Curious shot selection down the stretch of the game brings existential questions about Golden State's special brand of basketball. Gold Blooded rant incoming!
A rare day when I have the time and interest to watch 4 NBA games, none of which are the Dubs. And yet I was entertained. Denver was Denver and obliterated the pathetic Timberwolves. Yea, that one got kind of dull.
And I found myself in the weird position of rooting for both the Clippers and Lakers! On the same day! Had to look out the window and see if it was literally raining ponies and orangutans. Nope! Phew! But still: weird. Conclusion: this year I hate the Grizz and Suns even more than the LA teams. I am at peace with that.
But the Giannis injury sucked to see happen. I hope he can play soon, the Bucks with Giannis are pretty fun. Don’t want to make things too easy for the rest of the East.
OT: For those who said “I wish Mr. & Mrs. Goofus would do more videos on trains”, your long wait and nightmare is over. Here’s a (under 5-minute) video of our train ride from Munich to the Rhine River. It includes a cameo from the terrible cover band, The Craptastics, who were also kind enough to provide the awful of the guitar classic “Apache” in our title sequence. (We took up guitar after retiring as a fun hobby to try to keep our minds working, but barring having some heretofore unknown savant-level talent, it was far too late in life for any hopes of being any good.) https://youtu.be/LEkYwrEEFJ8
I just got a little terrified thinking what the highest bidder is willing to give Draymond when realizing that the Wolves happily gave 40m+/year, 5 first round draft picks, 1 pick swap, Malik Beasley and Patrick Beverley for a guy who is a fraction of Dray on defense and an infinitesimal on offense.
Serious question here. General logic is that once you are in the bonus, you should be more aggressive driving to the basket in hopes of drawing fouls and shooting FTs.
Is there any evidence that this approach results in a quantifiable increase in otherwise non-shooting defensive fouls? Any fouls make during a shot attempt would result in FTs regardless of being in the bonus or not. Other fouls that would result in FTs in the bonus include loose-ball fouls (usually on rebounds), off-the-ball fouls (grabbing other players or fighting too hard through a screen), or hand-check fouls on the perimeter, none of which occur primarily because a team is being more aggressive driving to the hoop. I can see the small probability of increasing rip-through fouls and a few more fouls from bumps when one is ready to drive, but it's quite possible that this is indeed a small probability.
Perhaps the conventional wisdom of driving more while in the bonus is overrated?
Westbrook was 3/19 FGs, but he had the most off. rebounds (5 vs. Zubac's 4 off.), most assists (8 vs. Kawhi's 5), most steals (2), and most blocks (3 vs. Kawhi's 1) than everyone else.
OT: I don't have kids, but have nephews, nieces, and friends' kids who have been NBA fans from an early age; and should little kids who want to watch the playoffs really be subjected to that "Evil Dead Rise" ad over and over?
Westbrook has successfully reset the bar of expectations for him so low that he can go 3-19, play some defense and get rebounds, and all of a sudden he seems like Dennis Rodman.
Ooh, same tailor. is that why you never see the two of them in the same place at the same time?
So far this playoffs the worse seeds, on the road, have 4 wins, 4 loses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7HV2ut17OA
Brooding confidence.
A rare day when I have the time and interest to watch 4 NBA games, none of which are the Dubs. And yet I was entertained. Denver was Denver and obliterated the pathetic Timberwolves. Yea, that one got kind of dull.
And I found myself in the weird position of rooting for both the Clippers and Lakers! On the same day! Had to look out the window and see if it was literally raining ponies and orangutans. Nope! Phew! But still: weird. Conclusion: this year I hate the Grizz and Suns even more than the LA teams. I am at peace with that.
But the Giannis injury sucked to see happen. I hope he can play soon, the Bucks with Giannis are pretty fun. Don’t want to make things too easy for the rest of the East.
OT: For those who said “I wish Mr. & Mrs. Goofus would do more videos on trains”, your long wait and nightmare is over. Here’s a (under 5-minute) video of our train ride from Munich to the Rhine River. It includes a cameo from the terrible cover band, The Craptastics, who were also kind enough to provide the awful of the guitar classic “Apache” in our title sequence. (We took up guitar after retiring as a fun hobby to try to keep our minds working, but barring having some heretofore unknown savant-level talent, it was far too late in life for any hopes of being any good.) https://youtu.be/LEkYwrEEFJ8
Nuggets beat the Wolves 109-80 and go up 1-0 in the series. Nuggets should be able to win this series easily.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LaJ15ENuGo
This prospect should have a sign over his head that reads OBVIOUS FIT AS A WARRIOR
Rivers in the game? I guess Wolves have decided to raise the white flag.
I just got a little terrified thinking what the highest bidder is willing to give Draymond when realizing that the Wolves happily gave 40m+/year, 5 first round draft picks, 1 pick swap, Malik Beasley and Patrick Beverley for a guy who is a fraction of Dray on defense and an infinitesimal on offense.
No more upset wins for tonight, I guess.
Nuggets up 55-44 against the T-Wolves at halftime
Serious question here. General logic is that once you are in the bonus, you should be more aggressive driving to the basket in hopes of drawing fouls and shooting FTs.
Is there any evidence that this approach results in a quantifiable increase in otherwise non-shooting defensive fouls? Any fouls make during a shot attempt would result in FTs regardless of being in the bonus or not. Other fouls that would result in FTs in the bonus include loose-ball fouls (usually on rebounds), off-the-ball fouls (grabbing other players or fighting too hard through a screen), or hand-check fouls on the perimeter, none of which occur primarily because a team is being more aggressive driving to the hoop. I can see the small probability of increasing rip-through fouls and a few more fouls from bumps when one is ready to drive, but it's quite possible that this is indeed a small probability.
Perhaps the conventional wisdom of driving more while in the bonus is overrated?
Wolves are in the bonus for the rest of the quarter
Suns lose G1 and KD/Book both played 43+ minutes each. Yikes. That's like NBA finals level desperation in round 1.
Westbrook was 3/19 FGs, but he had the most off. rebounds (5 vs. Zubac's 4 off.), most assists (8 vs. Kawhi's 5), most steals (2), and most blocks (3 vs. Kawhi's 1) than everyone else.
OT: I don't have kids, but have nephews, nieces, and friends' kids who have been NBA fans from an early age; and should little kids who want to watch the playoffs really be subjected to that "Evil Dead Rise" ad over and over?
Westbrook has successfully reset the bar of expectations for him so low that he can go 3-19, play some defense and get rebounds, and all of a sudden he seems like Dennis Rodman.
Ooh, same tailor. is that why you never see the two of them in the same place at the same time?