Flip

I can't recall a pair of players that I've flip flopped more on than Zion/Ja.

If you gave both teams the opportunity to re-do, would New Orleans take the option? I have gone back and forth so many times on that question in my own head.

This is what it looks like. I'm not an expert, but it wouldn't really make sense for GSW to receive compensation.

I am also not an expert, but to me it really does make sense for GSW to recieve compensation. If the allegations are true, then Portland ###### them, and appropriate corrective action would be for Portland to compensate them.

Celtics got an extra 2nd round pick out of OKC in the Jeff Green deal (he had that heart condition which caused him to miss the rest of that season) at the trade deadline in 2013. It happened 18 months later, but it did happen. Meaning, there's precedent.

I'm Morant over Zion. They are both injury issues (Zion being much worse, obviously), and Morant has more playoff fit questions than Zion. Morant is a bad defender and there will be games where you don't even have to switch or drop on his PnR -- you can just go under (like the Celtics did today). But Zion doesn't play, and there's little reason to believe he'll ever be consistently able to play.

Kareem's Substack article about LBJ breaking his record. He concludes by advertising a jacket.

I can't recall a pair of players that I've flip flopped more on than Zion/Ja.

Yeah I think Zion is both better now and has a significantly higher ceiling than Ja, but I think Ja is the easy answer. Will Zion play 100 more NBA games? Probably! But maybe not?

Many of the participants on this thread were involved in an interesting fantasy exercise back in 2020…I think we called it the Corona draft.

I was planning to resurrect that exercise in a way that may or may not be interesting to folks (NBA 2K simulations) but just learned that I can’t add new comments to the old thread where the results of that draft were carried out.

I didn’t want to gum up this thread with something that is both fake and stale, so…

Would people on this thread:

A) prefer that I not post anything related to that 2020 draft in this thread; or
B) find interest or not mind if I add posts related to that 2020 draft in this thread?

Would people on this thread:

A) prefer that I not post anything related to that 2020 draft in this thread; or
B) find interest or not mind if I add posts related to that 2020 draft in this thread?

go for it.

there's usually a lull around the all-star break, so this is actually a pretty good time for something like that.

Well, then, by the power vested in Stiggles, here goes:

The 2020 Corona draft that several of us on this board participated in left--for me--an itch that never really got scratched appropriately.

It was the most fascinating and challenging “fantasy sports” exercise that I’ve ever done and I found myself less interested in who won the tournament and more focused on what some of these hypothetical matchups would have looked like.

With that in mind, I’ve decided to try to replay the tournament using NBA 2K23. This is not an attempt to re-litigate the outcomes of that exercise, but more as a way to supplement what was a really fun ride a few years back.

Here’s the particulars:
• The standard 2K player roster has a lot to choose from, but is not a complete database. Whenever possible, I matched the specific season that was drafted in our Corona draft with the player season in 2K (e.g., Kareem, 1971-72).
• In instances where there was not an exact match, I chose the 2K option that was chronologically closest to the season taken in the Corona draft. In our draft, MJ’s 1987-88 season was selected. In 2K, that exact season wasn’t available, so I used his 86-87 season instead.
• The exception to the above rule was that if the exact player season wasn’t available in 2K, I didn’t choose an option that was more than one rating point away from that player’s best available option in 2K.
• The general point was to adopt something that was stylistically similar to what was intended in the Corona draft, knowing that this was never going to be an exact science.
• Between the out-of-the-box 2K rosters and a pretty decent supplemental user upload I found, I was able to grab most of the players represented in the Corona draft. There were five players taken in the Corona draft that were not available on 2K. I tried to replace those players that were on the game disc and that were “close enough” approximations of the intended player. The goal was to try not to totally disrupt the drafter’s intent:
o Connie Hawkins ’68 was drafted by DCA but was not in the 2K game. I replaced him with Xavier McDaniel ‘88
o Mookie Blaylock ’97 was drafted by Baseball Obscura but was not in the 2K game. I replaced him with Tim Hardaway ‘92
o Luol Deng ’11 was drafted by NJ in NJ but was not in the 2K game. I replaced him with Kiki Vandeweghe ‘87
o Chet Walker ’72 was drafted by Dolf Lucky but was not in the 2K game. I replaced him with Caron Butler ‘07
o Alvin Robertson ’86 was drafted by Tshipman but was not in the 2K game. I replaced him with Otis Birdsong ‘81
• I left coaching decisions completely to the whims of the game, with two exceptions. One, I selected playbook styles for each team that the CPU saw as a “best fit” for the given roster. Two, I made sure that all drafted players had at least a 5 minute playing time target, consistent with the rules of our draft.
• I turned injuries off and game-to-game fatigue off.
• I plan to follow the same bracket that was used in the Corona tournament, but will play some games out of order so I don’t have to figure out how to configure a schedule in 2K.
• I will post a brief write-up and video link to each game, expecting to run a few per week.
• Finally, I mapped each roster to an existing NBA franchise, for the sake of simplicity. Here are the particulars:

JJ1986: Miami Heat (LeBron, Kobe, PG13, Billups, Zo, KAT, Artest, Majerle, Buck Williams, Eric Bledsoe)

Willard: Chicago Bulls (MJ, Dirk, Draymond, Glove, VC, AI, Ewing, Millsap, Sloan, Isiah)

