Perception versus Reality

Perception versus Reality

Over the past 2 years, there has been a fair amount of distortion introduced into the PCTI marketplace. By distortion, I mean the prevalence of stereotypes that have been generated among many PCTI participants. For example, there is a stereotype that Wes Murray really enjoys eating In-n-Out Burger and Chik-Fil-A, and yet these stereotypes are unable to be confirmed since Wes did not eat at those fine dining establishments while we were hooping in Lexington. As such, it gave rise to the thought that there are many stereotypes floating around PCTI that range from a modest deviance of the truth to flagrant and outlandish lies. It is these particular distortions of the truth that I wish to propose and analyze in the following segment. Without further ado, I present for your enjoyment the top 5 stereotypes heading into PCTI 3 in a format of perception versus reality.

1) Perception: Brian Eskildsen has a high basketball IQ.

Reality: Brian Eskildsen has an overrated basketball IQ. For some reason, PCTI participants have deferred the IQ championship to this guy for the past 2 years. Maybe it’s because he wears a Stanford cardigan on ESPN, and maybe it’s because he gets to watch smart white guys play hoops on a daily basis. Perhaps we think that because he is at Stanford, he is automatically a smart guy. But the reality is that this guy voted for Josh Pitto as PCTI 3 MVP, meaning that he loses credibility as far as having a “high hoops IQ”. Until this guy wants to objectively evaluate talent for what it is instead of playing favorites, the reality will always be that this guy is not close to earning a high basketball IQ championship.

2) Perception: Joe Thompson is athletic.

Reality: Joe Thompson is chubby and woefully out of condition. Talk about getting mileage out of an outdated stereotype. The thing is, there was probably a day in the not too distant past where you might think that Joe was an athlete due to quickness and speed. But the greater truth is that was a loooooong time ago. Joe has a spare tire now, and gets winded so quickly that he routinely has to walk the ball up the floor, falsely hiding behind the claim that his team needs to “slow it up”. It was comical that Joe represented on the podcast that he is “4 times” the athlete that Sabin is, meanwhile Sabin is posting video of himself dunking in the offseason, while Joe posts video of himself eating Ho-Hos and Bon-Bons. Once again, a terrible stereotype that is not earned or deserved.

3) Perception: Josh Pitto is an offensive threat.

Reality: Josh Pitto only scores on disinterested defenders. Pitto had a really nice PCTI 3. He shot it at 47%, scored 13PPG, and carried his team offensively in stretches with the 3 ball. A closer inspection of the video reveals an insidious fact though: Joe Thompson was guarding him. There were multiple possessions that Joe was facef*cking the camera while Pitto was shooting an uncontested 3 ball on the other end. How many of the Wolfpack do you know that will allow that to happen? The greater truth is that Pitto will have a difficult time creating and scoring against strong, quick, and interested defenders in PCTI 3.

4) Perception: Josh Stephen is a gunner, only interested in his numbers.

Reality: This dude can flat out play some hoop. He gets a bad rap for taking some difficult shots, and probably expends more effort on offense than on defense. But the reality is that this guy is a terrific teammate who doesn’t complain or get frustrated, and makes up for a lot of his teammates’ deficiencies. He doesn’t get credit for having a high basketball IQ, yet from the film, his ability and talent speak volumes about his robust knowledge of the game. Now if somebody would just tell him who’s on his team this year.

5) BC likes going for 20-10 and losing.

Reality: BC has had 3 monster games in PCTI, but his teammates played so lousy that his team ended up losing all 3 of those games. There was some fuel added to this stereotype in PCTI 2 when BC commented that he routinely posts large numbers in defeat, and small numbers in victory. But the greater truth is that this guy is a huge part of his team’s success and he is indispensable to his team’s chances of victory. I’m not sure why he insists on poking the Bear (Bruise) for the entire offseason, doesn’t seem like the smartest move in the world to me. But I will hardly begrudge any PCTI participant from stirring the pot.

That being said, it is important to separate fiction from fact in PCTI. Some guys enjoy reps that are undeserved, and others struggle through falsehoods that are unearned as well. But like my friend and mentor Bill Parcells used to say on the reg when he was with the Dallas Cowboys, “You are what you are” and “It is what it is”.

Sabin