lethalweapon3

Aside: Triple-Double #14 will have to wait! ~lw3

In the classic commercial, the bear gets the worst of it in the end. As they say, "Sometimes, you get the bear..." ~lw3

"MUSKIE, TAKE THE WHEEL!" ~lw3

AMC Presents: THE WALKING DNP-CD After yet another ridiculous display from Russell Westbrook on Saturday, will the Oklahoma City Thunder guard go Super Saiyan on the Atlanta Hawks tonight (8:00 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, Fox Sports Oklahoma) in OKC? Westbrook ran roughshod over the Phoenix Suns over the weekend, his latest triple-double virtuoso performance including a career-high 22 assists to accompany 26 points and 11 rebounds, guiding the Thunder to a cruise-controlled 114-101 victory at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Russ acknowledges the incessant post-game talk about getting triple-doubles, or not getting one, or averaging one (for the record: 30.4 PPG, 11.0 APG, 10.5 RPG), has been grating on a player who gets easily bristled anyway. “Honestly, man, people and this triple-double thing is kind of getting on my nerves, really,” he advised the Oklahoman this past week. “People think if I don't get it, it's like a big thing. When I do get it, it's a thing. If y'all just let me play -- if I get it, I get it. If I don't, I don't care. It is what it is. I really don't care. For the hundredth time. I don't care. All I care about is winning, honestly. All the numbers (bleep!) don't mean nothing to me.” The difference between a Most Valuable Player candidate and a disreputable stat-padder is that Westbrook’s efforts have been leading to winning basketball for a team that was sapped of a lot of talent over the summer. But despite prevailing in seven of its last ten games, wins haven’t been coming easy of late for the Thunder (16-11). Backcourt mate Victor Oladipo sprained his shooting wrist over a week ago, in the first quarter against visiting Boston. Westbrook would carry OKC to victory against Al Horford and Friends, but his team experienced tough sledding in its next two games on the road. The Thunder fell 114-99 in Portland, then 109-89 in Salt Lake City, with hardly anyone aside from Westbrook and Enes Kanter able to provide offense, and no guards able to make stops. Oladipo, who remains out tonight, is OKC’s second-leading scorer and (by default) assist-maker, and top 3-point maker. So when Jerami Grant couldn’t fill the bill as a replacement starter, coach Billy Donovan switched to former Hawk Anthony Morrow, the sharpshooter who lit up Philips Arena with a season-high 4-for-6 3FG performance a couple weeks ago in a 102-99 Thunder win. On Saturday, Morrow’s three triples helped the Suns set early. In the NBA West, a slide toward .500 basketball only risks a dogfight with Portland to avoid the eventual 8th-seed and a first-round meeting with Golden State, but that’s what OKC wishes to avoid. In the mediocre East, a .500-ish record places your team anywhere between the 3rd-seed and the 11th. And Atlanta finds itself on shaky ground in the 10-spot (a half-game in front of the rising Wizards) after falling flat late in the first and second halves of its 107-99 home loss to Charlotte. Against the Hornets, pick-and-roll defense was poor, and closeouts along the perimeter were shaky at crucial junctures. Westbrook (32 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists @ ATL on Dec. 5) sniffs out weaknesses and mistakes to exploit in opposing defenses. Guards Dennis Schröder and Malcolm Delaney have to make swifter and wiser decisions on screens than Hawks fans witnessed on Saturday night. Schröder also has to finish on drives in the paint, remember to feed Dwight Howard (23 rebounds, but 6 FGAs vs. CHA; 2 FGAs off putbacks, none assisted by Dennis) early and often, and force Westbrook to make defensive plays that go beyond transitional rebounds. One of the few Hawks who made a positive impact at both ends on Saturday was Kent Bazemore (6-for-9 2FGs, 5 assists, one crazy block). No one will confuse Kent with Stella, but while he doesn’t completely have his groove back he will have his starting spot back, for now. Coach Mike Budenholzer intends to watch his minutes closely, although he has been on the floor about as much as starter Thabo Sefolosha in recent days. It will be not Thabo, but Tim Hardaway, Jr. who returns to the bench, and that’s a bit of a surprise. More pressing for the coaching staff than watching the status of Bazemore’s sore knee is the lack of defensive impact among the reserves. Atlanta’s bench ranks dead-last in the NBA this month with an atrocious 119.5 defensive rating. Predictably, the Thunder bench’s offensive efficiency isn’t stellar (99.3 December O-Rating, 26th in NBA, even with Enes Kanter), but Atlanta’s bench isn’t much better (99.7, 23rd in NBA), despite the inclusion of Kyle Korver to the unit. Bazemore and Sefolosha will log plenty of floor time not only helping to contain Westbrook and close out on shooters, but to help Hawk reserves (league-worst -19.5 December net rating) from leaking lots of oil. (If I could use Purple as a protest font color to get Bud to play a certain somebody, I would). Paul Millsap (24 points vs. OKC on Dec. 5, second-most this season; last six games: 19.8 PPG, 4.3 APG, 2.0 SPG) needs to dominate his matchup with rookie Domantas Sabonis, and the Hawks getting productive paint touches will draw help from Andre Roberson away from the perimeter, freeing up Atlanta’s guards and wings for quality perimeter shots. Of course, there will be plenty of misses among Atlanta’s long-distance shot volumes. But when Westbrook gets the rebound or the outlet pass and begins to make a head of steam in the other direction, there had better be five Hawks in position and awaiting his arrival across the halfcourt line. Let’s Go Hawks! ~lw3 View full record

