Saturday, February 10, 2007
I met Pat!
Pat Bradley that is. You don't know who Pat Bradley is? And you know me?? (Kidding, kinda) Pat Bradley played for the Arkansas Razorbacks in the late 1990's and was a fantastic free throw and three point shooter. He's also very cute. A friend of mine went to a UA BB game in 1999 and brought me back the program because Pat was on the cover. I still have it in my cube at work.
So when he attended a local event*, I HAD to be there (he's now a coach for a semi-pro team in the area). Unfortunately for Pat and the other guy from the team, there wasn't much of a crowd when I got there. Fortunately for me, I got to talk to him and get a picture. I took my program and he signed it. I didn't bring my camera, but since I have a camera on my phone, I was able to get a picture with him. He was impressed that I knew he led the SEC in free throw percentage and three point percentage.
Granted, Pat didn't make it to the pros and unless you're a free throw/3 point person, you probably wouldn't be that impressed with him. But here's a significant difference between a player like Pat and, say Shaq. Yes, if I need rebounds (and every team does), I'm going with someone monstrously tall. Shaq gets a lot of grief about his horrendous free throw stats. To the point that a couple of years ago he said that he just didn't care about free throws. No matter how tall you are, though, free throws and 3 point shots take practice....over and over and over. If I see a high percent on either of those, I know that's a player with a good work ethic. Height is great in basketball, but I'd argue that a willingness to work hard is just as valuable.
So as with many other things in life, size does matter. All size and no effort, however will never be as impressive as determination and a willingness to work to improve. I'll never be a big Shaq fan, but I'll always be a fan of Pat's.
*Unfortunately, this post is rather late. I actually met Pat last week, but haven't had a chance to blog lately.
So when he attended a local event*, I HAD to be there (he's now a coach for a semi-pro team in the area). Unfortunately for Pat and the other guy from the team, there wasn't much of a crowd when I got there. Fortunately for me, I got to talk to him and get a picture. I took my program and he signed it. I didn't bring my camera, but since I have a camera on my phone, I was able to get a picture with him. He was impressed that I knew he led the SEC in free throw percentage and three point percentage.
Granted, Pat didn't make it to the pros and unless you're a free throw/3 point person, you probably wouldn't be that impressed with him. But here's a significant difference between a player like Pat and, say Shaq. Yes, if I need rebounds (and every team does), I'm going with someone monstrously tall. Shaq gets a lot of grief about his horrendous free throw stats. To the point that a couple of years ago he said that he just didn't care about free throws. No matter how tall you are, though, free throws and 3 point shots take practice....over and over and over. If I see a high percent on either of those, I know that's a player with a good work ethic. Height is great in basketball, but I'd argue that a willingness to work hard is just as valuable.
So as with many other things in life, size does matter. All size and no effort, however will never be as impressive as determination and a willingness to work to improve. I'll never be a big Shaq fan, but I'll always be a fan of Pat's.
*Unfortunately, this post is rather late. I actually met Pat last week, but haven't had a chance to blog lately.
