Things that have me thinking about a lockout...

...since it's probably going to happen.

Word of the Day: Schrodinger's playoff team

A thought experiment for fans who haven't lost hope in their team
Schrodinger's playoff team (schruh'-deeng-uhz pla'-of teem) noun. Term describing a playoff team which exists in a state being simultaneously dead and alive.

Usage example #1: While the series was still anyone's to take, that Duncan three turned the Suns into a Schrodinger's playoff team.

Usage example #2: Game 1 against Cleveland confirmed Chicago's status as a Schrodinger's playoff team.

Word trivia: A higher-than-usual-brow hat-tip to the famous Schrodinger's cat thought experiment. For the NBA Playoffs, it would describe the state of a team being alive in the playoffs, yet simultaneously dead due to whatever reason. Thus by definition, a Game 7 or series ending game does not generate a Schrodinger's playoff team, as the state of said team would clearly be defined as dead, perhaps in a different form of denial such as a playoff apocalypse. Conversely, many Schrodinger's playoff teams are defined just before or after a Game 1 of a series, in high correlation with the series win percentage of the first game winner.

Fans of a Schrodinger's playoff team generate this quantum superposition by attempting to objectively reason how their team still has a chance to win the series, etc. In other words, they can figuratively not observe the contents of the "box" by denial or some other mechanism, thus creating the simultaneous states. As more losses accumulate and a hopeless enviroment begins to affect the system, a Schrodinger's playoff team shifts towards a more typical "dead man walking" team, a subtle yet distinct difference.

Further Usage: I suppose the term could be generalized and expanded, such as a Schrodinger's playoff franchise (e.g. Jazz, Phoenix), or even simply a Schrodinger's NBA team (e.g. Pacers post-2004), further investigations are suggested.

Additional Notes: No, I don't know where you can purchase a LeBron James geiger counter.

Additional Notes #2: Yes, the Duncan 3 still haunts my dreams. I'm not even going to post the YouTube of it because it makes me sadface.

-AnacondaHL

Bawful After Dark: March 31, 2010

I had no idea Vinny was a fan of the Digital Underground



Sorry, but I had to open strong today. Gotta celebrate since I bowled my fourth sanctioned 300 game last night in league. What makes it even better is that my dad rolled his first 300 game last week in the same league! I'm really proud of him. And I can't think of any better way to celebrate (other than partying with Turkoglu) than watching the video for The Humpty Dance again. Yeah, I'm a little bit pissed they for some reason bleeped out the classic "Burger King" reference, but whatever.

It's nice to know I'm not alone on this one... Not only did Bawful pass along his respect for Tim Duncan in last night's BAD comments, but now Sports Illustrated's fantastic Joe Posnaski has written a counterpoint to Dan Shaugnessy's ridiculous article I wrote about yesterday. Stats don't always tell the whole story, but they go a long way in many discussions, and this is one such example. Duncan is a basketball machine, and that's all there is to it.

Worst of the Night in Pictures:


Flip Saunders' descent into madness continues as he now believes he is Spiderman


"I can't believe Derrick Rose stat cursed us so badly!!"


See that look on Grant Hill's face? That's intensity. This is a man very focused on his man love.
Nationally Televised Games:
Warriors at Jazz: A chance to see Don Nelson on ESPN? Count me in!

All The Other Games:
Lakers at Hawks: Will the Lakers actually give a shit? (shakes Magic 8 ball) Sources point to "no."

Bucks at Crabs: Forget that piece of crap 3D movie. The REAL Clash of the Titans is here: The Fish versus King Crab!

Clippers at Raptors: B-Dizzle will miss this game. Without the strength of his beard, the poor Clippers have a tough battle ahead. Not that they wouldn't anyway, but still.

76ers at Bobcats: This theoretically should be a relatively easy game for the Bobcats. But then again, this is the team that dropped two to the Nyets, so I can't put anything past them.

Thunder at Celtics: After that loss beatdown anal raping at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs (who went on to lose to the Nyets, mind you), I have zero expectations for this game and just want the regular season to end.

Heat at Pistons: It's so cold in the D, even when the Heat come to town.

Suns at Nyets: If the Nyets win this game, I'm going to start a new business selling hot coffee and ice skates in Hell.

Wizards Generals Bullets at Hornets: One last shot (Ha. I just made an unintentional gun-related joke in a Bullets writeup!) to prevent the ultimate March Sadness. Can Washington win one freaking game in the entire month of March??

Kings Purple Paupers at Timberwolves Timberpoops: It's hard to wrap my mind around just how truly bawful this game is. How often do I feel compelled to do the strike-through-the-name joke for two teams in one game?

Mavericks at Grizzlies: I didn't realize that the Mavs were just one game away from notching their tenth-consecutive 50 win season. Holy crap. That's pretty impressive, really. Nice to have a little anti-bawful every once in awhile!

Rockets at Spurs: Conversely, the Spurs are looking at potentially ending their own 10-season 50 win streak this year. (And for reference, the Showtime era Lakers are the only other team to do that!) Hopefully the Spurs show up feeling like they have something to prove after that abomination of a game against the Nyets...

Bricks at Frail Blazers: Well, now that Eddy Curry has officially been ruled out for the rest of the season, the rest of the Bricks can fine-tune their gameplan and start winning. Right? (Wrong.)