151 Comments

Is there any way to see the Santa Cruz Warriors game (either live or delayed)?

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You rock, Sab!

Thanks very much.

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I think it might air on NBCSBA as well

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And for those, like me, who are out of market, it looks like all the G-league games stream at: https://gleague.nba.com/

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Spreading some more Alperen Sengun propaganda here:

- He's averaging 30pts per 100 possessions on 63% TS. He's also averaging 10.7 assists per 100 possessions.

- Has an insane +- early in the season (I think on the Lowe Post it was something like +30 in 100 possessions lol).

Obviously those will normalize, but I will never understand why people thought a guy who was the MVP of an actual high-quality league at 19 will not be a good player.

Also pretty interesting that in a redraft today, the first 4/5 picks should probably be SBJ, Mobley, Franz and Sengun (maybe include Cade in here, but he hasn't really been incredibly impressive thus far, with the obvious caveat that he plays for a ludicrously bad team and he has been injured).

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Nov 11, 2023·edited Nov 11, 2023

That 2021 draft has a potential to be an all-timer. There are also Giddey, Trey Murphy, Kuminga, Moody, and Herb Jones who might get a little love in that top 5. Then there's Jalen Green, Bones Hyland, or Cam Thomas if Isiah Thomas was still a GM.

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Don't think it's strong enough at the top to be an all-timer (there don't seem to be any MVP calibre or perhaps even top 10 players in the draft). But a really, really good and deep draft.

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Was this reported here?

Robert Williams out for the season:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38863846/sources-blazers-robert-williams-season-ending-surgery

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Idk if it's neutral or worse that this happened to his other knee. I feel really bad for the guy, I've not heard anything bad about him and he is fun to watch when healthy.

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OT: don’t always love this YouTuber, but his take on Harden on the Clips is pretty great:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HgIGMtQlphM

The one clip at 1:10-ish of “off ball Harden” turning down an open catch-and-shoot corner 3 to instead freak out and randomly launch the ball right into an announcer’s coffee may be my highlight of the NBA season to date. 😂

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If (when?) this doesn't work out, do we blame it on Jerry West or is he only responsible for the good decisions? 😉

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OMG that guy is so annoying... but it works for the Haren/Russ talking point.

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"knocked over this woman's coffee staining her shirt!"

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Nov 10, 2023·edited Nov 10, 2023

TJD ATOLL PRESS RELEASE 10/11/2023: “To be honest, he didn’t look like a rookie — maybe in some situations — (but) he doesn’t look like a rookie,” Jokic said. “They put him in a system, and he accepted the system. And he didn’t feel like he was like a rookie. Besides, maybe some situations”

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I think the complement is legit. Did you notice the friendly interaction between Joker and TJD right after the final whistle? It appeared that Jokic was giving him some props.

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Nice.

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author

The “maybe some situations” really did a lot of work there. But GSW didn’t do too badly as a team in the TJD-Jokic minutes.

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Better than that!

In the couple minutes in the 1st the Warriors were -2.

In 9 seconds in the second they were +3 (the and 1 by TJD)

In the 4 minutes to end the 3rd with TJD in, Jokic in and Steph out they were +4. This was the longest stretch and I think it's pretty meaningful. Because Jokic was going after him hard, and when he got a 1 on 1 there wasn't much TJD could do about it. But still he minimized that, and did his thing on the other end enough that the unit took the lead to enter the 4th. It was pretty great.

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It seemed like he was being kind. Yet another reason to like Jokic. Awesome player, good guy.

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Nov 10, 2023·edited Nov 10, 2023

< sits alone on the mound that is Garuba Rock, surrounded by seagulls, pondering future migration plans >

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Looks like he'll be in Santa Cruz - let's see how he does there.

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Was this regarding TJD?

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Nov 10, 2023·edited Nov 10, 2023

Oops, fixed, thnx… meaningful because it comes from a center of excellence in Denver.

