Tavares a goal scoring artist

Here's a great blog post from John Gurtler of www.bandits.com  sharing his thoughts on John Tavares scoring goal No. 700.
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They see the game differently.  They think differently.  React differently. Approach the game differently.
A common sentence used in the world of sport when talking about great players, and I’ve used it in previous blogs, is, “the game moves at a slower pace for them.”
As tough a game as it looks from my vantage point, and never having played a second of indoor lacrosse, it appears John Tavares takes the law of averages to a new level and chases father time farther from the truth.
Saturday’s nine-point performance (5 goals, 4 assists) by the greatest player ever to play indoor lacrosse was an example of how Tavares leads and how he makes the players believe.  It was truly a remarkable moment at the 9:51 mark of the first quarter last Saturday night in Philadelphia when he scored his 700th National Lacrosse League goal.  Nobody in the 25-year history of the League has been able to – or come close to – what the 20-year veteran of the Bandits did.  Modestly, he passed on the significance of the milestone.
“Honestly 699, 700, it’s not a really big difference,” Tavares said during our pre-game interview Saturday night.  “It’s just going out and playing a lacrosse game. If I score and make it my 700th, at the end of the day, it really doesn’t change my life one bit.”
Another sign of Tavares’ elite skill is the fact that all 14 of the shots he attempted at Philly were recorded on net, and five of them went in for goals, which gave him a very impressive 36% shooting percentage from the floor.  “I know it sounds really simple, some nights the ball goes in for you and some nights it doesn’t,” said Tavares.  “You’re shooting for one spot that goes somewhere else.  The game in Toronto (on Jan. 29) for example, I know I took a probable 15 shots and 10 of them hit (Rock goaltender Bob) Watson right in the stomach.  Not to take anything away from him but I am not aiming at his stomach, I am aiming at his corner.
“You’ve got to make sure everything is clicking including your own personal stick. Also the complexity of the game, if you’re trailing I find sometimes you’re pushing a little harder, you’re holding your stick tighter, you put a little more pressure on yourself to score.  When you’re leading a game, you feel a little bit more relaxed (and) the goals just seem to come a little easier.  That was evident against Minnesota.  I don’t think we trailed once in that game and we were very comfortable.  Against Toronto when we trailed the whole game, we were tight the whole game.”
To read the full story, and I suggest you do, click here http://www.bandits.com/newsX.asp?type=Blogs&aID=229