good ass game

Analyze This: NBA Power RAnkings 2/2

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Part 2 of Bmick’s NBA Power Rankings. For Part 1 click here.

 

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Now we can actually talk about teams heading in the right direction. There are still some pretenders among these contenders, who are “faking it til they make it.” Most teams in this next tier could actually make some noise with the right moves.

Some are only an impact player away from being legit contenders, while others are straight “busters” getting by with smoke and mirrors. As you’ll come to find out though, right now there are really only 3 teams whose current rosters warrant serious consideration for NBA Finals. The rest of the teams need a lot of help, or a lot of luck.

 

The Esteem Group- Confident, achieving, respected by other teams in the league.

Celtics, Raptors, Hawks, Heat, Bulls, Grizzlies, Clippers, Thunder, Pacers, Cavaliers

The Boston Celtics are two games over .500 and Danny Ainge has tons of bargaining chips in the form of draft picks. Yet…..nothing moves for the Celtics.  They have tons of decent players, a really good player in Isiah Thomas, and no superstars. If you ask most Celtics fans, they’ll probably just be happy with a first round knockout, as long as they don’t get embarrassed. I feel like C’s fans are in the same boat as those perverts who marked their calendars for when the Olson twins were turning 18. They be like “any day now……..we’ll make our move…..”

Toronto is a good squad. They almost beat the Warriors twice during their winning streak. They remind me a little of those Rick Adelman coached Rockets teams. Competitive lineups that are good enough to qualify for the playoffs, but still without the pieces to make a deep postseason push.

The Pacers may secretly be the second best team in the East. Frank Vogel is one of the best 5 coaches in the league. Without Vogel, this team would be in the next bottom tier. They compete, and if they can finally get some players there (through draft or free agency), they can be the Butler Bulldogs of the NBA.

The Atlanta Hawks remind me of some of the really nice girls that I dated in college, but ultimately left because it was unfair to stay with them. They are a good team with good players, and they are fundamentally sound. But then you look across the league and see there are teams playing a more exciting brand of ball.

Deep down you know that you would much rather be watching the Warriors or Spurs play than a hum-drum Atlanta vs. Charlotte game. But its always nice to start a Wednesday evening out with 6:00 Hawks game, then switch to something that you know you won’t have you looking down at your phone every minute and thirty seconds.

The Heat may very well give the Cavaliers their best run in the East. The Heat are a legit backup point guard away from scaring some people. Hassan Whiteside is an All-Star in my book, and Dwyane Wade is putting the team on his back when he needs to. We’ll see how they hold up as the season progresses, they are kind of an old team. They will need a lot of luck to be healthy during the stretch run.

The Bulls have problems, and I think the best solution is to shake up the locker room. I think it is time for Derrick Rose to get a fresh start. Where do chronically injured players go to get fresh starts? Ummmm Phoenix????? Yup. I think Mr. Rose needs to let go all of the pressures, and distractions that playing at home has inflicted upon him. Part of me wonders if his injuries aren’t psychosomatic related.

Based on salaries of both teams, I found a package that could possibly work for both teams, P.J. Tucker, Eric Bledsoe, and Markieff Morris, for Mike Dunleavy, Aaron Brooks, and Derrick Rose. Now I’m not sure if I would take this if I’m Phoenix, but if I’m Chicago and I find a way to hustle some team out of players or draft picks (ahem Danny Ainge), then I do so. Bulls need something to jumpstart this team back to its role as a menacing challenger; otherwise this season (and possibly their championship window) is over.

Speaking of championship windows slamming shut, its over for Memphis. They sit at 16-14 in the West,  but no one is afraid to face Memphis anymore. They used to be the team that if they didn’t beat you, then they would just beat you up. Now they aren’t doing much of either–well maybe Matt Barnes, but Derek Fisher isn’t the first person I would look to help me in a bar brawl.

You talk about a team born in the wrong era, too bad they didn’t have this roster in the mid 90’s. If there were a time period made for them, that was it. Can you imagine Jeff Van Gundy desperately hanging onto Zach Randolph’s leg in the middle of a melee? Pure insanity.

Speaking of insanity…….let’s talk about this Clippers team. Actually let’s not. All I need to say is I can’t take your team seriously if Austin Rivers is your backup point guard.

Man. It is disappointing to say this, but Cleveland and Oklahoma City have second tier teams. Their matchup against each other last week had the makings of a “Good Ass Game.” For the most part it was entertaining, but only when the starters were playing. Their benches are suspect at best. Cleveland has some depth issues because of injuries, but even with Irving and SHumpert back at full strength, they are still giving heavy minutes to J. R. “You even listening to me?” Smith. Richard Jefferson is a broke man’s Vince Carter, and “Don’t shoot that shot no” Mo Williams can’t be logging heavy minutes for your squad if you trying to get a chip.

Something is slightly off in Oklahoma City, and part of the problem rhymes with the word “peon” as in a poor man’s Nick Young. You remember how multiple All Star selection, Chris Bosh took a lesser role (and less money) with the Miami Heat, but still consistently put up numbers when they needed him to? Well that is the opposite of what James Harden did.

The Thunder haven’t been able to find a consistent third scorer since he left. Dion is not that dude. I think they believed Serge would be that guy, but he is pretty ineffective if a shot isn’t created for him. I don’t know if David Lee would be the answer, but the dude can get buckets. Who is going to score other than KD and Russ?

 

The Self-Actualization Tier: Morality, Creativity, Spontaneity, Problem solving, Lack of prejudice, Acceptance of facts

Spurs, Warriors

It is no coincidence that the two organizations known for being the most creative, and accepting of all nationalitites, cultures, and genders, are the two teams in the top tier.

In life, people only reach this tier after navigating the bottom tiers of everyday existence. When a person is in survival mode, it is difficult for them to deal with the more existential problems that plague man. When a person is worried about their safety, where they will sleep, or where their next meal is going to appear, they cannot waste their energy on the abstract.

It is only when a person feels safe, and then comfortable, and socially and mentally secure, that this other aspect of life appears in abundance. What you are seeing with the Spurs and the Warriors is not an accident. These two organizations are in the midst of revolutionizing the game of basketball.

The reasons that these two teams play such spirited basketball are because they are healthy organizations from top to bottom. They are the epitome of functionality. Everyone getting a paycheck feels invested, and everyone knows their roles. This is teamwork at its highest level. It is amazing how well you can perform your job when you feel secure.

Watching the Warriors is fun, because winnign at this level is so new, and pure. They are young and having fun; experiencing it all as it occurs. They are owning the moment (much like those early 2000 A’s teams except they actually win).

The Spurs are a different kind of beast. They are a veteran squad that expects to win because everyone does their jobs. They methodically take away a team’s strength and beat you with fundamentals (with a little creativity and razzle-dazzle sprinkled in). They are so god at what they do that they make the ordinary plays look extraordinary.

The Spurs of course are the model franchise for all of sports, and it was no surprise that a dude like David West, and a player like Lamarcus Aldridge would want to eschew larger markets (and more money) to play in San Antonio. It almost seems unfair how deep the Spurs are right now. They never let up, not even during garbage time.

Kawhi Leonard is playing out of his mind. He held Paul George to 1/14 shooting the other night while scoring 24 points on 10/19 shooting. Every game I watch of his justifies why he is my favorite player in the NBA. The dude is unreal.

Here is something that will scare the fans of other teams: the Spurs haven’t even come close to reaching their peak.Danny Green hasn’t really shot like we’re used to seeing him play, and the Spurs don’t miss a beat.

Lamarcus is playing excellent defense, but he still isn’t quite in sync with the offense. He isn’t getting the ball in the places he likes to shoot, and he seems to be out of rhythm half the time he shoots it–usually because he is getting the ball about half a second later than he is used to.

For all the health concerns dogging other teams in the league, the Warriors have dealt with their own. Harrison Barnes will not be available for the Christmas game against Cleveland. That really bums me out. Barnes will play at a moderate tempo the whole game, and then during a key stretch can take over on both ends of the floor. I love watching him play.

The Warriors have not even begun to play their best ball yet either. They have been turnover prone, and sloppy. This Friday will be the first real test for the Cavaliers. You’ll see just how far apart the teams are on Christmas Day. The Cavs bench will let them down again, and they will show replays of the Lebron looking down at his sneakers during the final minutes of the game.