DCA: Milwaukee Bucks (Kareem, Dr. J, Wade, Love, Stockton, Mikan, Xavier McDaniel, Noah, Detlef, Christie)

NJ: OKC Thunder (Curry, Howard, Reggie, Gervin, McHale, Iggy, Westbrook, Bosh, Vandeweghe, Dale Ellis)

Slivers: Detroit Pistons (Shaq, Nash, Malone, Grant Hill, Havlicek, Rose, Ben Wallace, Griffin, Sam Jones, Arazin)

Dolf Lucky: Atlanta Hawks (KG, Harden, Gobert, Kidd, Peja, Pettit, Dikembe, Hornacek, Caron Butler, Doc Rivers)

Tshipman: Portland TrailBlazers (Magic, Pippen, Walton, Rodman, Sheed, Terry Porter, Middleton, Hayward, Birdsong, Byron Scott)

Scott Lange: Houston Rockets (Olajuwon, West, Klay, Penny, Schayes, Arvydas Sabonis, Bobby Jones, Posey, Danny Green, Nique)

Winter: Boston Celtics (Durant, T-Mac, Ginobli, Baylor, Webber, Marc Gasol, Al Horford, McMillan, Tatum, Korver)

JTSports: Golden State Warriors (Bird, AD, Frazier, Jokic, Moncrief, Battier, Oladipo, Mullin, Thurmond, Elton Brand)

Hombre: Los Angeles Lakers (Wilt, CP3, Barkley, Rick Barry, Brandon Roy, Drexler, Odom, Pau Gasol, Lowry, Embiid)

Stiggles: San Antonio Spurs (Giannis, Kawhi, AK47, Yao, Kemp, Dame, Kyrie, Brent Barry, Gerald Wallace, Petrovic)

Obscura: Phoenix Suns (Russell, Duncan, Luka, Ray Allen, Bernard King, Marion, Amar’e, Tim Hardaway, Billy Cunningham, Dumars)

Harlond: Philadelphia 76ers (Robinson, Oscar, Pierce, Jimmy Butler, Simmons, Moses, Eddie Jones, Donyell, Cassell, Horace Grant)

Game 1's recap is incoming...

Game 1 (video link: Here)

Blazers (Tshipman) 0-0 @ Celtics (Winter) 0-0

Starting Lineups:

Blazers

Magic Johnson
Otis Birdsong
Scottie Pippen
Dennis Rodman
Bill Walton

Celtics

Nate McMillan
Tracy McGrady
Elgin Baylor
Chris Webber
Marc Gasol

Synopsis:

The Celtics came out cold and saw the Blazers jump out to an early lead, but slowly clawed their way back to a 2 point lead at the half. From there, steady shooting from the Celtics led to a 9 point lead after three quarters and a 13 point lead a few minutes into the 4th. The Blazers got it close towards the end but just didn’t have enough shooting. Final score: Celtics 118 (1-0), Blazers 110 (0-1).

Key stat:

The Celtics made 15 more three point shots than did the Blazers.

Nail in the coffin:

Kevin Durant hit a 3 with 45 seconds remaining to put the Celtics up 6.

Player of the game:

Tracy McGrady scored 29 points due to 5-12 shooting from deep and added five assists.

Strong in defeat:

Bill Walton had 35 points on 26 FGA and took down 16 boards.

Plus/minus yin/yang:

The Celtics coach boldly used Durant as a 6th man, but did so to devastating effect, as KD posted a 26/7/6 line for a +16 mark. Conversely, Rasheed Wallace was -15 in 16 minutes of action. Ball don’t lie, so to speak.

Bro, stop shooting:

Gordon Hayward was 1 for 7 from the field.

Finally, a note on the video link: I will post unedited YT videos from each game. Not that I expect anyone to watch a full game, but there was something entirely satisfying about watching Rodman aggressively pull down a rebound, casually flip the ball to Magic, set an above the arc screen on the other end, and then generally float aimlessly for the rest of the possession. That is why I wanted to do this.

That said, being an old person, I’m learning about how to actually use a PS5 along the way. Today I learned that PS5’s video recording limit is an hour, meaning this replay cuts off with about 7 minutes left in the game. From here on, I’ll just start the recording at halftime.

Next up will be the 76ers (Harlond) and Warriors (JTSports). Probably tomorrow.

With that in mind, I’ve decided to try to replay the tournament using NBA 2K23. This is not an attempt to re-litigate the outcomes of that exercise, but more as a way to supplement what was a really fun ride a few years back.

This is outstanding. Can you make the videos a higher resolution?

We should take bets.

Can you make the videos a higher resolution?

Yeah, I think I saw an option to do that. I’ll give it a try next time.

Amazing. I may actually watch the video.

Wolfs are shooting 75 percent from two against the Mavs tonight. Woof.

This is just sad at this point.

Only $78 million dollars more on that contract after this season.

Can you make the videos a higher resolution?

It looks like I uploaded the video properly, but it takes YT a long time to convert to HD. A better resolution version of this video should now be available and I’ll refrain from linking to future videos until they have fully loaded their HD versions.

