Also, random, how the hell have I been sleeping on Silk Sonic!? I am sure I'm terribly LTTP, but not listening to radio for a long time, what a delightful introduction I just had to their music...
Thank you for that. Not a big Mars fan but I love the retro 70s sound ala Jamerioqui. And always looking for new music even pushing 60. (who would of thunk on a BB fan page too).
Mar 14, 2022·edited Mar 14, 2022Liked by punk basketball
I remember commenting way back before the losing streak that the solution to the box+1 and/or double teams and traps on Curry was for the other players to make some shots. It isn't a particularly brilliant insight and I'm sure everybody in the Warriors organization from the mop guys on up knew it too but easier said then done. At least for one game, Thompson, Poole, and Wiggins made it look easy so hopefully that continues. It would be refreshing to see Curry go to work against straight man to man coverage. I don't even remember what that looks like anymore.
I mean, yeah... you have to make shots. But the key to making shots is to get good shots, and getting good shots requires playmakers and shotmakers capable of taking advantage of the situations in front of them. Thompson can be a great shotmaker (but hasn't been consistent recently), Poole can be a good/great playmaker (but hasn't had the right opportunities recently), and Wiggins can be a good scorer (but hasn't been aggressive recently).
If teams double Curry and stay home on Klay & Andrew, Poole can take advantage of the wide open spaces and put the defense into continuous rotation to get good shots. It's sustainable... and will be even more sustainable with Draymond back.
Annoying how we get one guy back and then another one goes down lol. Let's hope Wiggins doesn't come back drowsy after a week or two and stink it up in the playoffs
Also apparently JTA caught the "general illness" with OPJ too but he was fine so maybe Wiggins ends up playing. I think they would have ruled him out by now if he was Klay level sick.
Happy Birthday Steph! you have brought us so much joy, specially after the Cohan years.
And I want to shout out to the front office in appreciation of picking Loon. He has been so solid for so long. Another shining example of how the staff makes the players play better. Maybe weaponizing joy is something akin to All Work and No Play is a bad idea.
One of my biggest concerns with this franchise moving forward is keeping the joy as a part of the formula, post-Curry "prime" (shout-out Iguodala's Hands). When those celebrations (goggles, shouting and flexing, etc.) get passed on to the youngsters, that seems almost as important in some ways as the actual basketball gifts they are getting from the veterans. I have seen a lot of joy in Poole and Kuminga, and I really hope they are able to keep that vibe rolling.
Yeah, it's a game, and should be fun. Cohan's Warriors were unwatchable. But even 2018-2019 (No KD, Klay, not much Steph) it didn't seem that bad. So winning is nice, but not as important as doing it the joyful way.
I know some of us are very high on Wiseman, while others are not.
I do think if you were to flip Wiseman and Kuminga's draft slots (or re-arrange with Moody), it would look like a pretty damn good haul by Myers and Co. I think Wiseman is a perfectly acceptable prospect at #7 or #14. I think Kuminga is well on his way to being a good pick at #2. What do you all think?
I think that's a great take. Wiseman was always a prospect albeit a 7 footer but not seeing play at any length of time even before the current injury had me on the fence with him. Not pro or con yet just because the grade is incomplete but JK at 2 (now that I've seen him on the floor) and the Wise Man at 7 would have been just fine. Especially with this team that can absorb one or two prospects.
I think if you look at the whole draft picture (who and when) then the Warriors are doing just fine. But Wiseman getting picked at #2 is going to just be an inherent part of the discussion around him forever.
Slowly dwindled to smaller and smaller part of the discussion... but is still part of the discussion.
Kind of like how "which college did you go to?" was a big part of your resume when you just graduated, but matters less and less over the years... but still matters.
In the same way mediocre top picks USUALLY stay in the league and get relatively big contracts for awhile (Fultz, Evan Turner, Jabari Parker and Kwame Brown come to mind) like many Ivy Leaguers keep getting opportunities in finance, government, and journalism regardless of their poor performance.
Draymond still never got a contract with a PPV comparable to Wiggins or Harrison Barnes. Prestige matters as we are inherently biased.
