics, and (2) a 76er victory, we pretty much completely forget about a couple of missed free throws.  But you can be certain that, if the Sixers had lost, fandom would be pillorying him for his "epic choke job".

What do we learn?

1. Our evaluation of players, coaches, front offices swings wildly back and forth based on whether our team has recently won or lost.  This is pretty obvious here on this board.

2. When our team loses, we seek a single factor to blame.  A single player. A single play, even.  The coach. The owner. If we could have just changed that ONE thing, our team would have won. Powell.  Hardaway.  Kidd. Nico. Cuban. 

3. There's a marked difference when our team wins.  Occasionally, an outstanding player performance will garner all the post-victory praise and attention, but we tend to be more generous in spreading the credit around.  We notice small contributions that don't show up in the box score, for example.

Perhaps we would be better served not to ride the roller coaster of emotion, either up or down, when we evaluate players and coaches. It's the same principle as not going grocery shopping when you're starving.  You'll end up buying stuff you probably shouldn't, and not buying stuff you probably should.

Not taking it personally, just continuing the discussion. At first I would like to point out, I had zero emotional involvement, I couldn't care less who wins or loses this one, I was just enjoying the game. 

The way I understand and use the term, choke job does not necessarily equal playing bad overall. I even said Maxey did a lot of things well. How I understand it, choke job means a player screws up things he shouldn't screw up in key moments of the game.