*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

The 19-win curse is broken at least.

Garland is really moving toward stardom. Of all Cavs guards, he is the only one with the ability to read the defense at a high level, he's great in PnR and he's becoming much more confident in his shot, pulling up from 3 at will (but not always making). I wholly believe he was drafted because he was the best player available, but I don't even remember who was drafted #4 at this point. (This was the Zion, Ja, RJ draft -- one I definitely believe was rigged to facilitate AD to the Lakers, not that I'm completely mad at that).

(side note: how about those KNICKS?)

Isaac Okoro is a person who doesn't always show up on the stat sheet and you have to keep an eye on. Should the Cavs have drafted Halliburton? (A lot of teams should have.) He's undersized for a SF but I love that he will just go on the other team's best player and mess them up the way he does. Offensively, not superlative. I do love some of his moves to the hoop (he loves Eurosteppin'), his movement off ball and particularly, his lack of hesitation from 3 when he gets the ball in the corner. Ideally, a 3 and D guy, emphasis on the latter, where he is really showing up.


Vs. Warriors: started out promising; ultimately, everyone but Steph killed the Cavs at home (yeah he had 33, but he was bricking like shit from 3 (thanks to Okoro's defense, taking away his shots) and scored most of his points on uncontested shots and/or in garbage time). Freakin' Toscano and Wiggins. Love was not good from a scoring perspective. Weird ass lineups took Sexton out of the game when they were falling behind. Yet, he still ends up with an efficient 30.

Vs. Bulls: this was worse because 1) no Zach LaVine and 2) bullshit lineups leading to deficits because either defense or spacing was fucked. I see the Bulls' vision with Vucevic in the front court. The team plays a lot different with him in there. Coby trying hard to get out of that bench position. Scoring ain't quite there but I think he's a good passer, fwiw.

finally going to play Washington soon and that's probably going to be some Ls. Russ and 'em are definitely making sure they get in the playoffs, and our team's inconsistent shooting will mean that we'll likely finish just outside the play-in (my estimate)

Ultimately, the losses suck but there are some positive things in play. I really hope the Cavs could draft Cade (ideal), Mobley, or Kuminga. Green would be cool, to fill in the void left by "KPJ". I expect a fuil draft fucking to keep the Cavs out of the top 5 though. If that happens then I hope the 1st round pick is high enough to pick Scottie Barnes. Another "Okoro" only from the PF position (as far as scoring) but I see him as a Bam-like talent which might offset. With Kevin Love being good for spacing but not much else atm, and Nance being in and out of the injury list... a frontcourt guy that can make things easier for the team wouldn't be so bad.

Really want Cade though, because one thing I've seen in recent line ups is JBB messing around with the guards. While I'm glad he's back, Delly is a non-factor on scoring -- complete regression, which means if he's paired with Sexton what usually happens is Sexton draws offensive attention and can't really go nowhere with the ball. For versatility in lineups (esp. going up against teams like the Knicks), being able to swap either one of Sexland with Cade would open doors.

Absolutely not interested in Sengun in the first round, his offensive moves look cool in Euroleague but I think with the unexpected acquisition of Jarrett Allen (who btw, I'm glad is back) and Hartenstein (who fouls too much but passes quite well for someone not named Jokic) Cavs are pretty set at center, and he'd just be a rotation guy for a season or 2. Plus I don't know how he would defend at an NBA level. If we gonna go all in on a big who scores more than anyone else give me Kai Jones.

Wolves and Rockets deserve a rebuilding piece ... but knowing the NBA they're gonna make /some/ team richer.

>(This was the Zion, Ja, RJ draft --
>one I definitely believe was rigged to facilitate AD to the
>Lakers, not that I'm completely mad at that).

hit in the face with a bottle.
https://www.tmz.com/2021/04/19/sterling-brown-attack-assault-miami-houston-rockets-nba/

Scored 20 in only 7 minutes in the fourth. Fourth time out of five where he dropped 10 3s in a game. I'm kind of running out of ways to be amazed.