I think those top picks generally have a unique skillset/talent that FOs can look at and say "See, if he were in our situation, we could bring the best out of him!". They also end up having lot invested in them which makes FOs loathe to give up on them for fear of looking bad, thus giving them a little extra training/opportunity to improve.
HB got his contract in the cap spike year (not exactly a fair comparison, and Evan Turner in the same situation), Wiggins was on a team with poor ownership and was a "20 point scorer" type of player that usually gets paid... and the team had cap space to do it. Dray's skillset will never be overvalued, which is both a reason he dropped in the draft AND a reason he'll never get that huge contract AND a reason he'll always be a winner.
FWIW, Gilbert Arenas made a pretty penny from the early second round because he became a big time scorer after slipping in the draft... and Jokic will be judged more on his MVP than his 2nd round stature going forward.
We all have quite the winding path through this world...
JTA is so passionate thoughtful and well-spoken; I really hope there’s a spot and role for him on GSW’s roster for a long time and that he stays on as a coach. He reps his heritage, Oakland and the bay so unbelievably well.
The Wizards are the last team the Warriors have not yet faced this season, right? We get our first close look at Corey Kispert. Or at least I do, because I have not been watching the Wizards.
Preach it Kevin O'Connor: "I know a lot of fans are tired of talking about the Lakers. But I’m enjoying Losing Time and get the sense that the real drama is just getting started."
Some off topic and perhaps controversial remarks. 1. LeBron hitting 20,000 in assist, rebounds and points cements him in my view as the greatest of all time, by the metric "Greatest total impact." Someone like MJ had higher highs perhaps, but no one has been this good this long, including Kareem. LeBron's a rival so I have long rooted against him, but come on: massive respect. 2. One of the most objectionable things I've seen in a long time is Durant telling the mayor to "figure it out" with regard to ongoing changing vax mandates. Hey, KD: Fuck you. You think the mayor and legislature and Congress sit around NOT trying to figure things out? Like they were waiting for you to mention it? I personally don't know what the best policy is right now at Barclay's Center, but that's not the point. Plenty of politicians do plenty of things I hate, but to act like it's your role as a basketball player to call out the mayor who is napping somewhere after a heavy meal is beyond arrogant.... It wasn't just KD *mentioning it. It was his tone. OK got that off my chest now let's see if anyone can beat the old-new Warriors. Good effing luck. Vote: most impactful return: Draymond, Dillon Brooks, Brook Lopez, or someone else?
If you weigh longevity heavily, yeah, it's LeBron by a country mile.
There are still reasonable subjective arguments for MJ, ones I doubt will ever go away. Basically, MJ is just way cooler.
As far as KD ... total agreement. Not just saying "figure it out" but condescendingly addressing new the Mayor as "Eric" in doing so. If I'm Mayor Adams, I'd be sooo tempted to tell him to fuck right off.
Between that, the way-over-the-top "you're this tiny" trash talking to Eric Fournier in their last game (hey KD, it's Eric freaking Fournier and you just beat the freaking Knicks), and the boasting about how much he makes everyone the team better, he's been acting like a complete a-hole lately.
Will someone in the East knock these jagoffs out ... please?
Garnett was the same way. Got mad and slammed the ball on some rook who was about half his size trying to make it into the league then flexed over him. Thought he was a punk ever sense and that was before his Boston stint.
Is anyone surprised after that commercial he made with LeBron a few years ago….they’re both in the back of car, they both said to each other, yeah we’re the best in the NBA.
Yeah. Jordan was/is such a dick, I never really could see why people liked him so much.
If he wasn't able to play basketball, he'd be the bully that everyone else avoids.
On court, amazing ... but I think Lebron's got him beat there, too, really. Just not as many ridiculously athletic highlights as Jordan (or, as I like to call him, proto-Kuminga)
Based on these numbers, if the Suns had as many games this season without Paul as we had without Green, we'd still be neck-and-neck in the standings. Which is kind of cool to envision.
Once again, injuries are the worst part of basketball.