I’m not a particularly religious man, but I’m praying for a Western Conference Finals between the Warriors and Spurs. #highlevelbasketball

 

Peace,

BM

thisagoodassgame@gmail.com

#thisagoodassgame #fullsass

fullsass.com

 

You Can’t Predict The Future: Kristaps Porzingis Edition

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Guest Post By Alex Knapp

Let’s play a little game.

Below are 5 different unnamed players, and their stats for their rookie season.
Now don’t cheat – but one of them is Kristaps Porzingis. I SAID DON’T CHEAT. 

(Player 1)

MPG 34.3,  PPG 16.1, APG 2.8,  RPG 2.6, SPG 1,   BPG 0.4, FG% .456, 3pt% .389

(Player 2)
MPG 27.4,  PPG 13.1, APG 1.1,  RPG 8.1, SPG 0.8, BPG 2.0, FG% .431, 3pt% .316

(Player 3)
MPG 37.2,  PPG 20.1, APG 5.8,  RPG 5.3, SPG 1.5, BPG 0.4, FG% .458, 3pt% .255

(Player 4)
MPG 25.1,  PPG 11.6, APG 0.8,  RPG 3.9, SPG 0.5, BPG 0.8, FG% .427, 3pt% .373 

(Player 5)
MPG 22.1,  PPG 9.0,   APG 0.4,  RPG 5.0, SPG 0.3, BPG 1.2, FG% .503, 3pt% .000

So why am I doing this?

I’m trying to prove a couple points (I’ll reveal who each player is in a second). First let me say, I personally, as a self-indoctrinated basketball analyst,  put a large emphasis on statistics. I actually do think they matter.

I love advanced metrics, and I think you CAN get almost as much from diving into a team or players game data as you can watching the actual game. Calm down I said “almost.” By the way this is my favorite website right now –  GO BUCK WILD!

I believe that good players produce positive statistics for them and their team(Al Jefferson), the best players can do this at an extremely high level while still being super efficient (Steph Curry). And worse players fall short in one of those two categories. This is how you can have a guy who scores a lot, but still “sucks balls.”

SIDE NOTE: A guy like Andrew Wiggins doesn’t “suck balls” but he is 16th in PPG, while being 72nd in offensive efficiency in the NBA. That’s the largest disparity of any of top 30 NBA ppg leaders.

That would tell me that Wiggins probably takes a ton of hard shots, Iso’s way to much, doesn’t get easy scores, and generally isn’t ready for the alpha-dog role that he’s been pushed into on such a young team. Andrew Wiggins being forced to be the T-Wolves best player/scorer is the reason they are 11-16, although I think that team has a ton of talent and could be great in a couple years.

Anyway, let’s get into it.

Player 1 = Eric Gordon.

Played a ton of minutes his rookie year, scored well, generally filled up the stat sheet, shot very well from the 3pt line – especially for a rookie.

Player 2 = Kristaps Porzingis.

Decent scoring (although not anything special, especially for being the 2nd option (green light) on a shit team in the east). By far the best rebounder of the list. 2 blocks per game is solid. Shooting percentages are okay

Player 3 = Tyreke Evans.

Played a Metric fuck-ton of minutes. Great scorer. He gets assists (cuz he had the ball a ton), great rebounder for his size and position. Good FG%, shit 3pt %.
Had by far the best per 36 minute stats of everyone. Won rookie of the year (deserved it).

Player 4 = Andrea Bargnani.

Scored okay, underwhelming rebound numbers, didn’t do much else, shooting %’s are solid.

Player 5 = Lamarcus Aldridge.

Played least amount of minute of the 5, scoring was nothing special, rebounded okay – not great, good field goal percentage.

So looking at those stats, here is how these players would rank from best to worst:

1) Tyreke Evans
2) Eric Gordon OR Kristaps Porzingis
4) Andrea Bargnani
5) Lamarcus Aldridge. 

Do you think anyone predicted Lamarcus Aldridge would turn into a perennial all-star? He became a franchise cornerstone that at one point was a top 10 player in the NBA, and arguably the best player at his position, certainly the most skilled.

Conversely what do you think the media / fans reaction to Tyreke’s rookie season stats was?

Here’s a quote – “He’s going to be the hero for the Sacramento Kings.” WELL THAT WAS FUCKING WRONG, RIGHT?
Read this article for a look at the Tyreke hype:

So here is a fact, stats collected during a rookie season are not indicative of the number of all-star games, all NBA teams, or MVP’s that players will win.

However, they are usually a predictor of at least general future statistics and NBA aptitude. All the players above are at the very least solid NBA rotation players–if not starters, with Larmarcus being a perennial all-star.

I like to think of it as – “Do you even belong in this league / in the starting lineup?” test.
That’s probably the only thing someone can really get from a rookie campaign.

Ultimately, players that get an opportunity to play significant minutes and get offense touches on shit teams, put up numbers. And while Andrea Bargnani has never produced to the level that Toronto wanted with their #1 pick, he’s been in the league for 10 years, had a couple decent scoring seasons in Toronto, and still gets minutes at 30 years old. The guy is nowhere near the big bust people make him out to be.

Speaking of Bargnani – notice anything interesting from the stats above?
How about the fact that Porgingis is just a better rebounding Bargnani. HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT!???

In fact, the only thing that stands out statistically about Porzingis is his rebounding. He seems to be a pretty special offensive rebounder (top 15 in ORPG and OffRebRate), while also being a solid defensive rebounder (top 35 in DRPG and DefRebRate).

Of course the SportsCenter highlights would lead you to believe he’s one of the best put-back rebounders/shot blockers of all time. All this being said, Karl-Anthony Towns (KAT) is close behind in offensive rebounds, while essentially shitting on him in every other statistical category.

Listen: this guy is good–fuck he was a top 3 pick in the pick in the NBA draft. A ton of analysts said he would be good. Anyone who watched summer league or youtube clips knew he could shoot and was long as hell.

Really when you think about it, it was all the Knicks fans who were furious that they took him at #3. It was all the Knicks fans and NY media that doubted his ability. And now that he is playing well (he is literally playing  pretty fucking average), itis all the Knicks fans that are freaking out (to relatively normal numbers all things considered).

There are only a handful of cities/markets/teams that could lower the expectations of their own player by fan and media criticisms, only to yell “fuck you all, I told you!” once the player exceeds those lower expectations.

It’s kind of genius when you think about it. Let’s always say our players are going to suck, so if they do suck we’re right, and if they are good we can be pissed off that people said they sucked (even though it was us). Only in New York, these people are assholes.

P.S – Here is the last time this happened in NY.

 

 

Alex Knapp is a Portlander living in Brooklyn, New York for the past 7 years.
A filmmaker and actor currently working in HR to pay the bills, Alex is an avid NBA basketball fan who likely has an opinion on every team and every player, seriously – try him. 

Analyze This: NBA Power Rankings 1/2

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We’re basically a quarter of the way into the season, and though it is too small of a sample size to reach any final conclusions, we can still identify some trends that have revealed themselves this year.

You still can’t convince me that the Eastern Conference is better than the Western Conference, but I’d be a fool not to admit that the East is better this year, and the West is worse than they were last season.

I do think that things will right themselves as the season goes along, and certain teams will come back down to Earth. This is however a perfect time to do an NBA Power rankings based on what I have seen so far.

We’ll probably revisit this during the All-Star break to see what changes have occurred. From everything I have seen, any team not the Warriors or Spurs need to be tweaking something if they want to be taken seriously as championship contenders.

So in honor of Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs chart, I bring you Bmick’s first NBA power rankings of the season. If you just want this week’s slate of Good Ass Games, just scroll down to the bottom.

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Bottom Tier, i.e. Teams in Survival Mode:

Organizations that are in a period of dysfunction. Decisions made for the franchise are based on fear of losing paychecks and job titles. These are the teams with no long term plan other than draft players, sell tickets, and create cap room for in hopes of signing a big name free agent.

76ers, Kings, Wizards, Nuggets, Pelicans, Rockets, Nets and the LOL Lakers

You have to feel for these teams’ fanbases (well not the Lakers because lets be honest 80% of their fanbase don’t really know anything about basketball–they just like the scene and wearing the merchandise).

Sixers fans have been sold a pipe dream for decades, and it still looks like the front office has no idea of what they are doing. They just keep drafting (or signing) big men and trading away draft picks. Their latest franchise face was on TMZ last month and has been in the news for all the wrong reasons.

