bron ain’t get past the foreward in that malcolm x autobiography

I haven’t been paying as much attention this season… But Josh Giddey never dunks one handed.

IDK how many of these things “nobody else sees” but:

• Ryan Rollins obviously has huge upside. I pray that Docs/the Bucks don’t fuck up his development by excessively relying upon Cam Thomas & KPJ to try to make the play-in.
• By not upping his screen and PnR game, Giannis undermines his own greatness.
  • It’s very frustrating to watch an NBA PF/C who is a top-3 player and who both: 1) Doesn’t space the floor with 3s; 2) Has a weak screen/PnR game.
  • If Giannis fixed one of these two concerns, he might just be the consensus best player in the NBA and it’d be easier to build around him.
  • It’s probably much easier to fix his screen game than it would be to fix his 3pt shot.
• Cade deserves his roses for Detroit’s rise, but Duren hasn’t been getting enough credit.
• JB Bickerstaff has to find a way to keep that chip on Detroit’s shoulder while also reducing how often the team crashes out.
• Cleveland’s trade for Keon Ellis was at least as important as the Harden trade.
  • One of Cleveland’s biggest weaknesses going back a season and a half has been defense from guards & wings.
  • DeAndre Hunter didn’t fix the problem the way Cleveland thought he would.
  • Small sample size, but I think Ellis has been impactful on defense in a way that Cleveland hasn’t had for a minute.
• Siakam really needs to improve his free throw game. It’s the one glaring hole in his game.
• Rick Carlisle was probably right when he implied that a new stat should be invented to fully capture Haliburton’s impact.
  • I might try to tackle after I finish my MS, but it’s easier said than done. You can’t really create a useful advanced stat modeled after one player, so you have to find the relevant latent variables across a larger pool of players.
• Zach Lavine is the king of putting up meaningless box score stats.

Sam Merrill is shooting 47% from three on almost 8 attempts! And these aren’t just stand still, spot-up threes. He’s shooting them above the break, in transition and off of screens. He has one of the quickest releases I’ve ever seen and gets it off from multiple angles. He’s a blast to watch.

There was a collection of sixers fans on twitter that knew that Embiid tore his meniscus after Kuminga fell on his knee because of the way Embiid’s hand moved after the contact. They had made the diagnosis like 2 or 3 days before it was officially announced. Apparently he’s only ever reacted that particular way to an injury a few times in the past and every time it was after a torn meniscus

Alex sarr is currently basically the same player as chet holmgren and if they were magically switched neither team would get meaningfully better or worse

Donovan Mitchell exclusively dunks jumping off of 2 feet.

Can’t even imagine him dunking off of one one foot.

If you like the topic of players with very specific skills, check out HoopsWithNick on YouTube. He has made some great videos about this.

Walker Kessler has probably done a reverse dunk as much as he’s done a conventional one.

Since he left the Warriors, I haven’t followed him as closely to really know if this is still the case, but Andrew Wiggins was EXCEPTIONAL at navigating screens as a Warrior. It’s a big part of what made him such a great defender in the 2022 post season.

Maybe not a specific player; but I think +/- as a long term stat is really legit. I also think this stat when applied to cohesive lineups is really telling about how to play winning team basketball.

Giannis gets tunnel vision and often only sees the rim and the corner shooters if he’s inside the arc. If you’re wide open on the wing, there is a good chance you never get the ball.

Giannis slips early on almost every screen like Wiseman on the warriors.

If LeBron is downhill in the paint and hasn’t lifted off yet, be ready for him to do a spin move into a layup

Steph sometimes kicks his leg out to the side when shooting which makes it harder for closeouts

Tatum jumps forward on his jump shots

If Bobby Portis turns his back to the basket, 99% of the time he’s shooting that. He’ll back you down and turnaround fadeaway baseline jumper or layup.

Caleb Love only passes when he’s clamped up and can’t shoot

I am sure people have noticed this, but Jay Huff always reverse dunks. Its honestly pretty entertaining to watch.

Embiid at the top of the paint: dribble with the right, cross to the left then fade away middy. It’s fairly predictable but still very tough to contest.

Wemby is extra focused on post play this season. Whereas last year he was pulling up from 3 at a huge clip, this year he’s setting screens for Fox, Castle, or Harper and then rolling to the low/mid post. His actual post moves are still raw but he has good footwork! He also falls a lot, which seems scary, but may be preferable to landing awkwardly on his legs.

