84 Comments
User's avatar
PGBreaker's avatar

Man, I really love the analogy of, in the clutch, the pressure of every eye on you, you pulling a Keith Jarret (a jazz pianist who improvised from note one and sometimes had to sit quietly until inspiration hit). And you told the story so well. Great pacing and impact.

DubsNerd's avatar

Slater:

Steph Curry to ESPN on his scrimmage: "It felt great. I'm checking the boxes. But with this, it's always unpredictable because I don't know how the knee will respond because it hasn't responded well in the past attempts to get to this 5-on-5 level."

https://bsky.app/profile/anthonyvslater.bsky.social/post/3mifocs7nhk2q

Sending positive energy to that knee!

Sleepy Freud's avatar

The Knicks being fairly mediocre despite having their full, healthy squad seems suboptimal, given they have no draft assets and no young players with any significant upside.

Going into the season. I think a lot of people looked at them as potential Eastern conference favorites. Now they seem to be pretty far begind Boston and Detroit, and possibly behind Cleveland and ATL as well.

I’d consider them front runners for Giannis just cos they seem in fairly dire need of a shakeup, but what do they have to offer in trade?

Sabiscrashingout.'s avatar

Injury report vs Spurs

Butler III, Jimmy Out Injury/Illness - Right ACL; Surgery

Curry, Stephen Out

Injury/Illness - Right Patellofemoral;

Pain Syndrome

Horford, Al Out Injury/Illness - Right Soleus; Strain

Melton, De'Anthony Out Injury/Illness - Left Thumb; Strain

Moody, Moses Out

Injury/Illness - Left Patellar Tendon;

Surgery

Payton II, Gary Questionable

Injury/Illness - Right Knee; Injury

Management

Porzingis, Kristaps Out

Injury/Illness - General; Illness

Management

Post, Quinten Out

Injury/Illness - Right Foot; Injury

Management

Santos, Gui Questionable: Injury/Illness - Right Pelvic; Contusion

fzwinter's avatar

Looks like they're already waving the white flag against the Spurs and hope to have more of a squad available for the Cavs on Thursday.

TwoRingTest's avatar

9 players (assuming Gui is out) ... leaves 8 by my count. Bare minimum squad. Spencer and Cryer as PGs?

DubsNerd's avatar

Whose left to play? Sheesh

fzwinter's avatar

Hopefully Cryer's not hurt. They could put him on Wemby just for fun.

Sabiscrashingout.'s avatar

Draymond. Lol. I mean why bother playing him? Just rest him.

TwoRingTest's avatar

They will actually need him to suit up, if Gui is really out. Otherwise they don't have the minimum eight players. But, who knows if he actually checks in for more than a token few minutes.

eponymous_username's avatar

Dray's played 62 games this season with seven left to go. But two games he played fewer than 20 mins, which are the two gimmes allowed in the 65-game rule for end-of-season awards, and three under 15 mins, which don't count towards that total.

That means he's played 57 games that count towards the 63/20+ minimum for awards, meaning he's gotta play at least 20 mins in six more games to make the cut. Follow? 😂

With that said, Dray's been pretty clear about wanting to make a 10th all-defensive team in his career. That would put him with an elite of the elite, there's only like a handful of those guys who've done it.

So I think he's a full go the rest of the way out. I don't see him ducking Wemby as his one possible off day unless he is really unable to go, cause it wouldn't do well for his case either...

[minor edit for clarity]

AttilaTheHun's avatar

Plus I think he likes defending Wemby. It's a challenge, and he's very good at defending him.

eponymous_username's avatar

100%

Dray gets up the most for the toughest opponents

To me it's one sign (of many) he has the heart of of a true competitor - ycan't really know how good you really are if you don't go up against the best and give it everything!

Klaymatic37's avatar

I don't always ready the articles but the comments made it seem like I should.

Loved it!

Loon Gehrig's avatar

On NBC/Peacock tonight: Knicks and Rockets now, Blazers at Clippers 8:00

Abaddon's avatar

Brilliant stuff man! If anything can lift my spirits right now… that was it.

punk basketball's avatar

I'm a little mad that I have to write my first article in almost 2 weeks as a follow up to this... masterful. I just read it again. Still good.

Daniel Hardee's avatar

I CAN FEEL YOUR ANGER. IT GIVES YOU FOCUS. MAKES YOU STRONGER. TAKE THEM TO THE DARK SIDE DUBY

AttilaTheHun's avatar

Ah so you are a Sith Lord. I've wondered about that; it explains the source of your power. Is Punk B your apprentice? "Always two, there are. No more, no less. A Master and an apprentice." Hmmm.

crusty quips's avatar

Hardee strikes again, this time on newly-dubbed Farmworker's Day. When the extended absence of splash brings horrible drought which chokes the land and our crops die rotting on the vine, the GBK symbol appears in the night sky reminding us to stay strong; soon we will rise as a people.

Daniel Hardee's avatar

soooooon...

RobotSloth's avatar

DH IS THE GOAT

Daniel Hardee's avatar

you're too kind Sloth. I am but a humble scribe of the Golden Empire, defending our shores from jealous Houston Rockets fans

Ryan Plooster's avatar

Podz getting so much hate

Captain Jack's avatar

I think he has actually taken a mini leap during Steph's absence. There are things he still needs to work on but he's a lot more decisive with his shot selection outside of the paint now plus I see he's been studying SGA as far as foul baiting goes lol

Loonatic's avatar

Remember one of Podz's idols is Brunson. I see Podz's game definitely trending towards that style.

fzwinter's avatar

and Ginobli as well. It's a lefty thing.

Ryan Plooster's avatar

Haha I’ve definitely noticed that too, trying to fit into the crowd

g8tgod's avatar

Nicely done, Daniel. It's not only a nice piece of writing; the analogy has explanatory power. The Dubs are making lemonade out of the lemons. I love the grit.

If we can get Steph back to play with the Unicorn, this should be a very entertaining end-of-season and postseason. Go Dubs!

Daniel Hardee's avatar

Steph + Unicorn = UNLIMITED CHAOS FACTOR

GlueAndBold's avatar

Your penultimate sentence is where I'm at. Imagine the joy potential!

Loon Gehrig's avatar

You're the real MVP!

Daniel Hardee's avatar

Much love Loon!!

Captain Jack's avatar

Steph Curry went through the Warriors' full practice today and is about to scrimmage

@NBCSWarriors

He's out for tomorrow and doubtful for Thursday. @DaltonJ_Johnson

stickdog's avatar

Write the 'ship!

Daniel Hardee's avatar

I like thisss