The only player close to being called a veteran is journeyman point guard Kendall (Kbutter5) Marshall. No one wants to play in Philadelphia, one of the most notoriously racist sports cities outside of Boston, people just end up there because its still the NBA , and they need a paycheck. Personally, I’d probably rather go to Europe than play in that city, for that organization. The fact that Iverson spent the bulk of his prime in the NBA there is enough for him to get my Hall of Fame vote. #respect

Sacramento definitely has the talent to make it into the playoffs, but shit is too hot right now. Even the most professionaly of players can’t deal with the madness (word on the street is that Caron Butler is about to get traded to a team where he can get some minutes). I don’t doubt that everyone’s heart is in the right place in Sactown, but the problem is that there is very little organization within the front office, and it is affecting their product. The best teams have well defined roles and job security, and the hiring and firing of head coaches signaled just how dyfunctional things really are. Under the right leadership, they could make a playoff run this year……..but you know what they say about if’s.

The Houston Fuckboys   Rockets on paper are .500 and would be in the playoffs if the season ended today. But when a coach is fired not even 10 games into the season, and you have a certain moody big man who may or may not want to get traded, I think its safe to say this team has some f%&*ing problems (and not the good kind that afflict A$AP Rocky).

The Nuggets have sucked ever since they sacked George Karl, but Denver fans are too stoned to notice. Also, at this point can we stop pretending the nuggets they are mining are “gold”? Just own it Denver.

Don’t be surprised when Mikhail Prokhorov sells the Nets and punishes himself by getting married.

Wizards went from a half second away from making some serious noise in the playoffs to zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Something is wrong in New Orleans. Other than Anthony Davis, they are worse than they were last year. Last season’s slip into the playoffs may have actually been “Fool’s Gold.”They didn’t make any major upgrades during the off-season and their roster looks pretty weak. I would hate to see Lil Brow Wow’s prime wasted playing with NBA D-leaguers and scrubs. Get that guy some help. It is one thing to lose, but usually a coach talking to the media about “lack of effort” is only a precursor for his house going up for sale. Some strange things a brewing in the “Big Easy.”

The LOL Lakers aren’t so funny anymore. In fact, it is sad to think they are heading to yet another lottery AND they just got pasted last night by 40 points by the Thunder. The thing is though, they have to be pathetically bad in order to keep their top 3 protected pick. Otherwise Philadelphia gets their lottery pick for the upcoming draft. Somehow lucking into drafting Ben Simmons and Luke Walton as next year’s head coach could be a true reversal of fortunes.

 

The Love/Belonging Tier: Playoff teams figuring out their identity, but heading in the right direction.

Knicks, Timberwolves, Jazz, Suns, Mavericks, Bucks, Blazers, Hornets, Magic, and Pistons

The Knicks have surprised many people this year, and count me among those who thought Phil Jackson was pulling a Dumars when he drafted Porzingis over Justice Winslow. They are not entirely awful, sitting at .500, we’ll see what happens over these next 25 games if they are one of the fall to Earth teams I talked about earlier.

Timberwolves are right where they need to be. The other rebuilding teams need to take note what is going on in the Land of a 1,000 Lakes. Play your young guys as much as you can so that you can evaluate them effectively,and sign a good core of veterans to mentor them. From the looks of things, Flip has succeeded in creating a family atmosphere in that organization.

Portland has some pieces to build around. They seem to be right where they are now, every 3-4 years. They can’t seem to get players to stay, or stay healthy, but they are usually just good enough to dangle some hope out there for Blazers fans. I personally feel like NBA is a better league when Blazers fans have something to get excited about.

The  Utah Jazz are competitive, and currently in the 8th spot with an 11-14 record. I don’t expect that to last. Coach K disciple, Quinn Snyder has them scrapping, and no game in the Salt Lake mountains is a gimme win (They are like the Western Conference Pacers). I think they will continue to win at this rate, but I don’t think that 44 wins will be enough to get into the Western Conference playoffs.

I’m upset about my pick for the Eastern Conference Finalist pick. Milwaukee looks like shit some nights, and then other nights they turn into streakbusters. A friend of mine said before the season that they lack shooters, but that doesnt concern me, what bothers me is that they got their brains beat in by the LOL Lakers one night after a few key players thought it was wise to hit the strip club.

Maybe they need more veterans on the team. I Kidd’s old teammate “Tuff Juice” would be a good locker room addition, plus he’d get to return to his hometown. While they are at it, why don’t they see if they can get Ben McLemore too.

I must admit that I haven’t watched much of the Suns this year, partially out of laziness, but also because they have slowly regressed from the really fun NBA League Pass team everyone was talking about 2 years ago. Phoenix plays hard. They always compete, but their bench is really thin, and they have no legitimate game changers. Eric Bledsoe is a really good player, but I don’t know if he is the dude you build a franchise around. They have to get some pieces for Jeff Hornacek to work with.

I don’t need to go into how I predicted the Mavericks would make the playoffs do I? I’m sure I haven’t talked ad nauseum about the underated Dirk/Carlilse combo as a duo you can’t sleep on. It really is the perfect storm right now. Deron Williams was finally humbled enough by life to start listening to his coaches. Raymond Felton is fortunate that he is still in the league and not playing in the Rikers Island Recreational league. Zaza is well……..Zaza..zaza4

Their frontcourt depth is a little shaky, and you can never have enough ballhandlers in this league. But they’ll be a tough first round out, and that will be considered a successful season. #Respect.

Take one look at the Pistons depth chart and you’ll see that they are overachieving. Take one look at Stan Van Gundy, and you can tell the dude can prolly make a mean chicken salad out of chicken shit. I bet SVG can go into any pantry in America and find a way to salvage something for dinner. “Wow Stan!!! I’ve never had Spam chutney on a bed of green beans before. How do you do it???!!!!” Reggie Jackson for the All-Star Team. Retweet if you agree.

I slept on the #MisoHornets, I really did. They are like a lightweight Atlanta Hawks. Is it a coincidence that they let Lance “Born Ready” Stephenson go, picked up two quality locker room guys in Jeremy Lin and Nicholas Batum, and they got better? Frank Kaminksy ain’t half bad either. The Hornets don’t have a superstar, but they have a decent sqaud.

The Orlando Magic have surprised me at how fast they have developed.  To give you an indication of how close they are to being in the next tier of playoff contenders, just imagine if Anthony Davis was in that starting lineup, with Channing Frye coming off the bench. “BEAST!!!” 

Scott Skiles has a way of rubbing players the wrong way after a couple of seasons, but he is a great coach to have for a young team. In the dating world, he’d be what women refer to as a good starter D@#$, good for a couple of seasons, but after a while, the horseshit starts to become a grind. He is a great coach for a rebuilding team (remember the Baby Bulls?), but players on his previous teams just outgrew him. He’d probably be a great college coach.

TO BE CONTINUED……………..

Here’s this week’s slate of games:

 

Monday

 

Clippers-Thunder

Magic-Knicks

Pacers-Spurs

 

 

Tuesday

 

Mavericks-Raptors

Pistons-Heat

 

 

Wednesday

 

Spurs-Timberwolves

Jazz-Warriors

 

Thursday (Christmas Eve)

No games

 

 

Friday

 

Cavaliers-Warriors (Good Ass Game of the Week)

Bulls-Thunder

Spurs-Rockets

 

 

Saturday

 

Bucks-Raptors

Knicks-Hawks

Heat-Magic

Cavaliers-Trailblazers

Bulls-Mavericks

Grizzlies-Hornets

Celtics-Pistons

 

Sunday

 

Pistons-Knicks

Trailblazers-Kings

 

Part 2 (Buster of The Week Included) will be posted tomorrow morning.

 

BM

#thisagoodassgame

thisagoodassgame@gmail.com

#fullsass

That First L

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The season has officially started now that the last undefeated team has finally taken an L.

The Dubs (or the W’s) did something that the world has never seen, and in the process, managed to make every game during the winning streak the “Good Ass Game of the Week”.

Next week’s post will be all about power rankings, but for now, I think the Dubs deserve their own shine.

It’ll be so much easier to put this streak into perspective when the season is over. With so much stimuli flying around, it is easy to take this streak for granted, but keep in mind that the season started back on October 26th. Today is December 13th, that is how long it took for the Warriors to finally lose (and lose on the road at that).

