I have a friend who loved the show so much that he named his first born son after one of the characters.

Speaking of that friend and of the OC, I drove with that friend down to the OC today to watch the Yankees play baseball. I haven’t watched a baseball game since the OC originally aired, and I realize that a lot changes over 20 years, but, holy shit, the Yankees are bad! Their cleanup hitter was batting below .200… What happened to George Steinbrenner buying the bests free agents every off season? This was like watching a Dolan owned sports team play, yeesh.

Also, the team the Yankees were playing, who call themselves the LA Angels, even though it takes three hours to drive there from LA, have a Japanese guy who is, apparently, the best hitter and the best pitcher in the game. What?!

Anyway, long story short: a) yay Alan, b) Yankees are bad. I can see why you New Yorkers are spending so much time talking about Evan Fournier’s feelings this summer.

Here is my news, btw: I’ve written another book, this time an oral history of The O.C., which was a very important show to me as I exited my 20s, and also the subject of the very first book I wrote (kinda).

I would have bought it anyway but The OC!? Fuck yeah!

I imagine that’s a hard show to jump into now. You really had to be there. “Welcome to the OC, bitch! This is how we do it in Orange County” was everywhere. It was a moment.

Until Oliver transferred to Harbor and ruined it.

Here’s a cool twitter interview with Nate…not surprisingly, his fave player growing up in Syracuse was Melo and he was a Knicks fan. Must be awesome for him to have signed with the Knicks, even on a 2-way. I’m sure we’ll get his best.

In one game he had 33 and 12 (5 ORebs) with 4 blocks but 1-6 from 3 and 7TOs on a 39.5% usage.

In the other, he had 31 and 13, went 4-9 from 3 on a 36.3 usage

In both games he had high usage and high efficiency.

Seems like he’s been relatively efficient (.620 TS%)at high usage in college (34.7 as a senior, 31.2 over 4 years), G-League (see above), and in his limited NBA minutes (.582 TS% on a 20.3 USG%).

What’s interesting is that he upped his 3PAr to .219 as a senior and while he only hit 30.5% of them it does seem like there’s possibility for development there…he did hit 36% last year in a tiny sample.

At the very least, I look forward to seeing him in training camp/preseason. He is from Syracuse after all…and I just learned that he’s very tight with a friend of my kid who plays hoops at her college. Not quite the Obi-level home town connection, but alas…

The author Charlie Walton had this to say:

As New York’s roster currently sits, the team isn’t in need of another forward/center as they already have Mitchell Robinson, Jericho Sims, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Isaiah Roby. However, Knight fits Head Coach Tom Thibodeau’s playstyle — high intensity, physical, run-and-gun offense, and the ability to play with force on the defensive end. If Knight can scratch some consistent playing time with the big league club, he will need to cut down on his fouls, or Thibs will run the risk of losing his voice completely.

I had, and still do have, some very high expectations for Nate. The Syracuse, New York native has a chance to do some great things with a big market. Hopefully, the cards will align correctly and give him the ability to prove his worth.

Per Alan, make sure to click the link!

sims has some natural get up off the ground abilities…can’t shoot though…

I need to check his stats, but, it doesn’t feel like he hurts the team when he’s out there…

you know, I remember now he had some trouble on defense, besides the fact he can’t shoot the ball…

hopefully everyone starts the season healthy – anyone know when julius is expected to be okay to play?

Both are equally whatever, just differently so. Roby is a bit better suited for the backup PF role right now, but Knight is definitely worth a long look as a versatile (i.e. tweener) backup big.