Open Court: Taking a close look

What does famed architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe have to do with this week’s column?

Presumably nothing, since I had no idea who he was until a couple of days ago.

Then, my “quote of the day” e-mail service sent along his most famous line:

“God is in the details.”

Now, I’m no theologian or architect, but I am a sports fan.

There is no question that van der Rohe’s statement — likely uttered in the midst of an intense architecture lesson — can be applied to everything I’ve grown to love about, well, everything.

Who can’t appreciate a long home run, a breathtaking alley-oop or a 50-yard touchdown bomb? Mario Chalmers’ three, Tiger’s first fist pump, Manning to Tyree, etc. — these moments exist for everyone.

It is the details, however, that hook you for life. Those moments that never show up in a box sheet or a highlight reel are those moments that also convert fair-weather fans to die-hard loyalists.

For example, Justin Upton has turned the first two weeks of the baseball season into his own coming-out party.

We saw flashes last year, when he made the jump from Double-A to the bigs one year after he could register to vote.

Now, Upton — at the ripe, old age of 20 — has emerged as one of the Diamondbacks’ most lethal bats.

However, it isn’t his home-run power or his unflappable plate discipline that have turned Upton into must-see-TV. It’s those rare moments when he pulls a lazy ground ball toward the third baseman, yet somehow finds a way to beat the throw.

It’s not enough to say that Upton gets down the line in a hurry. Instead, Upton explodes out of the batter’s box and doesn’t even give the opposing infield a chance to breathe.

You can see a similar attention to detail happening within the Phoenix Suns.

When Suns’ general manager Steve Kerr traded for Shaquille O’Neal after an uninspired start to his season in Miami, I was one of the many writers to struggle with the logic.

Yet, O’Neal has either found the fountain of youth hidden somewhere in Maricopa County (glass-half-full perspective) or he finally started playing hard after becoming disinterested in the Heat’s lottery-bound campaign (glass-half-empty perspective) and has turned the Suns into a genuine threat in the loaded Western Conference race.

But that’s not why the Suns interest me.

It’s Amare Stoudemire’s sudden emergence into an unstoppable force on the offensive end.

Even if The Diesel is running on fumes, Stoudemire has finally grasped the importance of positioning and spacing, developing those techniques to unleash his considerable talents.

Now stationed at power forward, Stoudemire has firmly grasped the perfect moment to roll after setting a high screen for Steve Nash — whose career can serve as an ideal case study for the importance of details.

Stoudemire works with the space O’Neal provides instead of battling him for real estate near the hoop. He instinctively cuts toward the hoop anytime Nash penetrates below the foul line. He exploits defenders’ weaknesses by using their momentum against them.

Next time you watch a Suns’ game, look at how Stoudemire moves without the ball and positions himself with respect to Nash and O’Neal. He did not possess these seemingly simple skills prior to the Shaq trade.

This cerebral approach, combined with his jaw-dropping athleticism, means that Stoudemire might prove to be this spring’s most unstoppable playoff performer not named Kobe.

Who knew German architects knew so much about what makes sports so wonderful?

nprevenas@gvnews.com | 547-9747