Game 7 Security

Coming to you live on this Saturday night couch session watching the Bucks and Nets Game 7, winner moves onto the Eastern Conference Finals.  They are competing hard every possession, it’s got this aggressive pace I am always hoping to see. Not quite enough to keep my wife awake.  Back and forth, back and forth, threes, dunks, hard screens, really physical defense to the point many people ironically find it offensive (you know, the other way to pronounce it).  The big stars are doing what they do, tons of scoring, penetrating the paint and hustling to get back possession when they misstep.  

One thing is for certain:  experience - especially high intensity playoff experience - has mattered tremendously in this game.  No one can deny it. There are three total former league MVPs. One of them has played every single minute of the game, 13th season.  The guy guarding him is smaller and all over him as a league defensive specialist, but multiple times has stepped up on the offensive side and hit.  His name is PJ, but don't sleep on him. Four other guys with 12+ years of experience. The Bucks’ center is actually the Nets’ all-time leading scorer.

They are making most of their free throws as they should.  A lot of rim protection. They’ve studied each other’s moves, ball fakes, defensive schemes, and their own successful and failed attempts to run or defend a play.  You can tell they are exhausted and starting to make mistakes because of it.

One coach has been in the league for over 25 years in various team leadership roles including 17 years learning from arguably the single greatest coach the league has ever seen (Pop!).  The other coach is a two-time MVP in the league with 18 years of playing experience and currently in his first year as a head coach overseeing a team of multiple true superstars.  No small task, but his accomplishments likely help him understand how to be effective around high-maintenance, top-tier talent. Not that it should ever matter, but I think it's worth mentioning he also didn’t grow up in America.  I would love to see more of that.

They make a lot of money and it keeps going up every year.  More investing in it, more attention to it, more programs beneath it making money off it and training for it.  It’s a piggy bank, and it's not going anywhere.

I imagine you may have picked up on where I’ve been headed with this if you are interested in security.  I don’t think of the security field as a competitive sport I like to watch as a spectator, but I believe I’ve been connecting a lot of similarities all night.  To me, it’s fascinating to think about all the people and scenarios we have across the community who will step up when needed and all those doing everything they can to help their teams win.  I relate this more to what I’d imagine is a very effective Purple Team as opposed to the Good Guys vs the Bad Guys across the globe.  That said, someone did gift me Kevin Durant toilet paper once. I'm a die-hard OKC Thunder fan. Our team was "breached" and the best players were taken away, but we are rebuilding and feeling confident we will get back on our feet.

My Hulu disconnected from the game with 8.1 seconds left on the clock.  Fitting that I would have a technology issue. Got it back to see Durant hit a game-tying fadeaway with 1.0 second left. He’s got the most points scored in a Game 7 in NBA history.  Some may be surprised to hear it’s not Michael Jordan, but MJ doesn’t know what a Game 7 looks like...

Overtime - a perfect outcome. I think the current and aspiring security professionals out there know a thing or two about overtime. Take care of yourselves. And to all you Dads and also the moms doing it all out there, have an awesome Father's Day.