He's also only 219 3s away from topping Ray Allen for the most in a career. So he should have it relatively or next season. Or, at the rate it's now, before the season is over.

suffered a "setback" with his hamstring rehab yesterday and is "back to square one" according to steve nash. he had that thousand yard stare on the sidelines for most of yesterday's game against NOP *and* it's james harden who likes to play big minutes so i'm disinclined to believe any notions of BKN resting him via air quotes "injury" until the playoffs. this is probably a NBA title dream-killer for BKN unless he can somehow recover and fully rehab in a month or so. i think the best case scenario is that BKN gets a favorable matchup in round 1 and harden can come back just before or during round 2

the good news is BKN is still winning games without harden or KD. kyrie was lights out in the 4th against NOP. it feels like the team is truly well-meshed. shamet has been great over the past few games. uncle jeff is still trying to dunk on everyone. bruce brown makes a few pat bev/marcus smart-style "winning basketball" plays every game. the games are almost always close and decided in the last minute or so because BKN still can't defend consistently but they seem to be able to score and get stops when it really counts

I'm a little nervous but trust him and our training staff. Let's go.

and at the very least, fun to watch.

to end the season, I will be pleasantly surprised. Them winning a playoff series will be icing on the cake, but I'm more interested to see what they do this offseason than what they do in the present

I have to assume they'll look to package Knox, Ntilikina, and that Dallas pick into something. Hopefully that'll result in a starting point guard since that's been a glaring hole for the team at the moment. Pretty impressive Randle has been feasting this year give the heavy duty minutes he's been playing this season and the lack of a point guard to help set him up on the offensive end.

If things are 'normal' next year and Thibs goes back to his boot camp approach...Juls, RJ and crew will all hit the wall.

Are you saying they aren't practicing during the season? I'm pretty sure practices and shoot-arounds are still being held during this season.

all three were slandered heavy (by knicks fans) at the beginning of the season and then after the rose trade.

historically there's been a cap on how far Thibs and his style can bring a team, but right now? shit. what a great story.

Thibs is still on trial, as a is Rose....

but this win was amazing.

>Thibs is still on trial, as a is Rose....
>
>but this win was amazing.

>Thibs is still on trial, as a is Rose....
>
>but this win was amazing.

Quickley will need a mentor and sadly enough, Rose is one of the few Knicks on the roster that can somewhat consistently create offense for himself. He's shouldn't be a starter by any imagination and he's a defensive liability against top tier point guards, but I think he has use.

and it's easy cuz the drose and thibs redemption arc is a lot more interesting than what's going on in chicago at the moment

also, rose is a legend (in chicago). everyone is pulling for the guy.

We've been waiting for decades for the Pat/Oak/Spree/Mase/Camby energy to re-enter the Garden...now we got a whole ass squad with that energy.

I am holding Thibs at bay because of his track record, but I am impressed and excited.

i'm gonna go ahead and turn that shit off in the third quarter and watch something that's not depressing.

*final score was closer but they were down 20-30 for the majority.

Knicks and Pistons are a no-no.

I hear you saying all this in an absurdly thick Boston meathead accent.

Like you just sold grandma's ring for season tickets.

Same Thibs, just like it was in Chicago and Minnesota

He will put all his eggs in one basket with no true building for the future.

He will run players into the ground just for a few PO runs, and when
that runs its course the teams will be left with no future.

Randle leads the league in minutes played. Most nights he is playing
43 minutes, same with Bullock. Knicks have already lost one center
for the year.

Toppin sitting on the bench not getting any minutes, and IQ only
get minutes when one of the guards is out injured (like last night)
He does zero player development. He simply rides players into the ground.


Enjoy the ride. We all know how it’s going to end. Hate to be the Debbie downer.
But a lot of broken down bodies will be the end result.

>Randle leads the league in minutes played. Most nights he is
>playing
>43 minutes, same with Bullock. Knicks have already lost one
>center
>for the year.



Randle averaging 37.5 mpg (not 43 lol) the last 10 he only was at 43 once.. Bullock avg under 29 min this year..



>Toppin sitting on the bench not getting any minutes, and IQ
>only
>get minutes when one of the guards is out injured (like last
>night)




Toppin not ready for big minutes (Knick fans know this)


IQ been averaging 20 mpg.. and he often plays more because he earned it.




>He does zero player development. He simply rides players into
>the ground.


Drew Hanlen and the rest of the knick staff have helped the players improve their shooting in way i've never seen before.. the entire team has turned into shooters overnight.. players who didn't shoot the 3 well are lighting it up this season.. we don't even need to talk about the defensive improvements because that's obvious.



