Which Of These Lucky 13 Players Would You Be Fine With the Knicks Drafting At #8?

There is some buzz that Avdija might be going as high as second, so he just isn’t a realistic option at #8.

I have added Poku as a separate poll, just for you!

JK, the Shallow Water is sick. It’s definitely got a lot of character. I can’t say that I love the Meet Maude — the random pitch modulation isn’t nearly as musical in a delay. I wish I had saved the couple hundred bucks and just gotten a Carbon Copy to replace the bulky, feature-overloaded DD-20 that had been on my board for fifteen years. I mostly use delay for ambient texture and a slight tape-like echo, not for palm-muted, tap-tempo, Edge-emulating nonsense (I’ll leave that to the CCM peddlers) so I really need something lightweight and easy to dial in. I could have gotten that for $80 and half the space of the Maude. But I’m also happy to support Fairfield, who are hand-making boutique pedals for reasonable prices.

I just put Hayes and Hali, but I’ve convinced myself that we are trading Mitch and #8 to GS for LaMelo. Rose is going to go for that big splash, you watch.

Yes on Okongwu. I don’t care about redundancy at this stage — take the best player available. Mitch can guard smaller players better than lumbering bigs. He does need to work on an outside game, though. If he can pull up from the corner and not look like Giannis doing it, that’s good enough for me.

Okongwu would be a great get at 8 along with Hayes or Halliburton. I can’t get excited about anyone else.

I have been amazed by Avidja’s rise.

Voted yes on Hayes, Okongwu, Hali, and Poku (though realistically you trade down for Poku). Wouldnt be too crestfallen if we traded down for Kira or Terry but it’s firmly my second choice behind taking one of the above at 8.

From Macri;

I’ve been told by a league source that Chris Paul prefers his next basketball home to be either in LA or NY (Los Angeles is where he resides full time) and that has created some modicum of leverage in the ongoing negotiations between the sides. I’m also told that there is a deal on the table that is comfortable from Sam Presti’s perspective, and the ball is in Leon Rose’s court.

How does everybody feel about Okongwu, both in a vacuum and as someone whose selection would probably result in us trading Mitch?

This is one of the best and toughest questions about this draft IMO, though it’s probably irrelevant because I don’t think the Knicks are considering Okongwu at all.

In a vacuum, I’ve come around to the belief that in spending valuable capital (picks and/or money) on big men you really need to grade them on a much harsher curve than guards/wings. Whether or not they’ll be generally productive is more of a first question than the sole determinant. So the question for Okongwu is how much he can separate himself from the pogo stick types available to any team at anytime? Some swing factors in that regard will be his 3PT shot, playmaking ability, and defensive versatility.

My largely eye-test based assessment is I’m optimistic about his ability to distinguish himself, because his jump shot looks pretty decent and I think he has the potential to defend just about all 5 positions in a pinch eventually.

If you come to the determination that he’s worth drafting in a vacuum, I don’t think we can afford to take Mitch into account too strongly. It’s not clear to me the fit would be untenable anyway, and as much as I love Mitch I think being taken into account when a bad team is drafting in the lottery is a very high bar that he hasn’t cleared just yet.

The counterargument is this kind of raw BPA approach can actually be counter to an asset value maximization strategy. If every other team knows you absolutely have to trade 1 of 2 players, you’re not going to get the best possible offers for them. I think we saw this to some extent when Philly basically had to trade Noel.

For that reason I’m not a BPA extremist when the BPA isn’t glaringly obvious, but still lean towards the first thing I said about it re: Mitch and Okongwu.

Good feature from Hollinger, though it’s insane that he’s still using PER (along with RAPTOR and PIPM) in his cocktail productivity metric:

https://theathletic.com/2172041/2020/11/02/2020-nba-free-agency-hollingers-top-free-agents-introducing-borg-and-bord/

According to his BORD metric, FVV is worth around 22m aay; and Bertans is worth about 19m. I’d be interested in Bertans around that number, maybe, if we had to get a free agent. I’m really not sure about FVV though.

Jowles, nice recap. Good scotch (L16 maybe my favorite of all), good guitar, good food, what else does one need? Don’t go and screw it all up by having kids!

What about the fires, is the air all cleared up?

I really like Bertans, especially if we (dumbly) make the CP3 deal. But that seems like a lot of money for a somewhat better version of Steve Novak.

As to FVV, it just seems like buying high on him at that $ amount.

Glass, asking for a friend, but mostly in all seriousness — how do you reconcile “we need to stop drafting players who are a jump shot away and just take a kid who can shoot the lights out” with “unless… LaMelo Ball were somehow still there”?

Raven:
Glass, asking for a friend, but mostly in all seriousness — how do you reconcile “we need to stop drafting players who are a jump shot away and just take a kid who can shoot the lights out” with “unless… LaMelo Ball were somehow still there”?

With Ball you’re buying that the jumpshot isn’t “broken” as much as it’s a shot selection issue, and I do believe his talent is a situation where you can’t pass him up at pick 8. I don’t think LaMelo Ball will ever be an elite 3 point marksman in this league, but I do believe he’s a lock for 2-4 3PM a night as early as his 2nd season. I know they are not in the same category of prospect, but Luka Doncic had poor shooting numbers for a prospect and still doesn’t have good shooting numbers. Doncic overcomes his percentages though by just taking so many of them that he’s good for 3 3PM and 7 FTM a night. I think Ball will be similar in that his percentages won’t blow you out of the water but he’ll be a high volume shot maker with accuracy that won’t kill you.

Jonathan Givony
@DraftExpress
Kansas’ Devon Dotson ran a 3.02 three-quarter court sprint, the fastest time at this year’s NBA Combine and the second fastest time in the past decade after Donovan Mitchell (3.01). Also had the best lane agility time (10.44) at the Combine and measured a 40 1/2″ vertical leap.

I’m not a big combine numbers guy, but combine this with Dotson’s stellar statistical profile and I’d count my blessings if he’s there at 38, and would be quite happy with him at 27.

Ugh on the Chris Paul thing. I assume the trade would include Knox one of the two Mavs picks (or maybe this year’s #27). I’m also not a fan of making our 2021 pick worse, but if it happens, I’ll accept the direction and will obviously root for him.

Seems like the Knicks prefer Lewis to Dotson. I think a lot depends on how the top 7 shakes out. NYK could go big or wing with #8 and pg with #27… or vice versa. If their preferred guy will be available at 14 (Hampton? Lewis? Poku?) then I hope they pull the trigger on trading down to get more draft capital. This team needs a lot of help.

What about the fires, is the air all cleared up?

No longer living in Hell, but the underlying problems haven’t gone away.

https://www.theringer.com/video/2020/11/2/21546534/anthony-edwards-a-scouting-report

Why would the number of three point attempts Anthony Edwards took make his jumper more projectable?

I gave it a try too but was too lazy to succeed…

If I told you it’s a million times easier to learn how to play guitar now than when was teenager I might be underestimating it.

When I was 15-16 you typically had to go to a music school to find a teacher. Then you typically wound up with a very mediocre guitarist who was old school, He focused on teaching you how to read music using some Mel Bay or other music book full of garbage songs for a couple of years when you really wanted to learn Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, Hendrix or whatever other rock or even jazz you were interested in. If you made it past that horror without quitting, you’d eventually get to the point where you were trying to learn songs by ear.

The way you would do that was to buy the 45 record and run it at 33 (the album speed). That more or less slowed the song down but kept in the same key so you had a better chance to figure it out IF you had a decent ear developed. It took forever to figure something out unless you were blessed with perfect pitch.

Now, just go on Youtube and there are tens of thousands of teachers. Many are incredible guitar players that will teach you songs, theory, techniques, reading music etc.. What took years when I was young you can probably learn in a few months now and it will be more accurate and more fun. If I had Youtube when I was in my teens, I may not have lost interest and given guitar up for decades.

An old friend of mine who’s now a professional jazz musician/teacher lives right next to me.
It’s ridiculously easy for me to try to learn but my body says NO!

hmmmm, i’ve always thought about it – maybe it’s not to late to jump in to guitar hero and wail away and kind of pretend i’m doing the real thing…

KYN – never put off for tomorrow what you can postpone until at least the day after, tomorrow…

geo:
hmmmm, i’ve always thought about it – maybe it’s not to late to jump in to guitar hero and wail away and kind of pretend i’m doing the real thing…

KYN – never put off for tomorrow what you can postpone until at least the day after, tomorrow…

Used to do the same with Rockband and drums. Or Drumania when i used to live in Okinawa.

I misunderstood the poll and thought I had to pick just one person. I picked Haliburton because he seems most likely to be useful. This just reflects my conclusion that we are very unlikely to get a killer player in this draft, so we might as well just pick someone who can shoot.

Picked Hali for the same reasons as Knick fan not in NJ…

Owen:
https://www.theringer.com/video/2020/11/2/21546534/anthony-edwards-a-scouting-report

Why would the number of three point attempts Anthony Edwards took make his jumper more projectable?

This is included in a number of models because it correlates with being a good shooter, but personally I believe it’s an artefact from times when only good shooters would shoot a lot. If you were a good shooter, then you’d trust yourself to shoot and your coach would give you the green light. Keep in mind that actual 3p% is not a great indicator. Now, everyone shoots regardless so who knows.

On the other hand, it may show a willingness to take risks and grow despite struggling and that projects future success.

I’m inclined to think it’s #1, but Edwards is a solid FT shooter so it’s not crazy that he raises his 3p% in the NBA.

Ohh definately agree that the amount of “screen time” is excessive. For the last quarter of last school year and the first quarter of this school year i tried to keep it under 2 hours of total required screen time for my 5th graders per day. That was an impossibility if i kept true to the 5 subjects per day (math, ela, social studies, health, science). So instead i focused on just math and ela. Had 2 assignments for my students to do per day. My parents and students were able to stay up to date on their work and i feel i helped with some of the mental stress that happens at home when trying to teach your child and work from home at the same time. Got in trouble at work for only doing 2 subjects but i’d take the hit again if given the same choice over. Sometimes going against the grain and using common sense is the right thing to do. 😛

“This is included in a number of models because it correlates with being a good shooter”

That’s a very strange statistical approach

geo: how are you doing z-man?

With students, teachers, staff and faculty, folks above – how’s the school year gone for you so far?

have you been able to reconcile some of the injury stuff to get back out running again?

Thanks for asking geo! School is going incredibly well, considering the circumstances. I have a great team and an especially great AP who essentially runs the school. Our community has been very supportive. Our attendance rate is around 95% and 65% of our students opted for blended, both of which blow away citywide averages. There’s always something to stress over, but in a nutshell, most principals would gladly trade their problems for mine.

The back is like 75-80% better, been doing lots of PT and seeing a great chiropractor (all massage and manipulation, no adjustments.) Not enough improvement to resume serious running but I can jog a bit and just restarted my gym membership. Now I just need to knock off the COVID 19 if u know what I’m sayin.

Knicks671: I teach 5th grade at a school primarily full of military dependents, or military connected students. We started the year remote but are now face-to-face instruction due to “mission comes first”. It has been difficult trying to find a balance between ensuring students are safe through mitigation strategies and ppe put into place and giving them an opportunity to experience a typical school year in my classroom. (I generally do a lot of collaborate learning and center based approach to my instruction). On top of that juggling act, i have an 8th grader and a 5 month old. What even worse is my wife teaches kinder, and its almost impossible to tell a kinder to keep their mask on all day as well as not give hugs when they see her. So overall, the school year has been a big juggiling act.

It is a delicate juggling act. Sounds like you have your hands full, but keep the faith and have fun with it. If this pandemic has reminded me of anything, it’s that all kids inherently love school, they just forget that they do sometimes…or get beaten down by bad pedagogy or by adults that don’t really believe in them or who aren’t there for them.

Edwards is probably going to be a very exciting player.

OK this is KB general quarters. Must have continual posting for next 24 hours. Favorite color, anything.

Me too. Can we petition to have the Knicks remove all orange from their color scheme?

Haven’t posted in a while…

I usually prefer green(e). But for the next 24 I prefer blue.

Cole Anthony taught my nephew hoops a few times this past summer. Apparently he’s an extraordinarily nice kid. Still too risky for my taste on the shooting.

i like those dunkin donut unis…a lot…it reminds me a bit of some of the heat’s stuff and GTA’s vice city colors…who’d have thunk neon pink could look so cool…

good work z-man on re-habbing yourself…i have a feeling over the years you’re gonna be one of my go to sources for aging effectively 🙂

i appreciate your thoughts on the schooling stuff a bunch…i’m proud of you man…second behind the whole family stuff, the work you do really matters…

not like those folks who just play music or write words for a living…jesus, how easy can that be 😛

saw a quick twitter vid of michael keaton, age 69 doing a get out and vote thing…he looked really good…fuck yeah, 60 absolutely is the new 40…

i hold you personally responsible z-man if i start lagging again on my health…

geo if there’s any justice in this world, you will be immortal. Hopefully kindness will be your fountain of youth.

I like blue.

Now, boys, we got three engines out; we got more holes in us than a horse trader’s mule; the radio’s gone and we’re leakin’ fuel, and if we’s flying any lower, why, we’d need sleigh bells on this thing. But we got one little bulge on them Rooskies, at this height, why, they might harpoon us but they dang sure ain’t gonna spot us on no radar screen.

sometimes it’s best to face and embrace the inevitable…Waaaaa hooooo!

i can’t exactly remember all the different names right now, but – i’m pretty we’ve had this who does music conversation before, and, i wanna say there’s at 10 or so regular posters whom play at least one instrument fairly well or like farfa – just got a magical voice…

must be an affinity for statistics thing 🙂

and just for the record, i’ve never learned to play anything…i sort of wanted to do a harmonic once, but, yeah i got bored quickly…

my voice is pretty hideous, i sound like a dull lurch…

two big life fails that always stand out…the first happened during a one act play festival during high school at stonybrook university (only been there a couple of times but i remember it as a beautiful campus)…we were doing some play where i was an old man driving my family in a car somewhere…i think it may have been some sad arthur miller shit…i made the mistake of hanging around in the crowd afterwards to hear critiques, i think a couple of people commented on just how much i sucked…

i could sense what they said was true…

the second was when i tried out for the choir when i got to college…i’m not sure what i sang, it had to have been awful though…i can only imagine the folks sitting there assessing applicants…that must have been entertaining to them, i’m sure i’d have laughed liked crazy after i left…again not so aware…

when i get nervous i can hum marching songs pretty well…i got that going for me…

Alan:
How have we not devoted a thread to our latest utterly forgettable “city” alternate jerseys? Why do so many other teams get this right and we can’t?

