January 2012
7 posts
6 tags
The Evolution of LeBron's Post Game
LeBron has always been effective in the post. But in the past he dominated in spurts, when he had a clear mismatch. The post hadn’t been a consistent part of his attack. It felt like his default offensive mode was to have the ball at the top of the key and then drive to create for himself or his teammates.
I like that he is now clearly focusing on upping his post game. With his size and...
3 tags
LeBron just Jumped Over a Guy
LeBron just jumped over a guy.
To fully clear the defender required LeBron to jump higher than is necessary to dunk a basketball.
He cleared the defender and then casually redirected the lob pass down through the rim he was looking down on.
It all happened so effortlessly.
It wasn’t as shocking as Vince Carter’s Olympic dunk once upon a time, but I keep watching this one on loop...
3 tags
7 tags
Find the Story Behind the Team
Professional sports is part heart and part marketing.
It is not just purely a game. It is a really big business that millions of people are emotionally invested in.
I love the emotionally invested part. I wish there were no politics. I wish it were truly about pure talent and human competition, like the Olympics. But these pro sports leagues are about image and putting teams on the field that...
7 tags
I Believe in 'Clutch'
In an age of ubiquitous computing and stat crunching, there are some sports scientists who would beguile you to believe that all athletes are created equally. That all players are merely entities whose entire being can be explained by the right blend of situational statistics.
These masters of metrics implore us to give up our antiquated belief in ‘the clutch.’
They dismiss the...
6 tags
The Ethos of Bill Bowerman
Growing up in Portland, Oregon, I would often hear bedtime stories about Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight. As a kid who loved to play sports and make things, these two were local folk heroes. I loved the idea that Bowerman was this trenchcoat wearing, mad scientist of a coach who not only demanded perfection from his athletes but also actively sought to improve on perfection by inventing new,...
5 tags
Home on the Range
I’ve been able to take a few days off in a row. Something that doesn’t happen very often in my gig at Wieden+Kennedy. It’s a 24/7 business, that is growing increasingly complex with the amount of digital tools at our disposal. It makes for a very exciting, ‘Always On’ work life, but it’s always great to step away from that world for a bit to get some perspective.
Perspective for me these past...