Just glad Kemba could play, otherwise it'd been a 40-point loss and the Razor Ramon Sessions Show on SportsCenter. Props to El Duque! Is he their new Big Shot Bird? Four parting words for now... "Go Falcons! Rise Up!" ~lw3

“I GOT MY SUIT AT SPENCER’S GIFTS! HO-HO-HO!” Recent games against Milwaukee, Orlando, and Toronto serving as a representative sample, the Atlanta Hawks have struggled to string together a consistent series of quarters, starts, or games. Yet, nobody in the Eastern Conference has time to play the violin for them, least of all the visiting Charlotte Hornets (7:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast in CLT and ATL; 92.9 FM in ATL). The Southeast Division leader by default, Charlotte (14-13) concludes its five-game road trip at the Strobelight Factory tonight. They’re trying to salvage this wreck of a trek after dropping all of the previous four games, including last night’s 96-88 loss in Boston. If they wanted to (they won’t), Atlanta could empathize with a Hornets team that led 50-41 at halftime before running out of gas, losing 55-38 in the second half. With Kemba Walker absent for personal reasons (active for tonight), the Hornets had no answer for the Celtics’ Isaiah Thomas. Also awakening in that second half was our old amigo, Al Horford (18 points, 8 boards, 5 blocks), and his comfort in and out of the paint surely continued to peeve coach Steve Clifford. The Hornets coach might enjoy mincemeat over the holidays, but he rarely minces words. Not since Olivia Newton-John rocked neon leotards has anyone uttered “The P word” so ardently. "The game came down to Physical play. If guys aren’t willing to be more Physical, we’ll be an up-and-down team, we’ll struggle to make the playoffs," Clifford told the Charlotte Observer. This, after the Hornets dropped their third-straight game in Washington on Wednesday, casually watching Marcin Gortat transform into Ivan Putski around the boards. Coach Cliff wasn’t done. "If we want to play with the Physicality we choose to at times, we have a chance to be a good team…”, he conveyed to the Observer. Any other Observations, coach? “It’s our greatest weakness. “It’s evident (against) teams that aren’t even Physical off the ball. I’ve been telling them for three weeks now: (Other teams are saying) ‘Make it hard on them. Bump them off every cut, bump them off every screen.’ Sooner or later, we have to respond." The return of Walker (career-bests of 46.6 FG%, 41.2 3FG%, 22.6 PPG) will be the wind beneath the Hornets’ wings tonight. But to keep Clifford from seeking out the number for the phone booth closest to Ivan Johnson, Charlotte’s players need the combination of girth and guile from Cody Zeller that successfully befuddled Atlanta’s Dwight Howard in the third quarter of the Hawks’ 100-96 loss in the Queen City on November 18. Fans can literally mark the moment differentiating a Hawks team that was cruising toward a 10-2 record (5-1 on the road) and the team we have now, one that sits at 13-13 and is often left wondering if anyone caught the tag number on the truck that ran them over. Having successfully fended off a fourth-quarter rally, the Hawks were up 89-86 in Charlotte when Zeller (9-for-10 FGs vs. ATL on Nov. 18) took the proximity of Dwight Howard’s pointy elbow and responded with a sell job that would have made Charlotte’s own Ric Flair proud. Dwight got ejected, Kemba got to the rim unimpeded, the Hornets turned the tables and won, and