Luka’s Corner

Sometimes, sports can just be too difficult to explain. Why is it that strength can be so deceiving, and so unimportant? Why is it that the strongest athletes sometimes act like the weakest? Is faking, flopping, and falling so integral in sports? These questions are both amusing and necessary for a fan to ask themselves. Whether it is basketball or soccer, or any other popular sport for that matter, “flopping”, or exaggerating contact in any way, is a huge part of the game.

When people think about the NBA and its toughest players, who do they think of? They think of Ron Artest, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Garnett, to name a few. But, even these three use the flop to their advantage. If he is guarding Carmelo Anthony or another star who uses his body to create contact, “Ron Ron” flails his arms and falls backwards to draw offensive fouls on the man he is guarding. He flops to both get the call and frustrate his opponent. Kobe Bryant does the same. When attacking the hoop or pump-faking his defender, the “Black Mamba” flails his arms more than anyone. The artist who approaches the art of the flop differently is Garnett. The “Big Ticket”, widely regarded as one of the best defensive players of his time, talks trash to his opponent and waits until they react. If his opponent responds by either talking to or pushing Garnett, the intimidating and intense Garnett steps backwards, puts his arms up, and flails them to act like he is actually innocent.

In the end, the flop is used by even the toughest players in basketball to achieve or receive something. In their minds, the end justifies the means. Artest falls and flails to force the referee to call an offensive foul and to frustrate the opponent, Bryant exaggerates contact to get to the free-throw line, and Garnett steps backward to get the opponent thrown out of the game for starting the fight. The funniest aspect of all this is that these three are considered to be the toughest, grittiest, and most intimidating players that professional basketball has to offer. Yet, they flail and flop when the game is on the line. They ignore their strength and physicality and resort to the flop.

The same can be said about soccer, which is notorious for the flopping associated with it. As with any sport, flopping is so difficult to explain in soccer. To illustrate is unexplainable side, I put forth two words: Gennaro Gattuso. Considered one of the world’s most hard-nosed, physical, and relentless footballers, “Rino” relies on an unexpected skill to get him over the top. That skill is using his bulky, powerful frame to exaggerate contact in midfield. In other words, he flops. Although Gattuso tackles with reckless abandon and uses his powerful frame to push around his opponents while defending, he resorts to flopping when he has the ball. When opposing defenders do the same work defending the ball as him, Gattuso falls to the ground, even with minimal contact on the play. In his mind, if he can get the foul call, flopping was worth it. In this way, “Rino” is no different from “Ron Ron”, the “Black Mamba”, or the “Big Ticket”. The reasoning behind the flop is the same.

So, do not be deceived by the athletes you watch on TV. While they may seem built-up and physically superior, they are not all that. The time that they spend in the weight room working out is negated when they make the decision to flail their arms, fall on the ground, and fake the impact of any possible contact. Keep that in mind when you watch a basketball game, soccer match, or any other sporting event. No matter how strong they get, athletes still try to act as weak as they can. Their goal is to become stronger, but to act weaker.

To anyone who has dealt with a tough loss, in any sport, the days after that loss are by far some of the toughest days an athlete has to experience. Be it a loss in an otherwise meaningless pickup game in the summer or in a state tournament game that could decide your season, a loss is a loss, and the feelings of despair, hurt, and regret are the same.

Also in play is the period of questioning that all athletes go through having lost in a game important to them, where they put everything on the line to emerge victorious. A series of “what ifs” pop into your head, making the loss that much more difficult to forget. What if I made that shot? What if I made that pass? What if I ran a little bit harder? What if I played with a little bit more intensity? These are all questions that accompany a loss, but, now that I have experienced it, I can honestly say that the only question that matters is “what now?”

What constitutes a successful athlete is that they can bounce back from a loss and do everything in their power to prevent themselves from ever again experiencing that feeling of anguish and depressing period of questioning. A successful athlete makes adjustments. They find it within themselves to work even harder in practice and put in that much more intensity and determination to succeed.

So, this is my message to anybody out there who has ever experienced a difficult loss, or to those who have not yet, but eventually will. Do not dwell on these “what ifs”. Focus instead on the “what now” and you will naturally become a better athlete and a better person.

As the regular season nears its end in the NBA, it is time to start looking ahead to the postseason, where a number of teams will compete for the game’s biggest prize come June. However, only one of these teams will earn the right to be called champions of the NBA. So, even though it is still up in the air in terms of who will win the title, I can safely say that only one team can and will win it, barring injury.

This team is the Los Angeles Lakers. Nothing has made me believe so far this season that any team can knock off the defending champions this year. While some may point to the Lakers’ defense, record against the Cavaliers and Nuggets, inconsistent offense, and questionable acquisition of Ron Artest as reasons why they will not repeat, it is still the Lakers that have the best team in the league. Come April, May, and June, it will be the team’s combination of inside muscle, with Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, and Lamar Odom, outside scoring, which lies squarely on Kobe Bryant’s shoulders, and strong bench play that will undo all teams in the Lakers’ path. From Kobe to Shannon Brown and Jordan Farmar, the Los Angeles Lakers simply have the best team in the NBA once again.

Less of a factor, but still relevant, is the poor play of the Cleveland Cavaliers after recently acquiring Antawn Jamison from the Washington Wizards. Watching the Cavs after making the trade, their defense, which was perhaps the team’s greatest strength, seems to have taken a step back. While only one significant player in the team’s rotation was lost in the trade, Zydrunas Ilgauskas (who may yet rejoin the team as a free agent), the addition of Jamison has thrown off the rotation, most notably the use of Anderson Varejao in defensive situations. Even though Coach Mike Brown now has another legitimate 20-point scorer at his disposal, he is forced to give up reliable post defense and rebounding. It is exactly this, defense and rebounding, that could potentially give Cleveland an edge over Los Angeles. However, it is looking more and more unlikely.

That is why, as of late February, the Los Angeles Lakers are my lock to win the NBA title come June. They are just too tough, too talented, and too focused to be denied this time around.