sturt

Suggestion: Define "#2 PG" objectively as that Cooper is the first substitute for Trae in at least five of any seven games before ASG in which Delon is not otherwise injured.

That's the process... have to sign to an E-10, then waive, then the G-League team has to sign him. First discovered that last season when our old friend Skal Labissiere signed an E-10 with the Knicks, only to be waived a few days later, and then signing with their affiliate.

Dang. And until maybe two weeks prior to that draft, I was on the Sekou train--drunk on the fact he was the youngest of the high-regard international prospects, and persuaded by his pro Euro highlights that, if nothing else, he would be a defensive beast. Have read since then, if the Pistons fans who advocated this are to be believed, that his transition to US culture might have been more of an internal struggle than anyone would have anticipated.

That there have been anecdotal body chemistry reactions to a vax is generally understood, and the blood clot thing is the first thing that ever came to light. Those things are tracked closely by public health and by vax makers to identify patterns and enough people affected to prompt any reason for some new limitation. After millions and millions of shots globally, the short term effects seem to be as minimal as could be hoped. It's the longer term effects that we now have to pay attention to.... but/and, that's just the same as it is to say it's the longer term effects of covid-19 that we now have to pay attention to, so either way. I'm so tired of this topic.

Came to the revelation just now that plausibly there is no single city for which yours truly holds greater repugnance than the city of the Flippies, the Iggles, and Sexers. Had to share. As you were.

As down as I was on signing Okafor the day it happened, I have to say, I've become enamored with the imagery of the single most beneficial asset he may bring to the roster, and that is rooted in my memory of some hack-a-Big2C (...yes, I know, I'm working too hard ... but it goes so perfectly along side Big2O, right?) that would occasionally occur late in games... what I mean is, theoretically, with Okafor as an option, McM can roll out some really nice offense/defense insto-change-o b/t him and Big2C in the last quarter. Like the idea that your 15th man does actually provide something fairly unique like that.

New... and counterintuitive... thought for me, but someone most certainly beat me to it. As much disdain as Simmons has gotten for that decision, zooming out and thinking about it on its face, it was actually a team-first and very cerebral in-the-moment decision if you let yourself think about it. In fact, had there been a resulting dunk and a foul shot on the other end of the play, the fact that Simmons passed up the shot may have went into the highlight reel as evidence of his being cognizant of his own FT hiccups and unselfishness in giving the ball to Thybulle.

Listen to the Locked On podcast maybe every couple of months, and happened to do that yesterday. Hearing blogger Glenn Willis and host Brad Rowland speak so conclusively that TLC will be the 15th man, having an appreciable leg up on Okafor, made me do the old Tim the Tool Man Taylor "huh?" Or come to think of it, even better, made me do the old Arnold Jackson... My opinion of the two players is fairly even, all things considered. And this or any time that's the case, from where I sit, the final decision is so much more about what the GM perceives to be the most glaring need, not the talent level of the players. And on that point, I'm unaware of any concerns that Schlenk has at wing, whereas he has outright said, weeks prior to either signing, he would be inclined to obtain a big because he perceived the roster was "light" on that side of things (ostensibly, b/c he has two 2-ways that are both guards). Therefore, I view TLC as Hunter/Huerter insurance. He has a chance to make the roster, but only if one of those is going to end up missing significant time. It's Okafor's to lose, failing that. But lose it, of course, he very well could... particularly if, as suggested in the post above, some better big becomes available at midnight before the season starts. I don't think I'm wrong on any of that. Am I?

With you partially... there should be a higher ethical culture among sports journalists than there is, which isn't actually any different than saying there should be a higher ethical culture among... journalists. Period. Can't go that far with you, though, to speak in terms of "rights." There are many things in our lives where we have, and should have the right to, for instance, say "f*** you." But there is a matter of maturity and decency and respectfulness that 99-ish% of the time ought to persuade any one of us to not.

From Simmons' own perspective, this is where it's just damning to be under contract to a team in a city that, where sports are concerned, is the antithesis of a city of brotherly love. (Well, come to think of it, are we talking about me and my brother as kids, or as adults... huge difference... hehe). Some cities, if not most, I think might just rally around the guy and show some optimism that the ATL series was a one-off. Or, at least, there would be a considerable faction who would take that perspective. But for whatever reason, Philly is that city known for its venom even for its own, and it's not weird in the least to me that Simmons is determined to never wear the Sixer uni ever again... to the point of pushing millions of dollars back to the other side of the table and saying, "nah, no thanks." He's already a wealthy man, or it would be some weird. But his bank account is healthy enough, and truth be told, he does have some leverage in the fact that no team would ever choose to have a 35,000,000 pound weight on their payroll w/o any return for the accommodation... so Morey in reality has no choice but to keep lowering the asking price until a deal would be struck.

