You couldn't watch last night's Utah game without being impressed by the guts the Blazers showed. They went toe to toe with a good, talented team and emerged victorious. Call it heart, desire, hustle, chutzpah...whatver. It was there.
Which got me to thinking, how much do intangibles matter? Or is there really such a thing at all? I mean, even though I describe it in such terms one of the fine Blazer assistant coaches or scouts could probably sit down and diagram step by step the exact moves and plays that won the game for us. Maybe what looked like "heart" was really just smart execution?
Are there really such things as intangibles or is that just fan-speak for "I don't know the plays but they looked good"? If intangibles matter, how much do they weigh versus measurable attributes (including talent that can be quantified statistically)? Also if they matter, what one intangible do you think makes the most important contribution to winning basketball?
--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)