Saturday, September 23, 2023
manilastandard.net
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
    • Young Life
  • Special Pages
    • Pets
    • Tech
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • On the Road
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Cravings
    • Environment & Sustainability
    • Agriculture
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
    • Young Life
  • Special Pages
    • Pets
    • Tech
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • On the Road
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Cravings
    • Environment & Sustainability
    • Agriculture
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
manilastandard.net
No Result
View All Result
Home Sports Sports Columns

Sisyphean

Nathaniel Dela CruzbyNathaniel Dela Cruz
April 18, 2022, 9:00 pm
in Columns, Free Throw Shooter by Nathaniel Dela Cruz, Sports
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Email

The Nuggets called timeout sometime in the 3rd quarter of the Golden State-Denver game, and the camera caught Nikola Jokić looking up at the scoreboard on the way to the bench to huddle with the team, and I thought to myself: The Joker is tired—well, looks tired. And it is just Game 1 of a best-of-seven first-round series.

Saying Jokić is/looks tired is not to suggest or insinuate anything weak, derogatory, or anything negative. Quite the opposite. When I saw him looking gassed, I think about how he is—has been—doing the heavy lifting for Denver, especially now that Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. are not playing.

I think about how hard he played ever since he joined the league. And the best he can show for it (individual accomplishments, including record-setting feats, aside) is a 2019-20 Western Conference Finals defeat against eventual overall champions, the Los Angeles Lakers (4-1).

Are they doomed to fall again this season? Odds are, yes. The chances of a team with no prior championship experience, no championship pedigree, dealing with injured superstars, and this season ranked #6th in the West, winning it all are not promising.

If Denver wants to survive the improbable, it should start with Jokić’s teammates bringing their own winning energy. Jokić is the well from where his teammates draw energy, and for these intense, high-level games, that well will quickly dry, and with it, morale, fighting spirit, and the collective will.

Imagine the task: you need to win four times against your opponent to advance, only to face the same goal, only this time, against a stronger opponent. And how does success in this series rewards you? Another assignment to win four more games. It only stops when every talented, championship-caliber team has been defeated, and the championship has been won. This is why the title is the reward for the tireless. The quest to win a championship is not for teams unable to muster the kind of zeal that wins series at the expense of teams good only for occasional spurts.

So which one is Denver right now? The absence of that individual confident energy from Jokić’s teammates is very obvious, especially against a team like Golden State, where every player is radiating his own energy. They are not simply trying to feed off of the energy of Steph Curry or Draymond Green or Klay Thompson.

Time and again, we hear this same commentary: playoff basketball is demanding. To say that it is tough is simplifying it. The Playoffs is for players who can survive—and triumph—despite the long, slow grind. The Playoffs require confidence that manifests in how you play—it shows what you make of every open lane you are given—drive hard or opt to pass? That genuine, confident energy shows in whether you simply take what the defense gives you, or you make the defense scramble and pay for every missed cover. It shows in your willingness to take the hit and say play on, to avoid nitpicking on no-calls, to see clearly when the action around you seems to blur your view, to drown out the noise and hear only yours, your teammates, and your coach’s voices.

The mindset should be “let’s win this”, not “let’s try our best not to lose by a large margin”.

I am not surprised to see Jokić looking tired. Not because he is weak. He is tired because he is forced to give everything, and made to endure that feeling of being deflated when the scoreboard reminds you your best efforts and hard work are not enough and the Warriors are still ahead with a double-digit lead.

I am not a fan of Jokić but I wish that he finds himself in a great team soon. I want to watch him play with teammates who are really good. I want to watch him play in a system where he will really shine as an individual player and not as a savior. I want to see him playing really good basketball with really good teammates, and not having to purchase good basketball at the cost of exhaustion.

A great player need not exhaust himself, shoved closer and closer to breaking point. A great system need not require star players to finish games exhausted. That is why you have a system. That is why there are five of you on the floor.

Jokić is tired not just because of Game 1 rigors. He is tired, but not because he gave it his all. He is tired because there is no one helping him. His exhaustion —that look of exhaustion in Game 1, I think, is mental fatigue. You gave it all, and still, you remain in a hole.

All the chants of “MVP!” and all the songs of praises, they are all, for now, songs for Sisyphus.

Tags: Denver NuggetsGolden State WarriorsNikola Jokić
ADVERTISEMENT
Nathaniel Dela Cruz

Nathaniel Dela Cruz

Related Posts

POC chief hopes PH can surpass 4-gold Asiad haul

byManila Standard Sports
September 22, 2023, 7:35 pm
0
8
PETRONAS LTdL gets underway; 7-11-Cliqq eyes Asian podium

Hangzhou—Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino is sticking to his forecast that Filipino athletes in the 19th Asian Games...

Read more

Lady Blazers roll to finals; FEU belles stay alive

byManila Standard Sports
September 22, 2023, 7:30 pm
0
8
PETRONAS LTdL gets underway; 7-11-Cliqq eyes Asian podium

College of Saint Benilde marched to the V-League Women’s Collegiate Challenge finals, dispatching University of the East in straight-set fashion...

