All this talk about Draymond "not changing his game" misses the point a bit. His prancing about and hand-waving antics after he found out he was ejected was embarassing and has nothing to do with his "game". Not to mention that childish ridiculous podcast. And the ill-advised appearance in the tunnel post-game to high-five his teammates in a downright silly show of "defiance". Draymond, seriously, you are not the victim here. This is really all quite cringe-y and stains your reputation. Prove your worth on the court, not off it.
I hated his rant on his podcasts. It suggests that he can't possibly change. "This is who I am!!" Nonsense. Wiggins was a more timid less engaged player, it was WHO HE WAS. And then? He changed, in no small part because Draymond pushed him.
Who a person truly is is a very core identity thing. It's not a complete change of identity to not grab people by the shirt when they're jumping. You can't change who you truly are, Draymond, but you can change what you do and say. Grow up.
BTW, I agree with these sentiments in that a lot of folks rationalize negative characteristics of successful people. Oftentimes they don't realize they were successful in spite of certain characteristics rather than because of them. Cults of personality are the perfect example. If you have spent a long time around ex-executives of Tesla you have a very different view of Elon Musk than a layperson admirer. You may still (or not) admire his accomplishments, but it's a very different view. A roundabout way of saying I think Dray can reign himself in, and should at times. It's ok to cross a line in a tense moment if one is willing to reflect back and learn from it... but he rarely seems to do that from the outside fan perspective. Perhaps it's a different story behind closed doors.
People grow and change all the time. Who one is, is not a set of behaviors. The real truth when someone says, this is who I am and I can't change is this: I don't want to change.
Sorry you hated that. Loved him greeting his teammates and his podcast. The antics was expected and lots of players would have reacted negatively at being tossed for that.
I don't know how high a solely Luka led heliocentric offense can take you, but by god it is ridiculous the consistency with which he guarantees offensive competency against every defense.
Dallas could go far with that offense if their D was much, much better. But we've seen sort of the limits of that approach with LeBron-Cleveland teams.
May 3, 2022·edited May 3, 2022Liked by punk basketball
It's kind of mind-blowing how many players in the league there are who I kind of coveted in the "Poole role" — Beal, Dinwiddie, Herro, Oladipo, etc. — who Poole is now better or way better than.
In the span of a year or so, he's raced right past all those guys to near- Devin Booker level.
Go back two years and there was a lot of debate of how D-Lo would eventually fit with Steph and Klay. He wouldn’t, but the arguments for how he could are being perfectly embodied by Poole now.
Exactly. Turns out the argument for a *Beal type* as part of the core rotation were pretty sound; and that “we don’t need another small, offensively beastly, defensively-challenged guard” was wrong. It just happened we had a better version of Beal sitting right under our noses. :-)
I mean... the refs called a jump ball on a play where somebody knocked the ball out of bounds because they couldn't decide who. That was an incorrect call by definition.
On the topic of Draymond's ejection and the meaning of his "I am never going to change the way I play basketball" tweet, here's a comment I made here on a Nuggets G3 post to (try to) discuss the mental aspect of basketball at this level.
tldr: wishing for Draymond to play his best with no ejections is asking him to be a better player, when he is already so good. You can wish for it, but acknowledge it's a greedy wish that will not come true. Given the choice between Dpoymond sometimes ejected and Ordinraymond never ejected, Draymond's tweet has chosen the former for you. The links above (try to) provide context for why it likely has to be this choice.
All this talk about Draymond "not changing his game" misses the point a bit. His prancing about and hand-waving antics after he found out he was ejected was embarassing and has nothing to do with his "game". Not to mention that childish ridiculous podcast. And the ill-advised appearance in the tunnel post-game to high-five his teammates in a downright silly show of "defiance". Draymond, seriously, you are not the victim here. This is really all quite cringe-y and stains your reputation. Prove your worth on the court, not off it.
I hated his rant on his podcasts. It suggests that he can't possibly change. "This is who I am!!" Nonsense. Wiggins was a more timid less engaged player, it was WHO HE WAS. And then? He changed, in no small part because Draymond pushed him.
Who a person truly is is a very core identity thing. It's not a complete change of identity to not grab people by the shirt when they're jumping. You can't change who you truly are, Draymond, but you can change what you do and say. Grow up.
BTW, I agree with these sentiments in that a lot of folks rationalize negative characteristics of successful people. Oftentimes they don't realize they were successful in spite of certain characteristics rather than because of them. Cults of personality are the perfect example. If you have spent a long time around ex-executives of Tesla you have a very different view of Elon Musk than a layperson admirer. You may still (or not) admire his accomplishments, but it's a very different view. A roundabout way of saying I think Dray can reign himself in, and should at times. It's ok to cross a line in a tense moment if one is willing to reflect back and learn from it... but he rarely seems to do that from the outside fan perspective. Perhaps it's a different story behind closed doors.
People grow and change all the time. Who one is, is not a set of behaviors. The real truth when someone says, this is who I am and I can't change is this: I don't want to change.