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I saw him seek TJD out and give him a what look liked a quick “nice playing, kid” kinda chat, and thinking “whoa!”

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As a fellow late pick, I'm sure having Jokic see something in him is a little more meaningful

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Games to pay attention for tonight:

Mavs vs. Clippers

Kings vs. Thunder

Suns vs. Lakers

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Nov 10, 2023·edited Nov 10, 2023

Prediction: 3-3 😊

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If anyones interested in viewing inside the Lakers $80M practice facility

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2Am9_Mhsww

Fun fact: "The NBA was actually founded by the NHL owners and in order to promote the game the Champion who won the NBA season would play the Harlem Globetrotters" -Jeannie Buss

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Huh, never knew about the hockey connection. From wikipedia:

> The Basketball Association of America was founded in 1946 by owners of the major ice hockey arenas [...] Toronto Huskies hosted the New York Knickerbockers at Maple Leaf Gardens, in a game the NBA now refers to as the first game played in NBA history.

> Reviving the Huskies name was originally considered at the time of selecting a name for Toronto's new NBA team in 1995 [...] there was no way to design a suitable logo that didn't resemble that of the Minnesota Timberwolves, so they became the Toronto Raptors instead.

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I am just putting this out there, after watching the Denver/Warriors game last night (had to record been a busy week) my takeaway is CP3 has not yet connected with Klay. There were 2 or 3 clear plays that Klay had a hot hand and CP3 flat out did not register it. To be fair, he seemed to acknowledge that last play where he over lead him, but my read on this is CP3 will correct this. He will correct this fast. My gut is telling me if Klay is even semi-feeling it CP will hunt for him ala Steph and Dray. This will get Klay to morph into his old self and he will have one of those mind blowing performances. I just feel it. CP3 is the perfect person for this team. It will come together I can just feel it.

Ok I’m done. Thanks for indulging me.

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That sounded like a halftime speech. Justice on three!

Just us!

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Random thought, is the backboard the next dimension in gaining a competitive advantage?

Surely if NBA players are good enough to bank a shot in they can bank a cross court pass or dunk lob with more frequency and unpredictability for the defense to handle?

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Nov 10, 2023Liked by Daniel Hardee

I remember when Webber was a rookie Nelson had a play where they would throw the ball over CWebbs head he would spin around to face the basket, the ball would simply carom off the backboard into his hands and he would have positioning and momentum for an easy dunk. It worked a few times. I sure wish immaturity and ego had not torn that team apart, Nellie could have been a perfect mastermind for CWebbs athleticism.

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Yeah. It's a shame Nellie was massively immature and had an ego the size of California. Bummer.

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Nov 10, 2023Liked by Daniel Hardee

The infamous backboard pass! Nellie had been obsessed with it for years as the unstoppable entry pass and it never worked until Webber came along, and then finally did a few times. I remember Nellie saying the biggest problem was that Webber was the best a catching the pass, but also the best at throwing it.

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Ha ha! I’d never heard this quote. That is so funny and so true.

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Nov 10, 2023·edited Nov 10, 2023Liked by Daniel Hardee

Frustrating loss, random ending, a bit of a ref game... But everything I saw supported the theory that, while Denver is really, really good, we match up pretty well against them. Curious to see how we look against Minnesota. In an ideal playoff scenario, Jokic would slay a couple giants for us in the early rounds—LA, for instance—and we'd run him ragged in the WCF.

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I'll continue to be salty about the loss until the game tomorrow. Despite the moral victories, I wanted that road win. Especially when I was given hope late in the 4th.

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Nov 10, 2023·edited Nov 10, 2023

yeah we matchup better vs Denver even tho I/we think they're better than most the other teams. They have some athletcism and length but not crazy to the extent of Min

unfortunately they have a better player than most other teams in Jokic and w size that we still cant match

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https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/stephen-curry-is-carrying-his-heaviest-scoring-load-ever-for-warriors-even-as-steve-kerr-tries-to-lighten-it/

Lolll:

Curry without Wiggins: +31 net rating

Curry with Wiggins: -8 net rating

Also lol: Author cites Klay as struggling cuz he's only at 35% from beyond the arc! Yet, before the Detroit game, he was at 41%... and if he goes 7/10 against Cleveland, he'll be back at 40% just one game later. What do we call this? Small sample size, bro.

