thecampster

So let me give some insight on something that does happen (though less often than you think). Teams assemble video packages on players who they think get the shaft with the whistle. You pretty much reserve it for top 3 scorers and the evidence has to be overwhelming. Referees do not like the oversight. You kind of need 7-10 games of evidence and at least 5 crews. You need to show a pattern of evidence. This isn't about complaining about not getting individual calls, it's about respect. A typical team would submit audit tapes 3-5 times a year. I would not be surprised if Jalen is our next submission. This stuff is never in the media and is a private process for referee improvement. The reality is refs need to cover teams 10-15 times to learn what new starters bring, yhe type of plays they're typically involved in, their moves, etc. Until then, they miss calls all the time For example, the blocking call on Jalen earlier should have been a charge, but refs call those blocking all the time because 85% of bigs can't get set as easy as a guard. They're making an assumption call. Once shown proof the player can the assumption changes. It isn't fair but until you ref. Game at this speed, normies cant possibly understand.

I wrote about that today. He's still getting rookie treatment. If I was Quinn, I'd passively aggressively start mentioning it in interviews.

He's not my son, but that's my BOI!

The Jalen of the last 2 games was the Jalen at College Park and at Duke (when healthy). Its not really lightbulb. Its coach trust, teammate trust when you aren't the primary ball handler and just finding your place. For a player like Jalen, he's been the man his whole high school/college/developmental league career. Becoming a 2nd/3rd option is a very new role for him. Its just adjustment but for anyone that watched him at College Park or looked at ability vs output when he was on the floor, you knew this was coming. So a big usually doesn't get solid joints until 23+. At that age his shooting, handles usually improve. Jalen is 21. By 23, many parts of his game will improve naturally due to body maturity alone. He'll probably put on 10-15 lbs of natural body weight by that time and will box out better, finish through contact better. I see those signs right now. 25/26 season, he has the potential to be our best player. An argument can be made he's already most impactful. He could possibly be a 60%/40%/80% guy in 2 years and will demand a double every time he touches the ball. If Trae is still here, they'll be an impossible 2-some to contain.

So one serious summit to cap for him and then skies the limit. He's still getting rookie treatment by the refs with the whistle. He's blown for 2 fouls a night that the Lebrons of the world would never get. Gets an occasional travel on a simultaneous first step (which is technically not a travel but gets called a lot on mid-tier and below players). If/When JJ starts getting star treatment with the refs, He'll be a 20/10 guy every night and will drop 30/15/7 on someone of note. Its the main thing holding back his aggression. He can't go 1v1 to the basket right now and guarantee he'll get a foul call. At the beginning of last game, he had 2 post up/drives where he drew contact, didn't get the basket or the foul. Siakam would have got that call, Butler would have got that call. I submit at some point this season or by next, he'll start getting those calls and become a 20/10 guy.

Imagine if we had traded Collins last year and Jalen would have started for a year, developing this chemistry.

Wow those 2 just made that lob look easy.

Homemade stuff is my favorite part of Christmas. I used to love making popcorn and cranberry garland.

Back home, on the mend, wasn't gonna miss Jalen's return. Let's go!!!

About 10 lbs of muscle and shooting consistency. I like the kid.

That perimeter D is exactly why OO17 is not the long term answer at the 4.

Before last season, I was adamant that we ship Clint and what was needed to get Rudy Gobert. Not sure if anyone has noticed, but Minnesota now has the best record and statistically best defense in the league.

8 weeks ago, "Jalen can't be our starting PF, can he?" 8 minutes ago, "dang this team is missing Jalen."

I really would like to see Bruno get some burn in this game.

So I saw it. Everyone on the internet is dumping on it. Nobody going to see it. Let's take a second and remember, I'm the person who created the joke thread Chick Announcers and triggered every psycho on the board. I really enjoyed the movie. Kamala Khan is flipping hilarious. Is it an Avengers level movie? No! But its a transitional film to introduce the West Coast Avengers and the Young Avengers. Its not inherently pushing any political message or any weird narrative. Lastly, if you can't get behind Goose the Flerken....what is wrong with you. Goose is hilarious. There's a great Bollywood dance scene/song in it out of nowhere. I really don't understand the hate. Its better than the slasher ripper films that always come out at Halloween or the next trashy rom com. Do I believe the story...not really...but its not terrible and not worth bashing. The problem (IMHO) is the MCU set the bar too high.

I think people forget there are 29 other GMs/Owners out there all trying to do the same thing. In a world where all things are equal, every team would win the chip once every 30 years. But in a world where once in a generation players show up once in a generation, tv market and advertising deals affect player movement and different cities have different income thresholds to allow a larger risk appetite against the luxury tax, winning the chip requires monumental efforts of herculean proportion. If you looked at the average cost of real estate for metro areas of the top 30 teams and then correlated that to average season record, I think you'd be surprised. Start here: https://www.sportico.com/feature/nba-team-values-ranking-list-1234697991/. Shows how unique that Denver win was.

I'll be surprised if that's not broken.

Surprised that wasn't a flagrant.

Pretty sure Jalen gets more than 10 shots today and breaks 20 points.....just sayin. Might explain Trae's trouble scoring lately. He's had other stuff to think about.

This is why PPG/RPG is so misleading. 10 game sample is close to enough. Yes, he's scored and rebounded but not in "a winning way". Plays impact much more than stats and advanced metrics start to prove that stuff out. Having Lauri taking away the best big defender every night is really helping him but his flaws are evident. Utah is not good defensively and scheme is part of it, but the Hawks = better defensively so far and the Jazz are worse....he's the main common denominator.

Like I said, I'm not giving up on him. Length and aggression is always a problem defensively. I'm amazed he didn't end up in Miami. He's their perfect player.

When Trae was drafted, I was one of only a couple on the board pining for him to be the pick. I am and have always been a Trae Stan. That said: 1) A big part of Trae's game has always been having more energy than everyone else. That is going to change as he passes 25. He's going to need to evolve. 2) A big part of Trae's game has always been having a better 1st step than everyone. That is going to change as he passes 25. He's going to need to evolve. 3) In my career, I am very much a generalist. I am not "great" at 1 thing. It has served me well. Trae is also a generalist when it comes to shooting. His bag is very full. But he is not "great" at anything except the float game. He is an average 3 point shooter, a good but not great personal shot creator and he is streaky. Trae needs to pick something to be great at shooting wise and work on nothing but that. He needs a dagger shot and 30 foot 3's is not it. He needs something that requires you can never leave him alone off ball. Think Korver curl off a screen top of the 3 pt line. The guy was deadly there. Trae needs a shot he doesn't miss. As he ages, he'll be less able to draw foul calls, less likely to take the pounding. 4) The game is played on both ends. He is not the defender many of the other greats were. He'll never be best on ball but he doesn't have to be. He needs to continue to improve off ball. Taking away passing lanes, dropping down to dig on bigs (FYI, this drives Embiid crazy) and helping on other's to cut off the strong hand dribbles (FYI, this drives Lebron crazy). If his career ended today, he's a top 50 pg all time, maybe top 20. If he doesn't continue to evolve on defense and doesn't evolve his offensive game for the long haul, he may end up a bench player by 30.

Glad I stayed up. JJ leads +/- again +15.

JJ!!!

This game smells of point shaving. Yes I'm sober.