People keep trying to compare this year’s Warriors to the 95-96 Bulls, but I don’t think that is fair. Being on the cusp of becoming an old man, I get the Jordan 90’s sentimentality. However, I remember how much the NBA sucked back then. There were only a handful of teams (at best ) that were worth watching.

95-96-bulls

Expansion had diluted the talent pool. There were a bunch of CBA dudes who had no business being in the league. The Sonics were Gucci, and the Suns were still fun, but Houston was always kind of meh. The Knicks were brutal to watch, and so were the Heat. The only teams that ran any kind of fun uptempo offense in the Eastern Conference were the Magic and the Bulls (the Pacers were efficient at best).

What the Warriors have been doing this year is beyond insane because the league is so much better. Jordan and the Bulls had a much easier path to 72 wins in that era. Throw the records out of the window, the West is still the best, but that being said, the East teams as a whole are better this season.

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Curry and company are making A-1 teams look like straight busters. That is how well they are playing. They aren’t even playing basketball at this point, its something much more abstract and creative. The mixture of joy and creativity they are playing with is unreal.

The chemistry they have on this team reminds me of  a legendary jazz combo (think Miles Davis/Clifford Brown). They make playing at their blistering and frenetic pace look so damn easy. Every Warriors game is a passing clinic that high school coaches should use as a tool to  educate their players (they are very conservative with their dribbles and use them efficiently).

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The way Curry moves around the court seems so effortless and fluid, he reminds me of watching Wayne Gretzky back in the day, or Lionel Messi in today’s era of futbol. The dubs have played this first quarter of the season like characters out of a graphic novel or movie.

warriorsmovie04-cov

Though the Bucks will be given credit for snapping the Warriors’ streak, the writing was on the wall as early as Tuesday night.

In jazz, every combination of players results in a different sound, and basketball is no different. The Barnes injury was critical, but not completely debilitating. But once they lost Splash Bro. Klay Thompson, I knew it would be hard to survive the 7 game road trip unscathed.

You can blame the Golden State bench for blowing the 30 point lead in “naptown”, forcing Luke Walton to put the starters back in the game, but maybe Luke called the dogs off a few minutes too early.

You could tell the starting unit was a little out of sync by sitting too long–and then of course Klay got hurt. Even though they beat Indy, it still felt like a loss (a friend of mine said I was reaching, but its hard to replace a two way player like Klay). There is no way they need 2 OT’s to beat the Celtics if they had a healthy Klay.

But this streak has put everyone on notice. I never thought last year’s championship was a fluke, but seeing where Golden State is mentally, has made me rethink every preseason prediction I made concerning the playoffs. They are like the Wooden era UCLA Bruins (who of course Luke’s Dad played for) as they are playing invisible opponents.

bill_walton_1973_03_26

There is a level of play they aspire to every night, a level that is about their own standards– a philosophy that Coach Wooden espoused Ad Nauseam when he dominated the 60’s and early 70’s college ball.

Bill Russell wrote about how the game of basketball could become something different altogether, a rhythmic balletic dance between ten different people when everyone is in sync. Watching the Warriors during those magical 19-2 runs during 1-2 minute stretches is evocative of this aesthetic. acc099f6646e970e1619501a913a9

The Spurs are still a joy to watch. Watching them play reminds me of a Thelonious Monk quintet, clunky yet beautiful and soulful–on a really good day, evocative of a Duke Ellington standard. Yet the Warriors are ushering in a whole new ethos (think the post war Bebop era of jazz).

Let me put it this way, the Warriors have almost ruined me for watching other teams. I love NBA, but no one is playing like them right now. Obviously I’m putting in my work, but as I said before, it doesn’t even feel like work watching Golden State (OKC games are like watching a rock band with a fantastic front man and lead guitarist, but a mediocre rhythm section #tradeDionWaiters).

I can’t even take college ball seriously right now. Its like going from internet porn to watching Cinemax at your parents’ house on a Friday night. If you work hard enough, the ecstasy will come, but its a different process getting there.

This week’s Slate of Games:

 

Monday

Raptors-Pacers

Clippers-Detroit

Dallas-Phoenix

Miami-Atlanta

Mildly intriguing at best. I’ll probably have the Raptors-Pacers game on in the background while I enter in grades and fill out class reports.

 

“Tap That Vein Tuesday”

Cleveland-Boston 

Kelly Olynick and Kevin Love go to dinner and find that despite their differences, they actually are a lot alike. A beautiful friendship ensues that one day becomes a “30 for 30” documentary.

What if I told you that what can separate can also bring you together? What if I told you, that the line between hustling and hurting can’t always be determined by a ref? What if I told you that winning by any means necessary can cost you more than a championship?

ESPN’s 30 for 30 films brings you “Pales In Comparison.”

Scheduled to debut this Sunday after the 2033 ESPY awards. Tune in.

Houston-Sacramento 

Ugh. Sometimes its best not to………..

 

Wednesday

Dallas-Indy

This won’t be bad. I’d watch it if the Mavs weren’t blacked out in my market.

Memphis-Chicago

Ugly but will get the job done. In other words, “A 2 at ten, and a 10 at two.”

Minnesota-New York 

Probably the best game of the night.

Phoenix-Golden State

Portland- Oklahoma City

What is the over/under for the amount of doo-doo faces that Damien Lillard damian_lillard_caricature_by_ajjabosch-d7hfkwx

and Russell Westbrook make?

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I’m not sure which picture looks more cartoonish.

Thursday

Raptors-Hornets

None of my friends thought the “Me so Hornets meme” I proposed was a very clever one. Whatever. I enjoyed it. They can’t all be high brow jokes you know.

Oklahoma City- Cleveland

Can you say hangover Friday? My poor students………

Friday (AKA The Beginning of my Winter Vacation)

Sacramento-Minnesota

This gon’ be good.

Atlanta-Boston

Yeah I guess. I could be talked into it for a few minutes.

Golden State-Milwaukee

Bucks can go  ahead and circle this as an “L.” To quote my man Jay-Z “It’s about to go down”

Los Angeles Clippers vs. San Antonio (Good Ass Game of the Week) 

Don’t be afraid to throw that elbow to a former teammate’s chest D. West. You know he would do it to you.

 

Saturday

Chicago-New York 

Finally got to watch Porzingis play the other night. He’ll be the King of New York in 5 years. Let the Zingsanity era begin.

Sunday

Sacramento-Toronto

I probably won’t be watching this live, but I bet the highlights will be nice though. #RondoforALLSTARTEAM 

Sorry Craig.

hillary-i-dont-know-shrug-gif

 

 

Peace.

BM

 

#thisagoodassgame #fullsass

bobbymickey@gmail.com

@clickpicka79

 

Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish

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I’m still recovering from getting literally knocked into next week with a crippling sinus infection. I couldn’t even get out of bed yesterday. Luckily, I was able to pull it together enough to get some much needed work done, and bring you this post right before this week’s slate of games.

But before I do, I’d like to say good riddance to Kobe Bryant, who finally decided he’s gonna hang up the laces. As soon as he announced this was his last year,in a poem (much like his airness of course), then all the talking heads tripped over themselves trying to get in line to suck the off the “Black Mamba.”

Somehow people forget that Kobe gave himself a nickname that stuck (the only other time I remember a case like this is the episode of Seinfeld where George calls himself “T-Bone”), that Kobe was one of the worst sports of all time–petulant even (This is a guy who ran a forearm to Mike Bibby’s face and bloodied his nose to get to the basketball–and Bibby got called for the foul).

This new narrative also forgets how Kobe threw all kinds of static towards Shaq’s way when #8 Kobe got himself into some trouble for some extra curricular affairs in Colorado.  Kobe ran off Shaq from the Lakers because he wanted to be the “Top Dog”, and then cried like a little bitch when he was surrounded with sub-par talent.

All the shenanigans you see with Russell Westbrook today was groundwork laid by a young Kobe then. I can’t tell you how many times I saw Kobe get fouled, then push away an opponent’s hand when they tried to help him up after the foul.

This is the same dude who said he wanted to win, but wasn’t willing to sacrifice his money, his points, or his “status as top dog” in order to do so. He talked major shit about the majority of his teammates, and sure he could pass, but only when it was convenient for him (People forget about that series against the Suns where he ALLEGEDLY just let his team get behind big to prove a point).

