Dub Nation HQ Comments of the Week & Open Thread

high VARC (value above replacement commenter)

Aug 22, 2021

These weeks have been ultra packed. There were so many great comments, many more than this tiny sampling. Go back to the full threads for more.

That Green and Durant interview

Complicated decisions, complicated people - but some insights as well

Run_TMC (19 ♡):
I almost skipped this whole thread because I'm pretty much over this story and ready to move on to anointing JFK as the single greatest wing in NBA history (quick before he plays in a real game). However, I read the whole thread anyway and learned 2 things:
1) I am definitely over this story
2) there are a lot of thoughtful posters here and I actually read some interesting and thoughtful takes on the whole thing. I hope the ratio of thoughtful posters to ... the other kind stays this way (or even goes higher?) as it is currently a pleasure to read most of y'alls posts.
Eric Apricot (14 ♡):
When I get together with old classmates, we might bond over how annoying a teacher was. That’s cool but people shouldn’t take that as a serious analysis of the teacher.
In this case, what would it mean for Myers and Kerr to NOT screw this up? KD to not leave? For there to be no team tension about KD’s (public) indecision? None of these things were possible, so what is Myers supposed to do?
As far as the suspension, I always took that as being for the whole team and not about healing KD-Dray or forcing Dray to apologize or “taking KD’s side”. When a teammate has a fit and humiliates another teammate on TV, are there supposed to be no consequences and the two teammates just chat about it someday when they get around to it?
Maybe, but what does that tell the other 13 players about a guy who — as much as I love his play — has been out of control and been given a lot of extra leeway by the team?
So I really don’t think it’s obvious what the FO should have done. Maybe they took the wrong path but maybe there wasn’t a right one.
stopnpop (11 ♡):
[Kuminga’s quote] "I don't really talk trash, my basketball talks trash" was about as close to a Chuck Norris meme as you could get haha
invo.k.shen (9 ♡):
to kind of sum up:
- the throwing the FO under the bus thing: wow people really latched onto this. Like crusty quips expressed below, I doubt FO is bothered by this. What fans and media express is also unimportant in the grand scheme of things. The only appreciable effect is probably on other players, who might seize on this as a model way to make irrelevant excuses...? But in the end, what anybody really cares about is putting together a cohesive team, and I doubt this incidence moves the needle in any appreciable way for the Warriors, as long as we have Steph as the heart of our team culture. Either you enjoy playing here and ignore what Dray/KD said, or you don't, and you use what Dray/KD said as an excuse.
- what I think we all wish KD said: "just wanted to build my own thing". I think everybody can respect that. time to move on.
ndubs (8 ♡):
I’m not too interested in the whole KD thing, but I loved the interview. In particular the part right before the argument, I think starting at 7:10 when KD talks about the first season with the warriors, and being locked in, knowing his role, working hard every day to go out and win. Really cool moment which reminded me how good that team was, and how hard they worked to get that good.
crusty quips (6 ♡):
I think it's kind of weird that so many people took Dray's comments as throwing the FO under the bus. If anything, he threw himself under the bus by revealing his behavior towards Bob and Steve and opening himself up to all of the criticism he is now getting from the media and from certain parts of the Warriors fandom.
Sure, KD and Dray went on record saying they didn't agree with how the FO handled the situation but both of them are intelligent and media-savvy enough to know that many people would criticize them for not falling in line and agreeing with Bob and Steve since the prevalent opinion by sports fans towards players is still unfortunately "Shut up and play".
I have seen way more voices criticizing Dray and KD for either their conduct during/after the disagreement or them bringing it back up again than I have seen towards the Warriors FO and their actions, and you can bet that this is something both Dray and KD anticipated before doing the interview. It opens themselves up for criticism far more than it does Bob or Steve so people can miss me with the whole "throw the FO under the bus" narrative. It's just dumb.

Notes on Summer Game 7 Finale: JaQuori steady…

And that's the end of summer league!