the Hawks haven’t been quite the same since. We know better than to suggest that the Hawks’ surprising 125-121 win in Toronto was the indication that the team is finally turning a corner, on some uptick after bottoming out several times in recent weeks. But a juxtaposition of the last Hawks-Hornets matchup with last night’s Raptors game suggests there may be some comforting signs. First and foremost, Dennis Schröder isn’t second-guessing himself and playing tentatively. Hardly a factor with 11 points on 5-for-12 shooting (0-for-5 3FGs) in Charlotte, Atlanta’s point guard went toe-to-toe with Kyle Lowry last night and came away with 24 points (8-for-12 FGs, 2-for-4 3FGs) plus a team-high six assists. He is taking more initiative to ensure that offensive plays are executed all the way through, not stifled by the team’s own lack of motion. Also creating hardly any impact as a starter in Charlotte (5 points, 2-for-6 FGs in 29 minutes) one month ago, Kyle Korver seems to be growing more at-ease, as he returns to a familiar career-long role as an off-the-bench sniper. Kyle confidently nailed six triples last night, and had close calls on several more attempts, as his 19 points helped create just the cushion the Hawks needed before, and during, Toronto’s inevitable second-half rallies. Charlotte’s defensive ace Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was slightly used yesterday in Boston, so expect extended minutes by MKG to alleviate Nicolas Batum (22 points, 6-for-19 FGs @ BOS on Friday) and try cooling off Korver tonight. This time around, Howard won’t be duped by Zeller (1-for-7 FGs @ BOS) and the Hornets’ antics in their desperation to play Physical and somehow throw the Hawks’ center off his game. We were treated to a surlier, more assertive Dwight on offense last night (27 points, incl. 7-for-10 FTs; 17 rebounds, incl. 7 O-Rebs) and his activity kept the Raptors on their heels literally from the jump. He has seen a good sample of what referees will and won’t tolerate, and is adjusting his game accordingly. Charlotte has averaged a league-low 31.0 paint points per 48 minutes since their losing streak began, and it will be incumbent upon Walker, Batum, and Ramon Sessions to not only find avenues to penetrate, but also to draw Paul Millsap and Howard’s attention and feed Charlotte’s big men (including Spencer Hawes) for assisted interior shots. Marvin Williams, Frank Kaminsky, and Hawes all have inclinations to run to the perimeter, especially if they used tape of Orlando’s visit to Philips Arena for scouting purposes. But their direction under Clifford is to force more action around the rim, in hopes of getting Atlanta’s bigs in foul trouble and once again opening things up late in the game. Clifford wants to see their body talk. Promptly after beating the Hawks in Charlotte, the Hornets’ fortunes took a dip with a four-game slide. They recovered enough to move up to 3rd in the East, but now they are anxious that their losing skid will extend to a season-long five games, relinquishing the gains they made on Atlanta just one month ago. Hawks fans, though, have heard a similar sob story from incoming visitors in recent weeks. And they’d really like to see a different ending. Let’s Go Hawks! ~lw3 View full record

From the above Cleveland Plain Dealer article link... ~lw3

~lw3

No shame, D! When I say these Hawks are predictably unpredictable, I'm not kidding! Legit nervous about tomorrow now! lol ~lw3

