This. It would be totally relatable -- and NOT. These guys should be able to do some crazy stuff, and the risk of injury would be very low. Maybe something like this -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1shK-j_u6LI
Ok, Sab got me peeking at the upcoming schedule. Dubs need to take it one game at a time, but we fans can make our optimistic picks for multiple weeks of upcoming games.
The homestand is Lakers, Hornets (SEGABABA), and Denver. Lakers will be missing Vanderbilt, who has been pretty key, and LeBron is saying who knows about his ankle, but reading the exact quote it sounds like typical gamesmanship from him, and I expect him to play and be healthy. But, it took them double overtime and FTs at the buzzer to win last time, so we should have a good shot.
Hornets have surprisingly been playing a bit better lately (3 wins in a row after a 10 game losing streak), but if we can't beat them at Chase, well, what are we even doing here?
I had to go back and check this, but we have yet to have Draymond in a game against Denver, and all 3 were pretty close, with 2 games coming down to the last shot. Draymond makes the Dubs better, so we definitely have a decent shot to win that one.
Next up is a 4 game East Coast road trip. The first game in DC against Poole and friends better be an easy one. At MSG will be a tough matchup, but I'm not sure if DDV will be back yet (out with a sore hamstring starting 2/14, so that would be 2 weeks to heal up - could go either way), and I hadn't realized they lost 5 of 6 including 4 in a row after a long winning streak. SC30 at MSG should be a show, so hopefully they can get that one.
Next is at Toronto on a SEGABABA, including getting through passport control in the middle of the night. Fortunately the Raptors are not that good this year, but I could see the Dubs dropping this game unfortunately.
They wrap up in Boston with a 12:30 tip off, but I'm sure they will be fired up, and they very well could have CP2 back and maybe integrated a bit by then.
I'm hoping for [edit, ugh, can't count I guess] 5-2, putting them 4 games over 500, it really depends if they are rested and focused and maybe the coaches did some scouting over the break to figure out how to play in the 4th quarter and maybe have a plan for when Steph gets trapped by a double (yeah, lightyears thinking here, right?).
The challenge will be if CP is back in a week or so, they'll have to figure out what that looks like - a CP3 /Klay second unit? Will he get Dario going as well, hopefully the break allowed the Big Homie to re-focus a bit. And, I also think JK was slowing down a bit just before the break, so hoping he gets back to his mid January form and starts destroying helpless prey again.
I'm curious to know what the smart folks here predict for the next 7 games out of the break.
Two more quiet nights after tonight, guess I'll catch some W-CONCACAF gold cup matches to pass the time.
Hornets will also be on second of a back-to-back after playing at Utah on Thursday, so if anything, that should give the Dubs even more of an edge, since they don't have to travel. Friday will be the first time since late January that the Dubs won't have to travel between games.
Two days later and I’m still enjoying that Steph and Sabrina turned the regular 3-point contest into the JV game way more than a magnanimous person would 😂
Minnesota Timberwolves G Mike Conley Jr. has agreed on a two-year $21 million extension, Steven Heumann and Jess Holtz of @CAA_Basketball tell ESPN. The Timberwolves keep Conley Jr. out of summer free agency and in backcourt thru 2025-2026.
I was one of the few that actually sat through most of the events all weekend and I would still put this participation trophy event on a teer below the regular 3 point event that Steph should have won but the rest of the weekend was so bad that this was even a "meh".
The Milwaukee Bucks are signing guard Ryan Rollins to a two-way contract, agents Mike Silverman and Brandon Grier of Equity Basketball told @TheAthletic. The former Warriors second-round pick spent time with Wizards this season and now lands with Bucks.
Was he eligible to re-sign with the Ws or was that not allowed because of the trade? I wouldn't mind seeing him get a second chance, since his first one wasn't much of a chance.
I'm really glad. I think he's got potential to be a disruptive defender and good (back-up?) point guard but hasn't gotten a chance. Rooting for him, though not necessarily for the Bucks..