Fuck Kobe Bryant’s 6 for 24, Finals MVP having ass (when it should Pau Gasol–even though he should have been called for pushing Rondo in the back during a critical rebound in game 7–Falcon Mike knows I’m right).

Now. All that being said, I can now say that the dude was a bad man, and definitely one of the baddest motherfuckers to ever pick up a basketball. Homie was like a jazz guitarist on the basketball court, a “me first” primadonna; but he also made the behind the scenes bullshit stop once the performance started.

I have always had mixed feelings towards Mr. Bryant. I was beginning my  senior year in high school when he declared for the draft, and it fascinated me that someone roughly my age was about to get PAID. It was easy to keep tabs on him after that. I told my little brother that game 4 of the 2000 Finals was his coming out party, and sure enough he proved me right. # 8 Kobe was one of the sickest mothafuckas I’d ever seen play the game, and he deserves all the accolades (and yes there were many versions of Kobe).

The man is a 17 time All-Star, 12 time All Defender, 15 Time All NBA-er, two time Olympian, 5 time NBA Champion, snazzy dresser, multi-lingual, player who left everything on the court. As an old man, I respect him still going out there and getting his head beat in for the love of the game (shit I do it for free), but the part of me who wants to watch good product just wants him to quit already.

Big ups to Kobe, for his long and brilliant career, but can’t send him out the door as if the guy was a sterling example of the kind of ballplayer I’d want my (fictional) child to be like. Big salute to the second best shooting guard to ever play the game, just as long as the salute is a middle finger. And for the record, I still have not seen the 81 point game.

This week’s Slate:

 

Monday

 

Detroit-Charlotte 

Two teams in the east that have been loads more entertaining this season as opposed to last. Big ups to Reggie “I don’t like OKC fans anymore” Jackson for getting Eastern Conference Player of the Week. One day two junior high school kids will be in a gymnasium shooting baskets, and one of them will say “Did you know that Reggie Jackson used to be Russell Westbrook’s backup on the Oklahoma City Thunder?”

Then the other kid will say, “There was a team in Oklahoma City?”  I’m kind of kidding. That would be the second biggest tragedy to ever hit that city.

Bulls-Suns

Two really fun backcourts.

Dallas-New York

Dirk vs. The Zinger.

Portland-Milwaukee

Tap. That. Vein. I’ll be watching the condensed version of this tomorrow during my plan period probably.

 

 

Tuesday

 

Hickory High vs. Warriors (Good Ass Game of the Week)

If you saw last week’s Hornets-Warriors affair, then you were in for a treat. Sometimes the “Good Ass Game of the Week” isn’t always a buzzer beater. Sometimes it means a player just goes crazy in a quarter and his shot montage burns itself into your retinas. I missed the Cleveland-New Orleans game on Friday when Lebron got 24 in the 4th, but I’m okay with that. You know why? Because I got to see Steph Curry pour on 40 in 3 quarters of play, while only missing 4 shots. By the way, it was Dell Curry night in Charlotte, and Cam Newton (this year’s NFL MVP) was in attendance.

If the Warriors are going to lose on this road trip, this is the prime place for them to get plucked.

OKC-MEMPHIS

Never a dull moment with these two teams.

 

Utah-Sacramento

Did you ever as a high school upperclassmen, sort of pick a fight between two freshman? and then when it was over, leave with a little respect for both participants, like “Yeah you little busters got some heart. Respect.”?  Ummm. Me either.

But that’s how I feel about this particular game.

 

 

Wednesday

 

Spurs-Raptors

Even without Kawhi it’ll be a good ass game.

Atliens-Mavericks 

Sure. Why not?

 

 

Thursday

 

New York-Sacramento

People may not admit this, but Willie Cauley-Stein really adds some length on defense. I don’t think it is an accident that they having been giving up even more points since he broke his finger.

 

 

Friday

 

Golden State-Boston

My homie says this is when the Golden Shower stops.

Milwaukee-Orlando

The last time someone tried to do magic on a dead animal this happened.

 

 

Saturday

 

San Antonio- Atlanta

This time I promise it will be competitive.

Golden State vs. Milwaukee

When I say this is going to be the longest game in recent memory, I don’t mean the duration. Both squads have very long wings and very tall backcourts. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Bucks took the Warriors to the precipice of losing.

 

Sunday

 

Minnesota-Phoenix

Tap That Vein if you must. But be aware that there is a world out there waiting for you to show it your beautiful face.

 

Big Ups of the Week:

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Goes out to Luke Walton for winning NBA Coach of the Month after going 0-0 in Steve Kerr’s absence. This son of NBA Hall of Famer Bill Walton (whose enthusiasm for basketball inevitably rubbed off on me–read his autobiography–it ain’t bad.) went to U of Arizona and played for Lute Olson (like the coach he is subbing for), then got to the NBA and played for Phil (much like the coach he’s subbing for).

The dude also has a pretty good tie game. He has yet to wear a bad suit on the sideline this season. Gotta give it up to the guy, plus he was one of my favorite passing big men to play the college game. I’ve got nothing but respect for the guy (even though I would have tried to talk him out of this photo shoot–but hey who didn’t do regrettable things when they were 22?).

 

May the “good ass game alert” texts never stop coming this week.

 

Peace.

 

BM

#thisagoodassgame #fullsass

@clickpicka79

bobbymickey@gmail.com

 

No Alarms and No Surprises Please

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We’re only a month into the season, but I’m already feeling silly about some of my preseason predictions. I wanted to be edgy with some of my picks and may end up looking foolish for my Milwaukee Bucks analysis.

Aside Note: Staring into Jason Kidd’s eyes is like staring into the abyss. No disrespect to the legend, but if he were anything but a basketball genius, and NBA coach, I’d be nervous interacting with him. Imagine being a woman, and having J-Kidd as your gynecologist. Or imagine if J-Kidd was a manager at a cell phone store. He could either talk you into buying all kinds of unnecessary upgrades, or he would creep you the fuck out. If Jason Kidd were your EAP appointed shrink, would you go back and see him? I bet he practices hypnotism on the undercover.  You could tell me anything about Jason Kidd and I’d probably halfway believe it. The guy has had some notable public (and not so public) fiascoes  in his time.

As much as I want to perform self fellatio over my pre-season Mavs pick, I can’t help but feel stupid for buying into hype on the OKC Thunder. Dion Waiters is doing to basketball what Puff Daddy did to hip-hop in the late 90’s. It hurts me to my soul to watch that guy play basketball. Which makes it doubly tough to watch Thunder games. That guy couldn’t spell pass if you spotted put a P right next to Kim Kardashian’s booty. I’m not sold on the role players on their squad. I know its early, but as of today, 11/28/2015, they don’t look like NBA Finals material.

Spurs look good. The problem is that we haven’t seen them play too many good teams yet. You can also tell they are still trying to get the new guys acclimated to their system of play.

I seriously underestimated the Warriors though. As of last night, they are 100-20 for the last 2 seasons. I already said enough on them last week, but 17-0 is some video game shit. I could do that on NBA Live, but the sliders would be skewed and I would have certainly hit reset on a few of those games. Watching them play is a spiritual experience, and Steph Curry is the most exciting player in the game right now.

The biggest surprise has been how well the East has looked this year. Scoring has been up this year, and every team in the top 8 has a winning record as of today.  The Hornets are not as bad as I thought they would be.The Pistons are putting up a fight, Orlando is pesky with their talented backcourt, and even the Knicks are playing respectable ball (who is this Porzingis kid everyone is talking about???).

Although the Spurs and Warriors are looking good, and the Mavericks are surprising everyone but me and my podcast mate, Craig Stein, the West has become surprisingly buster laden. Think of the biggest busters in the NBA, and I can rattle off at least five off the top of my head. Don’t believe me?

[Takes a Deep breath]

AUSTINRIVERS,CHRISPAUL,JOSHSMITH,DEANDREJORDAN,

JAMESHARDEN,DIONWAITERS, DWIGHTHOWARD, and ROY HIBBERT.

[And exhale]

Four of those guys play on the same team, and another set of two play on the Rockets. Enough said right?

