After Ryan Arcidiacono had back-to-back 22-point games in November, I was playing fast and loose with player comparisons. If I could think of a good point guard from the past three decades, there was a good chance that Arcidiacono was compared favorably to him. In my defense, I was caught up in the exact same hype that everybody else was caught up in. It’s not like, by virtue of my being a preeminent provider of NBA highlight clips on YouTube, I’m immune to hype. Far from it. I get hyped easier than anybody.
The Steve Nash comparisons I made were premature, yes. I concede that. But, in the throes of Arcidiaconosanity, they were the only comparisons that could be made.
Arcidiacono’s scoring dropped off after that brief, stimulating run, and Arcidiaconosanity has died down with it. The Nash comparisons have all but stopped unless we’re strictly comparing white point guards with alluring hairstyles. A fourteen-point, six-assist performance, while pretty decent when taken in the context of Arcidiacono’s career, isn’t enough to reinvigorate those comparisons.
I would suggest that Arcidiaconosanity could come back if this guy (I call him “this guy” because I am frankly getting sick of typing his last name) could lead the Bulls to the playoffs by himself, but I think the Bulls are mathematically eliminated from playoff contention after tonight’s loss, so that’s a no-go. And him leading the team to the bottom of the standings isn’t likely to attract the same amount of positive attention.