Read more

Lifter Sarno unfazed by higher weight category, elbow injury

byPeter Atencio
September 22, 2023, 7:25 pm
0
8
Lifter Sarno unfazed by higher weight category, elbow injury

Rising weightlifting star Vanessa Sarno hopes to be fully recovered from her elbow injury when she plunges into action in...

Read more

Bisera shoots for 2nd win in ICTSI golf tilt

byManila Standard Sports
September 22, 2023, 7:20 pm
0
8
PETRONAS LTdL gets underway; 7-11-Cliqq eyes Asian podium

From home turf to an unfamiliar terrain, Florence Bisera remains resolute in pursuit of another golfing honor, going for a...

Read more

PETRONAS LTdL gets underway; 7-11-Cliqq eyes Asian podium

byManila Standard
September 22, 2023, 7:15 pm
0
8
PETRONAS LTdL gets underway; 7-11-Cliqq eyes Asian podium

Kuala Terrengganu, Malaysia—Asia’s biggest cycling spectacle in terms of international participation blasts off on Saturday with 131 riders from 22...

Read more

Challenging season for JRU Heavy Bombers

byManila Standard Sports
September 22, 2023, 6:29 pm
0
8
Perpetual, JRU shoot for last a seat in Final Four

By Peter Atencio The Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers will have a challenging season ahead of them. Bombers’ coach Louie...

Read more

Print Edition

View More

Recent Posts

  • Philhealth’s Official Statement on Temporary System Downtime
  • Accused of rape, Russell Brand speaks of ‘distressing’ week
  • Chinese militia vessel rescues 2 Filipino fishermen in Spratly Islands–Xinhua report
  • Hopes rise for end to Hollywood writers’ strike as talks extend
  • Pope Francis urges Europe to save migrants at sea
  • Food makers resist gov’t plea
  • NCR suspends classes amid smog blanket; not vog, says Phivolcs
  • Marcos cutting validation time for imported rice to 7 days

Advertisement

Latest News

Food makers resist gov’t plea

byOthel V. Campos
September 23, 2023, 2:20 am
0
8
Southwoods nails Seniors’ Fil golf crown

Just 6 of 29 manufacturers OK DTI call to defer price hikes for holidays Food manufacturers are resisting government’s request...

Read more

NCR suspends classes amid smog blanket; not vog, says Phivolcs

byJoel E. Zurbanoand4 others
September 23, 2023, 2:15 am
0
8
NCR suspends classes amid smog blanket; not vog, says Phivolcs

Local government units in Metro Manila suspended classes at all levels yesterday due to heavy smog, which most mistook for...

Read more

Marcos cutting validation time for imported rice to 7 days

byCharles Dantes
September 23, 2023, 2:10 am
0
8

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday said the government no longer wants to wait 15 days for rice importers to...

Read more

Inflation top issue in Q3, but execs downplay survey

byJoyce Pangco Pañaresand2 others
September 23, 2023, 2:05 am
0
8
Vax wastage, infection surge feared in Odette-hit areas

The rising prices of basic goods and inflation as well as the country's economic performance are the top important issues...

Read more

China denies coral damage; DOJ, SolGen to talk WPS case

byRey E. Requejoand2 others
September 23, 2023, 2:00 am
0
8
Southwoods nails Seniors’ Fil golf crown

China on Friday denied it was involved in the destruction of coral reefs in parts of the West Philippine Sea,...

Read more

Advertisement

ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube

ABOUT US

Manila Standard

Manila Standard website (manilastandard.net), launched in August 2002, extends the newspaper’s reach beyond its traditional readers and makes its brand of Philippine news and opinion available to a much wider and geographically diverse readership here and overseas.

Digital Edition

In tone and content, the online edition mirrors the editorial thrust of the newspaper. While hewing to the traditional precepts of fairness and objectivity, MS believes the news of the day need not be staid, overly long or dry. Stories are succinct, readable and written in a lively style that has become a hallmark of the newspaper.

Download – Today’s Paper

Search

No Result
View All Result

6th Floor Universal Re Bldg., 106 Paseo De Roxas cor. Perea Street, Legaspi Village, 1226 Makati City Philippines

Trunklines: 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
    • Young Life
  • Pets
  • Tech
    • Gadgets
    • Computers
    • Business
    • Tech Plus
  • ON THE ROAD
    • Sedan
    • SUV
    • Truck
    • Bike
    • Accessories
    • Motoring Plus
    • Commuter’s Corner
  • Home & Design
    • Residential
    • Commercial
    • Construction
    • Interior
  • Spotlight
  • Cravings
  • Environment & Sustainability
  • Agriculture
  • Pop.Life
    • Newsmakers
    • Hangouts
    • A-Pop
    • Post Its
    • Performances
    • Malls & Bazaars
    • Hobbies & Collections
  • Events
    • Seminars
    • Exhibits
    • Community
  • Biyahero
    • Travel Features
    • Travel Reels
    • Travel Logs
  • Gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • Advertise with Us

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Install Manila Standard Web App

Install App