Thank you so much for that Tecmo Bowl reference... holy that made me go down a rabbit hole of memories. I had no idea people were still playing and referencing it as recent as 2016. Bo Jackson, Okoye (as BKisforSF mentioned), Ronnie Lott, Barry Sanders, QB Bills, haha...
This was a great article on it. It's amazing that the essence of American football was captured by two Japanese guys that had never watched football prior... and they did it in a such fun, accessible way, without it being completely devoid of strategy. And the lasting effect the game had on lesser known players (that just happened to have some great seasons around 1990!) was a surprise to me.
Damion Lee is getting up pregame shots in Charlotte. Practiced fully last night. He looks likely to make his return for the Warriors tonight after a two-game absence because of a hip issue.
Let's see how the team is doing up and down the roster right now.
Steph Curry leads the league in +/- and is near the top of the league in scoring (28.4/game) and 3PM, even though he's shooting a below-his-own-ridiculous-standard 40% from 3. Some of that is because he's somehow upped his attempts from 3 to a career-high 13.3/game. Oh, and his defense is looking better than ever too—like many players on the team, his current DRtg is unbelievably (perhaps unsustainably) good, while his personal fouls committed are way down to 1.5/game (from a career average of 2.4).
Draymond Green is averaging a "triple single" of 8.8 pts, 8.3 reb, and 7.2 ast per game. (He's the only non-point-guard to have at least 7ast and one of 5 guys to have at least 7/7 reb/ast—the others are Westbrook, Harden, LaMelo, Doncic, and Dejounte Murray.) His eFG% is the highest it's ever been, due mostly to him getting to the rim instead of attempting 3's. And, of course, he's anchoring the best defense in the league (but hasn't had to do it alone).
Klay still hasn't played a game, but the excitement for that to change is increasingly palpable.
Andre is #36 in the league in total +/- despite playing a cool 20min/game. He's looking shockingly spry for the oldest rotation player in the NBA, is defending as well as he ever did, and still has magic hands. He's dishing out enough assists/game to compare favorably against his career average in 2/3 as many minutes.
Looney is rebounding and scoring better than he has since at least 2018, including a career high 17 rebounds a few days ago. Otherwise, he's looking pretty unchanged, which is just fine except that the rest of the team is looking so impressive around him.
Damion Lee has missed a few games, but so far has been shooting a career high % from 3 despite taking more attempts than most years and he's been in the midst of a lot of good plays on offense and defense including some clutch shots, and he's on track to be among the league's best for offensive fouls drawn.
Wiggins' scoring and assists are down slightly from recent numbers, but his efficiency is still much higher than his pre-GSW numbers. His defense looks stable but maybe not as stout as it did last year. With how deep this year's team is, he hasn't had to play quite as many minutes but he still came alive against his old team and he hasn't had a "bad" game so far.
Poole's break-out season hasn't been *quite* as impressive as the pre-season heralded, but he's started every game while Klay has been out, and has taken that opportunity to score more than before without being a defensive liability. His 3-point shooting has taken a dive back to 31% on as many attempts/36 as last season, which may be a product of getting more defensive attention and minutes against opposing starters. Still, his sleek dribble moves and finishes have gotten him to the rim at a good rate and he's using that to dish out assists in addition to getting his own.
JTA has had the steepest drop-off compared to last year's role, now reduced almost exclusively to Draymond's understudy. Even then, he's gotten onto the court every game so far for an average of 12.4min, which makes his stats a bit noisier to interpret. His shooting percent is down, and we mostly agree it looks like he's pressing a bit, but he still brings big energy every time he's on.
Wiseman is nearing a comeback soon, which brings a complex mix of excitement and apprehension from fans who have no idea how much of a leap his game sense has taken while rehabbing. If he plays like last year, there's probably no place for him in the rotation, but his potential is so great that the team has to at least try and see.
Gary Payton II is red-hot on both ends of the floor, but especially on defense. He's a little short on the rate cutoffs for most all-in-one and defensive rating stats, but with the way things have been trending pretty soon the stats will be reporting him as the best defender or maybe even the best overall player in the league. (Seriously: his sum total +/- is 7th overall for all players despite playing fewer minutes than anyone in the top 60+.) Not bad for a guy who was waived after training camp and barely made it onto the roster.