If/when the real Andrew Wiggins shows up, WGBC. There's just so much left for this team to grow into this year... even if/when Curry slows down from this completely insane level of performance, they're going to be fine.

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Klay is taking fewer shots per game, so he is actually carrying less of an offensive load than he has in the past. He has averaged 20 ppg for the last few seasons and hasn't touched 20 this season yet.

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And, what if this is just normal for age 35 Steph, and we get the other guys stepping up?

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His best year was 66.9%, which itself is unheard of for a high usage player, let alone a guard (of course Jokic ended last year at 70% lol). I do highly doubt he'll surpass his career best by 3 whole percentage points... but I wouldn't complain if it did happen.

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Nov 10, 2023·edited Nov 10, 2023

He actually beat his .669 TS in 2015-16 by a hair in 2017-18 with .675 (though on slightly lower usage, so it amounts to about the same).

He's currently at .714 — which crushes his peak number as well as that of Jokic, Durant, LeBron, Giannis, Harden, Tatum and every other high volume / high efficiency scorer. But I'd expect that number to regress to his more customary "merely ridiculous" efficiency (say, .620-.670) in a larger sample.

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Dammit, you're right... can't believe I missed that.

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Opening night for Gui and friends. Did anyone see if BP and TJD were assigned to the Sea Dubs for tonight's game? Frankly I expect TJD to look really good, but BP might struggle because his game depends on other smart players around him. Maybe he can take and start making NBA three pointers and get his confidence up ala Moody and Poole.

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They need Podziemski to figure out how to create his own shots, he has a limited future in the NBA without that imo unless he's like a Seth Curry-esque shooter. G-League is as good a place as any to work on that.

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OMG he cannot go the Casspi way and just give up his 3pt shot. He needs a 3pt shot to keep defenses recovering to him, so he can attack the closeouts... and then he needs that floater to reappear... G League is 1,000,000% the right place for him right now. The drop off from Podz to Joseph for the big squad is minimal... and I'd even bet that they've been giving Podz minutes over Joseph BECAUSE they've been trying to get him some big league minutes before the planned G League trip.

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Yes, Podz really needs to let it fly in SC and hopefully develop the confidence to become a scoring threat in the minutes Kerr is surprisingly giving him. Loving all the other aspects of his game so far, but I believe the 3-ball % he demonstrated at Santa Clara was the primary reason we drafted him. That said, I also wouldn't mind seeing Joseph get some floor time to show what he can offer since we are going to need him at some point this season if Paul or Curry get dinged up. Strength in numbers, baby!

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He needs to be able to create and hit 3 point shots (and other shots) as the ballhandler/organizer of the unit imo, I don't think attacking closeouts and doing off ball stuff is enough for him. I don't think his future looks that impressive if he's an undersized wing unless he's a truly elite shooter.

Higher bar for offensive creation when you are an on ball player, and if you are his size with his lack of elite speed/athleticism you kinda need to be.

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Sure, that would be great! But I think he's still got some utility if he's a little bit of a scoring threat, because he's shown some defensive competence, quick processing, and good rebounding.

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For this season they have two of the best PGs ever, he can play to his strengths when he's on the floor. Long term, I don't think it's enough.

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He surprisingly has looked like a classic pass-first point guard. It's not impossible he could develop into a passable player if he can defend, rebound, and pass at a high enough level. And he has size enough that he could be really interesting as a backup 1. If he can shoot of course, a lot more doors open up.

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To be great, he's going to be able to create his own shot. But he can have a future in the NBA without that. Maybe not a 15 year career, definitely not a 8 figure annual income, but an NBA career.