What makes this even worse is that the answer to the Professor’s question sits right next to Mike Breen. How do we not have a Clyde so Fly inspired city uniform? A plaid or the cow-spots in blue and orange.
https://www.msgnetworks.com/2015/03/23/clyde-so-fly-top-10-outfits/

What makes this even worse is that the answer to the Professor’s question sits right next to Mike Breen. How do we not have a Clyde so Fly inspired city uniform? A plaid or the cow-spots in blue and orange.

I love the idea

Macri notes that the Lakers could send out Kuzma instead, which would be them going all-in on this iteration of the team for a very long time. Not that I think Kuzma is that great, but he and AD are their only remaining young-ish guys.

Now, boys, we got three engines out; we got more holes in us than a horse trader’s mule; the radio’s gone and we’re leakin’ fuel, and if we’s flying any lower, why, we’d need sleigh bells on this thing. But we got one little bulge on them Rooskies, at this height, why, they might harpoon us but they dang sure ain’t gonna spot us on no radar screen.

Dr Stangelove is a great shout, geo, but I think if you really want to capture the angst and chaos of today, this is the clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2iIq3zaP6k

I like blue too. Solid color right now.

I understand the correlation on the upside with attempts. But if a guy shoots below 30% on a lot of attempts I struggle to believe that’s a good sign.

I did get a much better sense of Edwards as a prospect though. The guy is more like a pocket Zion than I realized. He strikes me as the kind of athletic freak who might underperform at the next level because he hasn’t actually learned to play the game that well as a two sport athlete who could excel on physical tools alone. But maybe that’s wrong.

Can anyone explain to me why so many lottery teams, ours included, seem so in love with Obi Toppin? Other than “dumb team teams are the ones who wind up high in the lottery to begin with”? Isn’t he just Julius Randle 2.0?

The Lakers vaporizing their wing depth for CP3 doesn’t make much sense to me. Lebron is going to have the ball in his hands when the stakes are highest anyways, he needs guys to handle the tough defensive assignments and make 3s. That kind of deal would leave them with nearly their entire wing rotation made up of minimum guys. I think they’ll be looking for a bit more ball handling this summer because Rondo isn’t necessarily reliable but this doesn’t seem like the right move unless Lebron just really want to play with CP3.

The Clippers one makes a lot more sense to me but it is reliant on Harrell to make the money work I think. No idea if he’d be interested in that

The Nets are obviously the funniest outcome though. Watching CP3 & Kyrie try to share the car keys at PG while blending their competing forms of insanity together is the stuff sitcoms are made of. This is obviously the scenario to root for.

Randle wasn’t an overpay though, at least it didn’t seem so at the time. I can’t imagine anyone thinks FVV is an instafix for the Knicks and we’d need to overpay significantly. I imagine Rose would have to offer a significant poison pill to get him and given the, uh, uncertainty of the future Knicks that seems highly likely to bite them in the ass.

The number of 3 point attempts you take could correlate to your “versatility” at shooting them.

One player could be great from the right corner but terrible from everywhere else. His percentage could be high if he focuses on his specialty, but his volume would be very low and he’d be irrelevant in a lot of games.

One player could be great spotting up and stepping into a 3 in rhythm from a few locations, but horrible off the dribble. He could have a tremendous percentage but be easy to shut down.

A player can be average from every location, spotting up, off the dribble, quick release etc.. and as long as his high volume is mostly eliminating long tough 2s with his 3s, he’s correct to be shooting them and adding value because not everyone can do what he is doing.

But I think you’d have to scout the player, his teammates, and very detailed stats to see what’s really going on.

Strat, I understand all that. And maybe teams are parsing all those attempts and realizing he shoots exceptionally well from two spots on the floor, or something useful like that.

To me though, when you have an anomalous data point like a guy shooting a ton from three while shooting really badly, I think it should be handled with care.

Owen:
Strat, I understand all that. And maybe teams are parsing all those attempts and realizing he shoots exceptionally well from two spots on the floor, or something useful like that.

To me though, when you have an anomalous data point like a guy shooting a ton from three while shooting really badly, I think it should be handled with care.

I agree.

I wasn’t making a case for it. I was just throwing out possible explanations for the thinking.

It’s not crazy to think Toppin will be able to shoot in the NBA. If he can, then he fits in nicely as a stretch 4. He honestly isn’t a terrible pick in a year when few top picks put up good numbers and he did.

Alan:
Can anyone explain to me why so many lottery teams, ours included, seem so in love with Obi Toppin? Other than “dumb team teams are the ones who wind up high in the lottery to begin with”? Isn’t he just Julius Randle 2.0?

It’s so confusing that it makes me wonder if it’s true. Maybe teams are saying they love Toppin to throw other teams off their scent?

I’m afraid he’s going to be staring at us at 8.

Alan: Other than “dumb team teams are the ones who wind up high in the lottery to begin with”?

“Marvin, for us, is a better fit and a better player. A great talent. An easy choice for us.” – Vlade Divac

Tons of people come to this blog. How do you think Mike K built that Bahamas beach house?

Toppin seems like the next Morris brother to me.

Bullock (who I think could net us a pick at the trade deadline),

Bullock couldn’t get them a draft pick last year when teams would be acquiring him for last season and his cheap contract this season. They’re not getting a draft pick for him this year, when he’s an impending free agent.

Oh, we have lots of lurkers.

Oi, Leon! It’s not too late to hire DRed.

Payton sucks, but one year of him at 8 mil versus 4 years of FVV at 23 mil? That makes it seem like we should just sit tight.

Yeah. Everything swift said, except I just don’t see a strong case for swapping out Payton for a different stopgap. Could we get better shooting? Probably. Does it matter for next year? I dunno, do we want worse draft odds due to someone who’s explicitly temporary? To go with a longer commitment?

Oh, we have lots of lurkers.

i was a lurker once…

it’s been some time now, but i remember how loudly the honorable cock jowles voice stood out to me, it was really hard not to notice…not so much for the back and forth stuff, but the ability to recall, quickly reason and explain shit in minute detail with an over abundance of patience…that’s just a very unique combination…it’s why i started posting…

then and always jowles words come out spoken as ned beatty playing the judge roy bean in the tv movie Streets of Laredo back from ’95…

threw me off a bit to hear you singing jowles – cuz, that don’t math up with beatty’s appearance in the movie: https://i2.wp.com/myfavoritewesterns.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/streets-of-laredo-ned-beatty-with-winchester-73.png

and, ned’s voice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuBe93FMiJc

in the whole quality of living life scale, i’ve always appreciated folks driven to get the most out of their journey…You gave me life, Now show me how to live…

back in the day i remember hanging out in atlanta’s “underground”…there was this one club that printed these Live Life shirts…and there it is…i’ve always been a bit of a homebody, but, it brings me joy to see and hear about folks living life to the fullest…

you mentioned the beatles book earlier, finally doing some reading myself, going through the hunger games for the first time…not sure why, but, i absolutely love the movies, seen them each countless times…nice thing about the book is it explains the geography a little bit better…

how is today not a national holiday…

Brian Cronin: Bullock couldn’t get them a draft pick last year when teams would be acquiring him for last season and his cheap contract this season. They’re not getting a draft pick for him this year, when he’s an impending free agent.

I think this depends on how good he is this season. Bullock struggled last year but I expect him to bounce back since he isn’t recovering from injury. The NBA is such a ‘what have you done for me lately?’ league that half a season shooting his career .385 will probably return a 1st. It was hard to notice surrounded by a Knicks roster full of the worst players in the NBA, but Bullock was pretty awful himself last year.

Of course, it also depends on which teams are in contention and think they need another shooter.

Bullock is so cheap that I’m fine bringing him back, as well. He just isn’t getting you a first round pick.

Now the Celtics are supposedly offering all their draft picks to move up: 14, 26, and 30. That would be fun as a Knick GM to pick four 1st rounders…

Also, Charlotte is said to be seriously considering Okongwu at #3.

That is an interesting development.

We’d have #14, #26, #27, #30, #38?

DAMN, that would be a lot of picks. Could package two of them to move up, too.

I mean, just with the 4 first rounders, the odds are probably pretty good that at least one of them will end up being as good or better than who you would pick at #8.

do we hate cole anthony at 14, too?

i really think i’d rather have the 8th pick this year. We’ll be able to pick someone good there, for sure.

who are the 12 other people who voted for Patrick Williams? I’m buying the hype. Not to the point that i want him over Halliburton or Hayes. But I would be irrationally excited about him.

I’d rather trade down for him and pick up another pick, but it doesn’t seem like he’d be available at 14.

14, 26 and 30 would be a lot for 8 I think, particularly in this draft which it seems to me has an unusually flat talent distribution. But Ainge does have a history of making that kind of offer if there’s a player he’s in love with – didn’t he offer like 4 first rounders to move up and draft Justise Winslow? My guess would be that they’d be chasing Wiseman/Okongwu and if KOC’s mock today is to be believed Okongwu may be climbing and there’s a decent chance both will be off the board at #8. But who knows.

old people when they are not driving vehicles or wearing MAGA hats

I’m only 46, but I’m starting to feel like the former (and the latter can go to hell).

Speaking of which, are snow tires an absolute must in upstate NY?

I feel close to nothing about that book/movie series. But I will say that, for at least one moment in time, Jennifer Lawrence was a wonderful sight to behold.

swift, yeah, I don’t feel all that strongly about it I just don’t want them to chase a contract like FVV’s will likely be. See who’s still kicking around after the draft, maybe. I expect good players to develop regardless of who they play with, and I think some consistency might also be nice. Rose probably needs to do something just to be seen as having done something.

“Speaking of which, are snow tires an absolute must in upstate NY?”

Pretty much yes. If you like car twerking a lot, you can go without. But there are always a few days every winter where you’re “Oh yeah” about them. And if you’re off the grid (or live on a hill), they’re a real must.

Jennifer Lawrence may be the actress with the most malleable features (or completely different looks) out there. I have been shocked more than once to find out it’s her in some movie or other.

gotta have a health strategy moving forward ess-dog

Amen, geo. I just gave up sugar last week — that’s the next one after booze, cigarettes, gluten, and all the other fun stuff (I think air is next.)

reading your words made my day swift…i’m really happy to hear yourself and your wife are doing well…

good to see you’re such a workout enthusiast…i still love walking (since i was a kid it’s always been my favorite type of exercise)…i’m creeping up on 60 pretty quickly and the thing i’ve had the most challenge with maintaining is my strength training…i just don’t do it enough/at all…

yeah, i’m hopeful are country wakes up today from this everything trump bullshit…i long for the old days of just regular ol’ washington corruption and not some of the insane stuff we’ve seen the last four years…

very very cool to see the crazy amount of early voting that took place…i’m cautiously optimistic…

righteous mathematical fury.

hahahaha 🙂

listen man, the hunger games is not for us old people…it’s like a dystopian teen fantasy series…peeta’s acting was fine…his character progression was even more extreme than katniss’…

granted, i may not have truly appreciated the character until about my 20th viewing or so, but, it totally works…not his fault, harrelson, hoffman, sutherland and moore got all the fun characters to act…

ess-dog: Speaking of which, are snow tires an absolute must in upstate NY?

I would say yes, or at the very least, get high-quality 4-season tires, like Nokian WRs. Goodyear Assurance Weather-ready are fine if you have a SUV w AWD.

The good news is that they generally do a fine job of clearing/salting/sanding roads anyplace above Westchester county, but there is really no substitute for snow tires or Nokians.

I’m 42 and am trying to get back into shape. Its a struggle.

I’ve never been the healthiest dude but when I was still in NYC, the last few years (2010 to 2013), I got real serious about going to the gym….like 5 or 6 times a week. Running, lifting weights, taking classes. I got cut (not ripped) and was in fantastic shape. That was mid 30’s. Since then I’ve been on and off with exercising but nothing too consistent. Now in quarantine I have been doing daily burn 4 or 5 times a week but the difference between my strength and stamina now and even 8 years ago in my mid 30’s is astounding.

Awww man, not what I wanted to hear. I started working out consistently a few months ago for the first time since I played football in college (I’m 35). I expected it to be difficult getting back in shape after a decade-plus hiatus but it honestly hasn’t been so bad. Putting on muscle has been a bit easier than getting my cardio up. Probably need to change up how I ingest THC… But from what I’m hearing here I only have a couple more years of my athletic peak before it all goes downhill 🙂

Any other mid-30’s guy got any tips about getting into a martial art? Been looking into judo since it plays to my strengths as a former O-lineman but worried that all the throws (and landings) would wreak havoc on my back. Not flexible, so anything with high kicks would be out. Is boxing a good idea? Don’t want to get concussed weekly at some dingy gym tho.

Jowles, you really haven’t gotten too upset over anything probably since Ruru left

Or maybe it was since you started smoking weed

Or maybe since you met Lady Jowles

Regardless, I commend you on being less combative about basketball stuff

bobneptune disagrees

This is how I view all diet fads. Gluten free (except for people with celiac), paleo, keto, intermittent fasting, etc. If you’re trying to lose weight and they help you stay in a calorie deficit, great! Otherwise there’s nothing special about any of them.