Eric Apricot (23 ♡):
The KD years gave us the greatest basketball play of all time. Those of us who could appreciate it at the time were blessed. And I get some enjoyment that most of the people who agonized over the ruination of the league were the right people to suffer.
KD was never going to stay. He has an artist’s soul, always wandering and looking at the next thing. He was never going to be the most loved in GSW and he deserves his own team where he can be the greatest franchise player ever. He also was never going to be acknowledged as the best player in the world with Steph by his side.
Throw in the extreme soap opera around egos, personality clashes between players and their entourages, the natural burnout from trying to three-peat, the extra two years of burnout from the Original 4, and it’s amazing we got 3 years out of it.
The Sword Of The Morning (11 ♡):
KD: They did nothing
Draymond: They shouldn't have done anything
And they're both agreeing with each other in the conversation. Pretty weird.
All of this makes me glad that Steph and Klay are on this team. Most stars are such drama queens (Dray and KD included) and these 2 (particularly Steph) just don't give a shit about that macho stuff. It's quite refreshing.
Alex (7 ♡):
Made me laugh out loud at how correct you are. He literally repeated words he already said to the people who are supposed to now be deeply offended.
Bob (and anyone else asking him to apologize) were carrying out the ownership's wishes. There is no way Bob or anyone could get in trouble for this information coming to light, and unlike players they probably don't have even a tiny crying violin's worth of emotion over how the NBA media sees them as long as they know they're doing their jobs well, mistakes and all.
Twitter has really trained/incentivized us to look at life with the subtlety of bored kids yelling "fight!" at recess.
GlueAndBold (6 ♡):
The number of fools yappin’ about how Dray needs to go (not here at DNHQ mind you, but seemingly everywhere else) is driving me crazy. That wouldn’t be cutting off your nose to spite your face. It would be cutting out your heart to spite your brain.
sabrinasez (6 ♡):
"'Y'all are about to f--- this up,'" Green said he told them. "I said, 'The only person that can make this right is me and K [Durant]. And there is nothing that y'all can do, and y'all are going to f--- this up.' And in my opinion, they f---ed it up." Responded Durant: "I think so too."
I mean if this is the quote that has everyone up in arms...it seems much ado about nothing since he already told Kerr and Bob to their faces that they were going to fuck this up.
Mr Teal (6 ♡):
You can tell how click-baitey it [fake Wiggins trade] is when there's 4 pages you have to click thru to get the info. I only made it to the second page. Then i quit caring what they were gonna say. Now i still don't know. Tune in next week to find out if I still don't care, or if the suspense is killing me....
bobbita (6 ♡):
Both KD and Dray saying that the front office f'd it up is bs. No way that was the reason left. Obviously, I'm just assuming but there were all the reports of him already wanting to go, and KD himself has said he was ready to leave before that season.
belilaugh (6 ♡):
I'm still confident that KD made his decision to leave well before that incident. Think it was after the previous season ended (or earlier) and he basically lined his contract up with Kyrie's. Remember Myers' comment after they won about the first year being like a honeymoon and the second year being like a marriage? The discontent was already there imo, that third season was the divorce.
I think there was just a shelf life on that relationship though. KD wanted the ball more than Kerr could reasonably give it to him. Draymond has a lot less value when the ball isn't in his hands, he would have been pretty marginalized and probably complained about it. People don't remember now but there were reports of Klay being dissatisfied with the "crumbs" of the Warrior offense before KD got injured (https://warriorswire.usatoday.com/2019/05/07/klay-thompson-is-tired-of-receiving-crumbs-left-behind-by-other-people/ ).
I think ultimately the "there's only one ball" people ended up accidentally being right. After three Finals appearances and two championships though, so they were still wrong.

Summer League 7. 4:00 game vs LAL …

Last game for a long time, so savor it in all its clunky glory

Alex (9 ♡):
The guy [Moody] had a letdown game at the end of Summer League after they asked him to fill a different role on the floor with Kuminga out. Acting like this one game counts for more than all of SL makes it sound like a take written by someone who got hit with the Men in Black memory flasher right before the game started. Come on, Moody has looked great out there until tonight.
UneasySquirrel (6 ♡):
This is a weird reaction to a summer league game for a young rookie. Moody has potential to develop as a ball handler and creator, but we know that he’s primarily a shooter/scorer right now with a nose for rebounding and positional defense. He’s also 19. He’ll put muscle on.
bobbita (6 ♡):
The hope is their weakness become less of an issue playing in a more confined role. Like tell Kuminga to just lock down and defense and cut and shoot open shots. Moody just don't dribble lol
Captain Jack (6 ♡):
Also I feel like the FO isn't as trigger happy with Wise as most fans are when it comes to trade rumors. In the end it was the right move IMO. We didn't gut our team for a 1-2 year crapshoot. I don't know how everybody else feels but I think we're in a damn good place now after seeing a glimpse of JK and Mood. We have enough talent on the roster already to make some noise. Let's make some noise.
Goofus (5 ♡):
Watching Jessup bomb from deep and make some really nice plays and I’m all “OK, so maybe he’s not Smileyinan Jessup.🤷🏼‍♂️“
If he’d played like this in the first SL game, I’d have started a GoFund Me account to buy out his Aussie contract.

Notes on Summer Game 6. Kuminga is the defensive stopper…

The game ending was unusually random, even for summer league

Arash (25 ♡):
Hey guys, story time!! I'm on my way to my first day of UC Berkeley Law (which is one of the best law schools in the country) and I'm not going to lie, I was legitimately sweating bricks and feeling faint.
As I was putting away my laptop, I looked up at my quote wall (yes, I am cringey like that) and I saw . . .
"There is no chip coming off of my shoulder because, at the end of the day, you're still going to continue to be doubted."
- Draymond Green
There was something about that quote, but all of my nervousness about not being good enough just dissipated. Replacing it, I've just got this fire within me and dammit this chip ain't going to leave my shoulder!!
I just had to share this with somebody!! Excuse me, let’s get back to basketball!!
The Sword Of The Morning (15 ♡):
[Poole] was at 58.1% TS last year, which is higher than Klay's career TS% (57.5). Seems pretty efficient for a 21 year old guard.
crusty quips (14 ♡):
Duarte in SL: 18.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.6 blocks per game, +13 in 27 mpg
Moody in SL: 17 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.3 steals, and .3 blocks per game, +9 in 24 mpg
Summer league stats don't mean a whole lot but given that Moody is 5 years younger than Duarte and has more room to grow, I'm feeling pretty dang good about his performance so far. Duarte may end up better in year 1 (not a definite) but give me the over on Moody for anything afterwards.
Goofus (14 ♡):
Couple of cool tweets with video from Mike Schmitz regarding Kuminga (note that both of these were before last night’s game):

