Overheard at youth soccer tournaments: "There's math, rocket-science, quantum-mechanics... and tournament-math". Only way to avoid it is to keep on winning.
So excited about GPIIs return and his ability to continue right where he left off.
As far as the playoff race, my ideal ending situation now would be for us to tie the Clippers, and have them take the fifth seed based on tie breaker, we would play Sac, and the clippers would get the Durant Suns for round 1.
Unfortunately looks like our closing schedule won’t be easy. Worthy of a champion. Bring it!
1. @ Nuggets - due to their recent losses, they need to make sure they don’t accidentally slip to Grizz. Although Nuggets do have the tiebreaker, so they only need to go 2-3 to fend off the Grizz.
2. Thunder - they’ll be trying to get up to 7th/8th seed and fending off the Mavs (lol)
3. @ Kings - possibly trying to catch the Grizz. They have the tiebreaker against the Grizz, so 2 game deficit is not insurmountable with 5 games left.
4. @ Blazers - prob reasonable, but they may have locked up top 5th tanking status, and try to regain some pride at the end of the season.
It looks like there are 9 teams in the tax this year, and it’s been fewer than that most of the time. Clearly there are more non-tax teams and the owners prefer it that way. I’m not not sure why the players would agree to this - it is the primary cap on their compensation.
Regardless, it makes me savor even more the last decade of the Dubs. This kind of thing just won’t happen very often, because most owners won’t be willing to go so deep into the tax. So their best players will have to leave eventually. Bummer.
The hyuuuuuugggee open question is what the luxury tax formulas will be. There was some early reporting that they would change significantly. I haven’t seen any details yet.
Given that the mid-season tournament is exactly one extra game for the two finalists, it’s a big nothing burger. What did the players get out of this contract? What did the successful teams get? I figure they had to get something … and what could they want more than a less punitive tax formula?
I agree, the releases so far have been about significant differences in the new agreement. None of those really have a huge impact on the dubs -- yes the MLE change will hurt them, but even with current rules using the MLE was hard with the tax penalties multiplying the salary by so much. The downside of that could easily be countered by a slight % change in luxury tax payments, but none of those specific details seem to be public yet.
Apr 2, 2023·edited Apr 2, 2023Liked by punk basketball
Well, I stayed up tonight hoping for a home run. By 6 am, it is what its...We got half of what I hoped for. It is all Paul GEORGE's fault....lol...Get well, Paul.
Yea we def. Need to go 3-1, need to steal one in Denver or Sac.
In terms of rooting interest, I think we need Clippers to beat the lakers, possibly Suns to beat the lakers. And Grizz and Kings not to sleep against the Pels.
The last game, Wolves v. Pels is going to be real important.
Yep, I don't want the Suns 1st round though. Nonetheless, it is now win every game and the art of avoiding the SUNS. Tough, but no telling how this one will land...
(Semi)-OT: EPL still crazy- 9 teams separated by 7 pts (4 pts between 12th-place Palace and relegation) with 9-12 games to go. Leicester is now in the relegation zone (crazy to think after winning the league 7 years ago). More and more teams are being left behind, though, as teams try to spend to stay up. Everton issued a going concern warning (which might not happen, but considering they're in 17th and West Ham has 2 games in hand, relegation is looking like a strong possibility). Can you imagine the Warriors getting relegated in 2020? Not to mention the nation-states buying up teams. The NBA is far from perfect, but I think a soft-cap league is the way to go. (Not that EPL isn't entertaining, and the tension in each game is crazy).
It's kind of sad that the goal of 70% of the league every year is just to stay in the league another year. European soccer is a disaster unless you root for a big team. Or unless you are happy celebrating a fluke final 8 or final 4 appearance in a domestic cup.
Agreed but asking him to body KD exclusively over a 7 game series is a little much. You need at least one other guy who can make KD work. GP2 and Donte are too short and will be needed in booker and CP3. Same with Klay
Really hard to gauge how much time he would need. If he's healthy and has been working out every day, as we've been led to believe, I imagine he could be ready in a pretty short amount of time.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. To be the champs, we gotta go through any and everyone. Bring on whomever we will face, be it the Suns, Kings, or anyone else. We only GBC if we can step up for all takers.
Yeah I was going through it and thinking... well going Kings, Memphis, Nuggets/Suns seems preferable. But then the alternative was going Suns, Nuggets, Kings/Memphis and I realized -- isn't that kind of the same thing?? I mean sure you can argue one or the other is slightly better -- but to win the chip you have to be the best. The specific route isn't going to really vary that much.