Keto is some crazy shit, and real. If I had to lose 100 pounds as quickly as possible, I’d do keto (and probably want to murder someone for the first two weeks). I just feel bad for all the severely-overweight people who try to do it and end up not being in ketosis and gorging on cheese and bacon anyway. But keto is also what bodybuilders have been doing before competitions for decades, so it’s not like it’s anything new. Just a more recent adoption of Big Diet into their stable of product offerings.

IF has some legit science behind it — periodic fasting is certainly good for you — but mostly it’s just easier to be in deficit if you’re not eating for 16 hours at a time. If a person wanted to lose weight, I’d tell them to quit consuming liquid sugar and try fasting for 14-16 hours 4x a week. It’s the easiest “diet” I’ve ever tried, since you just… don’t do anything.

Okay, I need more distraction. Anyone got any recent book recommends? FEEL THE TREPIDATION

That’s one hell of a book recommendation swift. I’d say “courage” and “strength” but I think you’ve got way more than me already.

This blog certainly has therapeutic qualities…aside from the occasional recommendation to ingest bleach

I’m up for anything fiction. Non if it’s particularly interesting. No, I can’t define that. Just picked up The Hollow Places, good so far.

Now the Celtics are supposedly offering all their draft picks to move up: 14, 26, and 30. That would be fun as a Knick GM to pick four 1st rounders…

This is a weird draft to want to trade up that badly, given that its reputation is as one without superstars but with reasonable players late in the draft and also as a draft where players could slip a long way because there is so much disagreement about who to pick. But the Celtics are the team that gave up Fultz to get Tatum, so they are no dummies when it comes to the draft. Either there is one player they love, and I’d love to know who it is, or they just don’t feel they have enough roster spots for three new players.

Swift, I can’t imagine how you must feel. Even being separated from my kids for a month or so because of Covid has been a struggle at times.

Sometimes exercise helps cleanse you. It did that for me after my divorce. I went HAM thinking that if it didn’t kill me, it would get me through (and both felt like good options at the time.) Instead of killing me, it got me ripped, and I found love again. Go figure. Making art can also be really helpful.

Thanks for the tire recs, Z-man. My SUV seems fine, but I just got a lightly used car with front-wheel drive and even in light rain I feel like I’m on driving on ice skates. It was then I realized that I’ve driven all- or 4-wheel drive vehicles since I was 16.

Re: trading up, I can see why the Celts would want a shot at Okongwu (the next Bam). I doubt the Knicks want to do it, though. As much as I like Mitch, it would be kinda cool to get LaMelo AND Okongwu out of this draft, since they are friends and were high school teammates. Seems very unlikely, though.

Now the Celtics are supposedly offering all their draft picks to move up: 14, 26, and 30. That would be fun as a Knick GM to pick four 1st rounders…

The Celtics are probably 1 player away from competing for a championship. They could be even closer than that given they still have a lot of upside with the existing squad. There are times when trading down or using the shotgun approach probably makes sense, but generally I’d rather trade up towards where the best talent is. It’s the stars that are toughest players to get. They may see someone that can contribute in year 1 or 2.

I think this is the part of the night were we all just pretend we aren’t thinking about Miami.

Private Empire was too much for me. And the fact that XOM has gone from juggernaut to dropped from the Dow also-ran takes away something from it. His wife’s book was pretty good but I think got the big picture wrong.

This is a weird draft to want to trade up that badly, given that its reputation is as one without superstars but with reasonable players late in the draft and also as a draft where players could slip a long way because there is so much disagreement about who to pick. But the Celtics are the team that gave up Fultz to get Tatum, so they are no dummies when it comes to the draft. Either there is one player they love, and I’d love to know who it is, or they just don’t feel they have enough roster spots for three new players.

I think it’s about roster spots for them. They have to get rid of people to use all three of those picks.

no big referendum to come…this is gonna be gnat’s ass tight…i should have known better, still, i am kind of surprised…

Well, boys, I reckon this is it. New-q-lure combat, toe-to-toe with the Rooskies. Now look, boys. I ain’t much of a hand at makin’ speeches. But I got a pretty fair idea that somethin’ doggoned important’s going on back there. And I got a fair idea of the kind of personal emotions that some of you fellas may be thinkin’. Heck, I reckon you wouldn’t even be human beins if you didn’t have some pretty strong personal feelings about nuclear combat. But I want you to remember one thing – the folks back home is a countin’ on ya, and by golly, we ain’t about to let ’em down. Tell ya somethin’ else – this thing turns out to be half as important as I figure it just might be, I’d say that you’re all in line for some important promotions an’ personal citations when this thing’s over with. That goes for every last one of ya, regardless of your race, color, or your creed. Now, let’s get this thing on the hump. We got some flyin’ to do.

Thanks everybody! Owen, Kingkiller Cronicals wasn’t a wiff, it’s just got so much penetration that most everybody who’d like it has read it years ago. With your others I’ll check out. I’ve had the one mentioned to me before and I’m well into Babylon Berlin so yes on the third too. Vincoug, both on the list. Geo, I’ve read the first two.. I regret the second

***my summation of reading these posts is that many of you are somewhere between “active lifestyle” fit and Hugh Jackman ripped and that you have a healthy appetite for intellectual non-fiction.***

When it’s not a pandemic compounded by election anxiety, i am usually very active. I’ve run many marathons, Boston multiple times, and compete in Olympic distance and half-Ironman triathlons. But, mostly now, I just sit around, drink beer, and post on Knickerblogger. (Would prefer not doing this for another 4 years, though)

Uncle Geo, now we’re at the point in that clip where we’re racing to gate 8, gate 9, gate 10….

But it seems like America is going to pull a Ted Stryker in the end and get this thing landed with broken wheels but no one dead.

Went for another shootaround this morning (9:30-11:00) to a different playground.The 4th.
First was locked. Second was reconstructed. 3rd was a school (only for afternoon jumping over the fence break ins).
The 4th across a semetary!
After 3 bunches of 100 shoots i solidified my almost 20% and I’m ready for the next level.
19/100
19/100
20/100
It’s becoming addictive.

I also remember getting absolutely crushed in the market back in 2000…haven’t looked to see what’s going on with wall street yet…

Biden campaign focused on winning over ‘disaffected’ Republicans. It was a very stupid strategy; Trump’s share of the Republican vote count went up this time around. Riding with John Kasich, Mike Bloomberg, the Lincoln Project, etc. did absolutely nothing to convince GOP voters to go for Biden. Watching this unfold in real-time has been beyond frustrating.

That said, I still think Biden ekes this out once all the ballots are tallied in Wis, PA, and MI. Then we’ll have weeks of court battles to fray our nerves. Should have never been this close though.

Fuck, I’m hungover.

geo: I sure hope so hubie…no matter what happens though it sure seems our country is fairly evenly divided…that’s not such a great thing…

I feel foolish now, but, for decades I’ve had this assumption there were more democrats than republicans here in the US…I thought with all the new folks who registered to vote and did vote that it would clearly favor democrats…

that certainly didn’t happen…heard some references to the democrats holding back on their “ground” game of knocking on doors due to the virus…didn’t really think it would have that significant of an effect…

trump certainly has a way of defying any type of conventional polling practices…

There ARE more Democrats than republicans in the country, have been for years. In the last 30 years republicans have won the national popular vote exactly once, in 2004; Democrats have won it in every other election and elected Democrats in both the Senate and House generally represent more voters than elected Republicans. But we setup this country so that slave states would have extra voting power and that’s carried over to the present day so that rural voters have more voting power than urban and suburban voters.

In this year’s election, Biden is currently winning the national vote by nearly 3M votes. And that number is going to continue to expand as there’s a lot of outstanding votes in NY, PA, NJ, IL, CA, and New England. In any functional country this election would have been over last night (of course, in any functional country trump would never be nominated) but because of the disproportionate voting power that rural voters have in the electoral college, the Senate, and the House we have to sweat this out for the next couple of days.

because of the disproportionate voting power that rural voters have in the electoral college, the Senate, and the House 

good stuff vincoug…yeah, I’m late to the game on how this whole process actually “works”…

there are definitely some significant changes to the process needed…

Here is the thing about the electoral college and the senate.

Democrats and Liberals can complain about it all they want (I certainly have). But neither of those things will change as long as Republicans hold so much sway over rural voters. It guarantees that they will almost always be competitive in the presidential election and will always have that advantage in the senate. And until Dems really take over both houses of congress and the presidency, reforming the electoral college, making DC and PR states, adding senate seats to California, etc…all of these will remain liberal fantasies.

Democrats desperately need to find a way to reach rural voters. Since I moved to Omaha, this has really hit home with me. We actually flipped Omaha for Biden. Omaha is an urban center but it does show you can flip areas from red to blue. The Dem senate race was lost, however, bc she lost the rural vote. If she won 10 percent more of the rural vote across the board, she would have won.

This whole election would be in the bag for Biden all ready and Dems absolutely would have won some more senate seats if they peeled off 10 percent of the rural vote. They are not all a lost cause. If Trump can make inroads with Latinos, Dems can absolutely make inroads with rural voters. It won’t be easy, but again, they don’t need to win these counties, just have a more respectable showing.

Also, like half a million Democrats need to move out of California to TX, GA and some other swing states. Dems always win the popular vote but they win California by like 2 million votes.

From what I can tell, Biden did do better with educated, suburban white voters who voted for Trump last time.

The problem is that rural America and whites without college degrees came out in support of Trump even stronger than last time. To me that is really telling because you would think old white moderate Biden with his Scranton, PA working class roots would have fared better with rural voters than Hillary. But he didn’t. I don’t think that is necessarily a reflection on Biden as much as a reflection on how deep the Trump claws are in rural voters and how divided our country is.

Also, I think dismissing all Trump voters as racist is not a good strategy for Democrats. I am not trying to deny that the Republican party (or America for that matter) doesn’t have a racism problem. They absolutely do. But writing off half of the voting population as racist isn’t going to win you over any votes. Last night my FB feed was filled with my liberal friends in LA and NYC decrying how racist this country is. I think that stuff hurts us even if there is truth to it.

Also, its hard to say all Trump voters are racist when he did a lot better with Hispanic males. Why is that?

The good news is I do think the demographics are slowly trending in the right direction but Dems need to fight for every vote in every county, even the rural ones.

swiftandabundant:
From what I can tell, Biden did do better with educated, suburban white voters who voted for Trump last time.

The problem is that rural America and whites without college degrees came out in support of Trump even stronger than last time. To me that is really telling because you would think old white moderate Biden with his Scranton, PA working class roots would have fared better with rural voters than Hillary. But he didn’t. I don’t think that is necessarily a reflection on Biden as much as a reflection on how deep the Trump claws are in rural voters and how divided our country is.

Also, I think dismissing all Trump voters as racist is not a good strategy for Democrats. I am not trying to deny that the Republican party (or America for that matter) doesn’t have a racism problem. They absolutely do. But writing off half of the voting population as racist isn’t going to win you over any votes. Last night my FB feed was filled with my liberal friends in LA and NYC decrying how racist this country is. I think that stuff hurts us even if there is truth to it.

Also, its hard to say all Trump voters are racist when he did a lot better with Hispanic males. Why is that?

The good news is I do think the demographics are slowly trending in the right direction but Dems need to fight for every vote in every county, even the rural ones.

The problem is it’s not enough to not dismiss them as racist; to many of them racism isn’t really a problem and systemic racism doesn’t even exist. Where do Democrats even begin forming a working coalition with people who think like that?

Also, its hard to say all Trump voters are racist when he did a lot better with Hispanic males.

Voting for a racist demagogue like Trump is categorically a racist act, as they’re using their power to help reinforce and expand existing power structures. It’s kinda hard to say someone’s not racist when they aid the election of a racist to represent their interests.

Also, I think the “socialism” boogie man has really worked on these people. And maybe this is where Dems can make some progress. We need to do a better job of explaining, for example, why a public option on healthcare isn’t socialism. How taxing the uber wealthy isn’t communism that will destroy the economy. That messaging from Republicans of “tax and spend big city liberals” has been playing on a loop in rural America LONG before Trump. Its ridiculous.

Here is all I can say about that, Jowles. I’ve seen this justification with my parents and with conservative “friends” I grew up with on social media.

They see Trump’s racist rhetoric as unfortunate but no different than Dems playing up to their liberal base. They don’t think Trump really means it. That he just has to say it to get them to vote for him the same way Biden has to say he supports BLM to get them to vote for him. I absolutely don’t agree with them but this is how I see it justified.

And they think disagreeing about stuff like affirmative action or wanting the US to be tougher on illegal immigration doesn’t make them racist and they’re tired of being called that every time they disagree with a liberal position.

Again, I am not saying they’re right. I’m not saying they aren’t racist or acting in a racist way. Just that they do not think they’re racist and react super negatively when they’re called that.

The only reason you don’t understand their brilliance is that you are part of the current gang and see this as a way of preventing you from imposing your assumed superior values and priorities on others.

hahahahaha…oh strat, you’re too funny, you just can’t resist letting some stuff like this fly…oh goodness, sometimes it’s better to whisper this kind of condemnation rather than shout it..

you can still get your point across without getting fired on as soon as you post, or – making the issue: you…really, who wants to be a pinata for the day…

personally, trump aside, I simply disagree with some of the party’s ideas on healthcare, gun reform, deregulation of industry, women’s personal health rights, etc…

truly at this moment in time, it feels like the divided states of america…

I grew up in a house where it was continually preached that the democrats just don’t know how to “fight” like republicans…meaning democrats are just too damn nice and fighting with 20 oz. gloves while their opponents are lacing up them 4 oz ones…

donald dump has got me leaning much more heavily towards a “scorched earth” political philosophy than anything i ever thought I would embrace previously…

I don’t think it’s all that healthy for our democratic process, but, personally it’s becoming more apparent that our country’s path forward is more important than simply being “fair”…

yeah, I’ve reached the fuck “fair” stage of politcs…winning really is all that matters at this point…

Infamous CDiggy…you’re Dad is right. That is a huge part of it.