“I WILL NOT EAT ANY MORE CRANBERRY BLISS BARS. I WILL NOT EAT ANY MORE CRANBERRY BLISS BARS. I WILL NOT EAT ANY…” Will the Atlanta Hawks widen the Eastern Conference Crab Barrel? Heading into another tough matchup with the Raptors in Toronto (7:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, TSN in T-Dot), followed by a Saturday night trip back home to face the Hornets, it’s sure shaping up that way. Our half-baked Hawks found plenty of offense on Tuesday. Problem was, they allowed Orlando (without Nik Vucevic) to get plenty more, in a 131-120 torching that was just the latest in a trend of embarrassing and/or lopsided losses. Orlando came in as the worst offense in the NBA outside of Philly or Dallas (or Atlanta). Guess who currently has the best? Toronto (18-7) is threatening to shatter all-time NBA records for offensive efficiency. At 115.3 points per 100 possessions, that rate would be the highest in recorded league history (since such records were first kept in 1983-84). It’s better than Golden State’s current 113.5 O-Rating, and better than the Showtime Lakers of 1986-87, history’s current season-long leader. In more modern times, only Steve Nash and Alvin Gentry’s Suns of 2009-10 (112.3) came close to what the Dubs and Raps are doing right now. Toronto is accomplishing this with a 2-guard that makes just 28.6% of his threes. They’re led, of course, by DeMar DeRozan (career-high 28.0 PPG; 2.9 more shots per game than last season, in 0.3 fewer minutes). Thanks largely to DeRozan, Toronto’s the only team that averages over one point per possession (1.03) on isolation plays, resulting in scores nearly half (49.6%) the time. Interestingly, the Hawks have a league-high 49.6 eFG% on isos, but as you know, relying just 6.0% of the Budball offense on those plays renders that fact trivial. The Raps are breaking offensive records while averaging just 20.4 APG (26th in NBA). The antithesis of Budball, Dwane Casey’s club knows that their assists come not from passing, but in setting screens that allow Kyle Lowry (last ten games: 23.4 PPG, 56.8 FG%, 59.2 3FG%, 7.3 APG) to improvise. In addition to isos, the Raps (guided by Lowry) lead the NBA with scores on 46.8% of P&R ballhandler plays, their 50.7 eFG% on those plays a league-best, their 0.96 points per possession behind only Portland’s 0.97. The roll man hardly gets touches (28th in play frequency), yet even they feast, the Raptors scoring on an NBA-high 57.7% of roll man plays. Unlike the Hawks, who are constantly a work in progress/regress, there is no round-hole training in store for the Raps’ many square pegs. Casey allows his top talent to control the ball and make the plays they’re most comfortable executing. By doing so, his team becomes the RON RAPRS, by eliminating the TOs (12.3 turnovers per 100 possessions, 2nd-lowest in league to Charlotte’s 12.0). Against the eight teams that turn the ball over the least, the Hawks’ record is 0-5, allowing 126.7 PPG in those last three matchups. Included in that group is the 128-84 pasting endured at the hands of the Raps on this Air Canada Centre floor just two weeks ago, the biggest beatdown Toronto has ever enjoyed against anybody pretending to be an NBA outfit. The Hawks let the bottom fall completely out on December 3rd with a 42-14 Toronto advantage in the final quarter, Atlanta unable to keep the lead from widening even after Casey put four backups and rookie Pascal Siakam on the floor to close things out (our old friend Bebe Nogueira had 9 points and two blocks in the 4th). Toronto players coughed up the ball just 12 times (28 assists; 13-for-24 3FGs), compared to the Hawks’ 18 (21 assists; 7-for-28 3FGs), a modest number for the visitors these days. The Hawks can give themselves half a chance tonight, not just by keeping the turnover margin close, but by keeping Toronto Canada-Dry at the line, where they get 26.1 shots per contest (second in the East only to…? Yep, Charlotte’s 26.5). Atlanta actually did this two weeks ago, “holding” Toronto to a season-low (for both teams) 11 FT attempts, or else that 44-point margin might have gotten even worse. Hawks defenders have to draw lines from the rim out to the three-point break lines, and keep Lowry and DeRozan from