Also, at a minimum, watch the first 45 seconds. Walton wins the opening tip, controlled by Rodman, who flips it underhand to Magic, who does a spin move in the backcourt with no defenders on him, presumably because it looks cool. Magic sends it along to Birdsong, who drives the right side of the lane before throwing a no look over the shoulder pass to a streaking Walton for the layup over three defenders.

who flips it underhand to Magic

I was amused at the announcers: 'Johnson drives the lane...Johnson gets fouled.' Couldn't they have programmed them to say 'Magic?' Who the heck calls him 'Johnson?'

Seriously, that was fun stuff. Looking forward to the next game. Beats watching the Hawks, anyways.

Lakers down 65-46 at halftime against the Blazers. Lakers shooting 3-17 from 3, whereas the Blazers are shooting 17-29 from there. Dame has 30 points, and has made 8-12 threes.

LeBron remains out, and the Lakers season continues to slip away.

LeBron remains out, and the Lakers season continues to slip away.

greatest player of all time.

                                                                   
Season                   Team   W  L   Finish               Playoffs
2022-23    Los Angeles Lakers  26 31 5th of 5
2021-22    Los Angeles Lakers  33 49 4th of 5
2020-21    Los Angeles Lakers* 42 30 3rd of 5         Lost W. Conf. 1st Rnd.
2019-20    Los Angeles Lakers* 52 19 1st of 5         Won Finals
2018-19    Los Angeles Lakers  37 45 4th of 5

2245. just go ####### 57i66135 them. Posted: July 01, 2018 at 08:18 PM (#5703365)

LeBron James has agreed to 4-year, $154M deal with Lakers, Klutch Sports says.

damn........he's gonna miss the playoffs this year, isn't he?

2247. jmurph Posted: July 01, 2018 at 08:22 PM (#5703368)
Of all the wild things you have posted in this thread, this takes the cake.

2355. just go ####### 57i66135 them. Posted: July 02, 2018 at 09:15 AM (#5703615)
okay, thoughts on last night:

i woke up yesterday thinking the sixers had a ~30% chance at signing lebron, but apparently they were already out of the running by that point.

lebron made a business and/or family decision, not a basketball decision.

jordan retired after his age 34 season. lebron is a year younger than that, but he's played 10,000+ more NBA minutes than jordan. as much as i hate that he's not a sixers, he's earned the chance to take an extra 2 months off next year.

2495. just go ####### 57i66135 them. Posted: July 02, 2018 at 06:15 PM (#5704124)
the funny thing is, we all know they're gonna get melo, too, right?

There are some pessimistic Celtics fans who think that Kyrie is going to join Durant in New York after next season.

the rumor i heard is that kyrie is joining up with butler in DAL.

Magic and Walton running a pick-and-roll

T-Mac alley-oop to Durant, immediately followed by Pippen doing it all by himself

Durant alley-oop to Webber

Magic with the fancy layup

This was a lot of fun. The game turned in the 3rd when Hayward started raining bricks while Manu (who was appropriately great off the bench) and McGrady got hot. Between the end of the 3rd and start of the 4th, Boston drained 5 of 6 3s (Manu and Durant had two each). Walton was a beast, but outside of Walton, Magic, and Pippen, TShip didn't get much from the supporting cast.

I was amused at the announcers: '

They also said the two teams split the series the previous season!!

2247. jmurph Posted: July 01, 2018 at 08:22 PM (#5703368)
Of all the wild things you have posted in this thread, this takes the cake.

Ha! Oops.

Looking back, that Lakers roster did have a bunch of talent on it. Ingram, Lonzo, Hart, Caruso, KCP, Kuzma, Reggie Bullock, Zubac. Of course a lot of it wasn't as young or developed as it is now. It also looked like it wouldn't be nearly good enough of a shooting roster, which ended up changing.

Sources: NBA 3-Point Contest participants at All-Star Weekend: Boston's Jayson Tatum, Sacramento's Kevin Huerter, Miami's Tyler Herro, Indiana's Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield, Portland's Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons and Utah's Lauri Markkanen.

Not a big All-Star Weekend guy in general, but probably enjoy the three-point shooting contest the most. A little less luster without Curry involved.

Dolf, I'm not sure how to address this, but is it possible to turn off home court advantage? Seems like it could be a pretty big effect. I guess you could select home court for subsequent games to try to even it out.

Dolf, I'm not sure how to address this, but is it possible to turn off home court advantage?

If there is a way, I haven’t found it yet. I’ve been operating under the assumption that HCA will balance out, but I know it probably won’t balance out perfectly.

I was pretty excited to watch Bucks/Celtics, but Celtics will be playing without their 3 best players. This doesn't mean they won't win, of course, but it does mean the game is much less interesting.

Game 2 (video link: Here)

Warriors (JTSports) 0-0 @ 76ers (Harlond) 0-0

Starting Lineups:

Warriors

Walt Frazier
Sidney Moncrief
Larry Bird
Anthony Davis
Nikola Jokic

76ers

Oscar Robertson
Eddie Jones
Paul Pierce
David Robinson
Moses Malone

Synopsis:

Both teams came out in a twin towers type look and the result was a slog. The 76ers took an early lead but surrendered it quickly after Mr. Robinson picked up his 2nd foul midway through the first. Throughout the first half, shooting from both teams was poor (under 35%) and the 76ers held a 44-39 lead at the break despite not hitting a field goal for the first four minutes of Q2. In the third, Eddie Jones found success slashing and driving while both teams otherwise looked hopeless shooting from distance. A dominant 3rd quarter was all that was needed, as the 76ers coasted to an ugly win. 76ers 97 (1-0), Warriors 82 (0-1).

