Lots of stars to go around, i wouldnt mind 2 i actually like on the same team for a change. I agree it would be unfair... a little. 50pts in 26mins. is insane for a 20years old kid.
Chuck is going to love the 1:35 AM segment he has to do on ESPN the Ocho only to be interrupted by Screaming A.
Sixers on Monday lost by 17 to Miami Heat and with 2-11 record share with Wizards the last place in the NBA standings. 76th led 19 points in the second quarter, but eventually lost 89: 106.
So Joker is out on personal leave, indefinetely? LOL. I can tell them all, right now, when he is back. On a more serious note... hope he and his family are OK. Still... above holds true.
Can they forfeit before the game? Seriously if someone could pick these 5 out of a crowd of similar sized humans and give even their last names they should be given Courtside season tickets.
Watched DAL @ DEN. No Luka for at least a week (wrist). DAL was up 20 at the half 73-53 and you wonder what happened to DEN's D. DEN outscored the Mavs by 14 in the 3rd and cut it to 3 when Joker hit a 10 footer with 3:29 left in the 3rd Q. Crowd started to go nuts; DEN fans still expect their team to win these games. Can we blame 'em? Naji Marshall helped push the lead back up to 8. He had a really good game, and the Mavs began the 4th up 6. Nugs gradually whittled the lead down and then Joker hit Peyton Marshall for a corner 3 to give them the lead with 5 1/2 mins left. In a key sequence, the game tied, Lively blocked layups by Joker and Brick, within 30 secs of each other. Marshall hit a shot with 18 secs left to put DAL up 4. Then DAL fouled Brick once as soon as he touched the ball: foul to give. They immediatley fouled him again as soon as he touched it, and he bricked both FTs so badly that the first one barely hit the front of the rim and the 2nd glanced off the side of the rim right to Joker, who immediately hit Jamaal at the arc: swish. 10 secs left: DAL by 1. Why did Malone allow Brick to get the inbounds there? Brick will brick. He bricked badly. Kyrie looked like a globetrotter, but they caught him with 7 secs and he calmly sank both FTs: DAL up 3 with 7 secs left. Jamaal get the inbounds and is fouled with 4 left. You gotta make the 1st, miss the 2nd. He makes the 1st. He tries to miss the 2nd but it banks in. Jamaal shakes his head. DAL up 1. Tough luck: you gotta laff and both Murray and PJ Washington were indeed cracking up. PJ gets fouled, hit both: end of game. With around a minute left, Joker got pushed-thrown to the floor under the hoop and the refs missed it. I've never seen Joker so pissed off. I've also never seen a player berate a ref right in his face and not get T'd up. You wonder if the refs respect Joker's sense of fairness that the way he argued with them they just knew he was right, but what can they do? He didn't get T'd up and I'm sure the refs looked at the play afterward and realized they just missed it. The league will admit it, too. Jokic: 33/17/10. DAL spent a lot of the game beating the crap outta him, too. All in all, a good win for DAL w/o Luka, on the road. Their 4th straight after losing 4 straight.
GSW were lucky to get outta there with the win, 112-108. Draymond could've iced it with 2 FTs, but he looked like AD did last night and bricked 'em both and Trey Murphy couldda won the game with a 3, but it didn't go down. Man, the Pels can't catch a break with the injuries, which are ridiculous.
glad mccain went a pick ahead of ours, else this place would be bedlam about us missing out, despite our own rookie's solid start. funny thing is that pre-draft a lot of folks had knecht going in the top ten and mccain going to us. and i was like...i don't know man, a smallish guard who's not super athletic...well, he's doing just fine.
There's also a very specific stat line that Jr is the first to achieve in Chicago since pops did it in the mid 90s.
exhibit a on the importance of hoop iq, team play, and conditioning/work ethic. this guy had every bit of the size and skill tim duncan had, imo. just none (zero) of the right stuff upstairs. i doubt he has it now, either. it's weird to think that al jefferson may have been the last of this kind to have any degree of success. my dad and i were talking about this today, actually--that nba big men are too worried about learning to shoot the three and not worried enough about how to function as a hub of offense (screening, passing, orchestrating from the post, etc.). i watch dereck lively, and the difference between him and similarly athletic busts like wcs is primarily that he can make a simple pass or take two dribbles to get a pass or shot. hartenstein is the same way. these guys aren't crazily skilled like jokic, they just know how to function within an offense (and defense). okafor had no clue. i'm actually not sure embiid has much idea, either, but he's just so big and talented it obscures a lot of it.
