Some may not know the term organ recital. Organ recital is a euphemism. It’s the anatomic pathologist’s final word on whether we’ve been naughty or nice or someone's victim.
This ChatGPT AI excerpt emphasizes integrated findings:
A traditional organ recital might read:
“The heart weighs 460 grams. The left ventricle is hypertrophied. The coronary arteries show 70% occlusion of the left anterior descending artery. The lungs are congested...”
Whereas a more modern and integrative approach might conclude:
“The cause of death is most consistent with acute myocardial infarction due to severe coronary atherosclerosis, with resultant pulmonary edema and cardiogenic shock.”
Similarly, describing a player's points, assists, and rebounds may not capture their contributions via defense, energy, spacing, screening, and so on. Ask what our players resemble under the microscope?
General description: A player gets labeled a combo guard who scores and defends or a sixth man bringing energy, toughness, and scoring off the bench. Some describe players as guards, swings, wings, or bigs. And some players get 'function' labels - 3-and-D or point forwards.
Top players sense what they need to bring on a given day, more scoring, rebounding, defense.
Head/Brain: The most important six inches of the player lies between the ears. The player who sees the game, makes quick, accurate decisions, and executes can outperform one with more size and athleticism but less savvy. Some earn labels as "a coach on the floor."
Mouth: Exceptional players are communicators. They're talkers who see or anticipate the screen, slip, or cut and react and signal teammates to rotate.
Eyes: See the game. Sometimes it looks as though they have 'eyes in the back of their head.'
Ears: Great players listen. They listen to coaches and to teammates, understanding player strengths and weakness and getting players the ball in preferred spots.
Heart: The heart is the body's engine. The great thoroughbred Secretariat had a heart twice a large as most horses. More horsepower. The great Pete Maravich died of heart disease as he had only a right coronary artery, exceedingly rare and virtually unheard of in an athlete.
Players get labeled the 'heart' of the team or another euphemism, "the straw that stirs the drink."
The ability of the heart to deliver oxygen to working muscles is the normal limitation to exercise.
Normal VO2max is impacted by the study population. Cooper studied Air Force officers with expected values above sedentary populations. Based on personal observations conducting exercise tests as a lung specialist, I think normal values are mostly between 25-30 ml/min/kg.
Lungs: A small study in Indian basketball and volleyball players showed them to have superior lung capacity (vital capacity) and airflow. Size was a confounding variable because they tended to be taller and heavier than peers.
The respiratory system has a controller (in the brain), effectors (nerves and muscles), airways, and gas exchanging units. Different conditions affect different parts. Asthma is an airway disease. Pneumonia affects gas exchanging units and airways. ALS affects nerve input to the 'muscle pump'.
Some players develop "post-infection asthma" which can be limiting. Long COVID commonly causes cough and shortness of breath that can last months or longer. Nobody seemed to have an explanation for what ailed Kristaps Porzingis this season.
Lagniappe. Someone had the idea to develop Athlete Mindset and Motivation cards. Coaches could develop our own.
Lagniappe 2. From Austin Kleon, "Steal Like an Artist..." "What a good artist understands is that nothing comes from nowhere. All creative work builds on what came before. Nothing is completely original."