Key stat:

The 76ers picked up 21 offensive rebounds (against 10 for the Warriors) and out scored the Warriors 54-36 in the paint.

Nail in the coffin:

Chris Mullin and Larry Bird bricked back-to-back-to-back triples midway through the 4th to erase any hope of an offensive surge.

Player of the game:

Moses Malone had 16 points (8 for 13) and 16 rebounds and looked unfazed by the presence of Jokic.

Strong in defeat:

Anthony Davis posted a 23/9/4 line and kept Robinson in check.

Advanced stats nightmare:

David Robinson only had 6 points on 11 attempts but his pairing with Malone clogged the lanes so badly that the Warriors had to rely on outside shooting. It was the right counterpunch, or would have been had Bird/Mullin not combined for 18 missed three point shots.

Taking his shot:

Oscar Robertson gives notice to the league that a triple double is within reach: 17/12/7. Better shooting from the bigs may clinch it.

With friends like you who needs friends:

I said yesterday that I would only capture the 2nd half and post it to YouTube. And that’s what I did, but that decision robbed you of seeing Ben Simmons blow by his defender and have an opportunity for a floater in the lane, only to kick it out to an open teammate in the corner. The only problem was that the teammate was Horace Grant. And the only other problem was that there were fewer than 2 seconds left on the shot clock…

Next up is the Heat (JJ1986) and Hawks (Dolf Lucky). Probably tomorrow…

I said yesterday that I would only capture the 2nd half and post it to YouTube. And that’s what I did, but that decision robbed you of seeing Ben Simmons blow by his defender and have an opportunity for a floater in the lane, only to kick it out to an open teammate in the corner. The only problem was that the teammate was Horace Grant. And the only other problem was that there were fewer than 2 seconds left on the shot clock…

Man, this game is realistic.

The only problem was that the teammate was Horace Grant. And the only other problem was that there were fewer than 2 seconds left on the shot clock…

ESPN just did an article on the "rule" of not throwing grenades to anyone but the primary offensive initiators. Good job Ben.

Eddie Jones in transition, then from the elbow. Eddie also had four 3s -- Jones absolutely wrecked Sidney Moncrief this game.

Walt Frasier to the basket

Cassell, Grant, and Butler running the perfect double ball screen

Bird from deep. Rare highlight; Bird was badly outplayed by Paul Pierce.

And you gotta love the upcoming schedule.

What you see here is Ben Simmons turning down a golden scoring opportunity so that he can dump the ball onto a teammate in a much worse position, which is as close to a "signature offensive move" as Ben Simmons possesses
[...]
You can't play Ben Simmons with a big guy, or as a big guy; he can be used neither with a guard, nor as one. Simmons has that broad player profile in common with virtually every cashier at my local supermarket. You can see the challenge this poses!

This is as close as a modern professional basketball coach can get to saying, "This player on my team is bad at basketball."

The ASG skills challenge has always been an odd duck, but this year, in a particularly arbitrary turn of events, the teams will be:

The Antetokounmpos: Alex (Wisconsin Herd), Giannis (Bucks), and Thanasis (Bucks bench)
The Jazz: Jordan Clarkson, Walker Kessler, and Collin Sexton
Rookies: Paolo Banchero (Magic), Jaden Ivey (Pistons), and Jabari Smith Jr (Rockets)

How we got here I could not guess; this seems like something that may have started with a good idea but got winnowed down to an incoherent final product by a committee.

They should have kept with the first team and had the all-"ić" team, and some other name-themed teams. Maybe all hyphenated team?

How we got here I could not guess; this seems like something that may have started with a good idea but got winnowed down to an incoherent final product by a committee.

This is particularly weird. I can only imagine it was a mix of "who can we get to do this" and desperately trying to come up with a theme.

This is particularly weird. I can only imagine it was a mix of "who can we get to do this" and desperately trying to come up with a theme.

and they didn't even get damian lillard.

• Finally, I mapped each roster to an existing NBA franchise, for the sake of simplicity. Here are the particulars:

Stiggles: San Antonio Spurs (Giannis, Kawhi, AK47, Yao, Kemp, Dame, Kyrie, Brent Barry, Gerald Wallace, Petrovic)

Harlond: Philadelphia 76ers (Robinson, Oscar, Pierce, Jimmy Butler, Simmons, Moses, Eddie Jones, Donyell, Cassell, Horace Grant)

i would like to take a moment to register my displeasure with this most outrageous of circumstances.

that is all.

I figured the best way for you to see the sixers hoist a trophy would be to not assign them your roster.

I ####### love the chaos that is All-Star Weekend being different each time. It's an exhibition where the principals are extremely rich, make it fun and do goofy ####. Have Giannis and LeBron see who can defeat more 5th graders simultaneously. Do a dunk contest on a rim that keeps going up. Have a dynamic NBA Jam court with a basket that doubles in size when a player hits three consecutive shots. I'm here for all of it, let's go.

Karl Malone is a dunK contest judge? Oh, that's just ####### dandy.

No duo has aged worse than Stockton-to-Malone.

