Dub Nation HQ Comments of the Week. & Open Thread

a small sampling of the fantastic commentary on this site

This is just a small sampling of the fantastic commentary on this site.

Instant Trade Grab Bag 10. Ben Simmons, yes …

The vultures are dive bombing Big Ben

• Peter Hood (20 ♡): 

  Don't want to pile on, but beyond the stat sheet, there are intangibles to a player's game that matter. Everyone thought the Warriors long term deal for Poole was nuts because Poole's numbers as a rookie were atrocious. But behind the scenes, one can only assume that the FO saw more in him than we could see on the court. There were several basketball reasons behind the drafting of Wiseman, but don't think that his character and work ethic didn't play a major role in his selection - which, by the way, could impact the team for the next decade or more. We covet stars on other teams, looking for that magic pill, but fail to read the Warning Label: "Taking this player can lead to Flat Earth Theories, Broken Contracts, Clanked Free Throws, hAirballs, Flop Sweats, Lunch with Uncle Dennis, High Blood Pressure Fans and Choking." For those clamoring to trade Dray or Wiggs or Wiseman and a bunch of picks for some magic pill player, please read the warning labels. Steph, Klay, Dray & Loon are Champions, fearless and fierce competitors that don't shrink in the moment. Poole & Wiseman are high character guys with insatiable work ethics who want to be great. JTA & D Lee are guys who will give you everything they've got, anytime you ask. Wiggs is not going to miss a day of work. There is more to a Championship team than a bunch of resumes filled with fat stats and individual accomplishments. The intangibles matter and we just saw these, or the lack thereof, get played out on the biggest stage in the biggest moments. George & Simmons are top 20 players in this league, but I'd take Dray in a Game 7 without a second thought. 

• Eric Apricot (11 ♡): 

  Honestly, the biggest red flags for me are about the Simmons Camp. They refused the team’s shooting coach for him (instead using Ben’s brother!!!), and they want him on ball all the time thus pushing Jimmy Butler out the door (presumably because being on-ball inflates your assists and hides the fact Ben has negative gravity).

• Klon (11 ♡): 

  I am the first to be in favour of aggressive trades to get our team back to the top, but I can't see how Ben Simmons would be an upgrade to any max contract currently on the team (and it's only going to work with one of those). Trading Curry is a non-starter, trading Klay for Simmons would not make the Warriors dependent on a miraculous recovery from an ACL/achilles tear combo but they would lose the spacing of a proper shooting guard (and there was already way too little spacing as it is), trading Wiggins gives at best a minor defensive upgrade in exchange for losing a lot of "guaranteed" offense and whilst Simmons's pure athletic ability is an upgrade over Draymond, he could never replace his leadership, energy and IQ. So yeah, as the meme goes: "That's gonna be a no from me, dawg."

• stopnpop (8 ♡): 

  I wouldn't trade either Wiggins or Dray straight up for Simmons. What do we actually gain in either scenario?

  If we trade Wiggins, then we end up with some redundancy with him and Dray... might work in short smallball stints -- but how much better is that than Dray at the 5 and JTA at the 4?

  If we replace Dray, we get younger, longer, and slightly more interior scoring. Everything else is arguably, at best, equivalent to Dray with some huge question marks... can he (or will he) set good screens for Steph and Klay? Is he actually at the same level as Dray defensively? Simmons is objectively worse when it comes to shooting... the issues we had with Dray not being a threat outside? Yea, it'll be worse. Dray also shot 79% from the line this year... you don't need to take him out because of Hack-a-Dray.

  And the improved interior scoring that Simmons would provide? He shot 63% within the restricted area... Dray shot... 63%. Granted, Simmons was able to create for himself more often but that's literally the only area that Simmons can score from. The only other area where Simmons takes a significant number of shots is in the 5-9 ft zone... at 40% EFG. For comparison, Dray was 41% EFG from 3P (not counting any shots from 30+ ft).

  Then there's all the intangible stuff... Dray shows up big when it counts.

Dub Nation HQ Guide to Watching The Draft Lottery…

Coordinates, progressive odds with each pick, and how much to panic at each step

• Sleepy Freud (9 ♡): 

  Dubs went into last night with...