How about a one on one s*it talking match. The league will have to use a bleeper for tv, but we’ll get the gist of it. I nominate Draymond. Also ex-NBA players can be eligible such as GP1.
David Aldridge talking about how to get the NBA back into balance, has a few suggestions, including:
• What if the NBA again allowed defenders to hand check the opposing ballhandler in the backcourt? This would cut down some — some — on transition opportunities but not eliminate them. And it would give defenses a few more possessions per game where they could fully set their half court defenses.
Thinking about GPII if they make this change, now that would be entertaining.
> What if the NBA again allowed defenders to hand check the opposing ballhandler in the backcourt?
Handchecking is always the first go-to thing about why the modern NBA is so soft. But I don't think it's the problem. The problem is a defender has to be LITERALLY perfect or it's a block. And even if they are perfect, if for example they are moving parallel to the offensive player and the offensive player jumps into them, it's a block. Forget the offensive player even using his hands, it's just having a body in the way of the offensive player that results in a foul.
The NBA loves to cite "marginal contact" in its reviews, but there doesn't appear to be any place for "marginal contact" when it's a player on their way to the hoop.
Why can't there ever be a no-call? It has to be a block OR a charge? So many times, the contact seems incidental and yet it has to be a foul. I think if they could fix this part of the game, it'd go a long way to rebalancing the offense and defense and result in a better product.
Upon watching the replay of the Steph “block” that Kerr challenged, I knew it was not getting overturned, despite Clarkson going straight through Steph’s chest… this is how the game is called these days. And yet, Podz does get the benefit of the doubt on those calls in a wildly consistent manner… but it’s ok, he’s playing the Lakers on Friday, so he’ll foul out on 6 straight 50/50 block/charge calls going against him, FML.
btw don't you mean "Forget the *defensive* player even using his hands, it's just having a body in the way of the offensive player that results in a foul."
Personally, I'd say overall yes, because it's going to affect the ball dominant guards more. Maybe not beneficial to his overall stats, but it might add wins. Steph's off-ball game is so violently opposed by other teams now, I don't think hand checking would change his off-ball movement much. Guys like Young, Lillard, Harden, Booker, Murray (and even bigger players like Jaylen Brown and KD) feel to me like they will have to change how they play more. Steph and Dray can adjust (hand checking Dray will lead to some hilarity, and giving Dray unchecked handchecking on the other end is just not fair) because they have so many options, and Steph is strong enough now that handchecking might improve his defensive stats, help him keep blowbyes to a minimum as he ages, and potentially offset any offensive harm. Also, GS just loves handchecking on D anyway - it might decrease their foul totals to something manageable.
> I don't think hand checking would change his off-ball movement much.
I think hand checking is specific to the ball-handler, don't think I've ever seen it called on an off-ball action. Given how much Steph gets grabbed/pulled/pushed/etc off-ball, hard to believe hand-checking rules are supposed to be applied.
I probably wrote that poorly. The point I was trying to make was that Steph already gets mugged all the time off-ball without it being called, even though those are clearly fouls under Rule 12(B)(I)(a). "A player shall not hold, push, charge into, impede the progress of an opponent by extending a hand, arm, leg or knee or by bending the body into a position that is not normal. Contact that results in the re-routing of an opponent is a foul which must be called immediately." What I meant was that returning the hand-checking rule would even the playing field a bit as to the traditional ball-dominant guards - i.e. if Steph can be grabbed all the time, they should be grabbable too.
Brooklyn Nets coach Jacque Vaughn has been fired midseason. Seems like a weird move considering the team has middling talent at best and has been injured. But morale is low and Mikal was angry after the team lost by 50. I guess BRK figured they don’t have their pick anyway this year so why not start the reload and give a new coach some runway in a low expectations half-season.
Man, tough out there. Jacque struck me as a good dude who was seemed good with the young guys, but if you lose your superstar, you are toast in this league. Maybe the Dubs can pick him up when Kenny gets a HC job for next year, and stick with the former development-oriented Nets coaches theme.
Especially down the stretch in the final minutes when they would have decent leads against beatable teams or tired opponents. He would get outcoached or misused substitutions and rely on the same 3-point plays.
