I have a flipcam that I take to the games to conduct the interviews that you have been watching. I got it for like $74.99 at Wal-Mart. I think the actual price is $149.99 but somehow it was listed at $74.99. Yes, the box was already opened. So fine, the Red94 interviews are being conducted with a second-hand product. In any event, it uses batteries. (Why does anything in today’s age require batteries?!? Shouldn’t there be a charger?) This drives me insane. I’m not a tech guy, but I assume that the lack of charger/requirement for batteries is precisely why this product is so affordable. So whatever. Anyways, I usually take two sets of batteries just in case, to each game. Just in case. Last night, as the 4th quarter was ending, to my horror, I discovered that both sets were dead. This was probably one of the worst moments of my life. (Okay, maybe not.) But wow, what a horrible feeling.
So for that reason, there are no videos today. It’s not like I was going to ask JJ Barrea to give all of you out there with his size and lack of athleticism some pointers on success in life. Moving on, I have a few thoughts. First, Scola got floored at one point in the second half by Tyson Chandler. The other guys kind of scrambled to help him up and make sure nothing ensued, but I don’t know guys….this is something I’ve been talking about for a while, this team’s lack of ‘toughness.’ I know most of us here are pretty much split evenly down the line on this, so it’s a very interesting topic of discussion: what really constitutes ‘toughness’? The prevailing (or seemingly prevailing) school of thought insists that ‘toughness’ is simply playing hard and putting up fight. But I disagree. Yes, that is toughness, but something is missing…we can’t forget that a large part of basketball is psychological. You can’t just let a guy get knocked on his ass and not retaliate. The intimidation factor is a huge part of basketball. Remember all the talk during the Spurs’ first title run about how David Robinson had finally grown a pair and was stepping up to people to protect Timmy?
Look, I’m not saying you have to take swings at guys. But you have to let them know that your team will not be pushed around. Simply playing hard, while admirable, does not get that message across. What are everyone’s thoughts on this?
Of other importance: Sam Amick tweeted last night about a brewing Demarcus Cousins situation, resulting in a 3 game suspension for the forward. The freshman apparently has taken exception to Tyreke Evans’ late game decisionmaking and is upset that no one else seems to care. I think that’s a guy that I want on my team. Immature yes, but there are far worse vices in the world than anger over losses and team ineptitude.
Of final, and grave importance: as you can see, with increased content of late, I’m sort of trying to style the whole blog as more of a ‘magazine’, giving each column a title of sorts. I need a good title for mine. I currently file all of my posts under ‘Rahat’s Ramblings’ but that is a bit too self-deprecating, don’t you think? What should I use? Seriously, this is of huge importance.
***Actually, I just had an idea. This literally came to me two seconds ago. I have two tickets to the March 12th affair against the Spurs. Send me your suggestions for a personal column title and if I pick yours, you win. Send your entries to rahathuq@www.red94.net.