Eddie Jones in transition, then from the elbow. Eddie also had four 3s -- Jones absolutely wrecked Sidney Moncrief this game.

Walt Frasier to the basket

Cassell, Grant, and Butler running the perfect double ball screen

Bird from deep. Rare highlight; Bird was badly outplayed by Paul Pierce.

These are like embarrassingly enjoyable to watch (I lost the brains to be good at video games almost half a life ago so I have no relationship with 2K). You're a legend for this, Dolf.

I want to add my voice to the chorus thanking Dolf for these 2K/yt simulations. It's a wonderful extension of that draft, and I really appreciate it.

Also, I enjoy that I can't quite tell if this is doing STIGGLES a kindness or a sick burn:

I figured the best way for you to see the sixers hoist a trophy would be to not assign them your roster.

(I guess the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive.)

The 2K simulation stuff is awesome!! Thanks for doing it. Hopefully I win it this time, and get vindication.

And the Sixers burn was great as well.

I don't understand why either the NBA or Malone is doing this ####. I would think Karl would want to fade into the background given both his personality and the circumstances and I would think the NBA would want the same.

I know the game is in Salt Lake and I guess the locals will appreciate it, but yeah, seems not great.

The game between Dallas and the Wolves was fun. The end sequence was some kind of defense. Kyrie had himself a 4th quarter and Ant had another game.

The game between Dallas and the Wolves was fun. The end sequence was some kind of defense. Kyrie had himself a 4th quarter and Ant had another game.

It was a real barn-burner. The Wolves couldn't miss for three quarters and then everyone but Ant and Kyle Anderson went ice cold in the 4th; Kyrie did the inverse and went nuts in the 4th. The last possession was some amazing defense by Ant and Jaden McDaniels on Kyrie and Luka, but also an interesting game of hot potato by the Mavs duo where they clearly weren't completely clear on what kind of shot they were trying to get for whom. It'll be fascinating to watch how well and in what ways the two of them manage to combine offensively as they get more time together.

Also glad to see that Derrick White, who has been absolutely crucial in keeping the Celtics afloat while Smart's ankle and Jaylen Brown's face heal, is probable to play tonight. He stayed behind in Milwaukee after last night's game to get his ear checked out for hearing issues after he got popped by Grayson Allen. (I wanted to be able to claim Allen is a dirty mfer for it, as I think he is generally, but the replay is a pretty standard loose ball grapple, just bad luck for White to get hit exactly the wrong way for his ear.)

Game 3 (video link: Here)

Heat (JJ1986) 0-0 @ Hawks (Dolf Lucky) 0-0

Starting Lineups:

Heat

Chauncey Billups
Kobe Bryant
Paul George
LeBron James
Alonzo Mourning

Hawks

Jason Kidd
James Harden
Peja Stojakovic
Kevin Garnett
Dikembe Mutombo

Synopsis:

The Heat started three killer wings, which would necessarily create at least one mismatch for the Hawks. As it turned out, that mismatch was Kobe vs. Harden, and it was a TKO. Kobe poured in 14 points on 6-9 shooting in the first quarter alone, while Harden only hit one of his TEN three point attempts in Q1. Accordingly, the Heat held an 11 point lead after one. It was still an 11 point cushion at the half, as Kobe scored 11 more points in Q2. He would either take Harden off the dribble in embarrassing fashion, or wait for a screen and then burn the switching big man in embarrassing fashion, or step back and hit a 3. The 3rd quarter swung back dramatically, due to Kobe playing more selflessly, Harden finally hitting a couple, and some strong play from Doc Rivers and Bob Pettit. The game stayed close in the 4th until LeBron began to force his well on post up play (and a continuing cold streak from The Beard. Final score: Heat 111 (1-0), Hawks 104 (0-1).

Key stat:

The Heat out scored the Hawks by six on fast break points, a figure that was undoubtedly helped along by the 30 missed three pointers from the Hawks.

Nail in the coffin:

Alonzo Mourning blocked a put back attempt by KG, and threw it ahead to Billups, who drained a pull up three to put the Heat up nine, with just over 3 minutes remaining.

Player of the game:

Kobe Bryant now holds the scoring high water mark, putting up 38 points on 16-26 shooting.

Strong in defeat:

Kevin Garnett had 26 points on 19 shots and 18 rebounds, and showed remarkable restraint by not strangling Harden, who went 10-35 for the game (4-24 from deep)

The GOAT?

LeBron seemed relatively quiet until hitting 3 or 4 big buckets in crunch time, generally using his size against a smaller defender. At the end of the game, however, the box score showed James with a 24/15/7 line.

Elite rim protection:

Mourning had 3 blocks for the Heat, while Mutombo and Gobert combined for 7 blocks for the Hawks. On two consecutive possessions, it appeared that Dikembe baited KAT into catching the ball on a PnR, thinking he had a clear lane to the basket, only to erase the shot from behind.

Next up is the Thunder (NJ) and Bulls (Willard). Unlikely to post until Friday…

Harden with a 3-ball. He even kicks out after the shot in the game.

Kobe does whatever he wants.

The Dan Majerle content you crave.

Kobe and Billups two-man game, then Kobe puts Harden in the popcorn machine.

Dikembe!

Lebron posts up Peja. Lebron posts up KG. Lebron posts up Harden. Lebron posts up KG again. Lebron with no regard for human life.