As it stands the 7-7 Utah Jazz would make the playoffs as an eighth seed. Of course I don’t expect this to last, but it does make for a very interesting start to the season. We were ready to just hand over the Eastern Conference title to the Heat Cavaliers. It may not be such a cakewalk.

On this week’s slate of games, its slim pickings for the first week of December. Maybe that is a good thing:

 

Monday

OKC-ATL 

Dallas-Sacramento

Spurs-Bulls (Good Ass Game of the Week)

 

Tuesday

This a good ass day to get some work done.

Wednesday

Golden State-Charlotte 

Go ahead and mark an “L” for the Hornets, as Steph Curry comes home. Do yourself a favor and listen to the away feed, as his dad, Dell will be calling it as a color commentator. Someone in the East will gain a game on Charlotte if they take care of their own business.

Toronto-Atlanta

Playoff preview?

Milwaukee-San Antonio

Worth checking out for sure. I’ll probably be at work late this night, catching up on work, so this is the perfect storm. I may as well bring a cot to my classroom.

Thursday

Oklahoma City-Miami

Interesting front court matchup here. I’d bet the over on blocks swatted this game.

Spurs-Grizzlebees 

Who knew that the missing piece for Memphis was a guard from Kansas?

 

Celtics-Kings

I know my boy Falcon Mike will be on this one. Rondo vs. his favorite team? MMMMPPPPHHHHH

“Black Album” Friday

It is a long season. Get out of the house for a change. Spend some time with that special someone. Big ups to one of the greatest to ever step in the booth.

Saturday

Golden State-Toronto

This game will almost certainly be a beige-out. Every light skinned dude from Hamilton, Ontario to Concord, California will be tuning in for this one.

People always ask me, “Bobby Mickey why don’t you like light skinned people?” Well for the record, I have nothing against light skinned people–my mother is light skinned, my granny was light skinned, if you know anything about my proclivities, there is a really good chance my kids will be light skinned.

But light skinned people are a breed of folk of their own. A lot of them think they are better than dark people because they are light, and they also think they are better than pale people because they have permanent tans (the notable exceptions to this are Chris Arnold and Stephen Curry). If you don’t believe me, just ask one of them. They will guiltily laugh because they know its true. I ain’t lying!!!

Cleveland-Miami 

This will be a hard fought affair, and then Wade, Bosh, and Lebron will all go out to a steak and shrimp dinner and talk about the old days. Then they will do “not one, not two, not three, four, five shots” of really expensive tequila, before tearfully hugging goodbye.

Kings-Rockets

If my man “Boogie Down Productions” is playing, there is good chance there may be a fight/and or ejection. I’m a mild mannered guy and the Rockets piss me off. Imagine a hot head like Cousins having to put up with Harden’s FuckBoyShit. 

Blazers vs. Teen Wolves

I can’t wait for my boy Bobo to get back from Europe so I can start texting him about the Blazers again. This game is definitely group text worthy.

Sunday

Kings-Thunder

I could see this one getting testy too. I don’t know if this is Good Ass Game of the Week material, but I guarantee you its gonna be some ice grilling going on. By the way, I love me some Russ, homie is perpetually sour.

Dallas-Washington

Talk about tapping that vein. Wizards are boring and basic as fuck. I’m sure there are 1,000’s of reasons to watch this game, but I can’t think of any.

A lot of shade being thrown in today’s post. I hope I didn’t offend anyone. These are just jokes folks. Life is too short to be getting butt hurt over every little thing. There are issues to worry about in the world.

Peace,

 

BM

bobbymickey@gmail.com

fullsass.com

@clickpicka79

#thisagoodassgame #fullsass

 

 

 

 

 

 

Talking Turkey

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It was a good ass week for hoops last week. The Warriors somehow managed to wow me again, Kentucky hit the nation with the nastiest 1-2 combo I’ve seen since Lennox Lewis was boxing, and the NBA Rookie of the Year award has become a two person race.

I peeped the Champions Classic on Tuesday night and was rather impressed with what I saw. It was a basically a pair of Wackarnold’s All American games. After watching the Kentucky-Duke game, the KU-Sparty game was a serious letdown.

Bill Self still loves to keep his best shooters on the bench and clog the lanes with big men. I don’t understand why Brannen Greene (as of now suspended for 6 games) or Svi Mykhailiuk are not on the floor at all times to keep defenses honest.

If I’m playing Kansas I’ll take my chances with Frank Mason, Devonte Graham, and Wayne Selden shooting from behind the arc. Perry Ellis is a good shooter, but you are doing teams a favor by having him 18-25 feet away from the basket. Maybe he does become a Lamarcus Aldridge clone on the next level, but he is not there yet.

Big ups to Denzel Valentine (triple double), who was the only redeeming aspect of that game. Shit was weaker than a Drake diss record.

Kentucky continues to be a professional basketball camp. If I was an 17 year old stud about to choose a college, the only thing that would keep me from signing with the UK would be their historic legacy of racism. But a night on the town with Ashley Judd’s old ass may be enough to sway a brutha. Speaking inf Kentucky players, peep this article by former national (and NBA )champion Nazr Mohammed.

The Kentucky backcourt of Tyler Ulis ,and Jamal Murray is the best in the country (no disrespect to Ron Baker and Fred Van Fleet).

Speaking of that Duke-Kentucky game, I’ve figured out the formula for the Dukies winning a title. Last year’s title game was easily the blackest roster I’ve seen since I’ve been a hoops fan. Anytime they have had more than four white guys getting major minutes, you can pretty much pencil them in as first weekend flame out.

Grayson Allen had a good weekend up in New York, but you saw what happened on Tuesday when he played against future professionals (2-11 with 6 pts). I saw Bobby Hurley play at Duke, and Allen is no Bobby Hurley. I’d say he’s a “Wojo” with hops and a better shot (no disrespect to “Wojo” or to short white guys—some of my best friends are short and white).

And before you say something about the 2010-2011 team, when they beat Butler; that was a down year for college hoops.

Watching college hoops reminded me of why I prefer NBA ball though. College hoops is so sloppy, coach dominated, and frankly, just an inferior product. The gap between college hoop and pro ball is huge. I basically watch for scouting purposes alone. If you wanted to put money on how many college games I’ll watch this year, I’d bet -25. Call your bookie now.

Now, onto the pros:

 

Monday

Some good ass games to start the week with

New York-Miami

The hype on Kristaps Porzingis is getting loud. Playing in a buzz heavy city like New York lends favor for a guy like Porzingis. I hope Justice Winslow is using this as fuel to show out against the Knickerbockers. The media is dying to give Porzingis a nickname and they are reaching. Frankly his last name alone is better than “KP” (there is already a KD why add confusion?), “The Zinger”, or “Rook.” Its much easier for me to yell “Porzingis” when homie is going Fed in a big game. Reminds me of basketball bromance with Sabonis. The syllables just roll off the tongue.

San Antonio- Phoenix

Any other year, the Spurs would be number one option, but with League Pass, the urgency isn’t as strong. I can’t say enough about how much I want to see how they match up with the Dubs. More on them later though.

Sacramento vs. Charlotte will be worth checking out. Rondo is putting up triple doubles faster than you can say Russell Westbrook. I still fux with Rondo, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

This Detroit-Milwaukee game is the perfect example of why I love the condensed game feature on NBA league pass. It’ll be interesting, but not exactly beautiful. Kind of like “ugly” women in New York–still exotic enough to make it worth checking out.

 

Tuesday

Chicago-Portland will be the best game of the night, but the Golden State-Lakers game will be the best blow out game you’ve ever seen.

Speaking of the Warriors, Last Week’s Good Ass Game of the Week, lived up to the hype. Even though Golden State was down, they never panicked. Draymond Green’s three at the end of the 3rd period may as well have been the game winner. His reaction after he hit it, just showed how much swag they have right now.

I love how confident they are. Last year they thought they were good, but this year they know they are good. It is making all the difference in the way they prepare for games.

In Phil Jackson’s “Eleven Rings” (a great read), he talks about the 5 stages of tribal culture.

Level 1 is “All Life Sucks.” The best example of this are franchises like the Kings, and the 76ers.

Level 2 is “My life Sucks” This would be the Clippers right up to the point of them drafting “Beige” Griffin.

Level 3 is “I’m great and your’re not.” Kobe era Lakers without Phil.

Level 4 “We’re Great” Spurs.

