99 Comments
Feb 23, 2023Liked by Eric Apricot

Eric - this weekly greatest hits feature is so nice. When I get too busy to keep up with the conversation, this reassures me I’m not missing too much. A good read. Thanks.

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Feb 23, 2023·edited Feb 23, 2023Liked by Eric Apricot

“Let’s see what I missed. Well, if these were the “comments of the week”, clearly I didn’t miss shit.”

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If just for some goofball’s clever multiverse comment, it was worth the read.

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For 1% of you, Hyunjung seems to have flown to join SCW straight into the game and just been firing the ball with no conscience. At halftime, 1-7 but with 4 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK. NEW DEFENSIVE STOPPER INCOMING?

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I think you wrote earlier that he might be a turnstile on defense. Is he looking better at that end than you expected?

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My instant scouting report.

First, this must have been a game without any practices with the team. And yet the game did not look too fast for him. He was making good quick decisions passing, screening off ball, communicating switches and help on D, played a passable zone too. Seemed more often than not to be in the right place on D, but his rotations are slow. Impressive for him to look at home on O and D without any practice.

His shot was rusty but looks nice and he has no fear shooting. He CANNOT seem to make a layup… his touch is wonky possibly because he rushes because any slow release of his is insta-blocked. Get him a few sessions with Coach Dejan please.

He is slow but does dribble around the court in bursts with purpose. He did gamble for steals which got punished. Half (but not all) the time his man could dribble by him. On the perimeter he gets uncertain frantic feet.

I would love to keep following him on SCW. He appears to be a proper pickup and not an emergency hire (several SCWs are with Team USA).

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Feb 23, 2023·edited Feb 23, 2023

Question: Has he already passed Justinian Jessup’ speak excitement?

One thing I noticed watching tape is that he seems to be pretty comfortable dribbling with both hands in both directions.

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No, the Jessup hype was intense, the great Aussie sharpshooter to save the Warriors, until he couldn’t hit a shot in his first Summer League

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Feb 23, 2023Liked by Eric Apricot

He's a coach's son and his mother won a silver medal in basketball at the '84 Olympics so he's from a family of hoopers. That's promising!

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A willing passer and picks his spots very nicely on top of being a good shooter. I really hope he shows out and gets an audition with the big club eventually. He looks like a good fit for our system.

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Quinones stood out to me. Good dribble, great rebounding from the guard spot.

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Hey I forgot Schackel was back in the Dubs system, and also Kuhse undrafted from St Mary’s College is on the opposing Austin Spurs!

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Warriors playing terrible defense, shooting too many 3's, and can't finish at the rim. (Hope I don't type that too many more times until Summer League).

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2nd quarter much better

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Feb 23, 2023Liked by punk basketball

Mathematically (although not realistically), the Warriors could be as low as 13th or as high as 2nd by the 2nd week of March.

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I think its going to be a tough slog, given the Steph, Wiggs & GP2 health issues.

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Feb 23, 2023·edited Feb 23, 2023

Handy Post-All Star Break Flowchart:

Are the Warriors Winning?

Yes

Unstoppable, Baby!!!! WGBC!!!!!!!!!!

No

Wemby here we come! Unstoppable, Baby!!!! WGBC!!!!!!!!!!

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Coming out of the break, the Warriors immediately play two sets of 3 games in 4 nights back to back--in other words, 6 games in 8 nights.

Games are every other night in March other than another set of 3 in 4 until 2 days off between March 28 and 31. There's only one other 2-day break between games between Apr. 4 & 7.

That's a pretty brutal pace down the stretch of the season, starting with a few key players out. Let's hope the Warriors have enough in the tank to finish the season strong. It does go to show why racking up wins early (& not choking them away) would have been important. Maybe the coaching staff has some plans on how to rotate rest days for each player without affecting rhythm or winning.

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Judging by the season so far, the staff does not have a plan for “….rhythm or winning.”

