sturt

(I just can't even..... )

.... I've got $6.4m below the tax. What am I missing?

Continues to be a wanted man. To the surprise of Hawks fans everywhere.

That would be my bet. Or Ex10. Turns out... both are true.

What happened? A.J. Lawson signed with the Heat as an UDFA. But now he's ours? Hmmmmm. https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/2021-nba-draft-prospect-aj-lawson-qa-south-carolina-gamecocks

Johnny replied:

Soooooooooooo.... not missing any more... Boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, particularly those of you cheering for a Millsap reunion... that he says "there will more than likely be a good player left" is at least a pretty good indicator that the lean would be heavily toward a standard contract, and not a two-way. But then again... when he says "we'd have the option to bring to camp," those words lead more toward the idea that we'll sign someone to a training camp deal (not a standard contract), and then "give him opportunity to compete"... which, doesn't actually lead one (or me, at least) to think he has in-mind signing an established, name brand player like Sap. Rather, that leads me more toward a Vanderbilt or even a TJ Leaf (who played for McM, of course).

Finally broke down and did a trial sub to Cleaning the Glass this morning, remembering that there were stats cited during the season using that as the source, establishing that the combo of Hunter-Collins-Capela was among the elite defensive triads in the league. What I've discovered just now is, when you add Huerter to that mix, the "quadrad" (is that a word?... it is now...) was, during the regular season and the 206 possessions-worth of data, in the 99th percentile in the league in on-court net score (off vs. def), 98th in offensive rebounding, and 100th in both scoring defense and effective FG%.

That would be my bet. Or Ex10.

Here we go. Rootin for ya, Big Bru.

Schlenk must be taking the two-ways into consideration, because the 15-man on its own is as balanced as can be--until OO gets back, at which time, it will be skewed toward bigs. But yeah, if you add to the equation Skylar and Sharife, there's a missing counterweight to the other side. Except, who actually believes Skylar or Sharife aren't predestined to play the majority of their minutes in CP anyhow? That's why I wasn't counting either (see above). Sooooooooooo, what's missing from Conti's report is an indication of whether Schlenk would lean toward a big who is a two-way, or on a standard contract.

All things being equal and we suffer no more long-term injuries before OO's return, it is reasonable to expect that Schlenk at that point will take inventory again, and will strongly consider supplementing the backcourt with a SG/SF type. Valentine is an example--not necessarily the exact player, but an example--of what I would anticipate Schlenk would both find (a) available and (b) sufficient to bring to the end of the bench then.

Who's in?

(And in other news... sturt has pretty much settled on his favorite gif... expect a lot of it.)

For future reference...

My take, fwiw...

As for Oubre, he has always seemed to be someone who ought to have a breakout year eventually, but never actually does. Perhaps this is the year. Ball was impressive, but is he impressive enough to actually be the lead dog for a team that not only makes the post-season but does damage there? Not yet any firm reason to believe the supporting cast is strong enough to help him do that. Hayward is the wild card for CHO, at the risk of stating the obvious. If he can just get a full year of health, he might just propel his team to doing something significant. But that's not been the case for so long now, and as he now gets into his 30s, it just gets more questionable if/when that might happen. All that said... if Oubre takes the next step (finally), and if Hayward stays healthy, I consider them to be a potent obstacle. And honestly, I think as some others have said in this thread that this time next year, we'll be talking about how many East teams otherwise had been over-rated (maybe most prominently CHI), and/or proved to have plateaued (including MIL) or to be on the decline (including BRK).

Not a name I would know, nor a resume'... so, my angst was not the result of any previous judgments about her, but purely the result of having listened to her seem to want to fill space with all kinds of superfluous conversation about Smitty's career and about this, that and the other... while a game was actually going on. Couldn't get her to say even who scored for long periods of time. The only time she seemed to pay attention was when someone dunked--if even then. It was pretty ridiculous for those 15-ish minutes I listened, and eventually, I just decided this is useless and turned the sound off. My benefit-of-a-doubt guess is that she was thrown into it at the last minute, and she didn't know but a very few of the names on either team's roster. Hope that's true, so maybe not a true reflection of her skills.

How about the ol Elam Ending for summer league? I vote yes.

By the way.... I know it's all the rage to promote that women can do anything men can do, but can we just say there are some men who can do game announcing (I can't even call it "play-by-play") better than others, and women who can do that better than others... and today's female person beside Smitty was, well.... let's just be gentle and say "a work in progress." I had to turn the sound off, I really did. She provided no value to the broadcast. Maybe some day she'll be great. But she, like a lot of the players on the floor, has a whole lot to work on before she makes the big leagues.

Hmmm.... pardon the observation... but based on this thread.... it appears that some can.

Perhaps, but I wasn't talking about after they were drafted, Gray. Jalen did,

Cooper's going to be a victim of too-high expectations, if he isn't already. He flashes, certainly. But the turnovers, the inability to absorb contact, the getting his ankles broken on defense... he was playing in his first summer league game, and it showed. But it's just that, his first SL game. So no worries. I remember a #5 pick who didn't exactly kill it in his first time under our microscope.