I will also add that it is absolutely infuriating that we will have these hand wringing discussions on our side and yet it feels like there is zero introspection about how to be better on the other side. I think The Republican party and Trump are sick and horrible. So please don’t misconstrue what I say to mean otherwise. But I still do think that when you deal with people on a one on one level, you will find that they are much more nuanced and contradictory than whatever political labels they may have.

@swiftandabundant

I just don’t see how there’s room for compromise with people who deny systemic racism. And Democrats consistently try to pass bills and policy to improve their economic problems along with the rest of the country’s. Things like worker protections, training programs to train workers who worked in industries that have moved away, and safety net programs so they aren’t destitute while unemployed. Republicans consistently block these efforts but they keep on voting for republicans.

And they call everything they don’t like socialism, have for years. You can go back 70 years and see them screaming about things like desegregation as socialism.

I’m sure there are many Republicans out there who just want deregulation and low taxes and shit.

But let’s get real: a big part of the Republican base is people who think Democrats are running a secret international pedophile ring, and that Donald Trump and Robert Mueller are working together to throw the Obamas and Clintons in jail and that Wayfair is involved and JFK Jr is going to come back and team up with Trump, and that Bill Gates infected the world with Covid so he can profit off vaccines and all sorts of batshit insane garbage.

Sorry to offend any, erm, “principled” conservatives out there, but a lot of your fellow travelers are dumber than a box of rocks. Like A LOT of them.

Do you expect me to call my mom a racist then?

A duck is a duck whether you call it one or not. You don’t have to shout, “Duck! Duck duck duck!” at them, but they’re still ducks.

I still think it’s too early for postmortems.

I think the very popular take coming out of this will be that calling Hispanic people Latinx is something that plays really badly.

That intersectionality is a neat intellectual framework but is bad politics. POC are even further from a monolith than we thought.

It’s hard to say until the dust settles but the numbers do actually seem to be a strong rebuke to the cutting edge of woke liberalism. That will be an argument for two years probably.

Do you expect me to call my mom a racist then?

Cause when I did that in 2016, she started crying and didn’t talk to me for 3 months.

oh my goodness swift, this made me both sad and laugh at the same time…if you’re fortunate, there are just some folks in life where unconditional love has true meaning…sometimes a no politics zone is required…

i’m generally distanced from others anyway, but – politics pushed me even further away from my oldest friend in the world…i wish him the best with his health and happiness – except for this shit, hopefully he’s back to his disgruntled obama days by the end of this week…

I went to college in TN (my home state).

how’d you get stuck rooting for the knicks swift?

swiftandabundant:
Here is the thing about the electoral college and the senate.

Democrats and Liberals can complain about it all they want (I certainly have). But neither of those things will change as long as Republicans hold so much sway over rural voters. It guarantees that they will almost always be competitive in the presidential election and will always have that advantage in the senate. And until Dems really take over both houses of congress and the presidency, reforming the electoral college, making DC and PR states, adding senate seats to California, etc…all of these will remain liberal fantasies.

Democrats desperately need to find a way to reach rural voters…

This whole election would be in the bag for Biden all ready and Dems absolutely would have won some more senate seats if they peeled off 10 percent of the rural vote. They are not all a lost cause. If Trump can make inroads with Latinos, Dems can absolutely make inroads with rural voters. It won’t be easy, but again, they don’t need to win these counties, just have a more respectable showing.

Also, like half a million Democrats need to move out of California to TX, GA and some other swing states. Dems always win the popular vote but they win California by like 2 million votes.

OR!!!

And hold on… this is gonna be cray….

Instead of each party trying to forge a supermajority so they can ram their agenda down half the country’s throat while deepening the seeds of dissension and polarization, the people who represent the urban areas and the people who represent the rural areas can compromise on shit and pass legislation because that’s the whole point of government.

Anyway, if there’s anything to take away from these results, it’s morbid:

thank god for Covid, because if it didn’t happen Trump would have cruised to reelection.

swiftandabundant:
I want to bring up an example from one of my friends. I went to college in TN (my home state).I’m from Nashville but at my school there were people from all over the south some of whom grew up in pretty rural places.

I was having a similar convo about this on FB with a woman I went to college with. She is a lifelong Democrat but still lives in the rural county she grew up in (outside of Memphis). She is very active in the local Democratic party there (its small, obviously). Trump won big there but since the 2000 election, her county has gone from 90 percent Republican support to now just a little over 70 percent. That’s a pretty big change, more than 15 percent. They get no love from the national party and do everything on their own, grassroots style. She hasn’t given up on those people and the work they’ve done has made inroads. Her county might not ever go blue but if we had similar changes in other rural counties across the country, the Republican wall would crumble.

Hey, swift! My family moved to TN in 1977 (Cumberland County, yeesh!), but I’ve been in Knoxville since college in 1980.

We’ve got a hardcore red state here, but our local district in West Knoxville for the state house has become a hard fight for the Republicans recently, and Knoxville has elected two consecutive fairly liberal pro-environment women as mayor.

The Republicans are way better at fear mongering and tagging Dems with guilt by association. The Dems need to close the ground at those.

Most news sites are now calling Michigan for Biden.

And Democrats consistently try to pass bills and policy to improve their economic problems along with the rest of the country’s. Things like worker protections, training programs to train workers who worked in industries that have moved away, and safety net programs so they aren’t destitute while unemployed. Republicans consistently block these efforts but they keep on voting for republicans.

But Democrats didn’t base their presidential campaign on doing stuff like this. They campaigned against Trump instead. They would have done better to emphasize how they will help people than to imply people were idiots for liking Trump.

thank god for Covid, because if it didn’t happen Trump would have cruised to reelection.

although i myself probably wouldn’t have put that out there in to the world 🙂 but, it’s been on my mind for months…

no way was he losing without it…and, i don’t think a lot of his support was really racist motivated…i think a lot of it was 401k motivated…

Yeah I think the operative question is whether that kind of cooperation is still possible in today’s hyper-polarized media environment. In theory Democrats would moderate their policies somewhat in order to compromise with the most left portion of the Republican legislative bloc and pass laws that would be broadly acceptable to both sides. In practice, any Republican who is seen as helping the Biden agenda will be tarred and feathered on conservative media and primaried at the next opportunity. Similarly, the left part of the democratic base on twitter is in a never ending purity contest and passing moderated policies will be disapproved of there too.

And the running of that process over the last ten years or whatever has resulted in chambers that are super polarized. In theory you would expect that the left-most Republican legislators and the right-most Democratic legislators should have a lot in common policy wise, but I’m not sure it’s really the case so much anymore.

Also, I think people should really pump the brakes on ‘cooperation’ talk. There is no cooperation with a party that plays everything like a one-off Prisoner’s Dilemma, that routinely seeks to limit fundamental rights (especially voting rights) in order to maintain their grip on power, who willfully disseminates conspiracy theories and looks the other way as their president violates law. If Democrats ever have all the levers of government again, they should use every dirty political trick to crush the Republicans under foot. But they neither have the spine nor the competence to do so, and that’s one of the many reasons why they’ve been perennial losers for the past four decades. Civility and respect for disagreement is healthy in real democracies, where everyone is operating in good faith. But we live in a system where one party is utterly disinterested in anything other than preserving itself, and so we’ll continue to live in an ersatz democracy until the structures that allow a minoritarian party to dominate at every level of government are eliminated. Democrats need a politician that will try to remake the country in their image, someone like FDR. I’m not optimistic they’ll find one.

In theory Democrats would moderate their policies somewhat in order to compromise with the most left portion of the Republican legislative bloc and pass laws that would be broadly acceptable to both sides. In practice, any Republican who is seen as helping the Biden agenda will be tarred and feathered on conservative media and primaried at the next opportunity. Similarly, the left part of the democratic base on twitter is in a never ending purity contest and passing moderated policies will be disapproved of there too.

The left part of the Democratic congressional delegation is a small rump faction. Most Democratic Party Senators are Clintonian Third Way type Senators. Hell, even out here in California we have Dianne Feinstein’s rumpled ass representing us. There’s a Bernie Sanders or an Elizabeth Warren here and there but there are also a lot of Klobuchars and Sinemas and Warners and Kaines and Testers and Shaheens.

The Left™ does not have a lot of sway in the party really.

geo: hell yeah to that…how’s that married life treating you cdiggy 🙂

Hey geo… it’s going well! We’re both in a better place mentally and romantically since we’ve been able to put the wedding behind us. And wedding day was awesome – just the stress leading up to and right after. Sidebar: going AirBnB is a great way to save money on hotel costs, but make sure if you’re getting multiple houses that everyone is no more than 15 minutes from each other. Not 30 minutes like we ended up doing, lol.

The missus has kept up her walking/workout regimen after the honeymoon, and she’s looking great. Me… well see above for my Hugh Jackman comment (lol).

To sports: LA County is still iffy on letting the area community colleges play in February although we’ve been initially cleared by CCCAA. The situation is so fluid that there’s a CCCAA board mtg this Friday to essentially get people to wait until December 2nd to make a ironclad decision. And that decision may still involve options that push the full contact sports back to April (letting the non-contact sports start in Feb) and sacrificing football (which, right or wrong, will piss off a LOT of people including student-athletes).

BTW: We got a bball player about to sign with USC. And you didn’t hear this from me but Last Chance U re-upped with a second season w/us. Now we just need to find a way back onto the court safely…

As for the Knicks: I don’t know, lol. Sounds like Christian Wood is a good target. I feel like we’ve been burned before by players of his ilk, but as long as we’re not counting on him to do anything more than what he did in Detroit and he can indeed open the floor up for Mitch and RJ with his shooting, then I’m cool (how’s his D tho?).

JK47: The left part of the Democratic congressional delegation is a small rump faction. Most Democratic Party Senators are Clintonian Third Way type Senators. Hell, even out here in California we have Dianne Feinstein’s rumpled ass representing us. There’s a Bernie Sanders or an Elizabeth Warren here and there but there are also a lot of Klobuchars and Sinemas and Warners and Kaines and Testers and Shaheens.

The Left™ does not have a lot of sway in the party really.

I definitely agree that the rising polarization has been asymmetrical. And polarization on the right wing is a much more significant obstacle to any real progress during Biden’s term.

Silky is dead on.

Ok, now do the same thing for the 8 Obama years.

You can’t, because in 2010, the Republicans made obstructionism their platform. How quickly we forget that Mitch McConnell filibustered his own bill during the debt ceiling crisis. Why? Because chaos, not legislation, was the point.

This election was a referendum on blatant political corruption and a callous (to put it lightly) disregard for governance. The American people decided they don’t care that much, as long as the guy on TV gives them the reality show they want to watch. It’s sickening.

i’m sooooooo excited – PBS is gonna broadcast Dr. Strangelove tonight…it’s been since forever since i’ve watched it…been doing a little research on it lately, so excited to give it a closer look tonight…

Silky captured the Democrats’ current dilemma very well. Their biggest problem is this country’s democratic institutions are antiquated as hell and biased against them, but they also can’t do anything to fix that until they gain power via those same institutions (boy, it was a massive mistake to not address these things in 2008-2010).

I have no easy answers. My priors are that Democrats need to fully embrace universal, high functioning government programs that will both do more good for people and are easier to message politically. I am also humble enough to admit it’s possible advocating for those may come with political liability that makes them impossible and just ensures more reactionary GOP rule.

What I do know is I don’t trust anyone in the current Democratic leadership to figure this stuff out and it’s well past time we clean house.

***if there’s anything to take away from these results, it’s morbid: thank god for Covid, because if it didn’t happen Trump would have cruised to reelection.***

Covid May have helped turn out vote due to an emphasis on mail in voting, but Trump’s handling of the virus didn’t seem to effect his electoral performance much. He’d lost the suburban voters in Phoenix and Atlanta prior to 2018, and Wisconsin, despite being the covid center of the universe on election week, stayed within the 20,000+/- range. Ultimately, Biden was hired by dem voters to win voters in Milwaukee, Detroit, and Philadelphia who had turned out for Obama but not Clinton. He did his job.

I’d love to reach some compromise with Republicans. I’d love to see Democratic leaders reach out more effectively to rural voters. There’s a really giant roadblock to that though: the right wing media noise machine.

Now look, I know the left has its own media empire, and I realize that CNN and MSNBC have become bizarro Fox News. But the amount of disinformation thrown out there by right wing media has gone through the roof in the Trump years. The sheer volume and intensity of the bullshit is jaw dropping.

Today I saw the top news personality on Fox News, Tucker Carlson, repeat without any qualifications a widely debunked rumor about a supposedly mysterious vote drop in Michigan on Tuesday night that gave Biden 120,000 votes and Trump 0. Wow, that sounds like some real election fraud, right? I mean gee whiz, those dirty Democrats, will they stop at nothing in their unquenchable thirst for power? It was, of course, bullshit. No such thing happened. Tucker knows no such thing happened.

This is just one tiny example. This past week, I have seen conservatives on my Facebook feed make the following claims:
-Joe Biden is a pedophile
-The mail-in vote now being counted in places like Pennsylvania is all fake votes
-Joe Biden and Kamala Harris plan to eliminate our economic system and install a Soviet-style planned economy
-The Proud Boys are a nonviolent group who are just trying to protect people from Antifa

This is just a small sampling of the complete bullshit that I have read recently from people who used to seem somewhat normal. I don’t know how you reach out to people like this, people who have had their brains completely melted by propaganda. They think Donald Trump is infallible, and that it is not possible that he could lose an election, so there must be a conspiracy against him. It’s one thing to be politically biased, it’s another to be completely divorced from reality.

