The Brat's Preamble: It's a widely held
belief that children crave discipline. It's true that many of us act
like children during PCTI. Maybe that explains why the biggest
disciplinarian in PCTI, our (not so) beloved commish, DTOMFS was
chosen as PCTI's most popular teammate.
Nobody gets on his teammates more
than Dan. But there's a chance you may have never noticed.That's because Dan is clearly nowhere near the biggest loudmouth in PCTI.
In fact, he's not a loud mouth at all. He NEVER says a word to
officials, or to the other team. But you sure as hell better believe
he'll say something to you, his teammate if you do. If a full out fight were to break out, my guess is Dan fights against his own team in anger that they are fighting.
What else do we like about Dan?
Certainly the way he plays is the perfect compliment to anyone. He
passes the ball constantly, competes on defense, subs himself out of
the game regularly and passes the ball constantly. He also passes
often.
Maybe the biggest thing going for Dan
is that he never, ever, ever goes looking for his. Whether his is his
points, his minutes, his credit for a win, his beer, his anything, he
makes it about everyone else. Sure maybe the other 51 weeks of the year he makes every big PCTI decision with his own interests in mind but when it comes down to the weekend, it's a different story.
Also, admit it, when I write these things up
and I say something critical about you, you hate me a little. That's
fine, I'd be the same way. In fact I think it would be that way for
anyone in PCTI, except for DTOMFS. We all know that no matter what he
says disparaging about any of us, at his very core he thinks he's
even worse. There's something comforting in that and lets him be one of the "voices" in PCTI without ever being the bad guy.
With all of that said, where could Dan
be on this list if he ever turns in a PCTI in which he plays from
start to finish even close to his capability? I'd say the sky is the
limitstick.
Voting Breakdown: highest vote: 5,
lowest vote: 15. Again, a huge variance.
PCTI Lifetime Record: 2-2 with wins in
the even numbered PCTIs
Lifetime Stats: 3.7 ppg (T-15 with
Smo), 3.6 rpg (13th), 4 blocks (T9 with Hops, an annual
tradition, one block a year), 14 steals (T9 with BenWilson, never
seen someone get more steals who NEVER reaches at a ball handler.
Every steal of his life is on an entry or outlet pass), 66 assists
(2nd, not sure why I haven't been including this number,
I'll start to.) 33.6 percent shooting (14th), 25 percent
from three (12th) and the all important Sabin Productivity
number: 121 (9th, as the other stats show, statistically
DTOMFS is not what you would consider “a producer” but he is a
close friend of Sabin, so maybe that explains his middle of the pack
finish)
Lifetime Bests: 8 points (multiple
times), 7 rebounds (multiple times, the last two games of PCTI IIII),
6 assists (multiple times)
Other Notes: Welp, those numbers
certainly aren't blowing anybody away. Statistically speaking, every
guy in PCTI has got loose once or twice for a big game, with Dan being
the exception.
The Fruit Man hangs his fedora on a
sterling assist to turnover ratio. How important is this number to
Dan? As several PCTI guys know, he runs a fantasy basketball league
that separately rewards points for assists, turnovers AND assists to
turnover ratio. An absurdity that seems to suggest that in the world
of Dan, a/t is double the importance of other statistics.
But lets give him some credit, his a/t
is off the charts. 3.5 is a great number at any level of basketball.
In PCTI it is unheard of. It's almost twice that of the second best
number.
Clearly this number is a big part of
what gives Dan such a great reputation in the eyes of his teammates.
It's also an example of how we typecast many PCTI members. There are
two guys who have earned (well deserved) reputations for being
quality decision makers/assists guys: Dan and Skillz. But there are
several other guys who also clearly outshine most of the competition
when it comes to assists and ball security who didn't seem to benefit
from it at all in the eyes of the PCTI brethren as far as voting in
this poll. Likewise, there are some guys who are turnover machines
that are near the very top of the list. Largely, we don't seem to
care about assists or about turnovers...unless it's Dan or Skillz.
Dan also was voted in a tie for PCTI's
most underrated player, getting 18 percent of the vote. So just to
summarize, that's a guy who averages 3.5 points and rebounds a game
getting votes for underrated.
Dan's self deprecating humor must also be part Jedi mind trick.
Certainly it would at least make a little sense then that Dan would
challenge for the player who has played most below his potential,
right? Nope, he only got one vote.
Two
people have picked up on Dan's short fuse with his teammates.
Receiving two votes, he came in third place for, “guy I most like
to see lose.” It's obvious but I'll state it anyways, nobody voted
Dan best looking.
The support is overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteThe epitome of "what he does on the court doesn't show up on the stat sheet." Probably one of my favorite guys to play with in this outside of myself. Double Entendre that shit.
ReplyDeleteI respect BBC's commitment to (net) neutrality in this epic series of POSTs. Nobody likes DOMNOCS, HE IS UGLY AS SIN, but our esteemed author still writes like he's responsible for making the guy's HOF case. BRAVO BBC.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, this year is the rubber match bt SPOT and Danie. THERE WILL BE BLOOD.
Let's not forget the streak of no FTA until PCTI III. One of the greatest achievements in PCTI.
ReplyDeleteThe reason someone like DTOMFS gets most underrated is because offensively we have enough stats to quantify and compare others. So if you average X number of points, assists, and rebounds then you can be compared to someone else. On defense it is hard to quantify how staying in front of your man and making his shots difficult, not being out of position and making it more difficult on your teammates, and keeping their man off the o boards. Fruit does pretty much all those.
All that to say Dani is terrible and I hate playing with him.
Where you fall on Dan's game is a reflection of what you value in basketball. If what you value is individual talent, dribble penetration, or a teammate who can go "get his", then Dan is probably not your guy. But if you believe that basketball is a game where teammates can synergize their games such that 1 + 1 = 3 in some cases, the he is most definitely someone who you want on your team.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who plays with and against Dan one hell of a lot, I can tell you that he makes me a better ballplayer by guiding me into easy scoring chances and helping me find shots that I can't find on my own. I can also tell you that I notice that my own game is much less sharp when he is on the opposing team.
In addition, you're not going to find a better, more intense competitor on the floor. His teams never play soft or without the edge he provides them. So while I acknowledge that his career PCTI stats aren't going to overwhelm anybody, my personal feeling is that DK is one of the top players in the tournament who actually makes his teammates better. Since this is a quality that I put a premium on, I would say it is a huge mistake to rank him at number 10. Dude is a flat-out ballplayer.
I'm especially enjoying all of the comments about how people are pumped to play with so and so this year. No one knows whose team they are on, ROFLMGDFAO
ReplyDeleteFigure it out Brian.
Dan fights against his own team in anger that they are fighting might be the single best summary of Dan I have ever read. Well done.
ReplyDelete