Nail in the coffin

I have to say that, despite the loss, the visual representation of my drafted team in the video game has like an 80% overlap with what was in my head. I would have expected Harden to drive more, but that could be a function of being guarded by Kobe.

And…if Harden shoots better than 17% from deep, it’s a functional team. Maybe I should have put Harden in a city with no night life…

A full Lakers squad beat down the free-falling Pelicans and they're two games back of a play-in slot behind OKC. The Portland loss was a bad one, but with so many teams scuffling, a healthy Laker squad (as healthy as can be reasonably expected) is very capable of making up two games.

I laughed at seeing the Lakers running out the 2021/22 Wolves lineup with Lebron/Davis in place of Ant/KAT. Looked pretty familiar.

OKC is actually good at basketball. They've been blowing the doors off a lot of people the last couple months. Them + Chet next year I feel like could be a top 3 fun team in the league.

The West is so interesting. If GSW/LAL/NOP are healthy, I think they can all give the top of the league all they can handle. I still don't fully believe in Denver. I respect what they're doing this year, but they have playoff flaws, and I think Murray and MPJ and their bubble run are all overrated. I've said it before, but they were outscored in the first round by Utah that year, and the shot quality numbers pretty massively favored the Clips in the series they beat them.

The West is so interesting. If GSW/LAL/NOP are healthy, I think they can all give the top of the league all they can handle. I still don't fully believe in Denver. I respect what they're doing this year, but they have playoff flaws, and I think Murray and MPJ and their bubble run are all overrated. I've said it before, but they were outscored in the first round by Utah that year, and the shot quality numbers pretty massively favored the Clips in the series they beat them.

I feel great about Denver's chances against anyone outside of GSW and PHX. I don't think GSW is particularly good, but I do think they are a bad matchup, assuming Steph's health. PHX I do think will be good on top of being a bad matchup.

LAC's shot quality numbers may have been better than DEN in that series, but considering the Nuggets are 8-2 against the Clippers since then with a healthy +68 scoring margin...I think it's fair to say the Clippers have a Jokic problem.

EDIT: Dolf, love the 2K recaps and am really hoping this provides vindication for my expertly constructed team!

LAC's shot quality numbers may have been better than DEN in that series, but considering the Nuggets are 8-2 against the Clippers since then with a healthy +68 scoring margin...I think it's fair to say the Clippers have a Jokic problem.


That's fair - Lowe makes this argument a lot, and I think there is some truth to them struggling with guarding Jokic. It's pretty SSS, and the Clippers best players have invariably missed a lot of those games - though so has Denver's. I'd argue it's just as much that the Clippers have a Clippers problem. Which is basically at no sustained point over the last 3 years have they played like a championship team, and they're running out of time.

love and the cavs are exploring a buyout. was i alone in thinking that cleveland could've maybe done a deal with his expiring contract? (did not try to think this through / have one in mind or a sense for cleveland's long-term obligations)

Just in time for the ASG.

@ShamsCharania
The Boston Celtics have promoted interim head coach Joe Mazzula to Head Coach.

love and the cavs are exploring a buyout. was i alone in thinking that cleveland could've maybe done a deal with his expiring contract? (did not try to think this through / have one in mind or a sense for cleveland's long-term obligations)

One of the strangest contract extensions I can remember.

One of the strangest contract extensions I can remember.

let's dig up the tape...

Just in time for the ASG.

The holdup was Udoka's contract, so I wonder if this means they've come to some sort of settlement with him.

The holdup was Udoka's contract, so I wonder if this means they've come to some sort of settlement with him.

We'll know more soon when Woj or Haynes tells us something like "Defending Eastern Conference Champion Head Coach Ime Udoka graciously accepted a buyout from the Celtics today to pursue other opportunities. With his spotless resume, he's expected to be the top coaching free agent on the market this summer."

Randle in the 3 point contest is hilarious

Imo, the three point contest should exclusively be the irrational confidence shooters plus one ringer.

***

I don't think the Lakers, Clippers or Warriors are real threats to come out of the west, but they could all screw over one of the real favorites.

As they say, styles make fights, and the jumbled together West means that there is a fair chance how well a team matches up might matter more this year than normal. And I think that is cool (and not a screw job).

How about the Russell Westbrook memorial "clanging 19-foot jumpers off the rim" contest. Let's see just how good these players are at missing.

I don't think the Lakers, Clippers or Warriors are real threats to come out of the west, but they could all screw over one of the real favorites.

I agree with this, but I'm not sure who the real favorites are.

Obviously Nuggets, Grizz, Suns if Durant is healthy are the top 3, but none of them seem actually good enough to be a favorite. I think the reason that LAL/LAC/GSW still seem like possibilities even though they are in various degrees of danger of missing the playoffs entirely is that LeBron, Kawhi, and Steph have carried teams to the finals before and appear still capable of doing so.

I think I am the only person in the world not super impressed with Memphis. The are a solid team, but I just am not seeing Championship quality. I could detail why, but honestly, it is more an impression than rigorous logic.

As they say, styles make fights, and the jumbled together West means that there is a fair chance how well a team matches up might matter more this year than normal. And I think that is cool (and not a screw job).

In an already interesting year, the reality you describe should make the last couple of weeks highly entertaining. Prospective matchups will change by the hour.