>Enjoy the ride. We all know how it’s going to end. Hate to
>be the Debbie downer.
>But a lot of broken down bodies will be the end result.


look around the league.. bodies will drop anyway.. may as well get the most from the team.. and thibs hasn't been as demanding as he was in the past. Like i said those Bulls & Wolves teams had no heart anyway..

You’re not paying attention.

Last year he avg 32 mins a game. Now he is at 37 mins a game,
and a lot of nights he is doing 40 mins.

Bullock and randle are usually the players with the most minutes played
in the game between both teams.

Game before last night:
Hornets vs Knicks : randle 40 mins

Game before that
Knicks vs Pelicans OT game.
: randle 47 mins! .. he was the only knick to go into 40 mins,
and led all players on the court in minutes! Even had 4 more minutes
than Zion.

Game before that:
Knicks vs Dallas.

Randle again plays 40 mins.

Game before that:
Knicks vs Pelicans again

Randle 42 mins

That’s 5 straight recent games of 40 mins or more! No megastar in the game today
goes through that without some type of load management. And he always leading
all players on the court in minutes played. And name me a game where he was
given a night off?


Again you’re not paying attention. Don’t say you weren’t warned. Same ole Thibs.

...such abuse!!!!

And on regular nights he is playing 38 mins.


Thibs only cares about the moment at hand. He doesn’t know any
other way. He is the Russell Westbrook of coaching

And btw, I hate the Knicks. Not as much as the lakers, though.

So at the end of the day fock them... LoL.

Run them all into the ground.

...which is usually a weird thing, but this year it makes sense haha

maintained the #1 defense with Lebron & AD out

Either way - super impressive. He's got these dudes buying in. I'm just happy they didn't fall off a cliff given AD/Bron + Kuz/Dennis missing some games. Going .500 with the big 2 out is unexpected.

*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

Russ...
https://twitter.com/statmuse/status/1385782480385372164?s=19

Remember when some of you sweetest of sweetie pies were talking about us in past tense?

Smooochies

and Looney is low-key balling out along with JP.

Right now it's Curry, Draymond, and a bunch of young, athletic guys. If Wiseman levels up next season? And Poole could on this pace? Shee-it.

Only thing that kinda sucks is the Wolves are so bad that they might keep their draft pick season. This team with a #4-#6 draft pick next season would be amazing.

>Right now it's Curry, Draymond, and a bunch of young,
>athletic guys. If Wiseman levels up next season? And Poole
>could on this pace? Shee-it.
>
>Only thing that kinda sucks is the Wolves are so bad that they
>might keep their draft pick season. This team with a #4-#6
>draft pick next season would be amazing.

...Robert Parrish? Wilt? Everyone on the team loves him and believes that in 5 years he'll be the best player and leader of the team, and possibly one of the best in the league. And O.G.s love his game too.

LaMelo does his thing, but he's a guard on an already guard heavy team. A team with two of the best guards to ever play the game. His talents are best served elsewhere.

>...Robert Parrish? Wilt? Everyone on the team loves him and
>believes that in 5 years he'll be the best player and leader
>of the team, and possibly one of the best in the league. And
>O.G.s love his game too.

Will Steph be there in 5 years?

>LaMelo does his thing, but he's a guard on an already guard
>heavy team. A team with two of the best guards to ever play
>the game. His talents are best served elsewhere.

Would LaMelo not be the 2nd best offensive player on the team right now?

Also, fantasy hoops needs to start ending at the all star break.

Kinda sad

>
>*skatin' the rings of saturn*
>
>
>..and miles to go before i sleep...

If someone gave you 10k to bet with, who are you rolling with as of today?*


*Assuming all teams are at full strength except for Denver of course

Brooklyn Nets +250 5/2
Los Angeles Lakers +350 7/2
Los Angeles Clippers +500 5/1
Milwaukee Bucks +800 8/1
Utah Jazz +800 8/1
Philadelphia 76ers +1000 10/1
Phoenix Suns +1600 16/1
Miami Heat +2500 25/1
Denver Nuggets +3000 30/1
Boston Celtics +5000 50/1
Dallas Mavericks +5000 50/1
Portland Trail Blazers +5000 50/1