Ant dressed down his teammates over their 8-10 start after a loss to SAC in MIN. Their 4th straight loss. They lost in TOR: your guys are better than that, Ant: you're right. They lost in BOS by 2 points: rough one, but understandable. Then you came home and lost to a HOU team that are 13-6 so far this year and all them young dudes were "up" for the mighty T-Wolves. But I hear ya, Ant. You don't like the general tenor of your teammates so far, two games under .500 and we all know y'all are way better than that. I've seen MIN look really good this year. Their situation reminds me of the Lakers a bit: you wonder what's going in in the locker room. But hey there, Ant-Man: your guys will right the ship. But - just puttin' this out there - if they don't, you always know you have a place to go: Los Angeles and Crypto. Who on the Lakers would talk to the press like Ant did? Not Lebron's style. AD is too much the sweetheart. AR might, but he feels like he's in the shadows of two superstars and besides, he's still a mere stalwart role player. Kobe would've already confronted a couple teammates, maybe made one of 'em cry.
Gawd, this is such a big, underrated deal for me: gimme a smart big over a wildly talented but d****** athletic high-fly act any day. There are quiet, smart role players that are the bedrock of winning teams. Workmanlike plays, no special sauces or exotic herbs in their meat: they just execute and read the situation. My whole life I marvel at these guys. They won't show up on a highlight reel unless they're unfortunate enough to be posterized or something. But they WIN. Screening, passing, orchestrating from the post, as abeer says. Boxing out. Not taking silly fouls. Smart outlet passes. Always contesting shots. Knowing when to leave their man to protect the rim. Making their FTs. One of the greatest rebounders of all time: Drummond. Was never a fan. Aside from the boards, his ballin' IQ never seemed all that high to me. (Not to ruin anyone's day, but let us recall Kwame Brown, who makes Andre look like Einstein.) A garish, horrific story from the past: Andrew Bynum. Rather than IQ, I'd just say: hopelessly immature. Maturity looks a lot like high IQ, admittedly. Bynum was always 13 years old. Probably still is. What a sad case. Knee problems, but those flagrant fouls that bordered on Murder One: a real red flag. Huge hoop chops but was an idiot. I have Julius as a Big who's injury-prone. But also erratic. Just when I think he's smart he does something not-so. I like Julius. But no way is he abeer's Ideal Smart Big. When we drafted him, I wanted him to have all that talent and be...smart. I'm still kinda on the fence with Julius. And I wonder how much of MIN's 8-10 start is due to Julius not totally jellin' in Minnie. Why does it look like Julius will be one of those Bigs who put up good numbers but played with 14 different teams and never won a ring? Now I'm not talking about Bigs so much, but spectacular players I don't want on the Lakers: I mean: we know who's who. If the Bulls are on and Zach Levine is playing, I watch because he's freakin' thrilling. One of the great playground players. Do I want him on the Lakers? Nooooo. (Remember Stephon Marbury? "Starbury"? How can you forget him? You can't, because 1.) he had major skillz, and 2.) no one wanted his losin' a** on their team.) Allen Iverson and Dwight Howard: one of 'em won a ring (with us, as a role player). Both led their teams - 76ers and Magic - to the Finals and lost. Both with their respective skill sets that were remarkable. Both were dumbos. Sad to see. Legends, though. Some talk here at Lakersball last year about Trey Young: no thanks. But I do love watching the guy. Would we win with him? I don't see it. Never did see it. Hope to never see it. LaMelo is beginning to look like one of these guys: huge numbers the past 10 days or so. 32/10/7 against MIA in a loss. 44/9/7 against ORL in a loss. 50/5/10 against MIL in a loss. Ladies 'n germs: say hello to the new Trey Young: LaMelooooo BALLLLL! (I think 'Melo is not stupid. Not sure about his chemistry and winning though. Bro Lonzo seems smarter, less talented and has had his injury problems that are quite sad. I think with 'Zo we will never really know.) Hell: for me, even Kyrie: he's made a thousand plays that took my breath away. He's stunningly talented. And he's actually got a ring. He got to the Finals last year. Still...Love watching him, not sure if he's worth puttin' on the P&G.
