Dub Nation HQ Comments of the Week & Open Thread

Happy holidays!

Steve Kerr's Christmas gamble pays off in Wa…

Golden State reminded Phoenix there are levels to being king of the West.

• rcknfn (14 ♡):

  Rewatching the game. That rip through 75 ft away by CP3 on JK where CP3 spins around 270 degrees just to get rip through is boiling my blood even on second watch. Frak CP3 and for NBA for allowing that monstrosity. 75 ft away!!

• Tim & Chris Burger (12 ♡):

  “When Kerr put Curry back in the game with 2:47 remaining and a 109-107 lead, the final sprint was all Golden State....The Dubs won 113-104”

  Dang, defense so good, they literally erased 3 points 😄

• fzwinter (9 ♡):

  Only 9 turnovers yesterday for the Dubs. If they can take care of the ball, the rest of the league is really in trouble.

• dinohealth (8 ♡):

  Thanks, great stuff, DANIEL...how Sweet this was; gift-wrapped narrative-spoiler from our gifted warriors to all their pundits out there...oh yeah, Kerr is hands down coy, Steph, hands-down mvp, and Dray, hands-down dpoy....

Explain One Play: Otto Porter Jr ends Xmas g…

That was fun

• Five Alarm Freddy (8 ♡):

  Otto’s smile rivals Wiggs smile. I keep thinking there is something special brewing with this team. If we can integrate the injured guys with the new guys, this team could be very, very special. Stay healthy all.

• Run_TMC (5 ♡):

  Wait! Enough people here are familiar with Haikyuu!! that you can just casually drop a mention of it into an E1P? Cool. Also, I'll just leave this here:

  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/otto-porters-class-act/2013/10/08/9630b5fc-2e8c-11e3-9ddd-bdd3022f66ee_story.html

• tempprofile (5 ♡):

  I suspect it's also the smile of a guy that for the first time in a long time is playing completely healthy.

Warriors beat full powered Suns, reclaim NBA…

No Christmas miracle needed when you've just got a better core

• Eric Apricot (35 ♡):

  I just wanted to tell you all that I love you

• fzwinter (32 ♡):

  Just finished watching my recording of the game. Gutty effort by all. And boy do I despise CP3. Those two rip throughs in the first half were such cheap plays. So happy to see him get T'd up late in the game and for the Suns to falter down the stretch. Booker didn't have it today - I like his game a lot but feel that CP3's influence is turning him into a big complainer.

  Today's joke: Q: Why does CP3's phone always go straight to voicemail? A: No rings

• rcknfn (25 ♡):

  Steph+Ayesha donated $2.5M to Alameda food bank!!

• Eric Apricot (23 ♡):

  Just remembering the off-season when seemingly every free agent rejected GSW for the Lakers and Nets.

  Heh heh

• storytellinsabrina (22 ♡):

  Joe Viray

  @JoeVirayNBA

  ·

  1h

  Weatherspoon on guarding the Suns' main guys: "I figured I was gonna guard those guys. Been guarding Klay for 3 weeks now. I kinda figured that was gonna happen."

• Klon (20 ♡):

  Words cannot overstate how big this W is. If I were a Suns fan, I'd be panicking right now. They should've won by double digits given as our boys were missing around 50 PPG in player production (Klay and Wiseman explicitly not included in that number), instead they are looking at an L. If these 48 minutes are not a statement win, then that idiom needs to be wiped off the face of the planet. We Gon' Be Shampionship IV: A New Hope

• crusty quips (19 ♡):

  I'd like for someone else to tell me with a straight face that the Warriors are not the best team in the league right now. On, the road, short-handed, it doesn't matter. This team has a great shot to beat anyone at any time, and they usually will.

• Asher B. (18 ♡):

  If I'd told you at the end of last year that we'd take the best record on Christmas in significant measure because of great play by Gary Payton II, Otto Porter Jr. Jonathan Kuminga, Nemanja Bjalica, and Quindarry Weatherspoon, you'd have been like "No, I was talking about the Warriors. The NBA Warriors, not the Santa Cruz Warriors."

• rcknfn (17 ♡):

  Did anyone notice Kuminga have "how you like me now" smile everytime he did something on offensive end? Even after flagrant foul by Javale.