Donnie Walsh: Ultimately, Biden was hired by dem voters to win voters in Milwaukee, Detroit, and Philadelphia who had turned out for Obama but not Clinton. He did his job.

Excellent analysis. And you might say that Atlanta and to a lesser degree Phoenix are by-products.

I don’t think any Dem candidate could have gotten more votes than Biden. He did as well as he possibly could have…save maybe the oil/fracking gaffes. But thad didn’t hurt him in the cities above.

Hi w

I think it’s not surprising people weren’t enthused.

If enthused means “really happy feelings about your option” I guess this is true but the tent’s too fucking broad for most people to ever be enthused. If it means “did people vote” it’s dead wrong, tons of people voted. I only care about the later.

The election was a huge win for Never Trump Republicans. No more Don, senate stayed R, GOP gained house seats, and the Dems got smoked in a number of important state races that will determine how districts get drawn moving forward.

Makes me sick that Rick Wilson, Bloomberg, et al got exactly what they wanted.

I think it is very true that a lot of people don’t want an effective government. I had a HS Facebook friend today post “sweet sweet gridlock! Best thing that could happen!” And I’m thinking really? With a out of control pandemic and millions out of work, not too mention all of our much larger problems (healthcare, global warming, out of control cost of college, etc)..you think we need gridlock right now? Its unreal how many people have bought this lie that government is the enemy.

Look, I will readily admit that government can easily screw things up sometimes. And it can be slow and inefficient too. But when you cynically believe that government is bad all the time and then elect officials who also believe that, are you really surprised when it doesn’t work all that well? Public schools, the post office, etc…its all been underfunded for years and I find it really insulting to the hard working people who work in those places that they’re constantly being attacked by people.

I should clarify my statements from yesterday. I don’t want kumbaya compromise nor do I think it will be all that possible. But I do think we gotta try as hard as we can to shave away at the GOP stranglehold over rural America. Its the reason why they have so much power. The senate and the electoral college are not going away or being reformed anytime soon bc as long as the GOP has that huge support in rural America, they will have a stranglehold over the senate and always be able to win the presidency and get their people on the supreme court.

But we just need to erode like 10 to 15 percent of that support in order for that red wall to crumble. I don’t know how to do that, but we gotta try.

And seriously, half a million dems need to move out of california and go to GA, TX, etc.

Here’s something I really don’t understand and maybe you guys can explain it to me:

Reportedly there was a substantial turnout of Hispanic voters for Trump in Florida and Texas (and the Miami-Dade vote is what swung Florida to Trump) I also read that there was a massive disinformation campaign in Florida targeting Hispanics with “Joe Biden is a Socialist who’ll raise your taxes, blah, blah, blah”

And supposedly Hispanic voters were tired of being taken for granted by the Democratic Party.

So I get all that, and maybe in normal times, a pissed off independent Hispanic voter might vote Republican. But to vote for Donald Trump? A xenophobic nut job who denigrates minorities and puts kids in cages?

I just don’t get it.

Hispanic Voters are typically Catholic and can be single issue voters about abortion. Its all I can come up with.

d-mar:
Here’s something I really don’t understand and maybe you guys can explain it to me:

Reportedly there was a substantial turnout of Hispanic voters for Trump in Florida and Texas (and the Miami-Dade vote is what swung Florida to Trump) I also read that there was a massive disinformation campaign in Florida targeting Hispanics with “Joe Biden is a Socialist who’ll raise your taxes, blah, blah, blah”

And supposedly Hispanic voters were tired of being taken for granted by the Democratic Party.

So I get all that, and maybe in normal times, a pissed off independent Hispanic voter might vote Republican. But to vote for Donald Trump? A xenophobic nut job who denigrates minorities and puts kids in cages?

I just don’t get it.

Raven:
I think the point that both Swift and Dmar are missing is recognizing the astonishingly different world that conservatives live in now. It’s as if Earthlings and Venusians are speaking with each other — you can prattle on about how nice oxygen and water are and that green and blue are lovely colors, but a Venusian breathes methane and lives in a world of thick orange clouds. Conservatives get their news from Fox (and worse sites) — they NEVER hear about how Trump is a horrible, racist, misogynistic, corrupt, amoral hyper-narcissist who is actively trying to destroy our constitutional democracy just to maintain power to line his pockets. And when bits of that do float into their sphere, they’ve already been told it’s all a conspiracy so they can dismiss it.

People, be they rural or Hispanic or whatever, who enter the cult-stream of conservative info-flow don’t come back out— they’re in the cult and it’s all they hear and see. I’m at a loss as to how one holds an intervention for 42% of the country.

This. This describes one of my two younger brothers to a T. I’ve tried real hard to reel him back in, but he apparently listens to a lot of conservative podcasts and such, Michael Savage for sure. He was convinced that the USPS, which he used to work for, was going to throw Florida and other states to Biden, for example.

lots of book talk and recommendations in this thread. if you’re picking anything up i hope you’re buying from the strand or using strandbooks.com if you’re not local.

Conservative media feeds a fictional reality to their listeners. If all you heard were Hannity, Carlson, Beck and Limbaugh, you too might believe in far-fetched, vast anti-conservative conspiracies in all segments of American society. It’s not crazy to assume that a good chunk of Trump voters believe that liberals want to commit Stalin-like purges of Christians, or whites, or straights. Batshit insanity.

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but Zach Lowe told Macri that:

– NYK is reluctant to talk about trades with RJ and Mitch
– Knox, #8, and the two Dallas picks for #2 was essentially rebuffed
– interest in Oladipo has cooled

Someone I know was spouting off on the ‘120000 magically appearing votes in Michigan’ thing and I talked to him about it and it turned out he knew literally nothing about it other than what Bill O’Reilly (or whoever) had told him on the radio. He in general is just completely mistrustful of the election and it’s because he’s been repeatedly fed crocks of shit about voter fraud by conservative grifters preying on their listeners’ lack of expertise/ignorance about election specifics. Very dispiriting to see, to be honest.

d-mar, I agree with you, but you’re still looking at it through your lib-tard, science-based glasses. If ALL you hear is the numbers of dead are inflated by fear-mongers and it’s no worse than the flu and masks aren’t actually needed, that’s all you know. There IS no other reality.

It’s total bat-shit insanity, but what’s insane is that we’ve let it happen. It’s important not to think of the actual beliefs as insanity, no matter how nutty they may be, because it is, literally, all many of them know. It’s like saying that a lot of people who lived 2,000 years ago were insane for believing the world was flat, despite evidence to the contrary 500 years before that. But at that point in time, who really knew anything about ancient Greek studies?

Now Kyrie, he’s just bat-shit insane.

Not sure if this has been talked about before, but the Eastern Division is looking might difficult, and even if we do something like get CP3, might result in us getting a very good pick for 2021 if rumors are correct and we’ll be playing basically a divisional schedule.

Boston – Ainge, ECFs this year
Toronto – Masai, Nick Nurse, champion last season
Philly – now run by Morey
Nets – Kyrie/Durant

I mean those might be 4 out of the top 5 seeds in the eastern conference right there.

I don’t miss that point at all. I’m not talking about a quick fix here. But like I said, even in the most rural and conservative counties, you still have 15 to 30 percent of the population that votes Democrat. If we could somehow support those people, they could build something on the ground level that could eventually pay off. I think part of the problem is these rural areas have so little opportunities for work, education, etc…that anyone who is liberal or smart or different gets the F out of there when they can. I have a lot of admiration for progressives who stay in those communities. Like I keep saying, I’m not talking about flipping rural America blue. I’m talking about eroding 15 to 20 percent of the support there. If Trump had 10 percent less support in those rural counties this week, the election would have been long over by now.

The asymmetry thing is infuriating.

Sure, maybe Joe Biden helped hunter get a job. Trump literally is using the presidency to rake in millions in overseas contracts.

Its like saying someone who steals a dollar is just as bad as someone who steals 10 grand.

As someone originally from rural Illinois, I would agree with swift that there is potential to change some minds in the boonies (with myself being a prime example of someone who was Republican as a teenager and grew up as an adult). The problem is the miasma of conservative misinformation that blankets most rural communities. If everyone there that’s politically inclined is listening to Glenn Beck or some similar fuckwad nonstop, that inoculates them against anything that isn’t a brute emotional appeal, since that’s what they’re used to at this point after years and years of it.

That’s the problem with ‘do your own research you simpletons.’ Most people don’t have the training or sufficiently developed critical thinking to adequately separate bullshit from fact online, and most people don’t have the time/inclination to obsessively fact check what they hear on the radio and see on TV. So they have a question, look for an answer and find something within seconds that confirms their existing opinion. Voila! They’ve “done the research.” Look at the Qanon crowd – they will relentlessly claim to have done research and all that amounts to is watching some nonsense fever dream Youtube conspiracy crap with all the credibility of everyone’s crazy uncle.

I think that’s the Athletic, geo, but you can get around the Atlantic paywall by using incognito mode.

The election is over. Tonight will be the only time in my life when I put Fox News on.

I do feel like there is an Elam Ending joke to be made about this election….

Imagine someone walking into a history class and saying that primary sources are the only items of value in the pursuit of historical knowledge.

Donnie Walsh: Also, I haven’t seen it talked about, but black voters in Milwaukee, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Atlanta are the reason that Trump’s lead last night evaporated. These are the NBA cities. The NBA cities that worked with their players and owners to turn out the vote in. This is the LeBron effect. He deserves credit for threatening to lead his teammates out of the bubble.

Stacey Abrams deserves big credit in Georgia, win or lose. Didn’t pout about not getting the VP nod and definitely delivered. And if both Georgia and Pennsylvania go Biden (along with Arizona and Nevada) and it will electorally look like the blowout everyone expected even if the margins in some states are razor thin.

I have to say I’m still worried about Trump pulling an inside straight- he still has a decent shot at Arizona given how much ground he made up last night and is still leading in both Georgia and Pennsylvania and any decrease in the massive percentages Biden has been getting in late ballot counting and Trump could still squeak out victories there too. And if so…

I wonder if bobneptune would be defending Trump’s despicable actions today and going with the official Fox News party line that counting mail-in ballots means the election is rigged.

Of course everything Trump does is appalling, but his behavior today is, predictably, the bottom of the barrel.

Do you think strat knows he is himself an agent of disinformation

***Look at how shitty the pre-election polls did. I’m gonna guess the exit polling is probably even worse than that.***

Exit polls are conducted in person, where as pre-election polls are conducted on the telephone. So they’re not at all the same. But, that said, exit polls conducted in a pandemic, with fewer people actually exiting the polls, may not be as accurate as years past.

Puerto Ricans voted overwhelmingly for Biden. Cubans voted overwhelmingly for Trump.

Totally anecdotal evidence, but I think a lot of the discrepancy here can be ascribed to the Socialism boogeyman.

Similar to Swift’s mom, my Mom is not a racist. She’s an intelligent lady who unfortunately spent all of her formative years either fleeing a communist revolution as a refugee or living through the thick of the Cold War.

That lens colors EVERYTHING (FFS, her favorite book as a little girl was The Fountainhead) – unfortunately, her critical faculties shut down as soon as the word “socialism” enters her ear canals. She dislikes Trump, and wholeheartedly agrees that he’s an amoral racist, sexist, xenophobic pig who is devoid of decorum, scruples, and brains. She knows he botched the virus response (and also empowered his horde of moronic supporters to rebel against masks and become superspreaders).

She acknowledges his impact on public discourse.

She acknowledges that his economic stewardship is extremely tilted towards the immediate near term (to her this is a feature, rather than a bug – like a jaded cop approaching pension age, the goal is to get through the the next few years and cash out the 401(k)).

Pointing this stuff out and agreeing on it is easy. What’s impossible is actually demonstrating a positive VORP for Biden, especially when the haircuts on TV shout “Socialism!” Trump may be a bigoted moron, but to some, his one redeeming quality is the fact that he IS extremely selfish. Whereas, in Fox Land, Biden is all about asset seizure and the redistribution of wealth. Old people are very easily triggered, which would be funny if it didn’t have real world impact.

If ALL you hear is the numbers of dead are inflated by fear-mongers and it’s no worse than the flu and masks aren’t actually needed, that’s all you know. There IS no other reality.

The problem here (and with most arguments about politics) is that you can’t win without actually engaging with and deconstructing the opposing argument. Nobody* voluntarily engages with opposing arguments, because they’re usually being made by the kind of annoying fckwad who would start an argument about politics in the first place.

The opposing argument goes like this:
Public funds are being (duly) allocated to combating COVID –> the areas with higher incidence of COVID will receive the most funding –> hospitals are incentivized to attribute cause of death to COVID in scenarios that aren’t clear cut, thus, the actual numbers probably aren’t as high as reported.

It’s dumb, and it falls apart when asked for actual data/statistics, but it’s not completely bats irrational (this is why some people don’t question it).

*fun side note – some people do. A friend of mine derives a lot of pleasure from conversations like this, and once did an extremely detailed deep dive (about 6 months of research) on Flat Earth logic in order to more effectively fck with people.

the argument is irrelevant…all that really matters is the sales pitch and the sales person…

I thought that pain and truth were things that really mattered
But you can’t stay here with every single hope you had shattered

been thinking of what country would i wanna live in if it ain’t here…my thought for many years has been of costa rica, got dna from there…last few years though it seems like the answer has become japan…seems clean, lots of green…fairly regimented culture…sadly, the government there hates cannabis like crazy, but, i could figure something out…

###i mean c’mon, we’re human beings, fences and signs ain’t made for stopping us, hell no, might slow some of us up a bit, but, that’s all…much easy to simply say, oops sorry, afterwards…###

I had the “sorry” and the “do you prefer me to take drugs instead of working out?” ready and waiting just in case!
Seriously now i thought they had locked the playgrounds to keep it for use only by the basketball teams of the area and that made me crazy.