Isn’t Memphis a big Pro Wrestling town? Maybe that’s Draymond knowing and playing to his audience.
Sorry you hated that. Loved him greeting his teammates and his podcast. The antics was expected and lots of players would have reacted negatively at being tossed for that.
Well, they made it enough of a game that they could justify fouling over and over again to end it.
Suns making 100% of their free throws every game is so fucking irritating.
us shooting 69.5% in the playoffs is also so fucking irritating
Hah, yes. That was my implication. ;-)
Ah well in that case, the suns making 100% of their free throws every game is independently so fucking irritating
Not taking 3s down 8 with 50 seconds to go is certainly an interesting choice. By interesting I mean ridiculous.
Sun are 3-0 against the Mavericks in the regular season.
They looked very over matched.
Decided to check out a couple minutes of the Mavs-Suns. In the short time I watched, Phoenix took 7 shots, Dallas 2. I feel like the suns got this.
I don't know how high a solely Luka led heliocentric offense can take you, but by god it is ridiculous the consistency with which he guarantees offensive competency against every defense.
Dallas could go far with that offense if their D was much, much better. But we've seen sort of the limits of that approach with LeBron-Cleveland teams.
I appreciate the use of heliocentric in all comments that are Suns adjacent.
What would a geocentric offense look like?
The Big Aristotle
The Denver Nuggets.
Lol crowder ignored CP3 😂
It's kind of mind-blowing how many players in the league there are who I kind of coveted in the "Poole role" — Beal, Dinwiddie, Herro, Oladipo, etc. — who Poole is now better or way better than.
In the span of a year or so, he's raced right past all those guys to near- Devin Booker level.
Go back two years and there was a lot of debate of how D-Lo would eventually fit with Steph and Klay. He wouldn’t, but the arguments for how he could are being perfectly embodied by Poole now.
Exactly. Turns out the argument for a *Beal type* as part of the core rotation were pretty sound; and that “we don’t need another small, offensively beastly, defensively-challenged guard” was wrong. It just happened we had a better version of Beal sitting right under our noses. :-)
Yes and no. If we have to give up talent and depth at other positions, it could really hurt us.
Lol a bit much
Book wishes
To the NBA: you're telling me that McGee foul was less dangerous than the Draymond one?
I seriously cannot believe Kleber didn’t get badly injured on that. What did they call that, an F1?
Common foul lol. Not even an F1.
😮😮😮
Dallas is looking very overwhelmed by the Suns def in the second half.
they're a 1-man show
For all of the talk of the suns depth I feel like our second unit will tear theres up
Eh, Suns are a balanced 6 deep. CP3, Booker, 3x 3&D wings (Bridges, Johnson, Crowder), and Ayton. Javale is ok. Payne has never impressed me.
Is johnson a 3nd wing or just a shooter
Johnson is more 3 than D, where Crowder is more D than 3. But Johnson seems pretty mobile for his size.
That's probably because he's not that impressive. But kudos to him for making himself a useful nba player
I don't. But I think we match up pretty well with them, overall.
There 2nd unit against the mavs was payne, landry, crowder johnson mcgee
Yeah... given that unit includes a starter. I'd expect Poole, GP2, Andre, Porter, and Wiggins to take those guys pretty easily.
Definitely. Only we have a huge Steph Curry advantage
#Dubsin6
Well, going badly for Dallas! Time to find a defense or be destroyed!
crazy how much better the Pels did -- I guess the Pels youth and length really bother the Suns
For anyone dumb enough to care:
L2M shows JJJ with a uncalled 3s violation, Steph with an uncalled travel, and the ball off Brooks as the only incorrect calls.
Wasn’t the ball off Brooks a pretty big one? Glad they’re admitting that piece of obviousness at least.
I mean... the refs called a jump ball on a play where somebody knocked the ball out of bounds because they couldn't decide who. That was an incorrect call by definition.
I’m dumb enough, just don’t care
Doncic with 26 in the first half… but on 18 shots and 9FTs… he’s using a lot of possessions.
Brunson isn't being able to do anything versus actual defense. If that doesn't change, I don't see how this is a competitive series.
that’s their Playoff dilemma, when pressed it’s down to Doncic
On the topic of Draymond's ejection and the meaning of his "I am never going to change the way I play basketball" tweet, here's a comment I made here on a Nuggets G3 post to (try to) discuss the mental aspect of basketball at this level.
https://dubnationhq.com/p/preview-a-new-death/comment/6180025?s=r
If you'd rather hear it from an NBA player, here's Richard Jefferson on the 2016 finals. (Apologies that it comes from a Warrior opponent perspective.) Nothing from my competitive experience approaches this post's "Winning teams fight". https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/richard-jefferson-well-that-was-one-hell-of-a-ride
tldr: wishing for Draymond to play his best with no ejections is asking him to be a better player, when he is already so good. You can wish for it, but acknowledge it's a greedy wish that will not come true. Given the choice between Dpoymond sometimes ejected and Ordinraymond never ejected, Draymond's tweet has chosen the former for you. The links above (try to) provide context for why it likely has to be this choice.