Level 5 “Life is Great.” Innocent Wonderment. Talk is about infinite potential and making history. The tribe is in competition with what is possible, not another tribe. Think the 72 win Bulls.

 

Level 5 is where the Warriors are right now. They know they are special, and young enough to enjoy the newness of it all. They are having fun, which makes it fun to watch them. I haven’t seen this kind of buzz surrounding a team’s offense since the showtime Lakers. It is fitting that they can tie the record for best start to a season by beating them on Tuesday.

Wednesday

Cleveland-Toronto

I hope this is a second round matchup in the playoffs.

Atlanta-Minnesota 

Trust me. By the way. I love me some Karl Anthony Towns. He plays D, he has a good post game, and he can pass. I’m just sayin’

Sacramento-Milwaukee

The highlights alone will be worth watching.

Miami-Detroit

Hassan Whiteside will be the starting big man for the Eastern Conference All Stars.

Dallas-San Antonio (GOOD ASS GAME OF THE WEEK)

Can you say live tweet session? #FULLSASS

Thursday

This some good ass Turkey.

Friday

Sacramento vs. Minnesota

Some young talent in this one.

Golden State vs. Phoenix

Suns will hang with them for about 2 -3 quarters before Dubs run away from them. Records will be broken.

Detroit vs. Oklahoma City

The return of Reggie.

 

Saturday

Atlanta vs. San Antonio  will be something like this.

Sunday

Minnesota-Los Angeles 

If you really need to tap that vein.

 

Have a happy Thanksgiving.

Peace.

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Easin’ into the Grind

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I haven’t had as much time as I’d like to watch NBA this season. The number of games I want to catch up on are piling up. The bandwidth at my local Starbucks is weak, and I’m afraid that if I get internet at my house that I’ll become a hermit. By December, I’ll be a bit more adjusted, and will have caught my breath by winter break. I plan to devote at least 5-6 hours a day during this period to watching basketball. Only 4 more weeks until this is a reality. The marquee “Good Ass Game of the Week” matchups have been as good as advertised, but the biggest surprise to me is how much better ball is in the Eastern Conference. The quality of play is improved, and instead of 89-76 games, teams are actually scoring into the 100’s.

All that being said, I still fux with the Western Conference teams more heavily than the East–no doubt. Right now my favorite squads to watch are the Warriors (unreal the kind of ball they are playing. I don’t think an offense has generated this kind of round-the-league since the Showtime era Lakers), the Bulls (can actually stretch the floor with shooters), the Teen Wolves (could conceivably have two of the best 2 way players in the league someday with Karl Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins–I’ve watched more games by them this year than I have in the entire KG “Big Ticket” era), Kings (those throwback powder blue jerseys are sick), and of course the Spurs.

This week Kawhi supplanted Kevin Durant as my favorite player in the NBA. Curry stays on at #2, while KD slips to three. Steph and KD are both electrifying to watch, but Leonard is slowly building up his case for being the best 2 way player in the game (after Lebron of course). But Lebron won’t be around forever, and we’re only 3-4 seasons away from Lebron’s body betraying him, making him merely great rather than otherworldly. Who’ll supplant Lebron? Well it could be any of these guys in no particular order:

Andrew Wiggins

Victor Oladipo

Jimmy Butler

Kawhi Leonard

Anthony Davis

Paul George

Anthony Towns

The NBA product is in good hands for the next 8-10 years. Let’s get to these games:

Monday

Portland-San Antonio 

This will be close for about 3 and a half quarters if we are lucky. Seriously though, if you like to watch good defenders, and you haven’t been watching Kawhi, do yourself a favor and peep. First hit is free, after that…….

OKC-Memphis

Always a good battle with these two teams. No Durant adds more pressure on the supporting cast to step it up, because you know Hustle Westbrook is going to fill the stat sheet.

“Tap That Vein” Tuesday

Minnesota-Miami 

Young guns. This will be a fun watch. I’m especially looking forward to the Towns-Whiteside face-off.

Toronto-Golden State

Warriors  gonna rock the “Throwbacks” that night. MMMMMPPPPPPPHHHHHHHH!!!!

[If College hoops gives you that buzz, then get on those Duke-Kentucky, Kansas-Michigan State games]

Wednesday

Sacramento-Atlanta

Even when the Kings get blown out, it lends for entertainment.

Dallas-Boston

This strikes me as the type of game one would live-tweet while watching.

Chicago-Phoenix

Suns just aren’t a hoops sexy team this year. It’ll still be a fun game though. Its good toe See Doug McDermott out on the court this year. Homie can ball.

Thursday

Sacramento-Miami

Cousins vs. Whiteside??? Insert “banging in the post” joke here. GO!!!

Milwaukee-Cleveland pt. Duex

The Bucks match up well with the Cavs. Imagine the length of Golden State without the outside shooting threats. That’s the Bucks.

Golden State vs. Lol Clippers “Good Ass Game of the Week”

Good night to make some chili on the crock pot, and stare at the computer (or tv) screen. Warriors have Bogut back for this one. I’m not a betting man, but if I were, I’d put money on Blake Griffin getting a tech this game.

Friday

Detroit-Minnesota 

Some young talent in this one. Andre Drummond vs. Karl Anthony Towns. Remember when they said big men in the post were a dying breed?

Spurs-New Orleans

To quote the great Jordan Paladino, “New Orleans is trash.” The only way I’ll be watching the Pelicans again this year is if they play a marquee  game. I know its early in the season, but not only do they not look like they’ve gotten better, but it seems like they regressed. Its pretty disappointing.

Clippers-Portland

Lillard against Chris Paul sounds slightly amusing. Its hard to watch the Trailblazers even with their sick back court. When Lillard and McCollum are off the floor, it feels like I’m watching a pickup game at the Lewis and Clark Recreation Center–especially with Plumlee, Leonard, and Connaughton on the team.

Chicago-Golden State “Good Ass Game of the Week PART 2”

Last February’s affair was one of the “Good Ass Games of the Year” in my book. I have three words for you: HIGH LEVEL BASKETBALL. Plus two of my favorite college players from back in the day are now coaching against each other. That is correct, I am old enough to have seen the “The Mayor” play in college. #DON”THATECUZYOULATE

Saturday

Sacramento-Orlando

This week definitely has some bite to it. Good ass games every single night. Orlando is pesky. Scott Skiles knows how to get the young bucks fired up to play. Its the veterans who get tired of his overbearing style though. This is the perfect situation for him. In 4 years, maybe not. He is like the Buck Showalter of NBA coaches.

Memphis-San Antonio

Memphis looks a step behind this year. I’d be shocked if this were a double overtime affair like last season. Then again, so was this shot.

Sunday

Definitely the kind of setting that would precipitate a live-tweet session.

Big Ups of the Week to the person who designed this year’s Mavs’ jerseys. Those are the best looking ones I’ve seen in al the years they been rocking them shits.

I wish I could say the same for the Thunder jerseys. HELL NAW!!!

They would get the Buster of the Week Award in a regular week, but last week’s events (the bombings in Lebanon, and the shootings in Paris), have me thinking more sobering thoughts. In order for a tragedy of last week’s magnitude to occur, it takes multiple parties have to be complicit.

I’m not naive enough to think that international conflict can be avoided. Its unavoidable. But the fact that people can’t go to a movie, or see their favorite band without fear of being shot in a public place is discomforting. We have to figure out a way to be better people towards each other. There’s no way around it.

One minute you are ordering a dish in French for the first time, and in the next breath, there can be bullets whizzing by your head.Life really is that fragile.

#shoothoopsnotpeople

Peace.

BM

#thisagoodassgame # fullsass

@clickpicka79

Fullsass.com

bobbymickey@gmail.com

Out The Gate

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The scheduling gods looked favorably upon me with a pretty weak slate of games for week 2 of the season. This was easily the busiest week I’ve had at school, and I was able to catch up on sleep when I was not at work. I think I only got to watch about 4 or 5 games live this week. The two best games were Thunder-Bulls, and Warriors-Clippers. Both games were awesome, with the Warriors-Clippers game being everything I thought it would be. The game was krunk from tip-off to the final buzzer. #HIGHLEVELBASKETBALL

I was buzzing for hours after the game, and had to stop myself from watching the replay during breakfast. The Warriors look good, and they don’t even have their head coach or starting center right now. The way they hunkered down and took over during winning time (the 6:24 mark during the fourth quarter) was incredible. They played focused team defense and then Harrison Barnes (can’t wait to see him match up against Kawhi Leonard) got hyphy for about 6 possessions in a row–with back to back 3 pointers, a block, and then another basket. Steph Curry started doing Steph Curry things, and then the Clippers had a terrible final possession to end the game. This game was easily the “Good Ass Game of the Week.”