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It’s 6 in 9 days, but yeah… it’s a bit rough. Mitigating factor is that 5 of them are at home, so no travel days

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[Charman Jr.] John Collins says Nate McMillan’s coaching style might have fit better for an older roster. Hopes the new coach will have more guidance for a team that needs help on the development and mental side. Made sure to mention he hated to see it happen to Nate.

https://old.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/119bo9p/charman_jr_john_collins_says_nate_mcmillans/

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Swap him for Atkinson (who's being mentioned as a possible candidate)?

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Feb 23, 2023·edited Feb 23, 2023

Steph "making good progress" to be re-evalutaed in a week:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10065136-warriors-steph-curry-progressing-in-leg-injury-rehab-will-be-reevaluated-in-1-week

To my ear, sounds like he'll be progressing to contact work in a week (3/1), and in an ideal world, would be scrimmaging a week later (3/8) and able to go soon after...

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If that’s the recovery schedule it seems likely he’d return on 3/11. The Warriors like to bring guys back after an injury at home. The first home game after 3/8 would be 3/11 v the Bucks. That would mean *sigh* 9 more games without Curry. But with 15 games remaining after that it would at least give him plenty of time to get back in game shape for the playoffs.

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The issue is making the playoffs at this point. Given the sustained Wiggs absence, I’m not hopeful re this immediate post asb period.

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If Wiggins is dealing with a “personal” matter considering what he has meant to this team and what he did for us last year in the Playoffs I hope he gets to take as much time as he needs to square things away.

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Nah, just give him some toradol, maybe some anti-anxiety meds, and strap 'em up Blazers style!

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Feb 23, 2023·edited Feb 23, 2023

Remember here its lightyears medicine so: paid leave to be with family

Psilocybin for the anxiety

Unplug nature retreat

A spliff and a ride on klays boat

Lots of good whole food cookin

Am i leaving anything out?

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GP2 would like to have a word with you but it's not a nice word! 😉

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This is is gonna be tough. With Wiggs out indefinitely, and still no Steph this team is gonna need to scrap and claw.

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With approximately one-third of NBA teams still with an available roster spot, free agents include: Serge Ibaka, John Wall, LaMarcus Aldridge, Will Barton, Stanley Johnson, Wayne Ellington, Tyler Johnson, Sterling Brown, Hassan Whiteside, David Nwabe, Michael Carter-Williams.

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1628164809278787584

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None of these guys are beating out Jerome or Lamb for our roster spot. Hold out for Saric, then go with Lamb

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Feb 22, 2023·edited Feb 22, 2023Author

The Dawning of the Hyunjung Lee Era is here. https://twitter.com/kevo408/status/1628435782926237696?s=20

**

Really nice waiver pickup for Santa Cruz with Eli Pemberton and Dusty Hannahs off with Team USA and Gui playing for Brazil.

This guy was a top-100 draft prospect in 2022 class. Has done his first 5-on-5 stuff since the foot injury in practice this week. He might play tonight

https://twitter.com/kevo408/status/1628435782926237696?s=20

**

6' 8" elite spot up and movement shooter, can't create off the dribble, might be a turnstile on D. Played at Davidson. If he can't succeed at GSW, I think he can't succeed in the NBA. I'm always fascinated by players with an elite skill trying to put together enough of the rest to hang in the league.

Quick scouting report: https://theboxandone.substack.com/p/hyunjung-lee-2022-nba-draft-scouting?sd=fs&s=r

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Awesome! I was bummed that Lee was injured; I was hoping the Warriors would pick him up in either the 2nd round or UDFA. His 2021-22 season with Davidson was crazy (50-44-90)

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This pre-draft scouting video from Adam Spinella is pretty detailed. Lots to like with some really big question marks about whether his size (6’8”, 210, 6’9” wingspan) can help overcome his limited athleticism: https://youtu.be/6KQJCbA5y3E

Klay Thompson comes to mind, but so does Justinian Jessup

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Hope he plays on Mar. 4 when I have great seats…at a reasonable price. Hoping to see Lamb and/or Jerome also.

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GSW has a thing for guys named Lee.

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Who does BamBam choose now? Wiggs or Lee?