I think the way to fix the all-star break is to not have it.
Have the NBA take a week off, and have a G-league IST that week.
Would ESPN and TNT show it?
Maybe not to start (you might have to give them incentives the first few years). But, I think there are enough NBA junkies out there that it would have a chance to catch on.
You could tie it into the NBA somehow (seedings based on NBA main team standings, perhaps).
I like this idea but it would definitely be a niche product, more tied to NCAA players than NBA talent. Overall though I would prefer 3-4 really creative experiments happening whenever in the year they make sense. What we have now feels like the safest set of event that can be squeezed into a predetermined media window.
I dunno ... you give the winners $500K each, the runners up $250K, and the semis teams $100K and those guys would go all out. It would be pretty entertaining basketball. That's a ton of money for a G-leaguer (ten years salary for the winners).
I guess the real problem is that college ball is more or less the same thing, and going on at the same time.
Generally agree. I was going to suggest changing the timing, and having the ASG the same weekend as the pro bowl stuff. Then, make it like Xmas or MLK Day for the Sunday after the Superbowl, with 5 marquee match ups to grab all the eyeballs that don't have anything to do after football. As it is, the NFL ends, and there aren't really any games for 2 weeks, so they miss that window.
Regarding the NBA-ASG (TS/DW Too Stupid/Didn't Watch), one good thing happened. Started off reading some DNHQ comments which somehow led me through the magic of the internet to see Tiger Woods new logo. I unexpectedly liked it. Who knew the ASG would provide such value?
It is mentioned in the article, the Dame quote about Curry having to do it without the talent around him. Well now, Dame is facing what Curry always had during GSW's title runs, pressure to win because of the talent around him.
Sunday evenings are our family night at Mom's so I missed the game. Just saw the score: 211-186???? That's ridiculous. Whatever that was, it doesn't sound like a basketball game.
Y’know I would actually tune in to watch NBA players in a game of HORSE.
HORSE, around the world, baseketball… with professionals showing what they can do in these silly games kids play would be an awesome engagement model.
This. It would be totally relatable -- and NOT. These guys should be able to do some crazy stuff, and the risk of injury would be very low. Maybe something like this -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1shK-j_u6LI
or maybe like this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBbf5Wb7wNI
That's real skill. I was just having fun. :-D
omfg you cracked the code! that would seriously be so much better than anything I've heard so far to improve all-star week.
Ok, Sab got me peeking at the upcoming schedule. Dubs need to take it one game at a time, but we fans can make our optimistic picks for multiple weeks of upcoming games.
The homestand is Lakers, Hornets (SEGABABA), and Denver. Lakers will be missing Vanderbilt, who has been pretty key, and LeBron is saying who knows about his ankle, but reading the exact quote it sounds like typical gamesmanship from him, and I expect him to play and be healthy. But, it took them double overtime and FTs at the buzzer to win last time, so we should have a good shot.
Hornets have surprisingly been playing a bit better lately (3 wins in a row after a 10 game losing streak), but if we can't beat them at Chase, well, what are we even doing here?
I had to go back and check this, but we have yet to have Draymond in a game against Denver, and all 3 were pretty close, with 2 games coming down to the last shot. Draymond makes the Dubs better, so we definitely have a decent shot to win that one.
Next up is a 4 game East Coast road trip. The first game in DC against Poole and friends better be an easy one. At MSG will be a tough matchup, but I'm not sure if DDV will be back yet (out with a sore hamstring starting 2/14, so that would be 2 weeks to heal up - could go either way), and I hadn't realized they lost 5 of 6 including 4 in a row after a long winning streak. SC30 at MSG should be a show, so hopefully they can get that one.
Next is at Toronto on a SEGABABA, including getting through passport control in the middle of the night. Fortunately the Raptors are not that good this year, but I could see the Dubs dropping this game unfortunately.
They wrap up in Boston with a 12:30 tip off, but I'm sure they will be fired up, and they very well could have CP2 back and maybe integrated a bit by then.