• Captain Jack (16 ♡):

  This is an instant classic. Primetime Christmas game against a good team with half of our guys out and we pulled off a performance to remember. S/O to Steph and Dray for setting the tone and the rest of the team for following their lead!

• WarriorsGoldenGirl (15 ♡):

  Lakers coming back after being down 23. Harden hit that 4th quarter wall when the strip club buffet starts feeling like a boulder in his guts.

Preview: Warriors go to work on Christmas ag…

Gary Payton, Otto Porter, and the Dubs present

• Duby Dub Dubs (14 ♡):

  Merry xmas everyone!!!

  We got a new tv after 14 years! And the kids are fighting over the VR gift. But I also got a sweet new turntable for my growing vinyl collection .

  Eat too much food and take it easy today!

• Five Alarm Freddy (10 ♡):

  Happy Holidays all you crazy Knuckleheads!!

• rcknfn (10 ♡):

  Happy Holidays, DubnationHQners.

  Happy Holidays D-Cube, Apricot and Daniel. You guys are Xmas gift that keeps on giving.

  I think Andre plays today, Steph goes for 50 and Dray has a monster game, all resulting in a miraculous win. If we loose, I be watching Elf (for the 5th time!!) to cheer me up. "I'm singing. I'm in a store. I'm signing".

• belilaugh (8 ♡):

  Warriors win today. Don't ask me for reasoning because it's purely a prediction on vibes.

• storytellinsabrina (8 ♡):

  Marcus Thompson

  @ThompsonScribe

  ·

  4m

  Steve Kerr said he thinks the switching of Steph’s rotation hasn’t helped Steph’s shooting rhythm but it has helped the team. He praised Steph for being willing to be flexible even at the expense of his own rhythm

• Janet (7 ♡):

  Thanks for the excellent preview, Duby! Happy Holidays to all DNHQ authors and followers. You make life merry and bright!

• tempprofile (7 ♡):

  A big shout out to Vox for making it all possible by jerking around their employees. I'd suggest that everybody that hasn't done so already buy themselves a holiday present and subscribe.

• storytellinsabrina (7 ♡):

  Merry Christmas (if you celebrate it) and Happy Holidays DNHQ!

• GlueAndBold (7 ♡):

  Love to my brothers and sisters in our great big Dubs family! May the game today be fun!

• WarriorsGoldenGirl (6 ♡):

  Feliz Navidad, Gold Blooded familia! Visiting relatives in So Cal, so going to be inundated by sour Laker fans/Dubs haters. Let’s Go Warriors!

• OGG Gurl (6 ♡):

  Merry Xmas Dub Nation HQ fam! I’m celebrating with family in Hawaii. Trying my darndest to be present but had major fomo leading up to grizzlies game. After reading the game and celebration threads, I was bummed I missed it. I’m happy to miss out even more if it means we win today’s game and stick it to CP, Booker and co. LET’S GO WARRIORS!

• storytellinsabrina (6 ♡):

  Double mask y'all. Double. Mask.

• Goofus (6 ♡):

  Happy Whatever-you-celebrate everyone!

  Great job Duby and I love the fighting left-handed analogy. Fun fact: I went to high school with Princess Buttercup! (Robin Wright). She only transferred to our school for senior year, but was already modeling. She was voted “best looking” in a landslide. You know how some celebs are disappointing to see in real life? She’s was the opposite; I never saw a picture that did her actual beauty justice.

  Off-topic: We flew from Maui to Oregon and upon arrival had messages that we were exposed to Covid at a small outdoor/windy picnic we attended earlier in the week. I’m getting a little tickle in my throat and a bit of a stuffy nose, but no fever. We’re Moderna vaxed with a booster chaser and healthy, so not concerned about us, but were planning on visiting some family members who have medical conditions that makes them vulnerable. Finding a home test in our little town on the Oregon coast on Christmas morning is a challenge!

  Update: We found out the COVID+ person at the picnic we attended is someone who we didn’t socialize with at all and several other people at the picnic have since tested negative. I think we’re *probably* not infected, but finding a test Christmas morning has been futile thus far, so it looks like we’re going to not have Christmas with our vulnerable family members.