Bjelica is behind only Curry for total +/- in the league, and part of that is his blistering 50% on threes, the best there is. But he's also shown that he's way more than a spot-up shooter, with the ability to drive to the basket, kick out for assists, and contribute to the team's stifling defense and surprisingly good rebounding. He's not a rim runner or even a rim protector but he's looking like a perfect fit for the Warriors style at center in a comfy 15.5 minutes off the bench each game.
Otto Porter Jr. is also looking like a genius pickup for the front office, shooting an uber-efficient .652 efG%, corralling a superb selection of rebounds in his minutes while spacing the floor (45.9% from three!!) while playing smart defense and ticking off plenty of boxes in the stat sheet in a load-managed 16.8min/game off the bench—and so far so good on his health, the only missed game being a rest on a back-to-back.
Kuminga looks raw yet threatening, and his surprisingly good defense may make him a positive contributor to the rotation in less time than anyone thought. The jump shot is still missing and overall he's (as expected) a work in progress but a very exciting one.
Moody is also showing signs of being a real NBA player in limited minutes, including some smart defense, drives, and jump shooting. He hasn't yet forced his way past any of the impressively solid vets on the team, but he's already looking too good to be relegated to Santa Cruz.
In total, the season could hardly have started better; the team is one lucky bounce away from being undefeated. The team isn't even firing on all cylinders and yet their opponents are being blown out by double digits left and right. The early returns are clear: this team is a contender. If they hold up through this next road trip, all but the most stubborn haters will have to acknowledge that this team isn't just "a" contender but "the" best team in the league. Unstoppable, baby!
I've been a Wiseman fan for a while . . . but watching Evan Mobely makes me sick to my stomach in jealousy. It would have been beautiful watching Dray/Mobely play defense together.
Beautiful stuff Duby! I do expect a return to earth from our favorite heroes- indeed, I hope for it, as they will need some adversity to truly be forged into greatness. What this start does demonstrate, however, is just how elite their potential is. Exciting times.
Small but important knit for us Gen Xers: Okoye was the guy you ran over people with in Tecmo Bowl. Bo would just blow by everyone
Nov 14, 2021Liked by Eric Apricot, punk basketball
Apricot, the "New Explain One Play" URL is */subscribe. If someone is already subscribed, it should redirect E1P page or directly take to E1P page where subscription password needs to be added again.
Just wanted to go back and look at split cut videos. Looking at Joe's video. And I think 'modified' split cut is simply a screen and people running around 😃.
It was a three point overtime loss when Steve Kerr wouldn't put Steph back in after he'd logged two 12 minute quarters already. Big whoop. Steve Kerr makes no mistakes and this wasn't one. BTW, if you want a good laugh, take a look at the 538 season predictions.
Damn, that's a real nice play breakdown by Viray. Warriors able to mix and match their concepts and sets to a more advanced degree now that they have better fitting pieces and more continuity and it is messing with opponents' defenses. Thanks for including that for those of us who don't spend a lot of time on Twitter.
This road trip will be a good test. It may not be as hard as Duby made it out to be, since we don't play Philly on the trip (they're at Chase on 11/24) and finish the trip with Cleveland and Detroit (B2B) after the Nets game this Tuesday.
Jordan Poole is statistically struggling from beyond the arc at 31%. But he’s only taken 99 3PA so far, and is 6/20 from the corners, where last year, he was a 60% shooter from the corners. If he makes 2 or 3 more, his 3P% stats look better… and he’s killing it inside the arc. He’s gonna be alright, just needs some shots to go down.
It’s a well-known fact that artists suck at Pictionary. Tell them to draw a flower and they’ll spend the first 5 minutes drawing a beautiful vase before even thinking about the flower that goes in it.
Ok, here's the Game Thread.
https://dubnationhq.com/p/game-thread-damion-lee-will-return?justPublished=true
Not sure if I'll be on for post game, but hope to catch up in time
Thank you so much for that Tecmo Bowl reference... holy that made me go down a rabbit hole of memories. I had no idea people were still playing and referencing it as recent as 2016. Bo Jackson, Okoye (as BKisforSF mentioned), Ronnie Lott, Barry Sanders, QB Bills, haha...
This was a great article on it. It's amazing that the essence of American football was captured by two Japanese guys that had never watched football prior... and they did it in a such fun, accessible way, without it being completely devoid of strategy. And the lasting effect the game had on lesser known players (that just happened to have some great seasons around 1990!) was a surprise to me.
https://www.theringer.com/2016/11/17/16041044/the-legend-of-tecmo-super-bowl-8824647ea94d
Come on back buddy!!