You are right. The only difference is you have a bit more time to get your team peaking /now that it is jelling/get Wiggs back/shape/ before you face the heavy hitters like Phoenix, Denver...
For sure, gladly take on all comers, that is the way . . but I want the most time we can get (maybe a round) to increase chances for Wiggs to return and return to form. So, would gladly take on the Suns, for example, later.
FAK, CLIPS BLOW IT. WESTY was killing it the 1st half, but got only 4 pts the 2nd half. KAWHI showed up, finally, but not enough. PELS get the win and 5th and 6th place flips..... No 2 birds with one stone for us...got to beat Denver...lol
The Clips were coming back too, but that turnover by Russ on the fast break flipped the momentum right back to the Pelicans ( felt that way to me at least). Clippers get an extended break before playing the Lakers Wednesday.
Agreed, need the Dubs to get a good road win tomorrow.
Yep...our young guys need to adjust their shooting for elevation/ball flies....Steph and Klay need to shoot from 5 feet deeper, and, Poole.......sugar, he may make 3/4 court shots....lol
Lets go hawks - finish of the mavs and kyrie and luka here please !
Overheard at youth soccer tournaments: "There's math, rocket-science, quantum-mechanics... and tournament-math". Only way to avoid it is to keep on winning.
So excited about GPIIs return and his ability to continue right where he left off.
As far as the playoff race, my ideal ending situation now would be for us to tie the Clippers, and have them take the fifth seed based on tie breaker, we would play Sac, and the clippers would get the Durant Suns for round 1.
And the Lakers stumble in the playin.
Unfortunately looks like our closing schedule won’t be easy. Worthy of a champion. Bring it!
1. @ Nuggets - due to their recent losses, they need to make sure they don’t accidentally slip to Grizz. Although Nuggets do have the tiebreaker, so they only need to go 2-3 to fend off the Grizz.
2. Thunder - they’ll be trying to get up to 7th/8th seed and fending off the Mavs (lol)
3. @ Kings - possibly trying to catch the Grizz. They have the tiebreaker against the Grizz, so 2 game deficit is not insurmountable with 5 games left.
4. @ Blazers - prob reasonable, but they may have locked up top 5th tanking status, and try to regain some pride at the end of the season.
UConn beat up the Miami Hurricanes so no FL teams in the men's finals. It's UConn vs SDSU. Iowa vs LSU in the women's final. Wowie zowie.
I love that there are no florida teams left😬
It looks like there are 9 teams in the tax this year, and it’s been fewer than that most of the time. Clearly there are more non-tax teams and the owners prefer it that way. I’m not not sure why the players would agree to this - it is the primary cap on their compensation.
Regardless, it makes me savor even more the last decade of the Dubs. This kind of thing just won’t happen very often, because most owners won’t be willing to go so deep into the tax. So their best players will have to leave eventually. Bummer.
In that sense maybe it's a bit like the Eddie DeBartolo 49'ers. Owners can't spend that sort of money in the NFL anymore either.
Clippers blow it and Mavs … wow I figured they’d desperation win today. What a delightful day.
instead of a game preview, I seem to have just written a large rant on the new NBA labor agreement. I hope you enjoy! : )
awesome. Was needing an analysis of this.
The hyuuuuuugggee open question is what the luxury tax formulas will be. There was some early reporting that they would change significantly. I haven’t seen any details yet.
Given that the mid-season tournament is exactly one extra game for the two finalists, it’s a big nothing burger. What did the players get out of this contract? What did the successful teams get? I figure they had to get something … and what could they want more than a less punitive tax formula?
The players get bonus money out of the tournament, I believe.
$500k to each team member for the winner of the tourney.
I agree, the releases so far have been about significant differences in the new agreement. None of those really have a huge impact on the dubs -- yes the MLE change will hurt them, but even with current rules using the MLE was hard with the tax penalties multiplying the salary by so much. The downside of that could easily be countered by a slight % change in luxury tax payments, but none of those specific details seem to be public yet.
6am - the usual (when I actually pull it off correctly, that is)
I hope it's good! I even dug out an old book from my closet to look for a quote
I hope it wasn't a statistics book.....
Drastic measures have been taken.
Well, I stayed up tonight hoping for a home run. By 6 am, it is what its...We got half of what I hoped for. It is all Paul GEORGE's fault....lol...Get well, Paul.
