Schrodinger's playoff team (schruh'-deeng-uhz pla'-of teem) noun. Term describing a playoff team which exists in a state being simultaneously dead and alive.
Usage example #1: While the series was still anyone's to take, that Duncan three turned the Suns into a Schrodinger's playoff team.
Usage example #2: Game 1 against Cleveland confirmed Chicago's status as a Schrodinger's playoff team.
Word trivia: A higher-than-usual-brow hat-tip to the famous Schrodinger's cat thought experiment. For the NBA Playoffs, it would describe the state of a team being alive in the playoffs, yet simultaneously dead due to whatever reason. Thus by definition, a Game 7 or series ending game does not generate a Schrodinger's playoff team, as the state of said team would clearly be defined as dead, perhaps in a different form of denial such as a playoff apocalypse. Conversely, many Schrodinger's playoff teams are defined just before or after a Game 1 of a series, in high correlation with the series win percentage of the first game winner.
Fans of a Schrodinger's playoff team generate this quantum superposition by attempting to objectively reason how their team still has a chance to win the series, etc. In other words, they can figuratively not observe the contents of the "box" by denial or some other mechanism, thus creating the simultaneous states. As more losses accumulate and a hopeless enviroment begins to affect the system, a Schrodinger's playoff team shifts towards a more typical "dead man walking" team, a subtle yet distinct difference.
Further Usage: I suppose the term could be generalized and expanded, such as a Schrodinger's playoff franchise (e.g. Jazz, Phoenix), or even simply a Schrodinger's NBA team (e.g. Pacers post-2004), further investigations are suggested.
Additional Notes: No, I don't know where you can purchase a LeBron James geiger counter.
Additional Notes #2: Yes, the Duncan 3 still haunts my dreams. I'm not even going to post the YouTube of it because it makes me sadface.
-AnacondaHL
Labels: Chicago Bulls, guest author, Phoenix Suns, quantum mechanics, Schrodinger's cat, Tim Duncan, Utah Jazz
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Anonymous: In tonight's Celtics-Heat fight, the announcers kept mentioning which bench players were where,and if it counted that the Heat bench players were involved despite being near their bench, etc., all before analyzing who actually hit who. Yea, thanks for that analysis Tommy 'n Hubie, may as well just defecate on the entire US Airways Center.
As a Spurs fan, they rate as two of the best in my 35 years! lmao
I nominate Derek Fisher as a special case of Schodinger, as he is both alive and dead, while being observed!
In the vast majority of the worlds in which an immortal observer might find himself, he will survive, but will be terribly maimed. - David Lewis,"How Many Lives Has Schrödinger's Cat?"
A fair summation of life in Sacto, yes?
http://www.nba.com/games/20100418/CHAORL/gameinfo.html?ls=gt2hp0040900111#nbaGllive
Apparently the Magic are playing the Charottle Hornets. First para. :)
I don't know what's worse, supporting a team that has choked for almost a decade and shows no sign of stopping, or supporting a team that may move out of Sacramento one day due to the extreme greed of its ownership base.
Yeah, can't win.
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"Full Hedo": A verb meaning to have a fluke good performance in the playoffs of the last year of your contract, and then cashing in on that performance by being payed much more than you should be (other examples include Trevor Ariza and Dahntay Jones). As PRS points out, this years leading contender is Amar''''''e.
That doesn't excuse his pathetic, lazy performance in Toronto (already a horrible fit for him) and he is definitely over paid (especially considering his age) but he has been a solid forward, at worst, for the bulk of his career.
Dahntay Jones also put up far better numbers this season than he did during last year's playoffs, though that really isn't saying much.
Agreed on Amar''''e though. Whichever team gives him the max is going to regret it sooner rather than later.
Poor Joakim Noah. He's dead and alive at the same time. And he looks so desperate everytime Shaq catches the ball in the paint it makes me sad. He is screaming inside: please please pass the ball outside, please for the love of god pass the ball!
Just end the experiment already. That's just cruel.