###sadly due to extreme violence at some of our schools here in the states, you can’t really even think about slipping on to primary school grounds to run a track or shoot hoops…###

Yeah. I get that.Sad but what can you do ?

My next dream-goal is to jump over a fence of a kindergarten school that has Mini Baskets (Steady as the normal ones but much Lower) and try to throw some dunks just like almost 30yrs ago!!!!
Unfortunately the fence looks like a tough one to climb but the excitement of a possible dunk will give me wings!

I was listening to DBowie’s Earthling album two days ago on cd with 4 bonus tracks.
One of them was TReznor’s Mix of “I’m afraid of Americans” which actually sounded better than the original version on the album.
I’m not crazy about TR’s music but when it comes to sound production the guy is a bad mfkr!

One of them was TReznor’s Mix of “I’m afraid of Americans”

This was the peak of Nine Inch Nails’ newfound rocket ship of fame. It distorted my personality and became overwhelming: to deal with having everyone treat you different, to going from not being able to afford a gas bill to show up to arenas full of people, who kind of think they know you. The line starts to blur between the guy onstage and the person you used to be. My way of dealing with life was to numb myself with drugs and alcohol, because it made me feel better and more equipped to deal with everything. My career was skyrocketing, but the scaffolding that was holding me up as a person was starting to collapse. I wasn’t fully aware of how bad it was getting, but I knew, in my heart, that I was on an unsustainable, reckless, self-destructive path.

A full year later, I hit bottom. Once I got clean, I felt a tremendous amount of shame, of my actions and missed opportunities and the damage that I’ve caused in the past. And I thought back to the time when we were together a lot, and I wonder what that could have been like if I was at 100 percent. The “I’m Afraid of Americans” falls into that category of me at my worst — out of my mind and ashamed of who I was at that time. So when I see that, I have mixed feelings — grateful to be involved, and flattered to be a part of it, but disgusted at myself, at who I was at that time, and wishing I had been 100 percent me. And it nagged me.

After listening to Bowie’s latest albums nowadays (and without being a diehard fan) like Heathen, Reality, Hours, blackstar and the live A Reality Tour I’ve came up to the conclusion that:
Bowie is (actually) God.

###That was one of the most disgraceful things I have ever seen. Also, very low energy.###

What?
Why?

Knew Your Nicks:
###That was one of the most disgraceful things I have ever seen. Also, very low energy.###

What?
Why?

i believe he was referring to our soon to be ex-presidents rambling press conference that was likely not televised in Athens…

Anyone wanna talk about Georgia and Biden now only trails 45 by 1,902 votes there or nah?

Looks like the season is going to be starting on December 22. Knicks are coming back!

isn’t the 72 number based off some media contract?

We donated to Fair Fight over the summer and I feel GREAT about that investment.

Stacy Abrams has a bright future.

Z-man:
I also like Stacy Abrams. My wife and I go back and forth about whether she would have been a better VP choice than Kamala Harris. She’s a huge Kamala fan and thinks KH is more ready to be president.

I love Stacey Abrams, way more than I Kamala Harris, and I absolutely did not want Abrams to be VP. Honestly, VP is a pretty thankless, kind of deadend job and it would have taken Abrams away from running an organization to turn Georgia blue and hopefully running for statewide office there again.

A piece in the Ringer of mild interest for contrasting Duke with Kentucky, and suggesting how to look at (and analyze) their players. I thought the most interesting bit was a section late in the article describing Tyrese Maxey, who I was having trouble placing in my head. Nicely described.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2020/11/6/21551113/nba-draft-duke-kentucky-players

* If we’ve taken a PG at 8, is there a wing or big man you like who seems likely to still be there at 27?

Paul Reed is a pretty interesting prospect to me. I haven’t watched much of him outside of the occasional highlight reel, but averaging 4+ stocks/40 in all of his NCAA seasons is pretty impressive and his FT% gives you at least a little hope he might develop a 3PT shot.

Isaiah Stewart would be a minor coup at 27 IMO, but I think it’s less than 50/50 he’s still there. I’d say the same thing about Desmond Bane on the wing side.

* If we’ve taken a wing at 8, which PG do you want at 27? Riller, Flynn, Maledon, or other?

I’d take Dotson over anyone in this crowd and it’s a little confusing to me that he’s not getting more attention.

Also, an Okoro/Tillman/Riller combo would be real nice.

But I do think we will likely end up with Kira in this draft somehow, maybe not at 8.

Berman says management is looking at Kidd-Gilchrist as an inexpensive FA signing to come off the bench, and also that the team doesn’t plan to keep Harkless. Without digging into the numbers, this seems like six of one, half a dozen of the other: two good defensive wings who never learned to shoot.

TheClashFan:
DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD!

No, I’m not talking about Trump, yet. Rather Cohen/Alderson have fired Brodie Van Wagenen and most of the rest of the front office, including Omar Minaya, again.

What a waster of two years for the Mets…and the damage will linger on.

Just saw that! Excited that dumbass is finally gone but can’t help but think it’s a preview for the Knicks hiring an agent to run the team.

Owen:
Talk about catharsis.

I wonder how JK47 is celebrating. Although Cano did hit this year.

Dang, I may not need viagra tonight…

I like Hayes, but it’s just funny to see stuff like, “Oh, well, if Will Bynum thinks he’s got what it takes, then I’m sold.” 🙂

Dang, I may not need viagra tonight…

🙂

no doubt seeing donald douche out of the white house on Jan 20, and then hopefully by the end of the year seeing that schmuck in cuffs will keep me hard for weeks…

looking good for that runoff for georgia in january…Movin’ to the country, Gonna eat a lot of peaches, Movin’ to the country, Gonna eat me a lot of peaches, Movin’ to the country, Gonna eat a lot of peaches, Movin’ to the country, Gonna eat a lot of peaches – If I had my little way, I’d eat peaches every day

geo: no doubt seeing donald douche out of the white house on Jan 20, and then hopefully by the end of the year seeing that schmuck in cuffs will keep me hard for weeks…

Talk to me when you’re 62…

Begley also says that some in the front office are interested in bringing back Justin Holiday.

I’m a little disappointed that Harkless is probably not going to be back and they are looking at Michael Kidd-Gilchrist instead. I like Harkless’s game better and he certainly had a better year last year. It sounds like Harkless didn’t even want to come back given he didn’t show up for the mini camp. I don’t blame him, but for awhile it sounded like he was happy to be in NY. I hope they use that Ciipper pick to move up because we are unlikely to get anyone as good as Morris at 27 and it doesn’t sound like we are going put someone as good in that space.

Hopefully Rose is nowhere near the pompous idiot that BVW was.

I read the Athletic article about him. He doesn’t sound pompous at all.

vincoug: Deeefense:
Reading through this blog on politics is sometimes like uncovering evidence there’s a link between the mainstream media and being delusional and possible brain damage.It’s almost as bad as the nonsense I get from both sides on my Twitter feed.

Go fuck yourself

What’s hilarious (in a pathetic sense) is that a poster so craven and depraved that he skulks away from this site promising to never post again and soon (oh so predictably) comes crawling back under another handle has the temerity to question the mental health of the vast majority of posters here.

And that’s what strat is…pathetic KB laughing stock, a two-bit attention whore…so intellectually and morally bankrupt that he actually thinks he owns the delusional libtards with his brilliant “brain damage” quip.

I’m looking forward to Deeefense’s new tag the next time he leaves forever.

I can’t believe the media is still talking about giving up assets to get CP3 to NY. It’s incomprehensible to me that anyone could be this incompetent. It has to be click bait fake news. It’s also incomprehensible to me that CP3 would want to spend the last 2 years of his career on a team that’s in rebuild hell.

Z-man

I can no longer log into my Stratomatic ID even if I wanted to.

I love the Knicks and enjoy taking about them. There are a lot of very bright and talented people here. That’s why I returned.

I simply think on both politics and basketball many here are in a kind of bubble that’s closing them off from getting closer to a kind of “balanced truth”. On politics it’s the result of spin and lies from the corrupt media. I see the same thing among very bright people on “right” leaning forums.

It eventually becomes a self reinforcing delusion unless you go outside that bubble with REAL interest. I know. I’ve been there.

When I throw out those digs, it’s not personal. It’s a dig at the corrupt and incompetent media (virtually all of it). I despise them for slowly splitting the country into what is basically two delusional groups.

A few of the people at your favorite newspaper, on your favorite political shows, on your favorite blogs etc.. are well meaning people with a variety of values, priorities, and ideas on how to best achieve many of things we ALL want, But many of them are spinning and lying scumbags with agendas that are purposely misleading you. They are causing you to misunderstand and hate the other side so they can better impose their will. These are intrinsically bad people that are lying to you.

Obviously, some are worse than others

if you do believe this i suspect you have no idea how deeply you shroud it behind your polemic and superlative laden communication style

ptmilo: if you do believe this i suspect you have no idea how deeply you shroud it behind your polemic and superlative laden communication style

There are exceptions to almost all rules. if I overstate my deeply held feelings about media by generalizing too much, it’s not by much. So many people in the media are spinning lying dregs, I am not wildly exaggerating. When an occasional truth teller comes to mind, I’ll try to make a note of the exception.

Don’t forget that it wasn’t the original plan to just reemerge with a different handle. When “Deeefense” first showed up (48 hours or so after Strat said we’d never hear from him again), he made a hilariously pathetic attempt to change his writing style, biographical information, and even his opinions on some things. He didn’t want people to know he was Strat.

Some day in you life you’ll be right about something, but today is not that day. 🙂

I tried to delete my Stratomatic ID, but could not. So I changed the password to some random letters and digits that I could not duplicate. The email address associated with it has long been deleted. So there was no way to reset the password. That ID is dead because I wanted it that way.

I created a new ID sometime later when I had second thoughts about never positing again. I went about my business posting exactly as usual without admitting or denying who I was because I found the initial speculation if it was really me hysterical. I was laughing my ass off.

But this is a brand new ID associated with a different email address and my desire to stop posting was very sincere. The experience was becoming more negative than positive.

My second thoughts were probably a mistake, but so be it. I should have just moved on. My politics and views on basketball are so different than the consensus here, there’s not much else to say and no point to it. but there aren’t many good Knicks discussions anywhere.

Deeefense: There are exceptions to almost all rules.if I overstate my deeply held feelings about media by generalizing too much, it’s not by much.So many people in the media are spinning lying dregs, I am not wildly exaggerating. When an occasional truth teller comes to mind, I’ll try to make a note of the exception.

You called everyone here that disagrees with you delusional and brain-damaged.

Deeefense: My second thoughts were probably a mistake, but so be it. I should have just moved on. My politics and views on basketball are so different than the consensus here, there’s not much else to say and no point to it. but there aren’t many good Knicks discussions anywhere.

More bullshit. Most of us have had vehement disagreements with broad swaths of posters here, so there’s no “consensus” other than back up what you say with math, science or scholarship, or at least admit that it is speculation or conjecture. You talk out of your ass and make sweeping generalizations that often (not always but often) fly in the face of even a rudimentary level of logical reckoning. It’s shocking that you aren’t embarrassed by it and keep coming back for more after getting beaten down again and again by people much smarter and wiser than you.

Strat is the living embodiment of exclusively scouting via gut feeling

The Honorable Cock Jowles:
Strat is the living embodiment of exclusively scouting via gut feeling

Not true.

In horse racing some gamblers focus on fractions and final times and some others focus on visual/qualitative things by watching races and picking up on subtle things not in the numbers.

For years the purists on each side were in opposing camps.

The truth is they both bring something to the table. My ADW account has been growing this weekend during the Breeder’s Cup races while those guys continue arguing who is right. 🙂

Basketball is no different other than the horse racing math is more evolved than the current public basketball math because brilliant math guys have been trying to win money at horses for a much longer time.

It’s time for some gambling where your bottom line tells you the truth about what you know and what you don’t know. Have a good day.

Deeefense: I called pretty much the entire country delusional due to the media being corrupt.Everyone here is forming their views based on that same media.That covers both left, right, and extremes. The attack was on the media, not people here personally. It was a horribly written rant and using the term brain damaged was way over the top. I apologize for that, but my “true feelings” are the same. The media is fucking up the country and many of the views expressed here are based on bullshit.

Do you hear yourself at all?! The entire country is delusional except for you.

hahahahaha… best thing of the morning, just saw someone holding a sign at the BLM plaza outside the white house saying: Fuck Your Fence…

been waiting to exhale for a while now…feels good…

Delusional disorder, previously called paranoid disorder, is a type of serious mental illness called a psychotic disorder. People who have it can’t tell what’s real from what is imagined.

Delusions are the main symptom of delusional disorder. They’re unshakable beliefs in something that isn’t true or based on reality. But that doesn’t mean they’re completely unrealistic. Delusional disorder involves delusions that aren’t bizarre, having to do with situations that could happen in real life, like being followed, poisoned, deceived, conspired against, or loved from a distance. These delusions usually involve mistaken perceptions or experiences. But in reality, the situations are either not true at all or highly exaggerated.

People with delusional disorder often can continue to socialize and function normally, apart from the subject of their delusion, and generally do not behave in an obviously odd or bizarre manner. This is unlike people with other psychotic disorders, who also might have delusions as a symptom of their disorder. But in some cases, people with delusional disorder might become so preoccupied with their delusions that their lives are disrupted.

Doctors have identified the “strat” type of delusion:

Grandiose: This person has an over-inflated sense of worth, power, knowledge, or identity. They could believe they have a great talent (“I know more than everybody about everything”) or made an important discovery (“stats don’t tell the whole picture”).

flipping between this and the election coverage….both are very entertaining…

Lebron really is the GOAT.

Strat = smart
Everybody else = dumb

We are all fortunate to be in the presence of this towering intellectual titan.