You're welcome to your opinion, of course, that it's an "absurdity." My opinion, fwiw, is that I have no opinion unless/until, indeed, I would see him being asked to be a primary ball handler. And/but no, not just for one game. There's plenty of rookie PGs that come into the league with turnover problems. IIRC, Trae was one. Think Dennis, too. It would need to be a situation where Cam was being depended upon for that role for half a season. That's not happening, of course. So, I'll remain comfortable with the unknown, and also comfortable with your decision that you do know w/o empirical evidence. Not an important issue.

Shaq, open up and tell us what you really think please.

We would disagree on the handles part because I've seen workout videos prior to him being drafted that are pretty jaw-dropping. And I can't say either way about the vision part, though I get why that would be the natural conclusion, of course. He's just not been in anything resembling a primary ball handler role since HS, and Duke was stocked with PGs that Krzyzewski preferred. So, I grant that your inclination about court vision is more likely than not, but I'm not one to reach any conclusions without Reddish actually being put in that position. Indeed, he may not be probably isn't backup PG material, but he's also probably better suited than anyone ordinarily would think.

I'm sure most know this, but I'll mention it anyhow, that Cam had been considered a PG until he got to Duke. Fwiw.

Ya know, actually I recall Schlenk specifically said in the most recent (?) YouTube presser something like "ideally you'd like to have five 6-9 guys." I grinned slyly when I heard it.

Interesting. Big2O is tilting his head slightly, so I think he's technically taller by an inch or two, but then he's not functionally taller because both their shoulders appear to be about the same (probably Cam looks to have advantage because of how he's gripping the ball, imo).

If I could ask Travis Schlenk one question after his having ingested truth serum, it probably would be, "Travis, compare how you feel right now about this team with how you remember feeling preseason about the 2014-15 Warriors."

Did the same thing when Delon Wright got behind the mic.

1. More in the vein of reality, it wouldn't be a plane crash, but perhaps a career-ending injury (God forbid). 2. OH. So it's worse than I'd understood, then. You're saying that Cheeks, Moncrief and McGinnis would have made the HoF on the basis of their first four years (yes?) And therefore, so would Simmons... you're not even saying, then, what I thought you were saying, ie, that based on Simmons' trajectory being so similar to theirs... but that they would have made the HoF had any of them had a career ending injury after 4 yrs (yes?) And that Simmons has already equaled if not exceeded anything that Beaty, Haywood or King achieved (yes?) If I've got that right... then, like I said... different planets... if not different solar systems.

Diesel, repeating yourself doesn't somehow make your point valid... it's as-if you didn't even read the rest of the post, truly...

I need a subscription to Basketball Digest. Good to see Dave's finding some fulfillment in his retirement years.

Is it, though? Or is it, "in light of them missing Danny Green, and us missing Dre and Cam, and assuming Simmons' headcase fights within himself, I like our chances if both were 100%," Of what I've read, it's definitely the latter, and not what you said. But maybe I need to read more.

But, wait. Your words were explicitly, "if he stopped playing today." You get that, right? Are you asserting that Cheeks, Moncrief, McGinnis would have been "possibly locks" (again, using your words) for the HOF on the basis of only their first 4 years??? Now c'mon. Not even you believe that. That's why you're saying that, but then actually using their entire careers and the trajectory of their first four to try to buttress your conclusion. Pardon the observation, but post after post after post, what you keep ignoring that I/we keep saying is that there is a very reasonable question right now as to whether Simmons has hit a speed bump in his career that ends up modifying his trajectory... and thus, modifying what his entire career looks like, ie, significantly less than your comparables. None of your responses except for one insofar as I've caught it have spoken to the possibility that this episode ends up sending his career on an appreciably less attractive trajectory... and of course, saying in effect at least as I interpreted it, "It's okay if BS isn't good enough to put us over the top--Schlenk will just draft more rookie-scale contract super talents in the back end of the draft to make up for it." *sigh*