• doublebang (5 ♡):

  Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and most importantly, thank you DNHQ for making 2021 bearable!

Warriors finally avenge themselves with vict…

Does anyone play the Warriors better than Memphis?

• Phood Fight (11 ♡):

  The 'should have traded everyone and 3 picks for a star' sarcasm never gets old. That joke has legs like Dustin Hoffman in Marathon Man.

  The Grizz are young, tall, fast, athletic and that showed early in the game. We have always been the high IQ & skill team and we have had trouble with these type of teams. It's evident from the last few drafts that the Warriors are trying to close that gap. Poole isn't jumping out of the building, but he is cat-like fast. Wiseman, a rare athlete among athletes. Kuminga combines speed & power like few can. Moody may not be the greatest athlete, but he is long and has a nose for rebounding in traffic. Not to mention Wiggs and our 6'2" backup center GP II. We still have growing pains to get through, but this infusion of youth and athleticism into the high IQ skill set culture is going to rock.

  Or, we could just trade everyone for Bradley Beale so as to not waste Curry's prime. LMAOATWTTF

  (laughing my ass off all the way to the finals)

• Goofus (10 ♡):

  I’ve decided Otto Porter Jr is a moose. He has a big upper body, long spindly legs and an awkward gait, but he’s far more athletic and fierce than he looks.

  7 blocks over the last two games!

• SoCalJusticeWarrior (9 ♡):

  Have a good friend who is a Lakers fan, and I swear he was very close to tears when they traded away their young core for AD at Bron’s behest. Must be hard to root for that team, especially now that the chickens are coming home to roost.

• Sleepy Freud (9 ♡):

  All of which was said about Poole his rookie year. No one was raving about his “signature style of movement and quickness” when he was bricking shots left and right as a rookie. IIRC, they were mostly saying some variation of “there is nothing about his game that makes me think he’ll be a starter in the NBA.”

  And Poole was a year older as a rookie than Moody is.

  In any case, GlueAndBold was talking specifically about the shot, so discussion of other aspects of their games is not relevant. But fwiw: yes, Moody lacked Poole’s quickness, but Poole lacked Moody’s size, rebounding, and defensive upside.

  I mean, no one’s expecting Moody to have significant impact as a 19 year old rookie on a championship team that’s already stacked with great wings, so that’s a bit of straw man. But to write off his pro prospects 2-3-4 years from now based on a sample of 134 minutes at age 19 is every bit as short-sighted as it was when most of Dub Nation was doing the same to rookie Poole. Possibly more so, since we had a much bigger sample of suckage with rookie Poole.

  Fun fact: in two years, Moody will be three years younger than Chris Duarte is now.

• TheseGuysAreF’ingGIANTS! (7 ♡):

  Roster analysis based on the Grizz game: The starters look really good, Bjelica looks good as a sixth man and back up big. The young guys show flashes and can provide a spark. Everyone plays both ends of the court and seems to know their role. This team has decent depth but might be a bit reliant on their rookies to get through the grind and the playoffs. Maybe if they make a key trade at the deadline using a promising rookie as bait they can be the favorites to win it all.

  What’s that you say? They played without three of their top 6 players and key vets Lee and death lineup key Iguodala, along with their future big? Damn that’s wayyyy too much depth for one team. They should make a trade to help out some of the sadder teams around the league.

  For real though, I love that I can’t tell if Wiggins and Poole are actually better than Porter and GP2 in the starting lineup because everyone is really good. You can ride the hot hand of Bjelica or JTA and you can let the rooks provide a spark.

  Of course it’s all because Curry and Dray played so well but still it’s one hell of a roster, and if they can make a run this year it’ll have my vote as one of the best 1-15 of the FA era.

Explain One Play: how Gary Payton II (and St…

Complete team effort down the stretch

• pooryorick (9 ♡):

  There are the usual ways to go about building a Championship squad: found money in the Draft, build a Banana Boat, Dynasty care and feeding, generational player. But what we might be seeing from the Warriors Org is “ come for the Joy, stay for the Parade”, of course it started with some drafts and a generational player but The Chef has added that elusive ingredient of Joy, without it you don’t get OPJ, Bjelly, and maybe even Iguodala signing up practically for free. You also wind up freeing players like JTA and GP2 from a weight of expectation that they will fit as cogs in the machine. I believe Kerr has been wise enough and humble enough to give joy its rightful place alongside the Xs and 0s.