Also horse racing

I created a new ID sometime later when I had second thoughts about never positing again. I went about my business posting exactly as usual without admitting or denying who I was because I found the initial speculation if it was really me hysterical. I was laughing my ass off.

But this is a brand new ID associated with a different email address and my desire to stop posting was very sincere. The experience was becoming more negative than positive.

My second thoughts were probably a mistake, but so be it. I should have just moved on. My politics and views on basketball are so different than the consensus here, there’s not much else to say and no point to it. but there aren’t many good Knicks discussions anywhere.

i applaud you for your odd/strange manner – i can’t tell you how much i appreciate when folks say what they actually think…well, i may actually have to amend that long felt belief a bit now, but, that’s not you who i am thinking of…

generally though, above all just be honest…express yourself…

you should be you, it’s all you can ever do…hey, so i am guessing now that the whole stratomatic tag was tied to a reference to a certain type of guitar?

or is it the baseball fantasy game thing?

sounds like you got some fight back in to you – so, hoping your health is well…

“generally though, above all just be honest…express yourself…”

Best way to Peaceofmindland

just came back from a bike ride through Berkeley…like the summer of love down there…dancing..drinking…everyone happy….good day…

Just saw a friend wearing a hat that said MAKE AMERICA SMART AGAIN

I don’t know wtf Mike Honcho just said but I agree with it

Sorry haha I probably got carried away. Just my feeble attempt at a ptmilo-style takedown.

Truth be told, I do like having strat around, and actually agree with him from time to time. Just wish he wasn’t such a [___________]. (Maybe Brian can do a poll on filling in the blank…)

“everyone else in the entire country has brain damage.”

As long as Strat’s keeping it local it’s fine by me! lol

strat actually thinks that original research is the only path to knowledge

I don’t agree with Strat that the press is mostly delusional, but he’s right that you can’t rely on stats alone to analyze basketball. For example when both Robinson and Ntilikina were in foul trouble against Dallas, it didn’t make them equal in foul propensity. Ntilikina was guarding Doncic which is tough, but Robinson had no good reason for most of his fouls.

***strat actually thinks that original research is the only path to knowledge***

So much for Socrates.

And that Jesus guy.

And pretty much any great teacher who is now dead.

(BUT… The primary source of Strat reporting on his own switch from Stratomatic to Deeeeefense forgot to include his Lockwood jr phase. So I guess even primary sources are biased. Wow!)

Nicely turned out, Mike Honcho. Many have tried their hand at it, few have done so well. Applause, applause.

I feel like I once wrote that was Strat’s greatest contribution: he’s inspirational.

If you didn’t know Lockwood Jr was me, I take back all the things I said about there being a lot of intelligent and talented people on this forum.

I’ve been talking about how much I love the “blues” for years. I’m pretty sure I even mentioned having seen Robert Lockwood Jr live at BB Kings and how he was my biggest influence when I was trying to learn that style. I really went out of my way to hide that. You guys are laughable.

This is one of the biggest collections of very intelligent propagandized people I have ever seen. Hell, I know I am propagandized and that’s why I’m fighting so hard to avoid it. You guys relish it. It’s almost sad.

Truth be told, I do like having strat around, and actually agree with him from time to time. Just wish he wasn’t such a [___________].

Prick?

Asshole?

Smug dickhead?

There is a cost to telling inconvenient truths, disagreeing with the consensus, getting combative and getting so frustrated that people are ignoring obvious realities that it comes through in what you say and how you say it (the latter being totally on me).

Hell, I got barred from a horse racing forum dedicated to speed handicapping because I had the audacity to tell them they were missing a big part of the picture by not analyzing the pace carefully also. They didn’t want to hear it because they were so firmly entrenched in their beliefs. They demanded exact formulas (which don’t exist). The names I was called make you guys look like a bunch of girl scouts. That was about 10-15 years ago. Even though I was barred from posting, they allowed me to continue reading the forum because I still occasionally bought a product (and still do). Now, when I read the discussions there they often include pace. They hated me because of the message and partly because of my style, but they eventually figured out I was right. lol

***If you didn’t know Lockwood Jr was me, I take back all the things I said about there being a lot of intelligent and talented people on this forum…This is one of the biggest collections of very intelligent propagandized people I have ever seen***

I think it’s time to come clean here. I have multiple handles on this site, and I use them all daily, mostly to argue with myself, but occasionally I use one or two just for interacting with you. Basically, you and lockwood jr. are pretty much the only other people here. You see, it’s all a simulation. A simulation to see how narcissistic you are.

The colloquies between Strat ( Deefense, Lockwood, jr) and the rest of the board during the Covid crisis has saved me from a descent into utter despair.

Deeefense: Prick?

Hell, I got barred from a horse racing forum dedicated to speed handicapping because I had the audacity to tell them they were missing a big part of the picture by not analyzing the pace carefully also.They didn’t want to hear it because they were so firmly entrenched in their beliefs.

Horse racing’s loss is my gain.

Bo Nateman: Deeefense:

They didn’t want to hear it because they were so firmly entrenched in their beliefs.

Ironic?

brilliant!

who are some under the radar young guys we should go after this year instead of getting into a bidding war for justin holiday? i’m going to ignore guys who seem like they might actually get an over the radar bid like personal lovechild de’anthony melton and christian wood.

1. john konchar. aesthetically displeasing prospect who should be cheap and really knows how to play.

2. jordan mclaughlin. smallish pg but pesky defender and does genuine point guard things on offense. possibly will be able to shoot the nba 3. also very cheap.

3. harry giles. might not end up in the bargain bin.

4. derrick jones jr. see above.

5. jevon carter. i’ve always thought he was an nba rotation worthy backupish pg somewhere in the middle of the chris childs charlie ward number line

6. josh jackson. odds are long that he pulls it together but sort of a why not at a price situation.

who else?

Mr. Geo,
Good to hear from you. In addition to legacy skills, remember the executive function skills also. I spend a lot of time with the students I tutor on that. The Google biosphere has all the tools one needs to help organize ( ie. calendar, tasks, reminders to Gmail) and kids really have an amazing proficiency with technology, so it is just a matter of integrating it into their routine. You can start your fourth grader with the basics, so as he progresses towards middle school you can scaffold on that.
As to your point about kids’ perspectives on the World, one of my favorite parts of tutoring is I get invited into their worlds and find out how much gaming and social media influences their points of view. It frightens me as we have all witnessed how easily manipulated people are and this latest generation is growing up reading much less, watching less film, writing only via text or chat rooms. The ability of the people of this board to write coherently, lucidly, and persuasively strikes me as something we may not see in 20 years( though with AI lucid communication may become a vestigial function)

pt,
All interesting propositions. I also like the idea of going after Joe Harris, if just to tweak the Nets. He’s exactly the kind of player that would complement Thibs-friendly defensive players at other positions. Bertans too, but he might be too expensive.

other guys to look at: Valentine, Chiozza, Leonard

The Honorable Cock Jowles:
Strat, at his intervention: “Okay, but have you ever considered that you have a sobriety problem?”

Exactly.

Even I think this describes me.

lmao

Deeefense: This is one of the biggest collections of very intelligent propagandized people I have ever seen. Hell, I know I am propagandized and that’s why I’m fighting so hard to avoid it. You guys relish it. It’s almost sad.

  

WHAT IS THE STATE OF CLEAR?

Clear is the name of a state achieved through auditing and describes a being who no longer has his own reactive mind, the hidden source of irrational behavior, unreasonable fears, upsets and insecurities. Without a reactive mind, individuals regain their basic personality, self-determinism and, in essence, become much, much more themselves.

https://www.scientology.org/faq/clear/what-is-the-state-of-clear.html

They’re not propagandized, they’re tribal and they’re tribal because social media and the internet tribalize.

The full glory of the state of Clear has no comparable description in any writings existing in our culture. It is a goal Man has dreamed of achieving for more than 2500 years, yet the state of Clear is far above anything anyone even conceived of previously.

hahahahaha, oh, that’s some good shit there…

going back a day or so – i think bowie hit pretty clearly on what a state of clear truly is:
Johnny wants a brain
Johnny wants to suck on a Coke
Johnny wants a woman
Johnny wants to think of a joke
Johnny looks up at the stars
Johnny combs his hair
And Johnny wants pussy and cars…

If you can just get your mind together
Then come on across to me
We’ll hold hands and then we’ll watch the sunrise
From the bottom of the sea
But first, are you experienced?
Have you ever been experienced?
Well, I have
I know, I know you probably scream and cry
That your little world won’t let you go
But who in your measly little world
Are you trying to prove that
You’re made out of gold and, eh, can’t be sold
So, are you experienced?
Have you ever been experienced?
Well, I have
Let me prove you…
Trumpets and violins I can hear in distance
I think they’re calling our names
Maybe now you can’t hear them, but you will
If you just take hold of my hand
Oh, but are you experienced?
Have you ever been experienced?
Not necessarily stoned, but beautiful…

Written by Jimi Hendrix (1967)

who are some under the radar young guys we should go after this year instead of getting into a bidding war for justin holiday? i’m going to ignore guys who seem like they might actually get an over the radar bid like personal lovechild de’anthony melton and christian wood.

I like your list and would like to emphasize if we got Melton we could stop talking about Frank forever because we’d have the version of Frank people pretend exists who is the same age. That alone is a reason to sign him.

I’ve brought up Kris Dunn a few times and if his market doesn’t materialize ($5M AAV range) I’d like to target him. He would, um, not exactly address our shooting issues but he is truly a game changing defender who can make some things happen on offense in a pinch.

Jesus had to resurrect himself to persuade the statfreaks nonbelievers of his time that he’s legit.
Frank’s “crucifixion” will end pretty soon…
Kyn the Kebabtist

It’s an algorithmic machine that automatically generates analysis based on how you tweak the inputs. If you can properly adjust the knob for equine-based wisdom, tweak the dial for media bad and plug it into a power generator that runs on a blend of pure Primary Sources and undiluted Original Research, it can procedurally generate billions of analytical claims that cut through the lies of the Jedi and arrive at blessedly unbiased truth, straight from the horse’s mouth.

i mostly like dunn and this year he finally realized that he wasn’t kyrie and ramped down his offensive usage a bit. unfortunately his 3s went from hit or miss to miss or miss. he’s duplicative with frank. knickerblogger should probably debate whether that’s a feature or a bug. i’m free 2021-23.

But Four Seasons TOTAL Landscaping, I am with JK47, I don’t think anything has made me laugh that hard in a long long time. I mean a press conference challenging the validity of the election held next to a dildo shop and across from a crematorium!

Would love to hear bobneptune’s take on this. I’m sure there’s some spin, if he’s even yet heard of it from Tucker or Hannity. But also, fuck bobneptune.

While the Four Seasons schadenfreude is certainly delicious it in no way makes up for the fact that 71 million Americans voted for Trump. I will relish every humiliation Trump and his circle suffers but the country is still busted and Covid doesn’t appear to be going anywhere either.

geo:
My dear guests! I am Mr. Owen, your host. Welcome to Fantasy Island!

….and then Herve Villechasomethingsomething…the little guy runs out and say “ze plane..ze plane” and points to one of those trump in a diaper blimps floating over head…

Can the stat folks here tell me the statistical probability of a NY basketball blog having not one but TWO insufferably anecdotal professional horse racers? (…I feel like Sixerblogger and and Raptorblogger must have fewer)

Bruno! Welcome back! PS Frank still sucks

Bruno!!!! Good to hear from you.

This vaccine news sounds really amazing, especially if you are a conspiracy theorist. Stock market likes it a lot.

Hey Farfa, where’s your recap of the election? Get on the job!

Interesting stuff out of ESPN insider today, predicting the top 3 picks will be Ball/Wiseman/Edwards in some order, but also that the next 6 will be (again in some order)

Avdija
Toppin
okoro
Halliburton
Okongwu
Patrick Williams

ie. Killian Hayes and Devin Vassell fall out of the top 9

http://insider.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/30280664/nba-draft-intel-latest-top-picks-trades-lottery

The realization that Ntilikina still sucks (and the Knicks too obviously) does give some consistency in these weird ass times, if anything.

I’ve just been caring very little about basketball lately because the one basketball related thing I hate probably on the same level of James Dolan and the Knicks is to see the Lakers winning, so the bubble wasn’t particularly enjoyable.

At least the election results have given us some really good news, because we’ll be going on our own fight against our clown in 2022 and if Trump won, we would have been completely screwed. So I guess baby steps towards the end of the nightmare but we might just get there.

ie. Killian Hayes and Devin Vassell fall out of the top 9

On Macri’s podcast, Wasserman said that NBA front offices are much less in love with Vassell than NBA Draft Twitter has been, and Berman wrote yesterday that the Knicks would probably only take Vassell in a trade-down scenario. Opinions about Hayes are also all over the map. Patrick Williams is the only one of the guys Givony mentioned in the new ESPN Insider post whom I would be very wary of at 8, though that’s owing more to Kevin Knox PTSD than to Williams himself, probably.

I want no part whatsoever of Toppin. None. He’s not exactly Randle 2.0, but the overlap in strengths and weaknesses is really high, and we’ve already seen how that works out with our current roster. I’d put more money on Okoro learning to shoot, or Hayes learning to go right, or even Patrick Williams turning out to be the player David Fizdale thought Kevin Knox was, than to take a guy with as low a ceiling and anachronistic game as Toppin. Hard freaking pass.

Ringer has a piece about how Terry is highest riser, now projected in the lottery after eating a lot or something.

And Wiseman seems to be making a late charge to become consensus best player in the draft, even if the Wolves may not want to put him next to KAT. He also doesn’t want to go to Minnesota.

Very volatile draft.

Yeah what Minny does will be very interesting. Wiseman and Ball are probably the top 2 prospects but they have KAT and Russell. I would think they might want to trade down. At least that is what I would do if I was them. They are probably more in a position to draft for fit than the other non GS lottery teams.

