By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
“The Natural”. A Bernard Malamud novel adapted into a film, nominated for four Academy Awards, directed by Barry Levinson, and starring Robert Redford. It deals with Roy Hobbs and his aspiration to become the best baseball player there ever was.
In his effort, Hobbs made a baseball bat out of an oak tree struck by lightning and splintered. Nearby that tree he played with his father and at a young age witnessed him suffer a fatal heart attack.
As a teenager, he describes his dream to Barbara Hershey (Harriet Bird).
-You know what? Someday I’m gonna break every in the book. I know I got it in me.
-And what will you hope to accomplish?
-When I walk down the street, people will look at me and say ‘The goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was”.
Proving to be mentally disturbed, she shoots him in the stomach ending his dreams.
At 35, 16 years later, Hobbs despite having returned to his favorite sport and making a name for himself, is still deliberating what if and shares his thoughts with Glenn Close (Iris Gaines) towards the end of the movie varying from the conclusion of the novel.
-Things sure turned out different.
-In what way?
-Different. For 16 years I’ve lived with the idea that I could be, I could’ve been the best in the game.
-You are so good now.
-I could’ve been better. I could’ve broke every record in the book.
-And then?
-And then? And then, when I walked down the street, people would’ve looked and they would’ve said “The goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was in this game”.
“The Natural” is also Mike James’ Twitter handle.
The 30-year-old point guard is equally talented with his right hand instead of the bat. He certainly did not come out of nowhere, nor has he experienced such tragic events, but has been “shot” several times or has “shot himself” in other cases. The situation leading to him being sidelined from the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague home game versus TD Systems Baskonia held November 12 falls into the latter cases.
Nevertheless, his goal remains the same. To become the best basketball player there ever was. He may not that close but never stops trying, even when “injured”. His showings since that contest he sat out prove as much.
The former NBA player has boosted his stats since his return to action and is the main reason behind the Russian team’s winning streak extending to nine games.
In the seven games prior to his absence:
16.4 points
56.8% two-pointers
34.9% three-pointers
75.7% free throws
2.3 rebounds
5.3 assists
0.6 steals
3.3 turnovers
31 minutes
15.1 PIR
His following six showings improved his impressive averages. He climbed up to first place in the scoring list and also ranked second in performance index rating.
23.8 points (+7.4)
54.7% two-pointers (-2.1%)
50% three-pointers (+15.1%)
82.9% free throws (+7.2%)
4.3 rebounds (+2)
5.8 assists (+0.5)
1.3 steals (+0.7)
2.7 turnovers (-0.6%)
28 minutes (-3)
29.5 PIR (+14.4)
In addition, he made it in the All-Time EuroLeague Top 10 players with the highest PIR as one of the nine players going over 50 in a single match (Jaka Lakovic is featured twice). Also, he nearly became the third player racking up a triple-double after Nikola Vujcic (2) and Nick Calathes.
“There goes Mike James, the best there ever was”? Ever? Surely not, but definitely yes this season.
19,8 pts | 3,2 reb | 5,5 ast | 0,9 stl | 3 tov | 29:33 min | 21 PIR
Photo Credit: CSKA Moscow