I was tired the next day, but it was a good kind of tired. You’d have thought I had a one night stand they way I was glowing. I was in the teacher’s lounge like “Mannnnnn, I was at the bar, minding my own business, when what’dayaknow? A basketball game comes on the television. You should have seen the point guards in this game man. They were going up and down the court, up and down the court. Running and Gunning. Gunning and Running. I mean, I was tryna play it cool, being in a public place, but eventually I was like GAME ON!!!! So you know, finally I’m like let’s do this. One thing led to another, and yadda yadda yadda, I wake up in the morning still thinking about it. MMMMMMPPPPPPPHHHHHHH!!!!”

This week’s Slate (starting from Tues. 10th)

Tuesday

Dallas-New Orleans 

The fight for the 8th seed continues.

Oklahoma City-Washington

KD comes home to tease Wizards fans of what they can’t have.I just watched the Spurs blow a very winnable game against Washington last week. I hit my boys up with “good ass game” alert texts even before Tony Parker hit a three with 7 seconds left to tie it up. Of course there was a mix up on a defensive switch, and Bradley Beal was left wide open to hit a game winner. Sean Elliot was not a happy color commentator.

The only thing that made me feel better about this loss was that OKC blew two winnable games of their own. Their defense hasn’t impressed me yet, and Dion Waiters may be the most selfish third tier player I’ve ever seen. Dude is a broke man’s Nick Young. I’m not a fan.

Wednesday

San Antonio vs. Portland

I’m looking forward to texting all my PDX homies during this one. This will be a measuring stick game for the Trailblazers. This is the first really good team they’ll face this season.

Detroit-Sacramento

This will be the “pick 2 click”  for the night. Trust me. I’m a doctor.

Thursday

Golden State vs. Minnesota

Most clinics you have to pay for. The Teen Wolves should think of this game as a paid clinic. Still it’ll be a fun watch. Don’t miss this one.

Los Angeles (Clippers)-Phoenix

This will be a “tap that vein’ kind of affair for me. I’ll probably be getting into bed by halftime.And  by the way, the Clippers will remain suspect as long as Austin Rivers is the backup point guard for the Clippers. They may as well have Steve Blake out there.

Friday the 13th

Teen Wolves versus Hickory High

Somewhere in Los Angeles, Bill Simmons is typing up a tweet about his two favorite movies coming to life.

Saturday

Dallas vs. Houston

Loser of this game has to Sit in an hour of traffic afterwards. Oh wait, that’s everybody in the arena.

Cleveland-Milwaukee (Good Ass Game of the Weak????)

Everything I wrote for the Blazers-Spurs game applies here. Even though I picked them to be in the Eastern Conference Finals this year, I’m still not sold on the J-Kidd’s quite yet.

Sunday

Boston-Oklahoma City

If I happened to be a certain Boston Celtics fan from Maine, who happened to be nicknamed after a Falcon, I’d take my significant other to a nice little brunch, put in some serious quality time before sports totally took over my Sunday afternoon and evening. Or I’d avoid this game completely to avoid seeing the hurting that KD and Russ are going to put on the C’s. By the way, Billy Donovan blew this game, and forced the country to endure a Butler-UConn final.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdIt8o1vyrY

Toronto-Sacramento

I really hope to see “Boogie Down Productions” play in this one. Toronto is trying to make people sorry they slept on them. They aight. I won’t say more than that until we get further in the season. Anyway, this will be a good game, and even if it isn’t I’ll still probably watch. I’m done with football until the playoffs start. Just wake me up when someone is ready to beat the Patriots. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Have a good week. Peace.

BM

@clickpicka79

bobbymickey@gmail.com

#thisagoodassgame #fullsass

fullsass.com

The 35/55 Rule : A Guest Post by Alex Knapp

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Let’s get one thing straight. I’m a Portland Trail Blazer fan. I WANT them to win.
I’m not going to hide my bias or pretend I don’t care about the outcome of a game, or even the ten thousand variables that went into said outcome of that game (if a Pat Connaughton flaps his wings).
In fact, I’m going to use this bias and knowledge of the team to better inform my predictions of their success this season. After all, this is the team I read about and watch the most – shouldn’t I be relatively knowledgeable about them? And aren’t I capable as a rational human to formulate thoughts that aren’t only purely based out of emotional feelings towards the success of the team?
“THE BLAZERS ARE THE BEST CUZ I LIKE THEM A LOT.” – dumb fan with zero basketball knowledge or insight
Therefore, I wrote in my previous guest post – and will continue to believe that they win less than 27.5 games this season (the Vegas over/under).

Now we are 5 games into the season and the Blazers are 3-2. Fans are scoffing at the 27.5 win line, with most eyeing a 35-40 win season, and the select few who wear Rose city colored glasses lamenting an 8th seeded playoff berth – “Listen, CJ is a top 5 SG in the league and Ed Davis is a skinny Z-bo. WE ARE GETTING THE 8th SEED!”

Yet, I’m holding strong.

I don’t think the Blazers have the horses to consistently put up enough points in the stacked west. I think our team is made up of unproven, slightly above average – mismatched  pieces, with horrible perimeter defense from our starting guards, and a general lack of rim protection behind that. I think we lose a lot of close 4th quarter games, and are always at risk of blowing a big lead that we get early in the game. Make no mistake, this team is lottery bound. AND THAT’S OKAY!!!!! 

Now that we’ve got that out of the way…to why we are actually here….

The 35/55 rule.
I’ve developed a simple theory/mathematical equation to predict the probability of the Blazers success this season. By keying in on a few simple box scores numbers, I believe I could successfully tell you the outcome of a game, without having the final score revealed to me.

This theory revolves around the scoring of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Separately and in conjunction.
Why? because their scoring is the single most consistent thing about this team, or at least fans of them winning hope it is.
It’s also the greatest predictor of our offense putting up enough numbers to be even competitive in any game.
The difference between Aminu putting in 6 and 18 points essentially has no baring on whether we win or lose.
Ed Davis playing solid defense and snagging 12 rebounds isn’t a strong enough correlation to us winning games.

Simply put no one else on this team impacts the game enough to make a difference – other than Dame and CJ’s scoring output.

So let’s look at some numbers:

Game 1:  37 + 21  = 58  = W
Game 2:  16 + 24  = 40  = L
Game 3:  15 + 23  = 38  = L
Game 4:  18 + 34  = 52  = W
Game 5:  27 + 35  = 62  = W

Are we noticing a trend…..?

It’s really simple guys, the first column is CJ’s points that game, the second column is Dame’s points that game, and the third column is their combined points.

Each time one of them scores close to 35 points, and combined they score close to 55, they win.
Each they don’t do both of those things, they lose.

Let’s take a second look with everything labeled:

               CJ     Dame     Both   Outcome
Game 1:  37  +   21      = 58     = W
Game 2:  16  +   24      = 40     = L
Game 3:  15  +   23      = 38     = L
Game 4:  18  +   34      = 52     = W

Game 5:  27  +   35      = 62     = W

My prediction : They will continue to win whenever the 35/55 rule is reached, and will continue to lose every game it’s not.
Now this isn’t an exact science, if Henderson comes back and puts up big numbers or Aminu gets hot and puts in 25+ one game (allowing CJ to take a night off), then those nights the rule won’t be reached and the Blazers might get the Win. I hope they do.
However, I truly think around 85% of games this year (70 games) will fall under the 35/55 rule, and it will become the easiest predictor of success for the Blazers this season.

This is also why I believe Lillard has a punchers chance of the Points Per Game title.
He will need to average close to 28 ppg if this team is going to win any where close to 30 games.
Take a gander at the box scores every night and do the math in your head…you’ll start to see I’m right. I’ll post another update to this rule every 20 games or so just to show the progress.

Alex Knapp is a Portlander living in Brooklyn, New York for the past 7 years.
A filmmaker and actor currently working in HR to pay the bills, Alex is an avid NBA basketball fan who likely has an opinion on every team and every player, seriously – try him.