getting open or lightly-contested looks from within the “funnel zone.” On-ball defenders need to ICE Toronto’s sideline screens and make their dynamic duo work from the corners and baselines. Dennis Schröder and Thabo Sefolosha should rely on the baseline/endline plus help from the Hawks’ bigs to keep Lowry and DeRozan out of the paint and settling for well-contested shots. Paul Millsap (DNP @ TOR on Dec. 3) allowed Serge Ibaka to have a field day from outside on Tuesday, and must rotate out to the perimeter and contest Patrick Patterson (season-high 17 points vs. ATL on Dec. 3) whenever the Raptor forward is in the game. Atlanta’s wings have to help the bigs clog the middle, and make Toronto’s passes out to corner-oriented shooters like Terrence Ross (44.7 3FG%) and DeMarre Carroll a tougher task. Swapping out the TNT duo (Timmy ‘n Thabo) with the K&K Music Factory (Kyle ‘n Kent) has led to good vibrations at the starts of the first and second halves for Atlanta (last 3 games: starters 5th in O-Rating, 14th in D-Rating). But it’s also led to a lack of explosiveness by the reserves (last 3 games: bench 12th in O-Rating, 28th in D-Rating). There’s no help coming for the M&Ms (Moose and Malcolm), who have melted after energetic starts to the season, even before losing the offense/defense contributions of Hardaway and Sefolosha. Better coaching effort is needed for Mike Muscala (plus/minus: +4.3 first 11 games, -7.2 last 14 games, no “positives” last 9 games) and Malcolm Delaney (+8.5 first ten games, -8.0 last ten games with one “positive”) to better understand their defensive roles. The reserves also must stop getting caught out of position when transitioning to D, or else they’ll continue to get blitzed by benches like Toronto, whose offensive efficiency (117.7 O-Rating and +15.1 net rating, best in NBA) is even better than the starters (113.7, 3rd in NBA). When bench players like Orlando’s Elfrid Payton (career-highs of 26 points AND 14 assists, +47 on/off vs. ATL) and Jeff Green (+55 on/off vs. ATL) are getting carte blanche shots, someone is not doing their homework. Ross (6-for-8 FGs vs. ATL on Dec. 3) has decided to use breakaway dunks to advertise his candidacy for All-Star Saturday Night, and Atlanta needs to keep him off SportsCenter/SportsCentre tonight. Mike Budenholzer might help the struggling bench out by allowing a third “T” (rookie Taurean Prince) to share some of Kyle Korver’s and Kent Bazemore’s duties. Prince has been relegated to spot duty (less than 2 minutes) in the past two games. Despite some struggles in the past couple weeks, including his last visit to Toronto, expanded minutes for Taurean could help Atlanta better contest opponent shots. If Muscala struggles to make a positive defensive impact from the jump, Coach Bud should not hesitate to turn to a third “K” (ex-Raptor Kris Humphries), if only in search of an immediate spark until the Hawks finish benefitting from the insurance collection on the fourth “T” (Tiago Splitter). Thanks to a conference full of underwhelming teams, the off-days (five in the past six) have helped the Hawks (12-13) more than anything they’ve done on the floor. As frustrating as Atlanta’s season has been over the past month, you look up in the standings, and there is Charlotte, the East’s third-seed of the moment, just 1.5 games ahead of them. It’s almost a mirage! Taking each game seriously, and one at a time, and pulling off at least two out of their next three, might be just enough for the Hawks and Hornets (14-12) to trade places in the standings. Continuing to perform with predictable unpredictability, though, would have more and more Hawks fans staring in the other direction. Charlotte’s Kemba Walker was excused from tonight’s game in Boston for personal reasons, and will be ready to go on Saturday night in Atlanta. A two-game weekend losing streak prior to a trip to OKC would allow the Hawks to build a bridge for fellow division foes Washington (1.5 GB) and Orlando (2.0 GB) back into playoff contention. The Hawks claim there’s still plenty of camaraderie in the locker room, but letting the Wizards and Magic up for air is not the kind of bridge-building anyone has in mind. Let’s Go Hawks! ~lw3 View full record

