Why this basketball fan finds beauty in soccer

Some of you may have gleaned that I'm not exactly the type of patriotic U.S. citizen who will wave flags or shout "U.S.A.!" in public spaces. What I assume that most of you don't know is that soccer was my first sport, for years my best sport (the speed I leveraged to become an effective middle school sweeper didn't matter much against the skill of top high school level competition), and I was even a certified referee in high school (great weekend job for a high school kid, if you're ever considering jobs for your own children).

However, while I thoroughly enjoy the World Cup, I actually feel as though some of that enjoyment is derived from the things I love about basketball.

Earlier today in a post titled "Four reasons you should be watching the World Cup" on the Draft Day Suit blog, the following reason was given with a basketball reference (italicized):

Four Reasons You Should Be Watching the World Cup | Draft Day Suit
The U.S. National Team is the perfect team to root for. We’re no powerhouses, but the US has come a long way since the late 80’s/early-90’s also-ran years. We’re good enough to play with (and beat) the best, but the success of the program is so young (and so inconsistent), we’re still relative underdogs. The world expects us to advance, but never to win. But 2002’s improbable quarterfinals run proved that the Yanks are, on the right day, contenders in their own right. Think Gonzaga men’s basketball in the late 90’s/early 2000’s: just improbable enough to make it a hell of a ride. We’ve got to win against Algeria Wednesday to advance, making that game a must-watch, exciting match.

Of course, this is more about a previous point made about drama in the World Cup than any connection between soccer and basketball. But it did make me wonder further if there was anything about soccer that might appeal specifically to basketball fans who might otherwise find it boring.

"I don't know that much about soccer," said Seattle Storm coach Brian Agler after practice earlier today. "Although I do know spacing is critical. Being either outnumbered or having more numbers is very important and it's the same in basketball...The more I watch the game the more I enjoy it."

However, the more interesting and significant soccer to basketball connection probably exists on the player level, where there might be considerable carry over in terms of how players like Steve Nash, Hakeem Olajuwon, or (less talked about) Sue Bird perceive the game and navigate the playing space.

"There's no question," said Agler. "I think it helps your agility, quickness, balance, acceleration, and those things. There's no question."

Yet the thing that probably appeals most to me about soccer is the coordination on the team level -- having to move as a unit and respond to extremely fluid action and patiently maintain that coordination in a much larger playing space with a much more difficult target. I like the build up as a team finds a way to construct an attack in which overcommitting at any point can result in disaster but being passive will get you overrun. The sometimes tiresome individuality of basketball is muted while ball movement, precise angles, and timing is magnified.

As some of the currently limping "powerhouse" teams will remind you, the concept of having ideas is not just about an individual, but an individual improvising based on their role within a collective and being able to quickly read a situation quickly enough. A soft touch to a player streaking past a defender is a type of subtle beauty that often gets lost in a basketball game. It's not that soccer is necessarily more creative than basketball, but it's that once you step into the flow of the game it's hard not to marvel at watching extended "possessions" unfold and a player picking the perfect opportunity to make that subtle decision out of the range of possible alternatives.

When I watch soccer, I'm truly enjoying the experience of all of those things happening at once and constantly building upon one another creating those moments of dramatic tension like that one we all witnessed this morning when the U.S. defeated Algeria 1-0 with a goal in stoppage time. Not at all to say these things don't happen in basketball, but for someone who enjoys absorbing the mechanics of the game soccer is like stretching out both space and time and making those little things take on greater significance. It's a different sort of experience, but one that I think any true fan of basketball could perceive and understand on some level.

"I walked in right when they scored the goal," said Agler with a grin in one of his lighter moments. "I was out running some errands, some coffee and things and I came in and I looked up and the 90 minute mark went off and it showed 4 minutes left and that was an amazing play. It was almost like Algeria thought they could steal one so they went and got really aggressive and it backfired and then the USA got the numbers on the backside and scored on him."

Honestly, that play happened so fast and I was already resigned to accepting another draw that I can hardly remember it and certainly can't even say whether Agler's account is right. And I'm not sure it matters. Yeah it's nice that the U.S. won and I was literally feeling chills for a good 30 minutes after the game watching that, which is remarkable because I'm not always the sentimental type. The point is primarily that I think on some level I'm surprised that more basketball fans don't get into soccer because the fundamental principles of one can give you an entry point to the other, if nothing else. In a sort of abstract way, one reason for basketball fans to watch soccer is that it might help us appreciate the nuances of basketball even more.