I’m eager to play chess Saturday, because I haven’t completely been at the board on Friday nights. I’ve played three draws against three lower-rated opponents so I could get home to watch basketball.
It occurred to me that Coach Rob would talk to me about this. When you’re not playing hard, you don’t want the kind of conversation with Roberts in which she does all the talking.
Coach might say that if I’m going to show up, I’d better compete, else it’s a waste of everyone’s time. And I’m not as useful to the readers, either, if I’m rethinking games that I didn’t have to waste.
Coach told me to walk, and write the observations. 11 kilometers since then, and I’ve seen some weird shit:
A 36-inch flat screen facedown at the bottom of a freeway ramp. Like someone had done a terrible job loading the car, but the damage wasn’t as costly as I thought. Neither a computer display nor a television, but the front door to a Westinghouse appliance. Though I don’t know how much a microwave oven or washing machine costs, and maybe losing that part on the freeway was someone’s disaster.
Riders of recumbent bicycles look pleasantly relaxed. I can’t see the drivers in a Smart car, but I imagine they look terrified.
I have to admit that I find geolocation games most inspirational. With teammates and opposition numbering tens or hundreds of thousands, agents explore their communities in search of real-life objects that represent value in-game. The Berkeley Chess School erected playground equipment when it moved into a new space, and the climbing-and-sliding fort in the backyard was worth hundreds of points after I captured it for The Resistance. I think that’s funny, and fortunate: Because the medical offices next door fenced off the chess school playground, so the real world is fortressing a resistance outpost.
UCLA 76 Colorado 68
UCLA and Colorado were within one point of each other for much of that game, and the cliche about being much closer than the final score indicated is applicable. I got a sense that the host Buffaloes became a bit hesitant with 3 minutes left, because their top 7 had 22 fouls, and the outstanding Bruins capitalized on it.
Yesterday I thought Colorado had grown into being the best team in the Pac-12, though peaking too soon might be hazardous for them. The Buffaloes solved that problem by being taught a lesson by UCLA.
Betts and Dugelic both made doubles, but Charisma Osborne’s 0 turnovers was special.
Utah 78 USC 58
That was the best defense Utah has played yet. Sometimes I think the weakest aspect of the Utes is help defense. Against USC, host Utah defended so well on the perimeter that they required much less help. Every Trojan but Watkins was hindered.
Utah also resumed doing well what they usually do best: Assisting each other’s field goals.
Did I say yesterday that I wished for Alissa Pili to take fewer 3-point attempts? With the better ball movement all around, Pili found space to shoot 5-of-6. I am humbled to silence.
Forty years ago, when I carried a clipboard for Coach Everett “Skip” Mohatt, I’d catch him saying things that I found questionable, and questioned them. During practice, Coach barked: “Riley! How many shots did you take last game? You took 37…”
“Coach, he too…”, I said.
“Shut up, Frisco. You took 37 shots last game, Riley That’s as many as Wilt Chamberlain took the night he scored 100 points!”
“Coach, I thi…”
Coach grinned, practice resumed. Maybe Riley got the point. I learned years later while teaching chess: Not to let the facts get in the way of teaching or coaching.
At another practice, Coach gave each guard a ball, told them to dribble while tagging the forwards out. Perhaps as encouragement to the ballhandlers, Coach said: “Some players dribble faster than they run”.
Then Coach started the game. I started to say: Guards, line up abreast, but Coach said: “Don’t help them”, and chaos ensued.
“How’s dribbling faster than running even possible, Coach?” I said.
I did not think that possible, but I bring it up because Ines Vieira might be one of those unicorns who cover ground faster while dribbling than while moving without the ball. Against USC, Vieira demonstrated that not only is she the fastest player on the court, she has a nose for the ball.
The fastest human I’ve seen playing basketball was Leandro Barbosa, who won a title as a Golden State Warrior, and won a sixth man award as a Phoenix Sun. The Suns ran a play in which Barbosa ran behind two screens near the sideline while Steve Nash brought the ball up. Except for Nash, there are nine guys on that wing, so there’s this gulf of basketball floor ahead of him. Nash makes a hard pass into that space, and it looks like he’s made an insane turnover. Barbosa emerges from behind those the screens to catch the ball on the run. Nash and Barbosa connected that pass without sight of each other.
I was nuts to think that Issy Palmer would play at full speed in her return from 13 or 14 games off.
I thought Wisconsin was a “football school”. It occurred to me that Matyson Wilke could be the best Badger I’ve ever seen, especially if he continues to play like she did against USC and Stanford.