The last time Steph, Dray and Klay played together, Demarcus Cousins was a Warrior
Dray$ about DPOY
https://twitter.com/markhaynesnba/status/1503441423487537154?s=21
Draymond will come off the bench & Wiggins out.
https://twitter.com/anthonyvslater/status/1503526212437626884?s=21
Hmm, this doesn't make sense to me
Coaching staff getting Dray ready for his 22-23 6th man role 😉
https://twitter.com/anthonyvslater/status/1503526541854011392?s=21
Wiggs got general illness? It is going from person to person.
My whole family got general illness this week as well. Lots of snotty tissues.
Also, random, how the hell have I been sleeping on Silk Sonic!? I am sure I'm terribly LTTP, but not listening to radio for a long time, what a delightful introduction I just had to their music...
Thank you for that. Not a big Mars fan but I love the retro 70s sound ala Jamerioqui. And always looking for new music even pushing 60. (who would of thunk on a BB fan page too).
I’m not a fan of his pop stuff, but the funkier side of his catalogue is another matter. And yeah love the Jamerioqui shout out.
Pat Bev on CP3 (2 days old but worth watching): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veGfknfKMig
I remember commenting way back before the losing streak that the solution to the box+1 and/or double teams and traps on Curry was for the other players to make some shots. It isn't a particularly brilliant insight and I'm sure everybody in the Warriors organization from the mop guys on up knew it too but easier said then done. At least for one game, Thompson, Poole, and Wiggins made it look easy so hopefully that continues. It would be refreshing to see Curry go to work against straight man to man coverage. I don't even remember what that looks like anymore.
I mean, yeah... you have to make shots. But the key to making shots is to get good shots, and getting good shots requires playmakers and shotmakers capable of taking advantage of the situations in front of them. Thompson can be a great shotmaker (but hasn't been consistent recently), Poole can be a good/great playmaker (but hasn't had the right opportunities recently), and Wiggins can be a good scorer (but hasn't been aggressive recently).
If teams double Curry and stay home on Klay & Andrew, Poole can take advantage of the wide open spaces and put the defense into continuous rotation to get good shots. It's sustainable... and will be even more sustainable with Draymond back.
Wasn’t dray also the pusher/facilitator of the 4v3 when Steph got double teamed?
Exacta-mundo
The solution to the losing streak is to win a game.
Annoying how we get one guy back and then another one goes down lol. Let's hope Wiggins doesn't come back drowsy after a week or two and stink it up in the playoffs
As much as it would be great for him to ride that little bit of momentum off a good game, he could probably use a reset.
Also apparently JTA caught the "general illness" with OPJ too but he was fine so maybe Wiggins ends up playing. I think they would have ruled him out by now if he was Klay level sick.
Happy Birthday Steph! you have brought us so much joy, specially after the Cohan years.
And I want to shout out to the front office in appreciation of picking Loon. He has been so solid for so long. Another shining example of how the staff makes the players play better. Maybe weaponizing joy is something akin to All Work and No Play is a bad idea.
One of my biggest concerns with this franchise moving forward is keeping the joy as a part of the formula, post-Curry "prime" (shout-out Iguodala's Hands). When those celebrations (goggles, shouting and flexing, etc.) get passed on to the youngsters, that seems almost as important in some ways as the actual basketball gifts they are getting from the veterans. I have seen a lot of joy in Poole and Kuminga, and I really hope they are able to keep that vibe rolling.
Yeah, it's a game, and should be fun. Cohan's Warriors were unwatchable. But even 2018-2019 (No KD, Klay, not much Steph) it didn't seem that bad. So winning is nice, but not as important as doing it the joyful way.
I know some of us are very high on Wiseman, while others are not.
I do think if you were to flip Wiseman and Kuminga's draft slots (or re-arrange with Moody), it would look like a pretty damn good haul by Myers and Co. I think Wiseman is a perfectly acceptable prospect at #7 or #14. I think Kuminga is well on his way to being a good pick at #2. What do you all think?
I think that's a great take. Wiseman was always a prospect albeit a 7 footer but not seeing play at any length of time even before the current injury had me on the fence with him. Not pro or con yet just because the grade is incomplete but JK at 2 (now that I've seen him on the floor) and the Wise Man at 7 would have been just fine. Especially with this team that can absorb one or two prospects.