I tend to overrate teams like Memphis, as I underrate the differences between regular season and playoff basketball ... but I have concerns with them too. They don't have a top 10 player in the league and might not have a top 20 player. (I like Ja less than many do and the Jackson case requires you to really, really believe in his 2022-23 defensive play.) Tough to win a ring without a superduperstar.

I also think they are ... not the most flexible (optional?) team out there. They play their style and play it really well. But can they vary their style across a tough 7 game series as needed? I am skeptical. Or maybe I just don't believe in any team that the Wolves probably should have beat last year in the playoffs :)

How about the Russell Westbrook memorial "clanging 19-foot jumpers off the rim" contest. Let's see just how good these players are at missing.

It would never happen for obvious reasons, but a shooting contest among the worst shooters in the league (above a certain usage threshold to keep non-shooters out) would be riveting, honestly. Do it in rounds, eliminate the worst shooter each time, last man standing is crowned best of the worst for the year.

771 - and it's a style that i think is better for the regular season than playoffs. otoh, look at what they did with gsw. and you could argue that that toronto team wasn't built for the playoffs either when they won (apqrt from having leonard + that it was a weird year but whatever).

still, i'm obviously not counting them out - just wish they'd made a different move at the three at the deadline + kept melton.

I don't believe in Memphis because of Dillon Brooks.

I could write more, but it would not fully encompass Dillon's Brooksness

Memphis looked very good against Golden State. They also almost lost to Minnesota. They are good, and I think they’re good enough to where you say they’re contenders. But they are immature at many levels and they have a real implosion risk. Winning 3-4 playoff series is a real grind and will have tons of emotional highs and lows and I question their ability to navigate that.

Eric Nehm, Bucks beat writer for The Athletic, posted this Q&A ahead of tonight's game, where Middleton has been ruled out due to right knee soreness (what he's been battling this year).

Eric: With Khris out tonight, did he have a setback or an incident in your last game?

Bud: No, I think we've been talking about it each time I get asked, (we) just see how he responds, see how he feels the next day. He's not able to go tonight, so I think we're overall not concerned, but we'll see how he does over the break. We'll just continue to work with him, make sure he's in a good place when he plays.

Eric: As you guys keep progressing and give him more and more minutes, was this expected along the way? That he might get pushed a little bit too far and he needs a day off? Or did this come out of the blue?

Bud: No, I wouldn't say this was expected. This was not planned for. This was not - so, we just have to take it day-by-day and in some ways, that's how all the guys are. Just gotta check in with them and see how they're doing. So, again, I hope it's not anything to be concerned about or worried about, but just keep him good and healthy and see how he feels coming out of the break.

Bud: No, I wouldn't say this was expected. This was not planned for. This was not - so, we just have to take it day-by-day and in some ways, that's how all the guys are. Just gotta check in with them and see how they're doing. So, again, I hope it's not anything to be concerned about or worried about, but just keep him good and healthy and see how he feels coming out of the break.

In many circumstances, it sounds like this would lead you to shut it down and try to get fully healthy for next year. With the team trying to win a championship and probably needing him present to have a good chance, it makes it tougher to make that call. Add in Middleton's contract situation (PO for next year then FA) and it gets even more difficult.

What an absolute dogshit performance from the Wovles last night. My god.

What an absolute dogshit performance from the Wovles last night. My god.

I was watching this, saw the lead go from 20 or whatever to like 9, but still figured it was fine and turned it off. Can't believe they lost.

Game 4 (video link: Here)

Bulls (Willard) 0-0 @ Thunder (NJ) 0-0

Starting Lineups:

Bulls

Isiah Thomas
Michael Jordan
Vince Carter
Dirk Nowitzki
Patrick Ewing

Thunder

Steph Curry
Reggie Miller
George Gervin
Kevin McHale
Dwight Howard

Synopsis:

The first quarter was fairly nondescript, with Steph Curry finding a bit of a rhythm early and the Bulls looking more than a bit stagnant and disjointed on offense. The Thunder led by 7 after one quarter, with Curry leading the way with 8 points. In the 2nd quarter, Jordan went nuts, scoring 18 points. The outburst was to limited effect, however, as the Thunder maintained their 7 point lead, 61-54 at the half. Finally, in Q3, the Bulls cut into the lead. Both teams shot well (the teams combined for 74 points in the frame), but the Bulls were absolutely on fire, most notably Dirk hitting at least three shots from deep. It was a one point lead heading into the 4th. And while the Bulls had chances, most notably some wide open misses from Dirk, they just couldn’t keep up with the shooting from the Thunder. Final score: Thunder 130 (1-0), Bulls 120 (0-1)

Key stat:

The Thunder shot 52% from range (17-33), specifically led by Curry (8-16) and Reggie Miller (4-4).

Nail in the coffin:

With about 3 and a half minutes remaining, Isiah found a WIDE open Nowitzki at the top of the arc. Dirk bricked the three, Curry drove the lane the other way, got Dirk to bite on a fake, and slipped a pass to Dwight Howard for a thunderous slam, putting the margin at ten points.

Player of the game:

Steph Curry had 35 points and 8 assists and generally befuddled Thomas with his dribbling prowess.