> @anthonyVslater
Damion Lee is getting up pregame shots in Charlotte. Practiced fully last night. He looks likely to make his return for the Warriors tonight after a two-game absence because of a hip issue.
Let's see how the team is doing up and down the roster right now.
Steph Curry leads the league in +/- and is near the top of the league in scoring (28.4/game) and 3PM, even though he's shooting a below-his-own-ridiculous-standard 40% from 3. Some of that is because he's somehow upped his attempts from 3 to a career-high 13.3/game. Oh, and his defense is looking better than ever too—like many players on the team, his current DRtg is unbelievably (perhaps unsustainably) good, while his personal fouls committed are way down to 1.5/game (from a career average of 2.4).
Draymond Green is averaging a "triple single" of 8.8 pts, 8.3 reb, and 7.2 ast per game. (He's the only non-point-guard to have at least 7ast and one of 5 guys to have at least 7/7 reb/ast—the others are Westbrook, Harden, LaMelo, Doncic, and Dejounte Murray.) His eFG% is the highest it's ever been, due mostly to him getting to the rim instead of attempting 3's. And, of course, he's anchoring the best defense in the league (but hasn't had to do it alone).
Klay still hasn't played a game, but the excitement for that to change is increasingly palpable.
Andre is #36 in the league in total +/- despite playing a cool 20min/game. He's looking shockingly spry for the oldest rotation player in the NBA, is defending as well as he ever did, and still has magic hands. He's dishing out enough assists/game to compare favorably against his career average in 2/3 as many minutes.
Looney is rebounding and scoring better than he has since at least 2018, including a career high 17 rebounds a few days ago. Otherwise, he's looking pretty unchanged, which is just fine except that the rest of the team is looking so impressive around him.
Damion Lee has missed a few games, but so far has been shooting a career high % from 3 despite taking more attempts than most years and he's been in the midst of a lot of good plays on offense and defense including some clutch shots, and he's on track to be among the league's best for offensive fouls drawn.
Wiggins' scoring and assists are down slightly from recent numbers, but his efficiency is still much higher than his pre-GSW numbers. His defense looks stable but maybe not as stout as it did last year. With how deep this year's team is, he hasn't had to play quite as many minutes but he still came alive against his old team and he hasn't had a "bad" game so far.
Poole's break-out season hasn't been *quite* as impressive as the pre-season heralded, but he's started every game while Klay has been out, and has taken that opportunity to score more than before without being a defensive liability. His 3-point shooting has taken a dive back to 31% on as many attempts/36 as last season, which may be a product of getting more defensive attention and minutes against opposing starters. Still, his sleek dribble moves and finishes have gotten him to the rim at a good rate and he's using that to dish out assists in addition to getting his own.
JTA has had the steepest drop-off compared to last year's role, now reduced almost exclusively to Draymond's understudy. Even then, he's gotten onto the court every game so far for an average of 12.4min, which makes his stats a bit noisier to interpret. His shooting percent is down, and we mostly agree it looks like he's pressing a bit, but he still brings big energy every time he's on.
Wiseman is nearing a comeback soon, which brings a complex mix of excitement and apprehension from fans who have no idea how much of a leap his game sense has taken while rehabbing. If he plays like last year, there's probably no place for him in the rotation, but his potential is so great that the team has to at least try and see.
Gary Payton II is red-hot on both ends of the floor, but especially on defense. He's a little short on the rate cutoffs for most all-in-one and defensive rating stats, but with the way things have been trending pretty soon the stats will be reporting him as the best defender or maybe even the best overall player in the league. (Seriously: his sum total +/- is 7th overall for all players despite playing fewer minutes than anyone in the top 60+.) Not bad for a guy who was waived after training camp and barely made it onto the roster.
Bjelica is behind only Curry for total +/- in the league, and part of that is his blistering 50% on threes, the best there is. But he's also shown that he's way more than a spot-up shooter, with the ability to drive to the basket, kick out for assists, and contribute to the team's stifling defense and surprisingly good rebounding. He's not a rim runner or even a rim protector but he's looking like a perfect fit for the Warriors style at center in a comfy 15.5 minutes off the bench each game.
Otto Porter Jr. is also looking like a genius pickup for the front office, shooting an uber-efficient .652 efG%, corralling a superb selection of rebounds in his minutes while spacing the floor (45.9% from three!!) while playing smart defense and ticking off plenty of boxes in the stat sheet in a load-managed 16.8min/game off the bench—and so far so good on his health, the only missed game being a rest on a back-to-back.