I'm hoping for [edit, ugh, can't count I guess] 5-2, putting them 4 games over 500, it really depends if they are rested and focused and maybe the coaches did some scouting over the break to figure out how to play in the 4th quarter and maybe have a plan for when Steph gets trapped by a double (yeah, lightyears thinking here, right?).
The challenge will be if CP is back in a week or so, they'll have to figure out what that looks like - a CP3 /Klay second unit? Will he get Dario going as well, hopefully the break allowed the Big Homie to re-focus a bit. And, I also think JK was slowing down a bit just before the break, so hoping he gets back to his mid January form and starts destroying helpless prey again.
I'm curious to know what the smart folks here predict for the next 7 games out of the break.
Two more quiet nights after tonight, guess I'll catch some W-CONCACAF gold cup matches to pass the time.
I’m all in for the Dubs going 12-1 in the next 10 games :).
Oops, fixed, but yeah, that would be nice too
Hornets will also be on second of a back-to-back after playing at Utah on Thursday, so if anything, that should give the Dubs even more of an edge, since they don't have to travel. Friday will be the first time since late January that the Dubs won't have to travel between games.
Two days later and I’m still enjoying that Steph and Sabrina turned the regular 3-point contest into the JV game way more than a magnanimous person would 😂
Three more days until we play the Lakeshow.
At this point, all I'm really hoping for is that Draymond isn't hung over on Thursday, and Klay doesn't hoist 25 shots.
A win would be a nice bonus.
Given how pissed off Podz was (apparently, I didn't watch) about the lack of effort in the all-star weekend events, I expect him to go off.
I dunno what wemby was doing during the rising stars game. He was terrible!
His cost podz an MVP!
Malika interview with Steph:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3pSsWwSz6E
Nothing that earthshaking, he still feels like he is in his prime and that the team's best is ahead of them this year.
Minnesota Timberwolves G Mike Conley Jr. has agreed on a two-year $21 million extension, Steven Heumann and Jess Holtz of @CAA_Basketball tell ESPN. The Timberwolves keep Conley Jr. out of summer free agency and in backcourt thru 2025-2026.
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1759640286165106838
STEPH VS. SABRINA THE MOST-WATCHED EVENT OF ALL STAR SATURDAY NIGHT!
NOT A HIGH BAR TO SET!
Hm...cute, it is what it is, but does not explain 53% increase and 10 million US viewers...So long as our guy is on top, who gives a sugar....
I was one of the few that actually sat through most of the events all weekend and I would still put this participation trophy event on a teer below the regular 3 point event that Steph should have won but the rest of the weekend was so bad that this was even a "meh".
Yep. I hear you. I saw them all, also. I must say, Lil MAC repeating was SPECIAL for me, were I not SUCH a STEPH/DUBS FAN....lol
It was 100% far and away the best part of the whole event. And the rest of the event was such terrible trash. Both can be true.
It’s like “Steph beat Dame in a 3pt competition, he’s so amazing!”. Yes, he is. And it’s not really a high bar.
eggshell vs cream! the most watched swatch of paint in the paint drying competition!
@ShamsCharania
The Milwaukee Bucks are signing guard Ryan Rollins to a two-way contract, agents Mike Silverman and Brandon Grier of Equity Basketball told @TheAthletic. The former Warriors second-round pick spent time with Wizards this season and now lands with Bucks.
Was he eligible to re-sign with the Ws or was that not allowed because of the trade? I wouldn't mind seeing him get a second chance, since his first one wasn't much of a chance.
I'm really glad. I think he's got potential to be a disruptive defender and good (back-up?) point guard but hasn't gotten a chance. Rooting for him, though not necessarily for the Bucks..
They've been "Targeting " him for a while.