• Abaddon (9 ♡):

  Loved JTA confidently shaking off his earlier struggles and executing at a high level in crunch time. Hopefully (COVID permitting) he can leverage the extra minutes he’ll be getting over the next ten or so days into finding his late season 2021 form more regularly.

• PGBreaker (7 ♡):

  "...looks like a Greek sculpture called "Despair." Wow. Poetry. GREAT poetry.

Curry goes for 46 as short-handed Warriors g…

Has anyone seen the Steph Stopper? I was told that he'd be showing up tonight?

• Sleepy Freud (19 ♡):

  Great game, and great time for Steph's mini-slump to come to a screeching halt.

  3FG%: .396 >>> .402

  TS%: .603 >>> .613

• crusty quips (19 ♡):

  That one felt GOOD. Memphis coming in with a full squad, Warriors down 6 rotation players and still took the win. This is a championship-level team. Steph and Dray both had some of their best games of the whole season and GP2 was a terror on both ends. What a great win.

• storytellinsabrina (16 ♡):

  Warriors win. Lakers about to lose again. Happy Holidays everyone!

• Duby Dub Dubs (16 ♡):

  We've decided that just getting something quick up for everyone to gather is the way to go. Our full coverage will resume in the morning with more detailed game summaries from our crack team of basketball heads

• GlueAndBold (15 ♡):

  Can’t we just enjoy both [GP2 & Poole]? Also, if his 3 is legit, he’s insanely valuable. No argument there. Even without it.

• doublebang (15 ♡):

  The best moment of the game for me was when Loon absolutely decked Dillon Brooks with that screen. Forget the Steph-back threes, the GPII Express, and Daylight Savings Time Dray. It was so nice to have Brooks taste his own "physicality".

• The Sword Of The Morning (14 ♡):

  Ja, JJJ, Bane, Melton, Brooks, Tillman, SloMo - it's a heck of a core (and mostly organically built through the draft). Kudos to them, they've done a great job with the roster.

Draymond Green and Triple-Doubles that matter

Triple-Doubles you can trust!

• Five Alarm Freddy (11 ♡):

  Oh no, DLee had it hard when he caught it the first time. Hope him and his family stay safe.

• Eric Apricot (10 ♡):

  2015 Finals Game 6. That was a fun one. I sat on a big blue beanbag hugging the family and said, “We have to savor this, it might be another 40 years until the next Finals.”

  I was incorrect, but the statement is still true.

• Duby Dub Dubs (10 ♡):

  I love a *good* triple double. The one I probably remember the most though was Steph's first one. I think it was his rookie season, and everyone was pulling so hard for him to get it - even though in the end it came down to a Russ-like rebound it was still awesome.

  As far as Dray goes, any time we can find a stat that loves him, I'm all for it. Not nearly enough of his impact shows up in the counting stats.

Explain One Play: the telepathic teamwork of…

Years of playing together pay off

• Goofus (17 ♡):

  I’m not sure if this has been been looked at recently, but Andrew Wiggins:

  .521 TS% in 442 games with MIN

  .571 TS% in 112 games with GSW

  He’s played the equivalent of a season-and-a-half as a Warrior and added 50 percentage points, and this season he’s at .594!

  Not even looking at his improved defense, the transformation is both real and dramatic.

• GlueAndBold (14 ♡):

  [On who should lose PHX v LAL] Suns. Lakers are irrelevant.

• Sleepy Freud (13 ♡):

  Or this…

  Andrew Wiggins 21.7 pts per 36 on .594 TS

  D’Angelo Russell 20.5 pts per 36 on .510 TS

  Now figure out which one is the 6’-8” freak athlete who can guard 1-4 at a high level; which one thrives off the ball and fits in any offensive system; which one is arguably the most durable player in the NBA; and which one came with a #7 pick in a stacked draft attached to him.

