The article's casual dismissal of some top-level teams is noted in the permanent record. Utah begs to differ. Suns about to have their say. We shall see.
So, just looking at the standings a bit, yowch. The East/West dichotomy feels swapped this year. The East is something like 13 teams deep while the West only has about 7 teams worth consideration, and we don't even have to play against the scariest one!
The resurgent Heat and the suddenly-relevant Bulls are quite the sight, but what really gets me is how Charlotte and Washington are both top-5 records over there too, and you can't discount the Knicks or Cavaliers either. Plus teams like Toronto, Boston, Philly, Atlanta, and even Indiana haven't fallen over and died, either. I'd favor all of those against the T-Wolves, Kings, or Spurs—and even the East's bottom-feeders (Detroit, Orlando) are looking way hotter than the West's (N'Orleans, Houston). OKC and LAL are funny because the former was supposed to be at the bottom of the tank while the latter was supposed to be a contender, but they're one game apart in the "play-in zone" right now and OKC has the advantage 2-0 head-to-head.
Oh yeah, and finally: my haven't-watched-any-of-their-games hot take on the 76ers is that Ben Simmons was clearly holding back star player Seth Curry, who's now unleashed and putting the league on notice.
You love to see guys stepping up. The third quarter burst lives even without Steph & Draymond! That was awesome. Bjelica was also huge for us in this game. I continue to be impressed at how solid his drives are. Looney had a bit of a rough game (still 11 rebounds though)—he definitely looked winded down the stretch, and couldn't help but foul on some of those drives, but even before that he was fumbling passes and failing to finish shots that he normally cleans up no problem. I'm relieved it didn't go to overtime, because I don't like our odds with the team out of gas at the end of the trip.
Gary Payton II continues to be a revelation: did you know he's now logged enough minutes to show up on 538's list of players, where he's currently #1 in overall RAPTOR and #16 in RAPTOR WAR (based on playing fewer minutes)? Those stats are a little unreliable but other stats are saying similar things about his otherworldly impact: he's just slightly below the rate cutoff for many of BBall-ref's advanced stats, but in the unfiltered list his Box Plus Minus is behind a bunch of guys who've played like 10 minutes each and a handful of MVP candidates; defensive BPM has him behind only Jokic and a couple small sample size numbers; and his steal% would lead the league if he had enough minutes to qualify. In short: KEEP PLAYING THIS GUY.
Credit to Kerr for the gutsy gamble to rest 4 key contributors and still give us enough margin to come away with the W. That's some extremely high-level coaching right there.
HEY GUYS WE'RE 1-0 IN GAMES WHERE STEPH CURRY SITS AND 14-2 WITHOUT KLAY THOMPSON. WHO NEEDS THE SPLASH BROS ANYWAY?? 😆
Hey, I went over to ''Lost Nation'' to REC a comment SLEEPY made about Poole being better on defense this year, and, guess what...my password wouldn't get me in...LOL
Draymond stayed in Michigan to watch his beloved Spartans take on Ohio State in football. It's currently 42-0 in favor of Ohio State with 7 minutes to go in the second quarter.
Loved it. Folks thought the Dubs would fall out of best-record in the NBA on this road trip, with NBA and ESPN paving the way with ''big test for STEPH'', and, did the Dubs get back ''too fast'' and so forth. Instead, 3Ws out 4, 14-2, Second Unit keeping excellence/winning alive, 100+ ppg streak going, team point differential still league-leading by a mile, and, oh, yeah, STEPH emerges as NUMERO UNO MVP candidate, and, a BONUS, the PERENNIAL MVP of the last 8 years takes over the NUMERO UNO scoring lead.
Omg, did you guys see what happened during the Schroder interview last night? Some editor put "y'all paying russ $44 million lol" in the graphic below him on live TV. This is hilarious!!
Great breakdown of the CLE Q4 and Steph gravity by Thinking Basketball: https://youtu.be/Qq-ewGMk73A
Mychel Mulder got a highlight for Orlando on NBA game time just now.
Minnesota crushes Memphis and suddenly has the sixth(!) best point differential in the West. Sign of the ant-pocalypse?
