Overreactions are the worst. We see something, and because it is the most recent thing seen, the world most ignore a ton of other evidence. This applies to many different things, but for the context of the NBA Playoffs, it is true while people try to take too much from one game in a seven game series.
It is okay, though. Everyone admits that overreacting is wrong. Whatever outcomes NBA fans witnessed on Saturday are not necessarily the way things will shake out for the rest of those series. Using data, trends, and things of that nature, however, it can help better predict events going forward.
Regardless, Golden State whooping on New Orleans or John Wall forcing a jumper at the end of regulation (and missing), are not going to define those series. We shouldn’t take specific moments of those games in an attempt to push some notion that no one actually believes can be true.
Overreactions example: Stephen Curry is a horrible foul shooter. Sure, he went 4-7 from the charity-stripe, but that isn’t who is is. In fact, it is more of an anomaly of his free throw shooting abilities. Curry was a .914 free throw shooter in the regular season.
No one with a functioning brain would believe Curry is bad at shooting those shots. History tells us who he is. Not the singular performance of that game. Alas, that’s the type of immediate overreactions people have after just one game in a seven game series.
At the same time most of us pooh-pooh overreactions, something needs to be acknowledged alongside our hatred for it: It is really fun to overreact. We like to do it on Twitter after every offseason signing, each regular season game, and, heck, we do it after each offensive possession in all games. It is who we are — even if we constantly pretend it isn’t.
That gives us two options going forward:
1- We never react to anything, ever. We just watch the games, wait for series to be over, and when a champion is crowned, then we can talk about stuff.
2- We openly acknowledge it is ludicrous to react the way we do, but we do it anyway because it is fun. Fun, for what it is worth, is better than not having fun.
There are probably other, better options — with the best one being a combination of balancing our reactions — but what is the fun with putting a governor on our thoughts? If Ricky Bobby taught us anything, it is that we like going fast. For NBA fans, though, it isn’t in our cars, it is our thoughts we want to go at the speed of light.
Such an underrated movie.
As we head into the second day of the first round of the NBA Playoffs, it is something we are going to be reminded about constantly. A respected NBA media person on Twitter, who spends a large portions of games overreacting to individual plays, will scoff at anyone he has deemed as a person who overreacted to one game. You will hesitate to want to react at all because of it. It is, basically, an endless cycle of overreaction on overreaction Twitter violence or something.
Choose who you want to be. Do it for yourself. Don’t make your choice on being overreact or refuse to react at all guy based off other people’s thoughts on the matter. Except mine, as they are important.
When you decide which type of person you want to be for the rest of the NBA Playoffs, just acknowledge it. Tell the world who you truly are. Under no circumstances should you be ashamed of it, either.
After that, well, just make sure you are not a hypocrite afterwards. Nothing is worse than a person who says he is against “whatever”, only to then spend a large portion of their time being exactly the thing they are supposedly railing against.
Enjoy the playoffs however you want. Personally, overreactions are not my favorite thing in the world. I try to avoid them at all costs. Although, I must admit, they are rather gnarly. Like, Point Break gnarly. So wicked gnarly that it doesn’t bother me a bit that I like to live in the moment for a few hours each day playoff games are on. Now, I may not write about series in a way that seems like I am overreacting going forward, but it would be a lie to pretend my tweets will be anything other than hyperbolic — bordering on delusional.
Why? Because fun. It is stupid, sure. Yet the fun it brings is well worth the exposing myself of being full of ignorance and misguided guile. And, again, let’s be honest with each other here: Fun is way better than putting limits on your brain. Just ask Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro.