Simmons out tonight for the Nets. Where Brooklyn at?? smh

Sacramento
@

Charlotte
7:00 PM

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Philadelphia
@

Washington
7:00 PM

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Indiana
@

Brooklyn
7:30 PM
NBA TV

~~~~~~~~~~~~


Atlanta
@

Toronto
7:30 PM

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Detroit
@

Milwaukee
8:00 PM

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Memphis
@

Utah
9:00 PM

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Houston
@

LA
10:30 PM

<---
Fuck a sig, my presence is enough.

<---
Fuck a sig, my presence is enough.

Fear The Turtle

<---
Fuck a sig, my presence is enough.

Team looks really motivated, almost as if they are rallying behind Kyrie. Nick Friedell (the columnist who had the viral exchange with Kyrie the other night) noted today that the younger Nets players really admire Kyrie and respect him immensely as a leader - and that he's generally very well liked across the board on the roster. You can really see it in how they are fighting tonight behind him.

Interesting way to galvanize your team but Nets are desperate for a win for sure.


-->

edit its back up to 15 but ...

this team is so unlikeable and they play such shitty basketball I often find myself rooting for the team without 3 players on Max contracts

Claxton has terrible hands. Joe Harris is a shooter that cant shoot, or put the ball on the floor. Ben Simmons thinks its a fashion show. just blah

>Team looks really motivated, almost as if they are rallying
>behind Kyrie. Nick Friedell (the columnist who had the viral
>exchange with Kyrie the other night) noted today that the
>younger Nets players really admire Kyrie and respect him
>immensely as a leader - and that he's generally very well
>liked across the board on the roster. You can really see it
>in how they are fighting tonight behind him.
>
>Interesting way to galvanize your team but Nets are desperate
>for a win for sure.
>
>
>-->

-------------------
I wanna go to where the martyrs went
the brown figures on the walls of my apart-a-ment...

All I'm saying is this is the most inspired they've looked this year, and Kyrie is playing great once again tonight (he's played great this year thus far despite the losses).

I still think they can turn this around, but I totally get why Nets fans would be disgusted at this point.


-->

Beating that team by 7 doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in me that they are on the right track tbh.

My movies: http://russellhainline.com
My movie reviews: https://letterboxd.com/RussellHFilm/
My beer TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebeertravelguide

-The Knicks’ coaching search still includes a lone frontrunner, Kurt Rambis, whose qualifications for the position include a strong relationship with Jackson and a willingness to take the job.

I know Luka has the eye popping stats.

And we’re “used to” Giannis but the man is averaging 34/14/6 as if that shit isn’t insane already. And also he’s winning without his #2. Just insane. Dude is on a serious mission to strong arm into that top 10.

------------------------------

17x NBA Champions

Bucks are the only undefeated team left in the league, and Giannis has put his imprint on every single game in such a dominant way. Also doing it with Middleton out.

Giannis is the best player in the NBA right now.

-->

<---
Fuck a sig, my presence is enough.

Nope!

ALL HAIL THE KING of LOSING: LEBRON
Bulls | Bears | White Sox | Yankees | Notre Dame | Illinois | Chelsea | Real Madrid

Lauri Markannen is playing like an All-Star player, maybe even All-NBA. Maybe the new coach is just straight up that dude.

I still highly doubt they hang on and make the playoffs, would be incredible if they did. They’d be the worst roster to make the playoffs in god knows how long. Credit to them for not immediately getting on board for the tank, I guess.

(Also, you never voted for your worst team, and I didn’t vote for the Jazz. But don’t let that stop you from thinking you have something when I include one of the two Vegas favorites preseason for next year’s #1 pick on that poll, lol.)

My movies: http://russellhainline.com
My movie reviews: https://letterboxd.com/RussellHFilm/
My beer TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebeertravelguide

Pistons got him for next to NOTHING. And he’s playing like a guy with an outside shot at an All-Star for Detroit.

My movies: http://russellhainline.com
My movie reviews: https://letterboxd.com/RussellHFilm/
My beer TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebeertravelguide

------------------------------

17x NBA Champions

None of what’s been available is a big enough difference maker to make it worth mortgaging what little we have left.

Best case scenario, we play the hand we have, as is, and let the chips fall where they fall.

We either get someone who wants Russ expiring badly enough to gove up something without us giving up picks, or we let him walk.

We trade Bron and AD summer for whatever we can get, and we at lesst have something to rebuild with.

We’ll have to rebuild in two years anyways, trading those picks just means we’ll have even less to build with.

------------------------------

17x NBA Champions

You’re not a Lakers fan.

So I’m sure you’ll think Lebron’s play-in berth will have been worth the squeeze when we suck and someone else is picking the player that should/could have been ours.

Or when we badly need to improve the roster *again*, and, yet again, we’re ass up over a barrel with minimal assets because it was more important to get Lebron to the playoffs for his one-and-done than it is to take care of the long term health and viability of the actual franchise.

None of these guys are worth becoming the Knicks.

They traded an Olynyk contract that only has 3 mil on the books next year and a player that Utah immediately cut.

My question wasn’t “why didn’t the Lakers mortgage the future to get Bojan?” It was a simple one with clear context. If a team got a good player without using a pick or even a real noteworthy asset, then how were the Lakers not in play for him?

My movies: http://russellhainline.com
My movie reviews: https://letterboxd.com/RussellHFilm/
My beer TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebeertravelguide

My statement was a simple one with clear context.

If a deal like that were on the table, we'd have taken it.

The Lakers Tax is a thing, Frank. Particularly considering this is Danny Ainge we're talking about in Utah.

And you know well that the only things we have of any real value, are those picks and Russ' contract.

They weren't taking back Bev. Nunn's contract is too small.

Who would we have dealt, to make the salaries match? Most of our team is newly signed free agents that can't be traded until December.

It would have had to have been part of a larger Russ deal, and nobody is taking that without those picks.

Teams know we're in a serious bind, need talent, have few assets, and want to crank up the asking prices on us.

But let's say that's not the case.

Why didn't, quite literally, anyone else jump in? How many teams could have used a guy like that?

Atlanta, Milwaukee (particularly given that Middleton is out), NY, BK, Phoenix, Boston, Dallas, there are a ton of teams who could use a guy like that. Phoenix and Crowder, for example, could have been the centerpiece.

So if you're asking this of the Lakers, I'd say that the same can be asked of nearly anyone else.

But I still contend that the Lakers tax is the biggest reason. Someone would have to be doing us a favor these days just for us to get a deal that anyone else can get. Our price will generally be higher, especially if we're trying to deal with Ainge.

has been Dennis Smith Jr. Good for him to bounce back in a sense. If memory serves me correct, he hurt his back around the time he got traded to the Knicks and wasn't the same after that. He lost a measurable amount of explosiveness to this game, which was pretty much is bread and butter on offense since he has no reliable jumper or outside game.

Assuming he continues to play at this somewhat improved level, I wonder what he'll do after this season since I'm assuming he's going to want to go to a better team than Charlotte.

Wonder what changed for him to finally get right.

"Sean sparks like John Starks, nah, Sean ball like John Wall" - Rest In Power Forever Sean Price.

https://twitter.com/SInow/status/1587260792562339840

for all the talk about anthony davis...

Clips gonna clip.

The Lakers are being viewed in contrast to their rich history and winning tradition.

For the Clippers, this is largely par.

Plus people care about the Lakers- even the people who hate them.

AD is tied to Lebron, KW is not. The amount of eyeballs tuned into Laker nation just doesnt compare.

-The Knicks’ coaching search still includes a lone frontrunner, Kurt Rambis, whose qualifications for the position include a strong relationship with Jackson and a willingness to take the job.

I mean...really...last time he was healthy was in the bubble, but...yikes. He's kinda cooked, huh?

------------------------------

17x NBA Champions

So wild how so many teams were affected by such an insignificant player. Am I correct in assuming the knee that's giving him issues was the same one that was injured those years ago?

"Sean sparks like John Starks, nah, Sean ball like John Wall" - Rest In Power Forever Sean Price.

___________________

Mar-A-Lago delenda est

.

...I'm from the era when A.I. was the answer, now they think ai is the answer - Marlon Craft

-------------------
I wanna go to where the martyrs went
the brown figures on the walls of my apart-a-ment...

Like y’all can have it.

<---
Fuck a sig, my presence is enough.

-The Knicks’ coaching search still includes a lone frontrunner, Kurt Rambis, whose qualifications for the position include a strong relationship with Jackson and a willingness to take the job.

How many years does he have left? Dude's gonna be making TikToks with his daughter while cashing checks and not having to deal with that mess.

Good for both sides.

------------------------------

17x NBA Champions

and manages to actually right the cruddy ship that is the Brooklyn Nets.

**edit**
Just saw an alert on my phone right after my post that Jacque Vaughn will be the interim coach.

The main reason for my initial response was that Jacque Vaughn was the head coach for the Nets before Steve Nash got there, was fired, and had to remain as assistant coach for all the time Nash was stealing checks.

"Sean sparks like John Starks, nah, Sean ball like John Wall" - Rest In Power Forever Sean Price.

---------------------------------------

"The world is before you and you need not take it or leave it as it was when you came in." - James Baldwin

Even if you ignore the off-court/chemistry stuff (and you shouldn’t), if Ben Simmons isn’t in game shape enough to be a net positive defender, let alone the defender he once was, then their roster is a mortal lock to be the worst defense in the NBA. Kyrie won’t defend. Ben currently can’t. Royce O’Neal is overrated without Gobert cleaning up behind him. Most of the bench is AWFUL defensively. So their best defender is a 34-year-old who also is carrying a huge chunk of the offensive burden AND is a mortal lock to miss 15-20 games this year.

Like… they need Ben to be old Ben very very badly. lol. And even then, I don’t think that would’ve been enough to save Nash’s job.

My movies: http://russellhainline.com
My movie reviews: https://letterboxd.com/RussellHFilm/
My beer TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebeertravelguide

games and make the 2nd round AT LEAST.

Nash ain't do shit on that side of the ball.

-The Knicks’ coaching search still includes a lone frontrunner, Kurt Rambis, whose qualifications for the position include a strong relationship with Jackson and a willingness to take the job.

Like, the iso ball your turn-my turn offense, even with stars, is increasingly less likely to get it done in the NBA going forward. Especially if not everyone on the floor can shoot and pass.

Cuts, screens, occupying space in motion-- we've seen it for years in Golden State, we've seen it with Milwaukee, we're seeing it with Memphis, etc. It'll be interesting to see if Udoka can get Durant/Kyrie to try to run more of a system on offense.

Because they haven't been a Top 10 offense in the league since Harden left. Maybe your turn-my turn only works if you have 3 of the best 8 offensive players in the world, and it doesn't work with 2. *shrug*

My movies: http://russellhainline.com
My movie reviews: https://letterboxd.com/RussellHFilm/
My beer TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebeertravelguide

https://twitter.com/joetsai1999/status/1556791235427405824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

-->

Moreover, the reporting thus far has been calling it "a mutual decision".

Even if it's not, change is inevitable with this sort of struggle so early in the season.

and soften the blow.

It's November 1st. It's not like the hole is insurmountable at this point (and they just won). While there's probably more going on behind the scenes (as is always the case) - it's hard to say that the purported "support" was steadfast after firing Nash *this* early.
-->

>and soften the blow.
>
>It's November 1st. It's not like the hole is insurmountable
>at this point (and they just won). While there's probably
>more going on behind the scenes (as is always the case) - it's
>hard to say that the purported "support" was steadfast after
>firing Nash *this* early.

It's hard to say.... well... anything.

Because things haven't completely shaken out on the information front.

He may have been fired outright.
He may have requested to leave.

The way it worked out could have gone a few different ways.

But we really don't know.

>It's hard to say.... well... anything.
>
>Because things haven't completely shaken out on the
>information front.
>
>He may have been fired outright.
>He may have requested to leave.
>
>The way it worked out could have gone a few different ways.
>
>But we really don't know.

What we do know is that Tsai's "support" for Nash was flimsy af.


-->

It's cool that you're comfortable making assertions that you can't really support with any actual facts though.

Based on that fact, I'm making the assertion that Tsai's "support" for Nash wasn't nearly as rock-solid as it was purported to be. In the off-season the narrative being pushed (and Tsai's own words) demonstrate that Tsai was siding with Nash & Marks over KD & Kyrie and their antics. Turns out that this was incorrect, at least as it pertained to Nash. He was on the chopping block and ultimately became the scapegoat for the dysfunction of this group.

That said, I fully realize why a change had to come in Brooklyn. Nash lost the respect of the players (for whatever reason), and he was unable to implement schemes (particularly on the defensive end) that solved Brooklyn's ills, despite having immense talent to work with. But you could easily make the argument that KD & Kyrie's approach has stifled the spirit of the team and prevented any continuity. Nonetheless, it's clear that Nash was the scapegoat here - and ultimately - he was not supported by Tsai and took the fall.


-->

Udoka should quit right now…leave Boston wack ass in the dust.

ALL HAIL THE KING of LOSING: LEBRON
Bulls | Bears | White Sox | Yankees | Notre Dame | Illinois | Chelsea | Real Madrid

>Udoka should quit right now…leave Boston wack ass in the
>dust.

I’d like to see Sam Cassell get that job

-------------------
I wanna go to where the martyrs went
the brown figures on the walls of my apart-a-ment...

.

...I'm from the era when A.I. was the answer, now they think ai is the answer - Marlon Craft

"Let's hire the guy who sleeps with the female staff!"

Like, no doubt Udoka is a better coaching mind than Nash, but good grief. I guess they figure no unsavory details about that scandal will be any worse than the stuff Kyrie might say at any given moment, lol.

My movies: http://russellhainline.com
My movie reviews: https://letterboxd.com/RussellHFilm/
My beer TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebeertravelguide

The combination of not having those seven picks because of the James Harden trade and possibly not wanting to resign Kyrie to a new four year deal because of all the past and recent nonsense he's dredged up is going to make Brooklyn become desperate.

I wonder how big of a bag Brooklyn is going to throw at Udoka.

"Sean sparks like John Starks, nah, Sean ball like John Wall" - Rest In Power Forever Sean Price.

I think he'll certainly make things *better* by better utilizing guys like Simmons than Nash did and finding creative sets to theoretically execute (assuming the stars want to get on board).

But this team isn't going to be better on defense through effort alone. The guards are all small, and every guard/wing outside of O'Neal is *real* bad on defense. Claxton and Simmons aren't rim protectors. And as you pointed out, they are *incredibly* restricted in the potential moves they can make due to lack of draft equity.

Like, their defense right now, small sample size notwithstanding, is on pace to be easily one of the worst in *years.* And there's a roster component to that struggle, without question. Then when you add the reluctance of certain players on the roster to give a flying fuck about off-ball action, the problems compound.

So even with a really smart on-court coach like Udoka, I just... don't know what realistically he can do with this roster. If he can make this defense even a top 20 in the NBA defense, he'd make my Coach of the Year shortlist, lol.

My movies: http://russellhainline.com
My movie reviews: https://letterboxd.com/RussellHFilm/
My beer TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebeertravelguide

>I think he'll certainly make things *better* by better
>utilizing guys like Simmons than Nash did and finding creative
>sets to theoretically execute (assuming the stars want to get
>on board).
>
>But this team isn't going to be better on defense through
>effort alone. The guards are all small, and every guard/wing
>outside of O'Neal is *real* bad on defense. Claxton and
>Simmons aren't rim protectors. And as you pointed out, they
>are *incredibly* restricted in the potential moves they can
>make due to lack of draft equity.
>
>Like, their defense right now, small sample size
>notwithstanding, is on pace to be easily one of the worst in
>*years.* And there's a roster component to that struggle,
>without question. Then when you add the reluctance of certain
>players on the roster to give a flying fuck about off-ball
>action, the problems compound.
>
>So even with a really smart on-court coach like Udoka, I
>just... don't know what realistically he can do with this
>roster. If he can make this defense even a top 20 in the NBA
>defense, he'd make my Coach of the Year shortlist, lol.

Udoka is clearly a better head coach than Nash and to paraphrase the Iron Sheik, he had a hand in humbling the Nets old country style last year when he swept them, so I'd hope at least Durant would seriously lend an ear to what Udoka will sell to the team. I wonder how well Kyrie and Udoka meshed when Udoka was an assistant in Boston when Kyrie was there, assuming they did indeed cross paths.

I mainly agree with you about this possibly failing because I don't know how much Ben Simmons will improve matters as he going to be the x-factor for this team to prosper. He's going to have to be a scoring threat to open up the half court and properly run the point and I have my doubts if he's mentally and physically capable of doing that, at least to the level he'll need to for the Nets to win now and right now.

"Sean sparks like John Starks, nah, Sean ball like John Wall" - Rest In Power Forever Sean Price.

And maybe Udoka can fix that. He obviously took some of his cues on both sides from what Golden State's done the last few years while he was at Boston. I've always said that Simmons's best chance to really thrive isn't as a point guard (because he can't shoot so teams will just sag off) or as a pure center (because he's not a rim protector and he seems reluctant to finish through contact the last few years due to free throw woes), but as a Draymond Green type, running the offense from the high post.

But that takes, y'know, lots of screening and cutting and motion to create situations where Simmons can hit guys for clean looks in space. And a lot of Brooklyn's stuff for the last two years has been everyone standing around while the stars go to work.

It'd also require, to some extent, taking the ball out of KD/Kyrie's hands more than present and trusting Ben to use his size and vision in the high post to make things happen. Steph and even KD certainly let Draymond do his thing in offensive sets in Golden State... but also, like, is this roster built for this? Like, they really did just sign a bunch of guys who are either catch-and-shoot threats or iso offense players. Guys like Morris, maybe even Edwards could potentially thrive in more cleverly-built offensive sets...

... I'm just not convinced change can happen fast enough to salvage the season. And, again, Kyrie is always one day away from missing time, KD is old, Simmons could take a mental health break at any point, etc. It's just an entire core of stars walking on eggshells.

My movies: http://russellhainline.com
My movie reviews: https://letterboxd.com/RussellHFilm/
My beer TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebeertravelguide

That goes on throughout the entire NBA, from top to bottom!

His situation just happened to get leaked…..

No one cares about that.

He had consensual sex with a married woman. That’s adultery, not a crime, and it
has nothing to do with playing basketball.

Ime Udoka is the only logical move.

ALL HAIL THE KING of LOSING: LEBRON
Bulls | Bears | White Sox | Yankees | Notre Dame | Illinois | Chelsea | Real Madrid

.

...I'm from the era when A.I. was the answer, now they think ai is the answer - Marlon Craft