190 Comments
May 14, 2021Liked by Eric Apricot

Gilbert Arenas on All the Smoke: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFJUa0C2olc&t=2405s

Always love hearing from former players, especially former Dubs. Agent 0 is definitely a unique personality.

* As a rookie, Marc Jackson (of "unstoppable baby!" fame) was his vet

* Dubs had an under-the-table offer of 4 fancy cars (because they weren't allowed to pay him as much as other teams) in attempt to convince Arenas to stay

* Kwame Brown could've been a star but trauma from MJ... was second fastest guy on team. Could've been Anthony Davis type player.

* Pecking order of Adidas team: tmac >> kg/duncan > everyone else.

* Only ever saw Antawn Jamison practice threes... floaters, wrong-foot, flips shots just came naturally.

* JKidd was toughest matchup

* Kobe asked Arenas to be on his coaching staff for his daughter's team. After two years of trying to convince Arenas, Arenas finally agrees to come on board... on the same as the day of the crash. The crash site was just in front of where Arenas used to have a house.

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We should be throwing the game Friday night -right? It will guarantee us 17 or better pick (16?) instead of being in potential tie breaker situations with 2-3 other teams - yes?

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We should be resting our stars regardless, we have nothing to play for.

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I don't think it actually matters if we win or lose tonight given that the 2 teams we could potentially be tied with only need 1 more win in order to move out of our reach in the standings. I am almost positive that Miami will win their last game against Detroit and that NYK will take at least one of their remaining games vs Charlotte or Boston. If either of those teams lose both of their remaining 2 games and we win both of ours, then it would be a tie, but that seems unlikely to me.

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Blazers losing = continued drama for. 6 seed. So neither blazers nor lakers can rest in preparation for play in game...

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May 14, 2021Liked by punk basketball

Suns win a dramatic game by a point. Portland misses a chance to clinch a playoff spot.

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Man there are some clenched buttocks in this Suns:Blazers game with some really egregious missed free throws on both sides.

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Thinking aloud: not sure about the health status of Oubre and DLee, but if they’re good to go, wouldn’t tomorrow be a great time to try to get one or both of them some extended run in the last meaningless game of the season?

In any case, seems like a great opportunity to rest the big 6 vets who have been carrying the team for weeks on end — Steph, Dray, Wiggs, Loon, JTA, Baze. (Jordan Poole can play because 21 y.o. legs).

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Oubre is a weird situation. I follow this team pretty damn close, and as far as I can tell, we never got a great update on what's wrong with Oubre.

But I just wrote in the preview about EP, Bell and Payton. All those guys could be available tomorrow and it sure would be nice to tune them up before an elimination game on Sunday

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I thought he had a fracture AND a sprain in his wrist

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I've been wondering about this. Previous interviews, comments, stories, etc. just confirm that he's a complicated guy. I see him on the bench and he looks way more involved/engaged/supportive than he would be if he were just pouting and holding out. He seems to be a solid teammate, and I hope the lack of clarity here is the front office just keeping some privacy on a medical situation. Still feels like there are pieces of the story that are missing.

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Personally I do not, I think he is just hurt with a frustrating injury and the team is unsure when he will be back and does not want to over-promise and under-deliver.

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Warriors/ Grizz have an extended play-in Tournament now. Win 2 out of 3 to make the playoffs! Our core guys get 4 days off and Grizz only get 2. Whoever has tickets for last game of the regular season get a free upgrade to a post-season game, lol.

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Their core guys are gonna get tomorrow off, so they will have 3 days off compared with our 4 days off.

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Friday + Saturday = 2 days off?

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I was looking at the 2 of 3 this evening. It's a strange kind of 2 of 3 because your opponents vary depending on which games you win or lose. Just take it one game at a time I suppose.

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I like this 2 of 3 way of thinking

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So, Ws play the Grizz on Sunday for the 8 seed.

And then could easily end up playing the Grizz again a couple days later ... for the 8 seed.

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May 14, 2021Liked by punk basketball

So circle of life?

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May 14, 2021Liked by punk basketball

So we're gonna rest our guys tomorrow because:

Curry- tailbone, ankle, or something random

Wiggins- sore knee

Green- sore ankle, knee, whatever

Looney- back issue or something

Bazemore- uh, I have no idea

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Toe, Knee, Arm, Ass...

Tony Armas?

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ok 110-116, Grizz win.

What's this mean again? We care about tomorrow a lot now?

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May 14, 2021Liked by punk basketball

The opposite, we don't care at all. In fact we should probably want them to lose to perhaps help the draft pick a bit.

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Starting 5...

Nico

GP2

Mulder

Smiley

Bell

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And they win!

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Oops, I didn’t see this and predicted the same lineup above, along with my bench unit.

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I think GP2 will only be added on the last day but they can put Paschall at the 2

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Lol, yes. Work on his perimeter game!

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Other way around.

Because the Grizz won, we *don’t* care about tomorrow!

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... and neither do the Grizz.

The season finale decides the 8th seed, regardless of what either team does tomorrow.

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May 14, 2021Liked by punk basketball

Because regardless of who has the higher record by only a single game going into Sunday's game, the result is the same. If the team with the lower record wins Sunday's game, the two teams will be tied in the standings with the season tie-breaker deciding the tie. Sunday's game also decides the Memphis-GS season tie-breaker. If it's the team that already had the better record, they also still get the 8 seed.

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That is so convoluted. Thanks- I get it now. Winner Sunday gets 8th seed. If they lose play-in vs 7th seed, and the other one from Sunday wins against the 10th seed in the play-in, then both teams again play each other for the 8th seed as Sleepy said. Mindbending!

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After tomorrow there are three possibilities:

1. Warriors lead by a game

2. Two teams tied

3. Grizz lead by a game

In all three of those scenarios, the winner of the final game gets the #8 seed.

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I can get behind that

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yeah, but I think the answer is that tomorrow doesn't matter, Sunday does a whole lot though

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Tiebreakers

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looks like the Grizz are gonna win

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May 14, 2021Liked by punk basketball

Spurs lost, so the Kings are still alive!

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Sadly not, they blew the tiebreaker last Friday.

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Kings making it interesting against the Grizz; 6 pt lead with about 6 min to go

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Had a 6 point lead with 3 minutes left ... Grizz just went on a 10-0 run. Kangzz!!!!

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And.. .Grizz win. Lol Kangz, right when the Spurs had given them a golden opportunity to sneak into the play-ina.

Now do the Grizz and Warriors both rest everyone tomorrow?

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May 14, 2021Liked by punk basketball

Reggie Miller picked Steph for mvp. Don’t know if he has a vote. But nice to see.

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I don't think he's gonna win but I think he's gonna surprise some people and get a close 3rd (and maybe even 2nd) place showing

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OT: starting to think Anthony Edwards might end up a better pro than LaMelo, which seemed an insane thought a few months ago.

Goes to show not to draw too many firm conclusions about 19 year-olds.

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Even if that’s the case, I’m not sure he’d be a good fit on the Warriors, and not better a fit than Ball

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And for all we know Pokusevski could end up better than everyone

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Exhale: with tonight’s Hawks win, our first round pick is now 100% clinched. :-)

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So now there's a 60ish% chance we get two good first round picks!

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