Go Rockets! Go Thunder!
Was thinking the same thing.
Again, 3-1 is going to be good enough for 5th or 6th - 4-0 could even challenge for 4th. Suns have a tough closing schedule, could see them going 2-3.
But 2-2 is looking very very dicey. I expect a few teams are going to end at 43-39 and the lack of tiebreakers is going to hurt.
1-3 is almost certainly play-in.
Yea we def. Need to go 3-1, need to steal one in Denver or Sac.
In terms of rooting interest, I think we need Clippers to beat the lakers, possibly Suns to beat the lakers. And Grizz and Kings not to sleep against the Pels.
The last game, Wolves v. Pels is going to be real important.
Yep, I don't want the Suns 1st round though. Nonetheless, it is now win every game and the art of avoiding the SUNS. Tough, but no telling how this one will land...
I don't know why, but I think we'd beat the Suns in 5 with them having KD.
If the Dubs win out and the Suns some kinda way lose three of their last five, they can get home court.
Sun's schedule:
@ Thunder
vs. Spurs
vs. Nuggets
@ Lakers
vs. Clippers
(Semi)-OT: EPL still crazy- 9 teams separated by 7 pts (4 pts between 12th-place Palace and relegation) with 9-12 games to go. Leicester is now in the relegation zone (crazy to think after winning the league 7 years ago). More and more teams are being left behind, though, as teams try to spend to stay up. Everton issued a going concern warning (which might not happen, but considering they're in 17th and West Ham has 2 games in hand, relegation is looking like a strong possibility). Can you imagine the Warriors getting relegated in 2020? Not to mention the nation-states buying up teams. The NBA is far from perfect, but I think a soft-cap league is the way to go. (Not that EPL isn't entertaining, and the tension in each game is crazy).
It's kind of sad that the goal of 70% of the league every year is just to stay in the league another year. European soccer is a disaster unless you root for a big team. Or unless you are happy celebrating a fluke final 8 or final 4 appearance in a domestic cup.
Crazy we might get the Suns now. Hoping Wiggins is back to help guard KD
Draymond.
Even if he returned next week, not enough time to guard KD....
Better than nothing. Right now you either got Kuminga or two small guards . Not ideal
Honestly, given similar minutes Kuminga has been doing a serviceable Wiggins impression.
Agreed but asking him to body KD exclusively over a 7 game series is a little much. You need at least one other guy who can make KD work. GP2 and Donte are too short and will be needed in booker and CP3. Same with Klay
Really hard to gauge how much time he would need. If he's healthy and has been working out every day, as we've been led to believe, I imagine he could be ready in a pretty short amount of time.
Better than nothing, I guess...
I've said it before and I'll say it again. To be the champs, we gotta go through any and everyone. Bring on whomever we will face, be it the Suns, Kings, or anyone else. We only GBC if we can step up for all takers.
Yeah I was going through it and thinking... well going Kings, Memphis, Nuggets/Suns seems preferable. But then the alternative was going Suns, Nuggets, Kings/Memphis and I realized -- isn't that kind of the same thing?? I mean sure you can argue one or the other is slightly better -- but to win the chip you have to be the best. The specific route isn't going to really vary that much.
If you get the Suns later, you can expect that CP3 will have broken down
You are right. The only difference is you have a bit more time to get your team peaking /now that it is jelling/get Wiggs back/shape/ before you face the heavy hitters like Phoenix, Denver...
For sure, gladly take on all comers, that is the way . . but I want the most time we can get (maybe a round) to increase chances for Wiggs to return and return to form. So, would gladly take on the Suns, for example, later.
That is the way.
Amen. One game at a time...4-0...or, 6th place....lol
FAK, CLIPS BLOW IT. WESTY was killing it the 1st half, but got only 4 pts the 2nd half. KAWHI showed up, finally, but not enough. PELS get the win and 5th and 6th place flips..... No 2 birds with one stone for us...got to beat Denver...lol
The Clips were coming back too, but that turnover by Russ on the fast break flipped the momentum right back to the Pelicans ( felt that way to me at least). Clippers get an extended break before playing the Lakers Wednesday.
Agreed, need the Dubs to get a good road win tomorrow.
Yep...our young guys need to adjust their shooting for elevation/ball flies....Steph and Klay need to shoot from 5 feet deeper, and, Poole.......sugar, he may make 3/4 court shots....lol