Kuminga looks raw yet threatening, and his surprisingly good defense may make him a positive contributor to the rotation in less time than anyone thought. The jump shot is still missing and overall he's (as expected) a work in progress but a very exciting one.
Moody is also showing signs of being a real NBA player in limited minutes, including some smart defense, drives, and jump shooting. He hasn't yet forced his way past any of the impressively solid vets on the team, but he's already looking too good to be relegated to Santa Cruz.
In total, the season could hardly have started better; the team is one lucky bounce away from being undefeated. The team isn't even firing on all cylinders and yet their opponents are being blown out by double digits left and right. The early returns are clear: this team is a contender. If they hold up through this next road trip, all but the most stubborn haters will have to acknowledge that this team isn't just "a" contender but "the" best team in the league. Unstoppable, baby!
I've been a Wiseman fan for a while . . . but watching Evan Mobely makes me sick to my stomach in jealousy. It would have been beautiful watching Dray/Mobely play defense together.
"All gas, no brakes"? Nah, this team has brakes.
They use them on the other guys.
Beautiful stuff Duby! I do expect a return to earth from our favorite heroes- indeed, I hope for it, as they will need some adversity to truly be forged into greatness. What this start does demonstrate, however, is just how elite their potential is. Exciting times.
Small but important knit for us Gen Xers: Okoye was the guy you ran over people with in Tecmo Bowl. Bo would just blow by everyone
Apricot, the "New Explain One Play" URL is */subscribe. If someone is already subscribed, it should redirect E1P page or directly take to E1P page where subscription password needs to be added again.
Just wanted to go back and look at split cut videos. Looking at Joe's video. And I think 'modified' split cut is simply a screen and people running around 😃.
It was a three point overtime loss when Steve Kerr wouldn't put Steph back in after he'd logged two 12 minute quarters already. Big whoop. Steve Kerr makes no mistakes and this wasn't one. BTW, if you want a good laugh, take a look at the 538 season predictions.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2022-nba-predictions/
Damn, that's a real nice play breakdown by Viray. Warriors able to mix and match their concepts and sets to a more advanced degree now that they have better fitting pieces and more continuity and it is messing with opponents' defenses. Thanks for including that for those of us who don't spend a lot of time on Twitter.
This road trip will be a good test. It may not be as hard as Duby made it out to be, since we don't play Philly on the trip (they're at Chase on 11/24) and finish the trip with Cleveland and Detroit (B2B) after the Nets game this Tuesday.
Hornets stats:
Offense:
2 in points scored!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (113.8)
3 in points in paint!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (50.6)
4 in fastbreak points!!!!!!!!!!!! (15.2)
10 in offensive efficiency!!
18 in shooting % (44.7%)
3 in three point % !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (37.2%)
24 in two point % (49.3%)
12 in off. rebound % (23.3%)
26 in def. rebound % (74.7%)
29 in total rebound % (47.9%)
23 in opponent blocks (5.6)
19 in opponent steals (8.4)
4 in assists!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (26.1)
10 in turnovers!! (13.9)
Defense:
30 in points allowed (116.0)
27 in opponent points in paint (48.3)
21 in opponent fastbreak points (13.4)
27 in defensive efficiency
27 in opponent shooting % (46.7%)
19 in opponent three point % (35.1%)
30 in opponent two point % (55.9%)
15 in blocks (4.9)
4 in steals!!!!!!!!!!!!! (9.5)
28 in opponent assists (25.9)
6 in opponent turnovers!!!!!!!!! (16.8)
Jordan Poole is statistically struggling from beyond the arc at 31%. But he’s only taken 99 3PA so far, and is 6/20 from the corners, where last year, he was a 60% shooter from the corners. If he makes 2 or 3 more, his 3P% stats look better… and he’s killing it inside the arc. He’s gonna be alright, just needs some shots to go down.
It’s a well-known fact that artists suck at Pictionary. Tell them to draw a flower and they’ll spend the first 5 minutes drawing a beautiful vase before even thinking about the flower that goes in it.
Steph Curry and the Deathly 3 Pointers:
Where he currently stands: 2896
Magic number to pass Allen: 78
3's this season total: 64
3's per game thus far: 5.3
Additional games needed at this pace: 15
Record-breaking game at current pace: December 13th at Indiana