The article's casual dismissal of some top-level teams is noted in the permanent record. Utah begs to differ. Suns about to have their say. We shall see.
Hornets v Hawks starting on nba to
Why no update on Wiseman?
So, just looking at the standings a bit, yowch. The East/West dichotomy feels swapped this year. The East is something like 13 teams deep while the West only has about 7 teams worth consideration, and we don't even have to play against the scariest one!
The resurgent Heat and the suddenly-relevant Bulls are quite the sight, but what really gets me is how Charlotte and Washington are both top-5 records over there too, and you can't discount the Knicks or Cavaliers either. Plus teams like Toronto, Boston, Philly, Atlanta, and even Indiana haven't fallen over and died, either. I'd favor all of those against the T-Wolves, Kings, or Spurs—and even the East's bottom-feeders (Detroit, Orlando) are looking way hotter than the West's (N'Orleans, Houston). OKC and LAL are funny because the former was supposed to be at the bottom of the tank while the latter was supposed to be a contender, but they're one game apart in the "play-in zone" right now and OKC has the advantage 2-0 head-to-head.
Oh yeah, and finally: my haven't-watched-any-of-their-games hot take on the 76ers is that Ben Simmons was clearly holding back star player Seth Curry, who's now unleashed and putting the league on notice.
You love to see guys stepping up. The third quarter burst lives even without Steph & Draymond! That was awesome. Bjelica was also huge for us in this game. I continue to be impressed at how solid his drives are. Looney had a bit of a rough game (still 11 rebounds though)—he definitely looked winded down the stretch, and couldn't help but foul on some of those drives, but even before that he was fumbling passes and failing to finish shots that he normally cleans up no problem. I'm relieved it didn't go to overtime, because I don't like our odds with the team out of gas at the end of the trip.
Gary Payton II continues to be a revelation: did you know he's now logged enough minutes to show up on 538's list of players, where he's currently #1 in overall RAPTOR and #16 in RAPTOR WAR (based on playing fewer minutes)? Those stats are a little unreliable but other stats are saying similar things about his otherworldly impact: he's just slightly below the rate cutoff for many of BBall-ref's advanced stats, but in the unfiltered list his Box Plus Minus is behind a bunch of guys who've played like 10 minutes each and a handful of MVP candidates; defensive BPM has him behind only Jokic and a couple small sample size numbers; and his steal% would lead the league if he had enough minutes to qualify. In short: KEEP PLAYING THIS GUY.
Credit to Kerr for the gutsy gamble to rest 4 key contributors and still give us enough margin to come away with the W. That's some extremely high-level coaching right there.
HEY GUYS WE'RE 1-0 IN GAMES WHERE STEPH CURRY SITS AND 14-2 WITHOUT KLAY THOMPSON. WHO NEEDS THE SPLASH BROS ANYWAY?? 😆
Hey, I went over to ''Lost Nation'' to REC a comment SLEEPY made about Poole being better on defense this year, and, guess what...my password wouldn't get me in...LOL
Don’t sleep on Toronto’s D. They are the poster child of a D designed to give the Warriors fits. Hype, hope, or reality we’ll see soon.
The Star Trek picture... all the cousins coming back for dinner after smoking a fat one.
Draymond stayed in Michigan to watch his beloved Spartans take on Ohio State in football. It's currently 42-0 in favor of Ohio State with 7 minutes to go in the second quarter.
Rough.
Loved it. Folks thought the Dubs would fall out of best-record in the NBA on this road trip, with NBA and ESPN paving the way with ''big test for STEPH'', and, did the Dubs get back ''too fast'' and so forth. Instead, 3Ws out 4, 14-2, Second Unit keeping excellence/winning alive, 100+ ppg streak going, team point differential still league-leading by a mile, and, oh, yeah, STEPH emerges as NUMERO UNO MVP candidate, and, a BONUS, the PERENNIAL MVP of the last 8 years takes over the NUMERO UNO scoring lead.
HOW SWEET IT IS.....
Great Stuff , Daniel. Poole is the real deal...
Omg, did you guys see what happened during the Schroder interview last night? Some editor put "y'all paying russ $44 million lol" in the graphic below him on live TV. This is hilarious!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zc_p6Ls6G8&ab_channel=RafProductions