If only Washington had klept him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlGCQ1uq5XE
Dame when it's time to play a meaningless game
This one's always fun to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh5encBojqM
New proposed event for the ASW:
1 on 1 matchup for different age groups
Rising stars from ages 19-23: If you win your matchup, you're automatically qualified for a super super max extension
Stars in their prime from ages 26-30: If you win you get a nice little ribbon
Fading stars on their way out: If you lose your matchup you're forced to retire after the season
How about a one on one s*it talking match. The league will have to use a bleeper for tv, but we’ll get the gist of it. I nominate Draymond. Also ex-NBA players can be eligible such as GP1.
My money's on Larry Bird.
David Aldridge talking about how to get the NBA back into balance, has a few suggestions, including:
• What if the NBA again allowed defenders to hand check the opposing ballhandler in the backcourt? This would cut down some — some — on transition opportunities but not eliminate them. And it would give defenses a few more possessions per game where they could fully set their half court defenses.
Thinking about GPII if they make this change, now that would be entertaining.
https://theathletic.com/5283050/2024/02/19/nba-scoring-offense-defense-balance/
> What if the NBA again allowed defenders to hand check the opposing ballhandler in the backcourt?
Handchecking is always the first go-to thing about why the modern NBA is so soft. But I don't think it's the problem. The problem is a defender has to be LITERALLY perfect or it's a block. And even if they are perfect, if for example they are moving parallel to the offensive player and the offensive player jumps into them, it's a block. Forget the offensive player even using his hands, it's just having a body in the way of the offensive player that results in a foul.
The NBA loves to cite "marginal contact" in its reviews, but there doesn't appear to be any place for "marginal contact" when it's a player on their way to the hoop.
Why can't there ever be a no-call? It has to be a block OR a charge? So many times, the contact seems incidental and yet it has to be a foul. I think if they could fix this part of the game, it'd go a long way to rebalancing the offense and defense and result in a better product.
Upon watching the replay of the Steph “block” that Kerr challenged, I knew it was not getting overturned, despite Clarkson going straight through Steph’s chest… this is how the game is called these days. And yet, Podz does get the benefit of the doubt on those calls in a wildly consistent manner… but it’s ok, he’s playing the Lakers on Friday, so he’ll foul out on 6 straight 50/50 block/charge calls going against him, FML.
btw don't you mean "Forget the *defensive* player even using his hands, it's just having a body in the way of the offensive player that results in a foul."
This! If you can stay in front of a player, you can stay in front of a player.
Is this not the most basic aspect of defense?
THANK you. Gray area please! More no-calls please!
This is so clearly the issue with the NBA since they "fixed foul baiting" two years ago.
Yep, that would be a good change.
There apparently is only marginal contact whenever Steph drives, but that's the only time there's a no call.
> There apparently is only marginal contact whenever Steph drives
...except when brutish Stephen shoves petite Jokic and it's called an offensive foul :p
Based on this video, it isn't one rule, but four different ones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01NsieAjzdU
The last one explains that odd call on JK when he repeatedly touched the ballhandler on the shoulder a week or so ago.
Personally, I'd say overall yes, because it's going to affect the ball dominant guards more. Maybe not beneficial to his overall stats, but it might add wins. Steph's off-ball game is so violently opposed by other teams now, I don't think hand checking would change his off-ball movement much. Guys like Young, Lillard, Harden, Booker, Murray (and even bigger players like Jaylen Brown and KD) feel to me like they will have to change how they play more. Steph and Dray can adjust (hand checking Dray will lead to some hilarity, and giving Dray unchecked handchecking on the other end is just not fair) because they have so many options, and Steph is strong enough now that handchecking might improve his defensive stats, help him keep blowbyes to a minimum as he ages, and potentially offset any offensive harm. Also, GS just loves handchecking on D anyway - it might decrease their foul totals to something manageable.
checking in to say that giving Dray unchecked hand checking would be like cashing checks (defensively).
> I don't think hand checking would change his off-ball movement much.
I think hand checking is specific to the ball-handler, don't think I've ever seen it called on an off-ball action. Given how much Steph gets grabbed/pulled/pushed/etc off-ball, hard to believe hand-checking rules are supposed to be applied.