• Phood Fight (11 ♡):

  One thing that is standing out for me on Wiggs. We all know he operates quietly, not flashy. Even when he is doing well, he can be hard to see sometimes. But I notice he is particularly good at nailing down early coffin shots. Curry tends to drive the coffin nail in, but Wiggs always seems to hit that shot, when the Warriors have a lead but the game still seems to be in reach, that feels like the first coffin nail. Like "If Wiggs is hitting that shot, we ain't got a shot." He may not be the guy on the team that will seal the deal, but he is shaping up to be a very reliable table-setter. Getting on base ahead of the big hitters. If that tendency plays out in the playoffs, that's great news for the Dubs.

• The Sword Of The Morning (11 ♡):

  I was randomly drawn into watching some Steph at Davidson highlights and they are incredible. I have no idea how people looked at those highlights and thought he wouldn't make it in the league. Everyone knew about his shooting, but he showed incredible passing, handling, off-ball movement and finishing flashes too. From the highlights (

• ), look at the following plays:

  - 0:39 - Circus lefty and-one finish

  - 2:25 - ridiculous dribble move to make 2 defenders crash into each other (lol)

  - 4:00 - ridiculously active and smart off-ball movement, the entire possession is a masterclass in probing the defense off-ball

  - 5:12 - incredible handling and finishing

  - 5:39 - pure Steph magic

  - 7:18 - another high-level finish

  - 8:06 - I don't know how anyone can look at that Magic Johnson bullet pass and say that this guy's not a point guard

  - 8:37 - more ball-handling wizardry

  - 9:02 - nice drive and finish

  Reminder - all of these highlights are from 1 NCAA tournament run (4 games in total). Couple this with basically the greatest shooting profile in NBA history coming out of college consisting of:

  - 41.2% on 12 3PAs per 40 on some really tough shots including self-created pullups (414/1004 for his college career)

  - 87.6% from the line (479/547)

  - A record 162 3PM in the 07-08 season which still stands till today (which is crazy considering how the game has completely changed)

  Everything that made him legendary was right there in the highlights. I suppose it's a sign of how things have drastically changed post-Steph that someone with this profile/highlights wouldn't ever drop out of the top 3 in the draft. I still don't know how he did to be honest. He had everything, the flashy highlights, the ridiculous stats, the team success. And he showed up on the biggest stage in college and hit clutch shot after clutch shot.

  And he fell to #7. Thank you Minnesota.

• Klaymatic37 (10 ♡):

  In an episode of Draymond's podcast, he spoke about how people will need to re-evaluate Kyrie's anti-vax position considering there are so many breakthrough cases in the NBA. Also, he was talking about how many players got vaccinated because they thought it meant no testing this season and will feel betrayed if testing resumes due to omicron.

  Perhaps Draymond was trying to sympathize with players such as Wiggins with his comments, but it came off like he doesn't really get the point of vaccines. At no point did he mention that breakthrough cases in the NBA are not resulting in serious illness. Nor did he mention that the vaccines are limiting spread of covid within the NBA even if breakthroughs are occurring.

  In the end, I can only go by what he says publicly, and his comments did not leave me with the impression that he fully gets the value of vaccines or understand the impact covid is having on our healthcare system. If he did, I just can't comprehend how he could defend Kyrie unless he just wanted to stir up controversy for his podcast.

  But, at least i have no doubt he will get boosted to stay on the court.

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COVID Falsehoods

We’re not a COVID conspiracy site. Disagreements based on science are okay. Nonsense without proof will be deleted.

• Goofus (12 ♡):

  Two words: bull and shit

  I’d like to ask DNHQ overlords to do like so many other sites and disallow factually incorrect posts like this.

• crusty quips (12 ♡):

  That's entirely incorrect, according to the CDC, the Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, and any other major hospital or health institution. If you're going to make a claim like that, you have to provide some supporting evidence. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/vaccine-benefits.html

  https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccine-what-you-need-to-know

  https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-vaccine/art-20484859

• Duby Dub Dubs (12 ♡):

  > Boosters don't work. That should be clear, by now.

  Yes, if you are willing to ignore all available data, sure.

  But formal warning Basketbum: posting clearly provable falsehoods like this (without any supporting scientific evidence) will be deleted in the future.

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