~snlsas

~lw3bucks ~lw3aftertenmorelousylosses (it'll be a vape)

I'm breaking this out the next time the Hawks leave me sweating in the stands! LOL! ~lw3

Programming Note: I'll be shifting to decaf soon today... do they still make Taster's Choice? But players, PLEASE, LAY OFF TWITTER or Facebook or Instagram or Farmers Only or whatever the heck else it is you do in between games. "Free time" ain't free, cuzzes. If I catch one more tweet talm'bout "Dag, Tough loss. We'll get the next one!" or "It's gametime! Let's go get this game!" or "Hey, my alma mater team did something!" or "Hey, look everybody, my Foundation is doing something!", or "Look at this inspirational quote that you've already heard a thousand times, everybody!", I will wrench the remaining hairs out of my nose. (I'm told ripping hair off the top of my head is counterproductive these days. And the soul patch is off-limits.) Leave the texting on Ye Olde Internet Machine to us degenerates out here. You, too, Splitter. I'm off to go fill it to the rim with some Brim... ~lw3

I didn't mean to exempt Wharton grad (can you tell I'm not high on Wharton grads lately? Hope it's not obvious) and Spurs Guy Taylor Jenkins in my earlier diatribe. Pre-Hawks, his pro-coaching peak came in the D-League, when he helped lead the Austin Toros to the title... as an assistant. ~lw3

'ing, but here are some quotes, straight from the beaten horses' mouths: http://www.sltrib.com/sports/1816705-155/snyder-jazz-atlanta-quin-coach-former http://www.espn.com/blog/nba/post/_/id/17984/hawks-players-detail-why-nets-hire-of-kenny-atkinson-is-a-slam-dunk 2014 assistants: We replaced Quin with Lee, Spahija, and Sullivan, moved Jim Thomas to the front office, and bumped Kenny up to the lead chair. 2016 assistants: We moved Darvin to the lead chair, and replaced Kenny with air. ~lw3

((TL;DR answer: Bud)) How does the saying go? Hard talent beats hard work when work doesn't talent hard... d'oh! As an organization, we've grown smitten with our ability to work low-first- and second-round-quality talents into starting lineups, converting Euro-ballers into major-minute reserves, and extending the careers of various and sundry reclamation projects. Each accomplishment, in and of itself, is a Cool Story, Bro. But we're fielding a team chock full o' these "Local Boy Makes Good" guys (coaching/GM staff included) and "Don't Call It a Comeback" guys. Which is a decent sell, at best, only when we're winning and beating the teams we're supposed to. "Hard Work Beats Talent..." has been the mantra around these parts, at least since we sent Joe packing. But right now, throughout this league the true, genuine, undeniable "Talent" is, indeed, working hard, and producing winning results for their respective teams (I'll exempt Sacramento, because, Sacramento). So the exception of "...When Talent Doesn't Work Hard," isn't holding sway like it used to. Even the "Hard Work" Local Boy players on other teams are out-"hard working" Atlanta's bumper crop. Literally, Local Boys: for recent examples, see... Meeks, Jodie; Brogdon, Malcolm; Caldwell-Pope, Kentavious; Williams, Lou. Thank you, Fox Sports Southeast, we get it, somebody from here is lighting us up. The expanded cap has made it possible for serious NBA teams to collect "Talent" (not lotto hopefuls, but actual actively accomplished players) like Pokemon, with general impunity. But that's no excuse for the "Hard Work" crew on this team to rest on its "Momma, We Made It!" laurels. Bud, meanwhile is pushing a pace that becomes harder with each passing day for the "Comeback" vets to sustain without getting weathered and washed defensively. That puts more pressure on the "Hard Work" guys to provide big-time, "Talent"-quality production, consistently. WARNING, PLOT SPOILER: they can't! You come to work in the morning, and try not mentioning that you went to an NBA game, in 2016, and spent money to cape for Dwight Howard, Paul Millsap, Kyle Korver... that you spent your evening watching New Orleans and Detroit and Orlando and the neo-Lakers drum your team out of its own arena, each home loss by 110+. I'm up in my glorified cubicle like "Classic Greg!" in the Yahoo ad with the bobblehead dolls, trying not to be a daily laughingstock. Except, while Greg is worshipping at the fantasy altar of Klay Thompson, I'm over here like, "Alright, Kent, you're not gonna let me down this time, are ya? Nosiree!" ~lw3

