ESPN article "Unthinking Brilliance of TD"

[spursfaninla]

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/pos...-of-tim-duncan

Very creative article with some interesting research basis.

Basically, years of experience lead to an ac ulated store of unconscious knowledge that the best players tap to then make good, creative decisions. The article considers a critical play that happened in a championship match with Federer:

"Perhaps Federer was so upset because, deep down, he recognised that his opponent had tapped into a resource that he, an all-time great, is finding harder to reach: unthinking.

Unthinking is the ability to apply years of learning at the crucial moment by removing your thinking self from the equation."

The article also quotes Griffin, who said that TD makes great decisions without over-thinking. The author says that thinking too much, trying to consider too much data consciously when making a key decision that must be made quickly is too hard; you have to rely on a store of unconscious past data instead. The best don't freeze, they react automatically in those situations.

Like TD.

[Nathan Explosion]

I do agree with that posters on the column that the writer did get the analogy wrong. Federer is the fundamental player while Djokovic is a showman who went all or nothing on that shot.

Remember Andy Rod famously said this about Federer: "I threw the kitchen sink at him, but he went to the bathroom and got his tub."

What he was saying was that no matter what he did, Federer always had a counter. Duncan is like this in that he's so fundamentally sound that he has a counter for almost anything you throw at him.

[rmt]

I strongly disagree with the author's use of Roger Federer in this article. I've been watching tennis since 1977 and there is not a tennis player who I've seen since who goes more by instinct, natural feel and playing the right shot. Even in his worst matchup against Nadal, Federer can't stick to the strategy Djokovic blueprinted - keep pounding Nadal's backhand and then hit to the wide open forehand. Federer keeps playing the "right" (pretty) shot instead of the boring one to Nadal's backhand.

I also disagree with the "unthinking" with regard to Duncan. I think he's one of the most cerebral players ever - the shots are mechanical but the strategy (hedging, bumping, shading, etc) aren't - always with a purpose to free himself or a team mate up.

The way I think of Federer is Duncan (fundamentals) with style and flair - beautiful tennis.

[vander]

why can't bonner learn to not think.

[spurspokesman]

why can't bonner learn to not think.

You stole my thought vander. Good 1

[Obstructed_View]

Only difference is, Duncan is Pete Sampras, who's 40 and could kick the out of Federer right now.