I know Anthony Edwards has some real ball skills, but I’ll be damned if part of his top-3 pedigree isn’t that he’s jacked as hell. Dude is going to challenge Bledsoe and Zion for biggest arms in the game.

The Honorable Cock Jowles:
I know Anthony Edwards has some real ball skills, but I’ll be damned if part of his top-3 pedigree isn’t that he’s jacked as hell. Dude is going to challenge Bledsoe and Zion for biggest arms in the game.

My question is what makes for the better player: Edwards’ jacked arms or Okoro’s jacked shoulders?

Owen:
Ringer has a piece about how Terry is highest riser, now projected in the lottery after eating a lot or something.

And Wiseman seems to be making a late charge to become consensus best player in the draft, even if the Wolves may not want to put him next to KAT. He also doesn’t want to go to Minnesota.

Very volatile draft.

I’ve been on the Wiseman train from Day 1. If he had played a full NCAA season, he would have been the #1 pick for sure. Even though it was only 3 games, he was an utterly destructive force, putting up Zion-like numbers (34.2 pts/40, 18.6 rebs/40, .760TS%, 5.2Blocks/40…I don’t care who it was against, those are historic numbers and he was just getting started!) He looks a lot closer to being Joel Embiid or KAT than Mitchell Robinson or WCS.

Yeah Z-Man, i was going to write that and forgot. Wiseman rising seems completely unsurprising. There had seemed to be a lot of smoke around him character wise so it makes sense that once people got comfortable with that side of him he would shoot up.

I think I have said in the past that he looks like a better player than Ayton and I am not sure why anyone would pass on what seems a safe bet.

Also, the first witness Rudy called at the FSTL event, turns out he was a convicted sex offender who served time in prison for exposing himself to a 7 and 11 year old on a playground. He has run for office in New Jersey repeatedly, post prison, and appears to be registered there still.

Re: Tyrell Terry – I have not seen him much, but it sure seems more likely he will be Seth Curry than Steph Curry. As much as Steph “struggles” on defense, he’s much bigger than Tyrell.

GS is an interesting spot too. I could see them just taking Wiseman and calling it a day.

I could also see them trading back a few spots and picking Hali. He can back up Klay and Steph and play with either/both of them. Seems like the perfect GS player to take the baton from one of those dudes and he just gives them more passing, shooting and defense and is a smart player to boot. If they can move back, get him and pick up an additional draft pick in the future, I think that’s their wisest move. I understand the desire to get a vet to help them win now, but getting a player like Hali and another draft pick to help with the transition to the post splash brother’s years seems the better long term move even if it diminishes their title chances a bit. If Steph, Klay and Draymond are back in form this season, they are easily one of the title contenders again.

From the Atlantic.
America is loose as a goose

It avoided becoming Belarus.

But that sulking Caesar, POTUS—where’s he gone?

Is he watching Fox News with a big frown on?

We’ll seize the cycle. We’ll make allegations.

Reverse these numerical humiliations.

A major press conference, that’s the thing.

At the Four Seasons … Total Landscaping.

So the gods of bathos displayed us all

on pickled asphalt, by a lumpy green wall.

The morning light so skeptically slanted,

the scene so tawdry and disenchanted …

O flunkies, we’re at oblivion’s door.

It’s right next to Fantasy Island Adult Bookstore.

By the twang of the dildo, by the undertaker’s shoes,

some shall win and some shall lose.

The dark portal is reached. Bow down and enter.

Across from the Delaware Valley Cremation Center

The People demand at least 10 Bruno posts before he goes ghost again

I liked Terry as a potential steal at #27, maybe a little higher in the event of a trade up. A lot of the shine wears off to me at #8. A 6’1″-6’3″ non-point guard is simply going to be limited in multiple ways.

However, if we drafted him it would be very hard to be too upset because 1) it would be nice to have a guy who can definitely shoot the ball and 2) I do consider him to have a pretty high ceiling. I would definitely hope it was the result of a trade down though. It sure seems like the Wizards are thirsting for Okongwu, so depending on how strong the intel is it would make a lot of sense to take him and extract at least #37 from them.

thenoblefacehumper: I liked Terry as a potential steal at #27, maybe a little higher in the event of a trade up. A lot of the shine wears off to me at #8. A 6’1?-6’3? non-point guard is simply going to be limited in multiple ways.

I guess that’s the question with him….do you see him as a pure PG or more of a combo guard? He’s nowhere near the natural passer of, say, Trae or CP3, and you’d have to place a lot of faith in his IQ, basketball and otherwise.

Berman talking up Isaiah Stewart as a strong contender for the 27th pick. Like the energy and defense, but seems like another guy who’d be spelling Mitch rather than playing alongside him. Thoughts?

As a rule, quasi-lurkers cannot have avatars. You’re a regular. Thanks for coming back.

New thread! New thread!

Givony said on the Lowe Post that Rose loves Toppin and spent a lot of time making sure he was recruited to CAA. It wouldn’t be the worst pick in the world because I think Toppin’s got a pretty high floor, but like you said it would be pretty unexciting. Thankfully I don’t think we have to worry about it, seems like he’s a lock to go higher.

The Ringer has a new story allegedly singing Patrick Williams’ praises, at one point comparing him to Marvin Williams (no relation):

There’s no guarantee that Patrick will come any closer than Marvin to fulfilling his massive upside. He doesn’t have one standout skill at the moment. He’s a good athlete, but not a five-position defender who can stay in front of elite point guards. He’s a good shooter, but not a great one. And while he has some dribbling and passing chops, he can’t run an NBA offense at this stage of his career. The team that drafts him has to hope that there’s a compounding effect that comes from his potential to get better in so many areas.

This quote kind of sums it up to me, especially since Williams isn’t even working out for teams, meaning they have incredibly limited data on him:

“I think everyone in the NBA wants [Williams] to be good because we all need players like him,” said one NBA scouting director. “You want to take a chance on someone who at least has a chance to be valuable, especially in a draft like this. But he still has to prove that he’s actually good.”

Jack of several trades, master of none sounds an awful lot like Kevin Knox, though Williams seems to have both a higher floor and ceiling than our resident giraffe on roller skates.

Here are my all things considered choices for the draft, assuming no trades:

#8: Killian
#27: Jahmi’us Ramsey (legit shooter with great catch and shoot numbers, athlete at SG, quite young, good transition scorer, lots of scoring potential in general, averageish defender, poorish shot selection, bad at the rim despite his considerable bounce, mediocre passing)
# 38: Xavier Tillman–just take him. He’s a lottery level player. If he’s not there, take Paul Reed.

I’ve really come around to Jahmi’us. He’s got a lot of work to do but I think he would be worth a pick higher than 27, and he fills a real need for our team (and gives the Knicks a reason to slot RJ in at SF) despite the JR/Hardaway vibes I occasionally get from him when looking at his tape.

ess-dog:
The guys I like at 8 (or higher) are Hayes, Hali, and Okongwu, and to a lesser extent, Toppin and Vassell. I’m no longer sold on Ball/Edwards and Wiseman just doesn’t make sense with Mitch. Honestly, I don’t think there’s any point in moving up or down. 8 is kind of a good spot it seems.

The reason to move down is obvious. This draft in particular is a crapshoot so giving yourself more chances to hit, or getting a chance to hit in a future more stable draft, is a better plan then taking one shot. If you’re throwing darts at a board hoping to hit then getting more darts is the way to go.

I’d rather keep the #8 pick and then take on a contract to pick up another first round pick somewhere. While it might be true that the draft is not top heavy, you’re still giving yourself a better shot at getting a legit player at #8 than you are with a trade down. And I think the same thing could be accomplished by taking on a bad contract somewhere and adding another pick that way.

My ideal scenario is to pick # 8, take on a contract to get another pick in the top #20 and then use the clips pick and second rounder to move up from 27. Take 3 players in the top 20 somehow.

Hollinger’s new mock draft speculates that the Pistons may have already made a promise to take Patrick Williams at 7. With Hayes, Lewis, Okoro, and Okongwu all on the board at 8, he has us taking… Tyrese Maxey, basically because we now have so many links to Kentucky. (And also because no Hollinger column is complete without him taking shots at New York. They’ve been deserved in the past. We still have no idea if they are under the Rose regime.)

Oh, and he has us taking Malachi Flynn at 27.

Hayes has much better overall stats than Kira, is younger, and played in a tougher league. He’s also statistically better than Terry and nearly a full year younger. Aside from the turnovers, which he seems to have corrected somewhat, and his three-point shooting, Hayes is just a better overall prospect. If he’s there at 8, you take him. At a year older than Hayes, I can see the argument against Haliburton, but I still like him better than those other guys.

I agree that there is a drop off after the 8 or 9 top guys, and the two top guys (Ball, Edwards) are probably vastly overrated, but they guys beneath that top 8 or so are even bigger gambles. In this draft, I’d rather just grab a guy that will for sure be a 3rd to 5th best starter than try for a guy that has a 9% chance of being a star, if everything breaks right.

Lewis or Terry are significantly worse than Haliburton (and probably Hayes) statistically. Lewis and Terry were both good but not exceptional college players who are being mocked high because of their upside. Lewis is allegedly very fast and he’s young, Terry grew during the pandemic so he’s going to be better than he was in college. I like Terry-he can really shoot 3s-but he seems to be a bit overhyped right now. Lewis seems like a backup.

I can’t believe how close we are to the draft, free agency, and even the new season already. What a crazy year.

This is what I’ve been waiting for,

I was no a fan of hiring Rose because I think a good management team is made up of brilliant basketball minds combined with brilliant GM level cap and deal making skills. That’s basically why Mills/Perry were my worst nightmare from hell. I don’t see either of those qualities in Rose either. So I’ve been just waiting for the moment I would start ranting about how bad he is. Not that he’s done much basketball wise yet, but I have to concede I am enthusiastic or at least satisfied with all the coaching and executive moves so far except retaining Perry. I’m hoping that’s just for one year. But this is the big test. Can they identify and land any players with star potential in the draft, via trade, via using draft assets, or via free agency that fit into the pieces we already have and on a reasonable timetable given where we are now. That’s how we’ll move forward towards landing a barracuda. I’m open to players even in their late 20s, but we don’t need any players as old as CP3 . CP3 is not going to attract a barracuda at his age even if he makes us better now. We also don’t need any more young role platers. We should be using our assets to go big game hunting in either the draft or free agency. We need potential all stars.

#27: Jahmi’us Ramsey

Ramsey definitely wouldn’t be a bad pick, but I’m not sure what he gives you that you couldn’t get from Mason Jones as a UDFA/bought 2nd rounder. Agree that you count your blessings with Tillman/Reed at #38.

My absolutely ideal draft is Hayes at #8 and swinging a trade up for Poku, but assuming we stay at 8/27/38 as of now I think mine would be:

8: Hayes

27: Dotson (would be happy with Stewart/Bane/Josh Green)

38: Reed (Would be happy with Tillman/Ramsey/Riller)

Try to nab Mason Jones as a UDFA.

That’s what you decided to focus on with my post? That wasn’t really the main point of my post.

The other day I made a comment on P & T where I said we should pick up as much draft capital as possible because even our young players like Mitch, Frank, etc….aren’t sure things. And someone responded with a super long take down of my post about how if Frank wasn’t a sure thing then RJ definitely wasn’t and all I could think was “that really wasn’t the point of my post.”

Man, looking at the Knicks roster again, and it is so, so bleak…

RJ was really horrible last year. I know he’s only 20, but, damn. Knox is 21 and even worse. Frank at least plays good defense.

And that’s it.

We should probably bring Payton back because, even in a down year for him, he was one of our best players. I’m sure they’re also planning on bringing Randle back, even though he’s a terrible fit at PF.

They absolutely have to nail these draft picks and get some value back for DSJ, Knox, and hopefully Randle. I can see why they might want Toppin: Without Randle, they would have ZERO scoring.

And for Chrissake, KEEP MITCH.

Frank:
has anyone seen what the season schedule will look like?
I had heard some rumors about playing mostly within division.If we’re really playing most of our games against the Atlantic, we will get slaughtered.
In that sense it may not matter if we want to look more “respectable” by trading for CP3.

I haven’t heard anything about a lot of intradivision games but I did read that they’re planning on it being like baseball where teams play a series against another team in order to reduce the amount of travel.

the worst possible outcomes:

1. trade mitch the 8 and a dallas pick for a top 3 pick
2. trade the 8 knox or frank and the 27 or a dallas pick to take obi at 4 or 5
3. trade the 8 as part of getting cp3
4. trade the 27 for blake griffin / tobias harris
5. jared kushner

Geo, I know a place you can go for more arguments if you want them.

i just might be arguing in my spare time

that’s funny…dang al, you just may be the goat of tv…seriously, i bet you got references stored away to damn near every situation a human may encounter journeying through life…

maybe there are some health benefits towards a bout of vigorous discourse…yo strat – where you at?

i can’t remember who it was – but, one of you all sent me on a mission to review all the SNL celebrity jeopardy clips on youtube…i enjoyed the heck out of that…

at that end of the day – time passes, sometimes it’s best to do so engaged with others…

i appreciate you all 🙂

It’s taking, like, 10 seconds to scroll to the bottom of the thread on desktop. Mobile users RIP. New thread, plz?

i’ve given up on simply refreshing the page, i just re-load knickerblogger now and scroll down to latest comments…otherwise, my game controller weary thumbs start to ache…

on a positive note – draft night is like only a week away…

I appreciates that…

again, I think our best chance of moving forward quickly (why wait to develop all these youngsters if we got money) is through free agency and trades…

I will preserve your mobile browsers.

http://knickerblogger.net/do-you-think-that-the-knicks-will-trade-for-chris-paul-this-offseason/