Sure, why not.
I think if you look at the whole draft picture (who and when) then the Warriors are doing just fine. But Wiseman getting picked at #2 is going to just be an inherent part of the discussion around him forever.
It still is a part of the conversation but in the inverse: “Can you believe six players went ahead of him?! Lol”
For Wiseman’s draft pick to be behind him he’s gotta be a perennial all-star.
Slowly dwindled to smaller and smaller part of the discussion... but is still part of the discussion.
Kind of like how "which college did you go to?" was a big part of your resume when you just graduated, but matters less and less over the years... but still matters.
Im 15 years into a public school teaching career and can safely say the college I went to no longer matters. :)
In the same way mediocre top picks USUALLY stay in the league and get relatively big contracts for awhile (Fultz, Evan Turner, Jabari Parker and Kwame Brown come to mind) like many Ivy Leaguers keep getting opportunities in finance, government, and journalism regardless of their poor performance.
Draymond still never got a contract with a PPV comparable to Wiggins or Harrison Barnes. Prestige matters as we are inherently biased.
I think those top picks generally have a unique skillset/talent that FOs can look at and say "See, if he were in our situation, we could bring the best out of him!". They also end up having lot invested in them which makes FOs loathe to give up on them for fear of looking bad, thus giving them a little extra training/opportunity to improve.
HB got his contract in the cap spike year (not exactly a fair comparison, and Evan Turner in the same situation), Wiggins was on a team with poor ownership and was a "20 point scorer" type of player that usually gets paid... and the team had cap space to do it. Dray's skillset will never be overvalued, which is both a reason he dropped in the draft AND a reason he'll never get that huge contract AND a reason he'll always be a winner.
FWIW, Gilbert Arenas made a pretty penny from the early second round because he became a big time scorer after slipping in the draft... and Jokic will be judged more on his MVP than his 2nd round stature going forward.
We all have quite the winding path through this world...
True, all good points.
I think we need to stop rationalizing the past, enjoy the present, and hope for the future.
Cant learn from your mistakes that way.
People have playful minds.
❤️ for Steph
https://twitter.com/warriors/status/1503423211861471236?s=21
JTA is so passionate thoughtful and well-spoken; I really hope there’s a spot and role for him on GSW’s roster for a long time and that he stays on as a coach. He reps his heritage, Oakland and the bay so unbelievably well.
The Wizards are the last team the Warriors have not yet faced this season, right? We get our first close look at Corey Kispert. Or at least I do, because I have not been watching the Wizards.
Looking at the remaining schedule, yes.
Preach it Kevin O'Connor: "I know a lot of fans are tired of talking about the Lakers. But I’m enjoying Losing Time and get the sense that the real drama is just getting started."
Link: https://www.theringer.com/nba/2022/3/14/22976982/lakers-nba-draft-ncaa-tournament
Always like it when the LOLakers are loosing, especially when they are supposed to be "A finals shoe-in".
Oh I enjoy it too, especially after LeBron decided to actually try against the Warriors the other night. I'm loving every moment of their collapse.
First game with our Big 3 since ... June 13, 2019. Sigh.
Nice B-Day present for Steph.