Mike Schmitz @Mike_Schmitz

Firm believer that Jonathan Kuminga is much more ready to contribute as a rookie than people think. NBA-ready tools, transition athlete, bully as a straight line slasher, capable spot shooter from the corners and has the size and length to defend multiple positions when engaged.

Sleepy Freud (12 ♡):
Poole last season at age 21 (incl. play-ins)
21.9 pts per 36
.585 true shooting
.887 ft
.357 3fg
Basically a much more efficient version of CJ McCollum’s career (21.8 pts per 36 on .553 ts), only CJ wasn’t even in the league yet at age 21.
What’s your definition of “efficient”?
As far as what he’s been working on this — dude’s an epic gym rat, so presumably: everything? Start with his body, which in recent clips resembled a taller Chris Hemsworth.
crusty quips (8 ♡):
Affleck helped to found a non-profit org called the Eastern Congo Initiative "...with the goal of helping the eastern region of the country develop and become successful and self-sustainable". They just celebrated their 10-year anniversary as an org last year. I'm presuming that is where the connection comes from, combined with the fact that Affleck is an NBA fan.
Here's the org's site: https://www.easterncongo.org/

Summer League 6. 6:00 game vs NOP with Trey Murphy …

Trey Murphy III revenge game on tap?

Sleepy Freud (16 ♡):
I cycled through a bunch of top choices for our picks, but there’s was definitely a stretch when Moody and Murphy were my guys — as part of my “MOARRRR SHOOTERS” campaign.
My basic logic was: the ability to shoot lights out (while defending a little bit) makes it really easy to keep a raw young guy on the floor while he figures out all the other aspects of the game. I think that’s probably gonna hold true for Moody and Murphy.
At the same time … it’s hard to watch Jonny K and not get excited about how good he can be *if* he can only add the shooting part. He’s just a totally different caliber of athlete from guys like Moody, Murphy, Duarte, Kispert.
Also: the subsequent additions of two not-just-good-but-elite three point snipers in OPJ and BJelly — not to mention the return of that Klay guy — makes our decision to draft for superstar upside as opposed to “all shooting all the time” seem even more sensible.
Willy White Shoes (14 ♡):
The DNHQ coverage for the past couple months has been immeasurable - well worth the subscription for timely content, participation and a number of laughs.
The next month is going to be a little sparse on actual news; the commenters will keep up the interest level - including the usual prognostications of future HOF status for some of our end of the bench guys, etc... ;)
I sure hope the transition(s) have worked out well on your end.
Eric Apricot (14 ♡):
My #1 priority was to keep the commenting community together and keep the environment healthy. So, definitely a successful transition from my perspective.
We have plenty of stuff lined up for the — brace yourself — six weeks before training camp, and we’ll try to keep spaces open for conversation about whatever Warriors news there is
Goofus (6 ♡):
Yeah, the next month may be light on actual basketball news, but this community is full of the requisite hot air to easily keep the balloon afloat.

Notes on Summer Game 5 and Comments of the W…

Jonathan Freaking Kuminga, Mody Mooses, and conservation of Italian two-way PGs

GlueAndBold (16 ♡):
I'm so irrationally pissed about the K*m Bucket thing. My name is Kumar. I was given a talking to by a bowling alley security guard once for doing what everyone I was with did and using the first three letters of my first name on the digital scorecard monitor. People are so juvenile, but it's worse than that in this case, because the phrase that is being applied to JFK is also exceedingly demeaning and gross, the kind of phrase that has been used to degrade women.
Goofus (16 ♡):
I somehow missed this players tribune article written by Kuminga…and wow! It gives some great insight into both his depth and experience as person (as Myers noted after drafting him), as well as the drive, focus and motivation he has. The uphill battle of being born where he was, leaving his home and family at 13 to go to a country whose language he didn’t know, and playing “catch up” in his development has required a strength of mind and body most teenagers can’t fathom. If I’d read this before the draft, I think I would’ve seen him in a whole different light on draft day.
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/jonathan-kuminga-high-school-g-league
As he says in the article, the world is about to learn of Jonathan Kuminga.
Peter Hood (13 ♡):
After Bob Meyers picked Festus Ezili, Draymond Green texted him and said "GREEN!"
DFiB (9 ♡):
I mean 007 is in play here.
Jersey number: 00
Pick number: 7