  • A ~20% chance of doing better than they did (including a ~10% chance at thrillsville)

  • A ~30% chance of doing what they did

  • A ~50% of doing worse than they did (including a ~30% chance of disaster)

  Kinda surprised people weren't more excited about last night's result when it happened. I guess some had kinda sorta started to buy the "#1 and #4!!!" fantasies we were having fun with?

'21 Season Review: Peak Curry (again)

The gravitational chaos, fulfilled promises, and a peak that keeps going

• Peter Hood (9 ♡): 

  Pre-Lottery Notes. Between 2013-2018 (7 years), The Warriors had 6 draft picks including 2 purchased 2nd round picks (McCaw & Bell). Using standard draft value models, the Warriors had the worst draft value in the league, having a total value equal to drafting the 37th pick 7 years in a row. In the same period, Philadelphia had 35 drafts picks, including two #1s, two #3s, two #10s and a #11. Their total draft value for that period (highest in the league) was NINE TIMES the value of the Warriors. 

  Given that, what team would you rather have today, including picks in the upcoming draft? Curry-Klay-Dray, Wiggs, Wiseman, Poole, Looney, JTA, etc. or Embiid, Harris, little brother who can't guard Heurter, 4th Qtr Simmons and company? Yeah, I believe in the process. ... the Warriors process. 

• stopnpop (8 ♡): 

  > I love Steph, and if somebody put together a package of Embiid, Booker, Mitchell, and a few unprotected #1s from bad teams, I'd take them out back and give them a beating.

  No problem, I fixed your typos.

• Goofus (8 ♡): 

  I love love love that the Warriors are home grown. If they re-sign Chriss, they could have what (I believe) would be the most “home grown” roster in the league:

  Drafted as rookies: Curry, Klay, Dray, Looney, Wiseman, Paschall, Jessup/Mannion, GSW pick, Minny pick

  Undrafted as rookies: JTA, Lee, Mulder, Bazemore

  Acquired through trade: Wiggins

  Scrap heap reclamation: Chriss

  In the modern era, it doesn’t get more home grown than that.

• The Sword Of The Morning (7 ♡): 

  Even more than the insane playing ability that goes with being the most skilled player of all time, perhaps even more than him being an incredible, humble and likable human being, Steph has one more thing that very few athletes ever have - he is genuinely incredible to watch. He makes a random games against the atrocious, tanking Thunder in April an event because he is Steph. He is worth the price of admission alone. Even this season, where the rest of the supporting cast was subpar (to say the least), Warriors still drew the highest audiences in the league because watching Steph is one of the most entertaining sights in all of sports. MJ and LeBron may be better players (with their combination of insane skills plus athleticism and physique), but is there anybody in NBA history you'd rather have be the face of your team than Steph? With his personality, jaw-dropping skill and incredible success, I would take Steph over anyone.

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'21 Season Review: Welcome to Andrew Wiggins Island…

The 26-year old wing shrugged off years of infamy to become the two-way workhorse the Warriors needed this season.

• Five Alarm Freddy (13 ♡): 

  Big fan of Wiggs since we picked him up. 

  Prior to the trade I was against it because of all that I had heard about him-- however, most of that was because of some foggy memory of him wearing a luxurious fanny pack to a pre-game. That stuck in my craw for some reason... Anyways, after the trade I figured I'd look more into him and was gradually getting more and more excited. Probably because the trade had already happened and there was nothing I could do about it. I saw his length, his athleticism, his willingness to drive, his reserved demeanor, the foolishness he dealt with as a kid in Cleveland-- Everything kept pointing to him needing a the right opportunity to turn his career around- if he chose to. 

  I see areas where he can grow. I hope these small positive steps feed his fire. I like Wiggs and I would love to see what he can do with the Steph, Dray and Klay. 

• Abaddon (9 ♡): 

  Man if I were a pistons fan (ugh) I would be sooooooo pissed about the Blake Griffin tank job. Arguably worse than the James Harden Memorial Tank The Eff Outta Houston parade. The fact there is not just one but TWO of these guys on the same team makes me really hope the Nets go down in flames.

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