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Poole and 이현중 , the Splash StepBrothers

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I for one welcome the new 140-131 final scores in the Poole/Lee era

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Depends on which team has the 140.

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Let's GOOOO!!!!

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Curse this wind storm! I've been without a power since yesterday late afternoon, so I had to go to the library to do stuff on my PC.

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From an Athletic article on the Hawks, to make you feel better about Joe:

The issues are far bigger-picture than that, and may or may not be addressed at a press conference Wednesday. Ressler started as an owner who said he would leave basketball decisions to basketball operations, but he morphed into something other than that after the unexpected — and misleading — rise to the conference finals.

That led to front-office dysfunction that included Ressler’s son being blessed with a louder voice in the room, a John Collins trade being rejected by the owner, three first-round picks being dealt for Dejounte Murray over Schlenk’s objection, and self-inflicted salary-cap problems that effectively forced the team to deal Kevin Huerter.

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Every time I got a chance to watch Huerter play with the Hawks I came away thinking “this kid has got a lot to his game besides deadly outside shooting”. He has really established himself in Sacto and I think he’s played a big part in their success.

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Probably why Schlenk left

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That may be us starting next year if Bob leaves.

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So a post-season prediction on Bleacher Report has the Ws win the 7-8 play-in and getting an upset against Memphis before losing in 6 against the Suns. On the one hand I appreciate the faith, on the other hand I am a bit upset with the notion that a team thrown together at the trade deadline can conquer our Big Three.

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Booker, CP3, and Ayton have been together for three seasons, and KD can fit in quickly if he sets his mind to it. So I wouldn't say that Suns team was just "thrown together" at the trade deadline.

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I am nervous about us being in Play-ins but not about chances of doing great in Playoffs. We have such a variance in single game elimination situation. OGs, Loon and Kerr thrive in figuring things out in a 7 game series.

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I think this is dead on. Last year I was overly nervous about the play-in because we can certainly play really poorly on any given night. Conversely, the 7 game series format plays to our strengths. The core hasn’t lost a 7 game series in the West since 2014.

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nice point

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Feb 22, 2023·edited Feb 22, 2023

Hmm. I wonder if the technical foul counts for suspension restart before the play-in, or play-offs proper?

Might make a difference on whether we have Dray and/or Poole available for a play-in game.

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FWIW, 3/4 of Yahoo's "experts" pick the Dubs to make it to the WCF, one picking the Dubs to make the Finals.

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I predict Sacramento will drop to the 6th seed and Dallas/Phoenix will meet in the first round where Luka will once again make Booker cry.

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With the Clippers getting the 3rd seed?

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Yep. I think Clips will turn it up to a point where Dallas and Phoenix won't be able to keep their pace and end up at 4&5.

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I really do think we end up at the 7th seed and beat Memphis in the 1st round.

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Me too... 6 of the next 8 games are against their fellow "play in teams" (@LAL, MIN, POR, NOP, @LAL, @OKC). If they can go 4-4 in this stretch, they'll be ok and on track for the 7/8 game. I don't have a good feeling about this first game @LAL, tbh, but if they hit their 3s, they'll be ok.

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Yeah, especially with Wiggins out. I feel like Lebron and the gang will try to make a statement. Will most likely be a close one though since we're trying to do the same thing.

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Turns out I'm pettier than I ever would have guessed, but I would find this delicious -- especially if the Ws survive that round.

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Nope. Not pettiness. Justice.

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Only this time KD will be there to wipe the tears away as they vacation in Cancun together.

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What?!?!?! KD's a hooper, bro... he's gonna be on the court, running NBA speed triple threat drills from the elbow, dripping in sweat. lol...

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I think at this point the 15th spot will either be Lamb or Jerome. Who will it be?

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They should both get a spot and Dre should bow out gracefully.

But since that is highly unlikely, I'd vote for Jerome. We're guard heavy, but the guy can actually hit a shot besides a 3, and his poise and ball-handling late in tight games is totally needed.

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The Jerome movement is real

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