We're nearly "Full Voltron"... https://j.gifs.com/vQOooW.gif
Wizards stats:
Offense:
21 in points scored (108.3)
4 in points in paint!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (49.8)
30 in fastbreak points (9.2)
18 in offensive efficiency
8 in shooting % !!!!!! (46.8%)
26 in three point % (34.0%)
8 in two point % !!!!!! (54.0%)
24 in off. rebound % (21.4%)
19 in def. rebound % (76.2%)
18 in total rebound % (49.5%)
8 in opponent blocks!!!!! (4.3)
9 in opponent steals!!! (7.3)
13 in assists (24.5)
9 in turnovers!!!! (13.3)
Defense:
18 in points allowed (111.2)
21 in opponent points in paint (48.5)
1 in opponent fastbreak points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (8.6)
24 in defensive efficiency
17 in opponent shooting % (46.1%)
19 in opponent three point % (35.4%)
7 in opponent two point % !!!!!!!! (51.7%)
8 in blocks!!!!! (5.0)
30 in steals (6.4)
8 in opponent assists!!!!! (23.3)
30 in opponent turnovers (11.8)
Some off topic and perhaps controversial remarks. 1. LeBron hitting 20,000 in assist, rebounds and points cements him in my view as the greatest of all time, by the metric "Greatest total impact." Someone like MJ had higher highs perhaps, but no one has been this good this long, including Kareem. LeBron's a rival so I have long rooted against him, but come on: massive respect. 2. One of the most objectionable things I've seen in a long time is Durant telling the mayor to "figure it out" with regard to ongoing changing vax mandates. Hey, KD: Fuck you. You think the mayor and legislature and Congress sit around NOT trying to figure things out? Like they were waiting for you to mention it? I personally don't know what the best policy is right now at Barclay's Center, but that's not the point. Plenty of politicians do plenty of things I hate, but to act like it's your role as a basketball player to call out the mayor who is napping somewhere after a heavy meal is beyond arrogant.... It wasn't just KD *mentioning it. It was his tone. OK got that off my chest now let's see if anyone can beat the old-new Warriors. Good effing luck. Vote: most impactful return: Draymond, Dillon Brooks, Brook Lopez, or someone else?
You must be a huge Westbrook fan then.
wut. me? why?
I’m sticking with MJ because of the whole taking years off during his prime thing
If you weigh longevity heavily, yeah, it's LeBron by a country mile.
There are still reasonable subjective arguments for MJ, ones I doubt will ever go away. Basically, MJ is just way cooler.
As far as KD ... total agreement. Not just saying "figure it out" but condescendingly addressing new the Mayor as "Eric" in doing so. If I'm Mayor Adams, I'd be sooo tempted to tell him to fuck right off.
Between that, the way-over-the-top "you're this tiny" trash talking to Eric Fournier in their last game (hey KD, it's Eric freaking Fournier and you just beat the freaking Knicks), and the boasting about how much he makes everyone the team better, he's been acting like a complete a-hole lately.
Will someone in the East knock these jagoffs out ... please?
Garnett was the same way. Got mad and slammed the ball on some rook who was about half his size trying to make it into the league then flexed over him. Thought he was a punk ever sense and that was before his Boston stint.
Do you hate Klay & Dray for dissing Rodney McGruder?
I thought they crossed the line with McGruder., especially Klay with the cheap shot line about out of the league soon.
McGruder isn't out of the league but he's with Detroit which is close. 😉
Is anyone surprised after that commercial he made with LeBron a few years ago….they’re both in the back of car, they both said to each other, yeah we’re the best in the NBA.
>Basically, MJ is just way cooler.
On the court. Off the court, it's LeBron by a country mile. Jordan would have looked way different in the social media age.
Yeah. Jordan was/is such a dick, I never really could see why people liked him so much.
If he wasn't able to play basketball, he'd be the bully that everyone else avoids.
On court, amazing ... but I think Lebron's got him beat there, too, really. Just not as many ridiculously athletic highlights as Jordan (or, as I like to call him, proto-Kuminga)
That’s fair. I typically grade LeBron along these lines…
Player on the court: A+
Person off the court: A-
Person on the court: C-/D+
GM: C
Solid D
GM : embarassing
Hey KD: Legislating is hard, m'kay? It's also about millions of people with varied interests, backgrounds, businesses... not just about you.
#1 CP3
#2 Draymond
#3 Simmons
No idea if Paul George is coming back so I didn't include him
Fair list. Also ... is Kawhi even at all likely? And I forgot Jamal Murray and MPJ. At their best, they'd propel Nuggets way up the pile.
Suns seem to be doing fine without Paul.
6-4 without him, 48-10 with him.
Based on these numbers, if the Suns had as many games this season without Paul as we had without Green, we'd still be neck-and-neck in the standings. Which is kind of cool to envision.
Once again, injuries are the worst part of basketball.
It also smacks of an entitled attitude that getting Kyrie on the floor is all that matters.
Warriors are 3-0 in the Jackie Moon era.