Game 2 of both the Bulls/Heat and the Thunder/Mavs series' have featured key players and all-stars banished to the bench in the 4th quarter. Boozer, Noah and Westbrook. This got me thinking, which albums, that have been on rotation in the first half of 2011 are at risk of being benched and who might be stealing their playing time.
In order to qualify for a shocking benching, they must have performed at a high level throughout the season, or at least have been highly touted. In otherwords, its not bad to be on this list right now, just don't be on the bench in the 4th quarter.
First half All-Stars who could be at risk of being unseated:
Iron and Wine
The Decemberists
The Low Anthem
Wye Oak
Bill Callahan
Jessica Lea Mayfield
Paul Simon
Albums coming up that I expect a lot from/could get some play in the 4th quarter:
Bon Iver, Bon Iver
Wilco 8th LP
Richard Buckner (making a long overdue return to my radar)
My Morning Jacket
Beirut
Jane's Addiction (with Dave Sitek from TV on the Radio)
Coldplay
Fiona Apple
Avett Brothers
Death Cab For Cutie
One of the things Blake Griffin said he took away from his rookie campaign was being able to pace himself. He would play all out in the first quarter and first half of games and then end up with nothing in the tank when the 4th quarter rolled around. As a takeaway lesson from his rookie season, he said he was going to learn how to pace himself and save something for the 4th quarter so that he could close out games with the same intesity that he used in the 1st quarter.
The same could be said for artists planning an album release. Sometimes you're so excited about what you've just done in the studio that you want to get it out to the public. If you want to end up playing in crunch time, making year end lists and garnering editorial praise, sometimes its better to pace yourself.
Showing posts with label Joakim Noah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joakim Noah. Show all posts
Friday, May 20, 2011
Monday, April 27, 2009
Playoff Musings...Part V
This installment (number five) of our playoff-lon observations comes weighted with a lot of expectation. Episode V of Star Wars was The Empire Strikes Back. 5 is also that Lenny Kravitz album you bought and couldn't trade in at the used CD store a few years back because they already had 12 copies. 5 is also the jersey number of the incredibly intense guy in a suit on the Celtics bench dropping F-bombs and bruising ribs with chest bumps. And 5 is the number of games in a series that Detroit didn't see this year. I bet they're having more fun in Cancun than they would've had in Cleveland anyway. You can only walk through the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame so many times.
That said, here are a few observations after all the series have played 4 games.
The Hornets scored as many points against the Nuggets as Jordan scored against the Celtics in his legendary game at the Garden. Do you believe that if His Airness had played the Hornets last night, 1 on 5, that the game would've gone into overtime? I don't either. He is a closer.
Speaking of closer, it's a term that went from a novel cross-sport reference to completely overused in about 10 minutes. Should I thank Jalen Rose for dubbing a "closer" on every team even if they don't have that kind of guy? Or should the blame be placed squarely on the Blazers for forcing Brandon Roy into that role even though he is probably only a really, really good set up man?
I can't get enough of the black and white "Where amazing happens" commercials. I wonder if it wouldn't be so hard to make a new one for each game. Here are my candidates for top 5 commercials from this years playoffs so far.
- Boozer's dunk. Even though you'll have to wait until next year to play it. But then you won't be able to play it when he's high-fiving the Detroit Pontiacs during tank-a-palooza 2010; the John Wall sweepstakes.
-Williams' game winner. It was the deciding play and gave Jazz fans some sort of condolences when this off season gets messy. And it will get messy.
-Wade's banked-in 3-pointer. That would have helped me sit through him hobbling around in Game 4. Can we get a cortizone shot please, or some of that magic soccer spray?
-Allen's game winner. For two reasons. 1) It was over Joakim Noah. And 2) I think he was crying when he saw it go in. The black and white super slow-motion would help me confirm as well as put Joakim in about 600 YouTube parody videos.
-Tracy McGrady walking out of the tunnel in the Rose Garden during game 5, in the 4th quarter with the Rockets up 5. The crowd would be going crazy because they know he just lost the series for Houston. Its the anti-Willis.
That said, here are a few observations after all the series have played 4 games.
The Hornets scored as many points against the Nuggets as Jordan scored against the Celtics in his legendary game at the Garden. Do you believe that if His Airness had played the Hornets last night, 1 on 5, that the game would've gone into overtime? I don't either. He is a closer.
Speaking of closer, it's a term that went from a novel cross-sport reference to completely overused in about 10 minutes. Should I thank Jalen Rose for dubbing a "closer" on every team even if they don't have that kind of guy? Or should the blame be placed squarely on the Blazers for forcing Brandon Roy into that role even though he is probably only a really, really good set up man?
I can't get enough of the black and white "Where amazing happens" commercials. I wonder if it wouldn't be so hard to make a new one for each game. Here are my candidates for top 5 commercials from this years playoffs so far.
- Boozer's dunk. Even though you'll have to wait until next year to play it. But then you won't be able to play it when he's high-fiving the Detroit Pontiacs during tank-a-palooza 2010; the John Wall sweepstakes.
-Williams' game winner. It was the deciding play and gave Jazz fans some sort of condolences when this off season gets messy. And it will get messy.
-Wade's banked-in 3-pointer. That would have helped me sit through him hobbling around in Game 4. Can we get a cortizone shot please, or some of that magic soccer spray?
-Allen's game winner. For two reasons. 1) It was over Joakim Noah. And 2) I think he was crying when he saw it go in. The black and white super slow-motion would help me confirm as well as put Joakim in about 600 YouTube parody videos.
-Tracy McGrady walking out of the tunnel in the Rose Garden during game 5, in the 4th quarter with the Rockets up 5. The crowd would be going crazy because they know he just lost the series for Houston. Its the anti-Willis.
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