That deserves its own hashtag. #NipItInTheBud ~lw3

I planned on expounding upon this whenever the Nets came up on the schedule. But much of the Brain Trust around Bud is gone with Kenny, and Quin -- and, might as well say, since Bud's an exec, too -- Danny. Continual erosion of knowledge from minds Bud relied upon and the players used to swear by (see Dennis, Baze, DeMarre, etc. singing Kenny and Quin's praises, pre-new contracts) cannot be helping. And then we barely replace them, certainly not with people with a ton of experience. Ferry becomes Bud himself (yeah, I see you, Wes, but, we know the deal). The assistant GM gets promoted from the Director of Scouting, and he just got out of freaking college four years ago. As far as second-in-command on the sideline, Quin leaves and becomes Kenny, who leaves and becomes Darvin, all of whom were right there, together, when Bud took over in 2013. (EDIT: Kenny, of course, preceded Bud as a Danny hire in 2012, and was praised for his Linsanity work while with the Knicks) Kenny was never replaced... not unless you count that Patrick St. Elsewhere kid they foisted upon us a couple weeks ago during the halftime interviews. I think he's still just the assistant video coordinator, but they made him out to be like he's an assistant coach with training wheels on. Neven Spahija has been around the European block for decades, certainly a wealth of knowledge to impart from there. But after Dennis, who is he here for? Tiago? Certainly not Thabo. Like Neven, Charles Lee and Ben Sullivan (another Spurs guy) come along in 2014. Fine young men. But Lee was Bucknell's star just a few years before Muscala stepped on the scene in Lewiston. We're bottom-five in FT%, next-to-last in 3FG%, and were right at the bottom in wide-open 3FG% last year. So, if Ben Sullivan is our shot guru, then... ??? I appreciate Bud giving plenty of young folks the come-up, inspired by his own time working for Pop at Golden State and San Antonio. But there's nothing that dictates we have to be the D-League for future NBA coaches. Where is the serious coaching experience (at any American level) around Bud? Who is there to provide constructive, and educated, criticism? Who is helping him craft schemes to correct what isn't working during the games? Or, is every dude around him just taking notes in hopes of future promotions? ~lw3

We don't even have the Bucks' 20-point comeback win to hang our hats onto now. Sigh. Thanks, Wolves! I guess... ~lw3

What's funny is we're proving Chuckles wrong. He hates jump-shooting teams. He LOVES rebounding teams. He wasn't the Round Mound of Shots From Downtown. We're becoming the antithesis of what Charles loathed, and we're watching Serge Ibaka go Infinity-for-Infinity to beat us. ~lw3

The nets! The nets! The nets are on FIYAH! Welp! You can't get away from Budball defensively and just assume a bad opponent will stay bad for you. Way too many fastbreak points, points off TOs, lackadaisical halfcourt D. But hey, we killed on the rebounds! It's what we've always wanted. Woop woop! If I was living in Orlando and on the verge of getting traded to Minnesota or Philly in December, heck, I'd morph into Rick Barry, too! So, the Magic, 29th in O-Rating, racks up 131 points after the Hawks get a few days off. Ah, well. Gee, I wonder who ranks 1st in O-Rating... Oh. On to Toronto! ~lw3

One more set of tidbits since I was just peeking at his shot chart. Since November 18 (loss at Charlotte), Baze (31.8 FG% overall) is 0-for-20 on threes shot from the LEFT side of the court, and 6-for-19 on 2FGs outside the paint. His percentages were far better on the RIGHT side, but he took fewer total shots on that side of the floor (10-for-23 3FGs, 3-for-12 out-of-paint 2FGs). One hotspot area for him was the full free throw circle (8-for-10 2FGs). ~lw3

In more relevant news... I figure we'll see more of Jeff Green in Vooch's absence. Maybe even our old friend Damjan Rudez! ~lw3

((Insert Publix jokes here)) My team name preference is "POLK A-DOTS!" ~lw3