I probably wrote that poorly. The point I was trying to make was that Steph already gets mugged all the time off-ball without it being called, even though those are clearly fouls under Rule 12(B)(I)(a). "A player shall not hold, push, charge into, impede the progress of an opponent by extending a hand, arm, leg or knee or by bending the body into a position that is not normal. Contact that results in the re-routing of an opponent is a foul which must be called immediately." What I meant was that returning the hand-checking rule would even the playing field a bit as to the traditional ball-dominant guards - i.e. if Steph can be grabbed all the time, they should be grabbable too.
Brooklyn Nets coach Jacque Vaughn has been fired midseason. Seems like a weird move considering the team has middling talent at best and has been injured. But morale is low and Mikal was angry after the team lost by 50. I guess BRK figured they don’t have their pick anyway this year so why not start the reload and give a new coach some runway in a low expectations half-season.
https://www.reddit.com/r/GoNets/comments/1aupm07/the_brooklyn_nets_dismissed_coach_jacque_vaughn/
Agree on your assessment on Vaughn. Not his fault; the NETS have been spiraling downward and rudderless for almost a decade...
Man, tough out there. Jacque struck me as a good dude who was seemed good with the young guys, but if you lose your superstar, you are toast in this league. Maybe the Dubs can pick him up when Kenny gets a HC job for next year, and stick with the former development-oriented Nets coaches theme.
From a comment at TA by, I assume, a Nets fan:
Especially down the stretch in the final minutes when they would have decent leads against beatable teams or tired opponents. He would get outcoached or misused substitutions and rely on the same 3-point plays.
Dang, he'd be perfect on the Dub's staff!
I was visiting a senior living community the other day and ran across this May 10, 2021 cover of the New Yorker: https://twitter.com/MattZeitlin/status/1389196354258415618/photo/1
What a colossal f'up for the Nets!
Made Harden look like DeAndre Jordan.
It's all Steve Nash's fault.
lol They were already s-ewed up with the folks they gathered, but, yeah, Steve walked right in that mess, and never figured it out....
I think the way to fix the all-star break is to not have it.
Have the NBA take a week off, and have a G-league IST that week.
Would ESPN and TNT show it?
Maybe not to start (you might have to give them incentives the first few years). But, I think there are enough NBA junkies out there that it would have a chance to catch on.
You could tie it into the NBA somehow (seedings based on NBA main team standings, perhaps).
to paraphrase that hooper from the Overtime Elite documentary, “that AllStar game was ass ....”
I like this idea but it would definitely be a niche product, more tied to NCAA players than NBA talent. Overall though I would prefer 3-4 really creative experiments happening whenever in the year they make sense. What we have now feels like the safest set of event that can be squeezed into a predetermined media window.
I dunno ... you give the winners $500K each, the runners up $250K, and the semis teams $100K and those guys would go all out. It would be pretty entertaining basketball. That's a ton of money for a G-leaguer (ten years salary for the winners).
I guess the real problem is that college ball is more or less the same thing, and going on at the same time.
Generally agree. I was going to suggest changing the timing, and having the ASG the same weekend as the pro bowl stuff. Then, make it like Xmas or MLK Day for the Sunday after the Superbowl, with 5 marquee match ups to grab all the eyeballs that don't have anything to do after football. As it is, the NFL ends, and there aren't really any games for 2 weeks, so they miss that window.
Regarding the NBA-ASG (TS/DW Too Stupid/Didn't Watch), one good thing happened. Started off reading some DNHQ comments which somehow led me through the magic of the internet to see Tiger Woods new logo. I unexpectedly liked it. Who knew the ASG would provide such value?
Steph Curry won’t stop hogging Dame Lillard’s limelight: https://deadspin.com/steph-curry-won-t-stop-hogging-dame-lillard-s-limelight-1851267852
It is mentioned in the article, the Dame quote about Curry having to do it without the talent around him. Well now, Dame is facing what Curry always had during GSW's title runs, pressure to win because of the talent around him.
Sunday evenings are our family night at Mom's so I missed the game. Just saw the score: 211-186???? That's ridiculous. Whatever that was, it doesn't sound like a basketball game.