Speaking of Fox, he’s having a “down year” from a usage standpoint, but this is just to get Castle and Harper their reps. Fox is still Fox from my eye test, and I expect his usage to climb in the playoffs.

Deandre Ayton can’t catch a lob

Steph Curry is not a defensive liability anymore than anyone else his size. And at his size, I would suggest he is actually a plus defender for a PG. Sure he is going to get switched and backed down by big wings as any PG will but he is much stronger than most realize and he has outstanding hands and all world IQ.

Lebron wipes his hands off on his chest/jersey whenever he fucks up.

A few weeks ago someone on here pointed that out and now I can’t unsee it.

If dribbling weren’t part of the game OG Anuboby would be a multiple time MVP

Shawn Marion had an awkward shot, but nobody said a word! There, I said it sigh

An old one but in the 2016 finals you can tell Steph was still fighting lingering injuries. During the season he drove the basket and did layups off one foot. In the playoffs, his layups were primarily off two feet

I know that Suns and Rockets fans, and probably Grizzlies fans are aware of this, but Dillon Brooks WILL NOT pass the ball once he’s caught it on the perimeter and taken more than one dribble. It’s like he decides immediately that he’s going to shoot, whether it’s off a drive, or an ill advised fade away. Guys can be wide open for a three, or an easy cut to the rim layup, it’s not leaving his hands unless it’s a shot attempt or a turnover. I’m honestly surprised that we still have any off-ball movement once he gets it.

Not a player, but: Tony Brothers is one man. The more you know.

Jeremi grant with his no dip catch and shoot 3

Russ Westbrook lost his shot the moment he started bulking up. His shoulders went Dwight Howard big.

Lebron is tuned out of the NBA.

Idk why but I feel like Lebron is not going to stick around after he retires - he won’t attend games, speak to the media or be an NBA personality like some other retirees of the league. Also, to be fair, be has no obligation to do so nor does he owe the NBA anything after he retires, but it would be sad to see one of the GOATs just remove himself from the league entirely.

Jokic said before the season that he wasn’t going to complain to the officials anymore. To a large degree that was true until his injury but since returning not as much.

Danny Wolf and Nolan Traore are gonna make some noise in the NBA as great rotation players with awesome passing.

Jokic doesn’t like taking middy’s. Maybe somewhat obvious but it’s probably the one thing holding him back.

Maybe it’s partially him trying to be logical that if he has a smaller guy on him, he should try and back them down, but generally the smaller guys are allowed to go for more contact. If he instead just decides to shoot over the player then it would be even harder for teams to put smaller guys on him.

This year prior to his injury he had stopped complaining to the officials. He baited more often but not as many complaints. Since the injury the baiting has maybe even increased and the complaining has increased dramatically. I’m hoping he’s just trying for easy points while he’s still somewhat injured. Prior to his injury he was playing such beautiful ball.

Not entirely sure what type of player Christian Braun defends well. I don’t think he’s really good at screen navigation, he’s too small to be viable as a post up defender on players that generally post up. I wouldn’t say he’s a bad defender, he’s of course good, but I wouldn’t want him to be the team’s best defender. In fact I’d say Cam Johnson is a better defender.

Cam Johnson is insanely good. I know he had a slow start and since then picked up, but idk how many people realize how good he is. Dude nearly always makes the right play and has been a more than capable screen navigator/defender. MPJ wasn’t much of a relocator but Cam Johnson is always moving. Dude has also been saving the bench units by being such a great connecter.

Wemby kinda turns into an 8’2 Luka on offense in the sense that he relies on tough shots or chucking 3s for stretches. It leads to cool highlights when they go in, but when they don’t, it’s just rough basketball. He would really benefit from adding a post sky hook to his bag (maybe he did and I just haven’t seen it)

Duece McBride will basically never pass the ball if he gets it in transition

Paolo Banchero is always talked about as a great athlete, and everyone wonders why he doesn’t get to the rim more often… but he’s not very fast and is absolutely not explosive as a slasher. It’s like people don’t watch him, or just read the articles that talk about his LeBron-esque athleticism, or just assume it because he was the No. 1 pick.

SGA is a Free Throw Merchant who wouldn’t win the MVP if not for the refs whistle