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https://www.nba.com/warriors/news/warriors-assign-trayce-jackson-davis-amp-brandin-podziemski-to-santa-cruz-20231109

Answering my own question, the rookies are expected to play tonight

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Nice to have some home games so they can pop down to SC and still be available to the big team.

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Well the league admitted they F'ed up on the no calls against us. Like that makes any difference at this point. Why even bother.

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Wait, where? I only see that they missed Gordon stepping out of bounds... It's a big ol' nothing burger anyways, but just curious what you're referencing.

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The other was the missed goal tend against Steph.

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Nov 10, 2023·edited Nov 10, 2023

Yeah, that was a big miss... but I haven't seen anything official from the NBA about it... whatever, let's get 'em back in May. I barely care about the Christmas game and whenever else we're playing them in the regular season. It'll be fun, but the real competition begins in April... I suppose I'd want to beat them in the Semifinals of the in season tournament, if it gets there.

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yeah that's the only reference but it was 102 105 at the time so could have made a difference.

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I only watched the game on replay. That was egregious, two thirds of his foot was out of bounds, BP is standing there pointing right at it. Frustrating. But overall I feel even with the win for Denver we have some space rented in their heads. With full rosters, and CP3 more comfortable with Klay I can see us handling Denver in a 7 game series if it comes to it.

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It could have, but there were worse no calls for sure.

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Way more obvious as well. Just shitty officiating and referencing that one play I guess get's them off the hook for everything else.

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Nov 10, 2023Liked by Daniel Hardee

I had a sneaking feeling the whole game that Jokic could get his shot any time he wanted it and he was just toying with us. I kept asking myself why any other Nugget bothered to shoot. Now, I hope our bigs were making him work and he just didn’t have the gas to pound it inside one more time, and that Draymond will add another layer to that protection, but The Joker makes it look ridiculously easy. This surprisingly close game did not fill me with confidence.

(That said, I’m going to love a playoff matchup where our guys have the potential for making Barkley eat his predictable words.)

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Nov 10, 2023Liked by Daniel Hardee

Nobody on the planet can guard Jokic right now, he's gone nuts against AD, Bam, Gobert, and Draymond the last two postseasons. The only way to beat him is to attack his defense with speed and tire him out, which is luckily what the Dubs do best

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OT: We had a new arrival at the Boo Boo Zoo Wednesday, an adorable, friendly and suddenly homeless pig named Shmig. I filmed her arrival: https://youtu.be/5hHkLLItktg?si=1fiATiqTbW-4hKtp

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You guys are sooooooo living your best life

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Is that what a happy pig looks like? Never been around one, only goats.

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Adorable! Are you Sylvan Schwab, perchance?

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Someone hasn’t watched any of the countless travel videos I’ve posted starring my wife and me 😝 (Jenny and Craig Adventures).

Sylvan is a great friend and is the executive director who co-founded the shelter 45 years ago, when I was just a lad. I put that little tag on all the videos I create for the shelter as he’s really well-known throughout the island for all his work saving animals.

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Nov 10, 2023·edited Nov 10, 2023

D’oh, you got me! I have actually clicked on a few of your travel vids, just (evidently) not watched them closely enough to parse out which character was you.

I tend to enjoy animal vids more than people vids, anyway (unless the people in question are pituitary cases in shorts running around chasing a ball...) 😊

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We’re in most of our videos, but mostly just cameo intros or to provide context. (Wife’s a fabulous 50-something former model, but I know people don’t want to spend a lot of time looking at my mug.) We’re far more about capturing what we’re seeing, ESPECIALLY our wildlife videos. If you watch one video, this trek up a mountain in Rwanda to see gorillas in the wild in the one. We were lucky as hell and captured stuff that National Geographic would have been excited to get: https://youtu.be/qPreSnOoiXc?si=gHuMds5tYOmPZHP1 (12 minutes)

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