Strong in defeat:

The three headed monster of Jordan/Dirk/Carter combined for 90 points, with each player registering around 30 (I think it was 33, 29, and 28). They seemingly took turns, with MJ leading Q2, Dirk Q3, and VC Q4.

The world’s most talented paper weights:

As a major “however” to the above section, the other two starters for the Bulls were dog meat. Isiah had two points on 1-9 shooting and Ewing managed 5 points in 38 minutes. Ewing was basically invisible for the entire game, often standing in the corner while the three guards ran a hand-off game above the arc.

Contrast of style:

Kevin McHale was probably wondering what to make of his opposing power forward, as Dirk rained down deep shots. But the long armed man from Hibbing stayed true to his understanding of the position, grabbing 18 rebounds and contributing one hellacious block of an MJ drive.

Things that made me laugh:

The game was a good reminder that at one time Russell Westbrook was a dangerous player, but never so dangerous as when he posterized Jerry Sloan so badly that Sloan fell over. Unfortunately, this happened in the second quarter and didn’t make it to video.

Next up is the Heat (JJ1986) and Celtics (Winter) in a matchup of 1-0 teams. With the holiday weekend and a busy Tuesday schedule, it’s unlikely that I get to it until Wednesday…

Giannis sprained his wrist in the 2nd quarter attempting a chase down block and seems like he may be questionable for the ASG. The other Antetokounmpos I'm sure will still win the skills competition, of course.

I was watching this, saw the lead go from 20 or whatever to like 9, but still figured it was fine and turned it off. Can't believe they lost.

Quoting this out of context as it works well for several Bulls games this year. At least they had the decency to fall behind in the first quarter yesterday and never threaten despite Giannis only having two points before departing.

I was watching this, saw the lead go from 20 or whatever to like 9, but still figured it was fine and turned it off. Can't believe they lost.

It was an amazingly gutless exhibition. Good lord.

OTOH, Bradley Beal has a beautiful shot.

783. TFTIO was writing C programs in the '90s Posted: February 17, 2023 at 10:03 AM (#6117573)

yeah, but what about fortran, huh tough guy?

Derek Bodner @DerekBodnerNBA
Workshopping ideas for the headline of my next column. It's currently: "What the F--- should we make of this incredibly good, but equally frustrating, Philadelphia 76ers team." I'm open to alternatives.

Derek Bodner @DerekBodnerNBA
"How to drive everyone crazy while winning 13 out of 16: A Philadelphia 76ers story."

Mikal Bridges has a chance to play in 83 games this year. I checked to see how close to the record it was, and it's shockingly not that close. The record is 88, for Walt Bellamy.

yeah, but what about fortran, huh tough guy?

Never that, but a surprisingly large amount of SmallTalk.

Carter to Jordan, alley oop.

MJ giving Reggie the business, and later slithers into the paint for two more.

Dirk from long range. And another. And another. And yet another.

VC shakes Iceman out of his shoes, Iverson to the hoop, and then the two get together for the highlight dunk!

Dwight Howard working for 2 points

McHale's big block against Jordan.

Steph Curry from deep. And another. And another. And another. And another. And another. Terrifying.

Nail in the coffin.

Nail in the coffin.

ah, a fellow nba jam enjoyer, eh?

Never that, but a surprisingly large amount of SmallTalk.

ehhhh...

783. TFTIO was writing C programs in the '90s Posted: February 17, 2023 at 10:03 AM (#6117573)
yeah, but what about fortran, huh tough guy?

I cut my professional teeth on mainframe Assembler. Old RCA machines that had transferred over to Univac. Punch cards, tapes and mountable 30 lb. disk packs that held 10s of Megs of storage.

We needed special permission to write a program that exceeded ~230K because only 1 mainframe could run something that large. By god, that was so much fun. I loved it.

Oh, and you could mount the disk pack wrong and get a gloriously horrible noise when you turned it on. Of course you’d lose your computer room privileges.

what about fortran, huh tough guy?

A real hard man would be wading through a mire of GOTOs in COBOL and laughing all the way to the bank.

A real hard man would be wading through a mire of GOTOs in COBOL and laughing all the way to the bank.

real talk:

gotos, if statements and object oriented bullshit are the root of all programming evil.


learn to write functions, people.

I am not going to talk computers in here.

At my first job, one guy referred to me as Easy Ed Macaulay, to try to get on topic.

Am I the only one who thinks the load management conversations are overblown? Yeah, there have been a lot of guys missing marquee games, but as near as I can tell, a whole lot of them seem to be real injuries or managing chronic pain or just illness.

Mac McClung may have singlehandedly saved the dunk contest.

Derek Bodner @DerekBodnerNBA

The Sixers are:
* 20-10 against .500 or better teams.
* 7-3 in games decided by 3 points or less.
* Have blown just 2 double-digit, second-half leads all year.
* 25-3 when leading at halftime.

So why are we like this?
And is our skepticism justified? dailysix.com/the-exceptiona…

The Sixers are probably the team I'd trust the most in the West. But they're not in the West. That plus the lack of playoff success given the talent on the roster I think are the big things. The conference competition and playoff stuff aren't things they can really address in the regular season.

When did the Washington Generals get a slam dunk slot?

I just happened to tune in. He was phenomenal!

The Bulls haven't been the same since Lonzo and McClung left the active roster in January 2022.