It's Only "Weird" if You Lose

Agent Zero gets the Klosterman treatment in PLAY. It's an eminently readable piece, but it leaves me disquieted. Bethlehem Shoals gets at much of the problem, but let me attempt to rephrase somewhat. At its best, Gilbert's game is mercurial. It's not only that he can hit a very long three if that's the only shot available at the end of the clock; he sometimes will take that shot early in the clock, calmly walking the ball up the court, realizing that his defender hasn't deigned to guard him closely that far out. He also has a move where, for no real reason, he just keeps dribbling and dribbling doing nothing until there's not enough time left for a drive to the basket and then makes the drive because he's that fast.

But he's not just a dude with a quick drive and a long range, he's a guy who might take that long shot at any time and can blow past you at any time -- it's never too early, never too late, he plays with no conscience. This is important to making him effective. The risk of the long bomb early in the clock sets up the drive. The risk of the drive late in the clock sets up the long bomb. That's Basketball 101, but it's also Gilbertology 101; all the rest of the "weirdness" serves to render the predictable cultivation of unpredictability once again unpredictable. Other players have "so many ways to beat you" applied methodically; Gilbert has crazy skills and is a crazy man, you never know what he's going to do. This is part of his game not part of his marketing pitch.