[sny.tv] – Wed, 05 Jun 2024 16:06:46 GMT
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- The Stricklands 2024 NBA Draft Profiles Part 1: The Potential Steals
- Draft night trade between Suns and Knicks would suit everybody
- New York Knicks Reportedly Looking To Make A Trade
[Posting and Toasting] – Wed, 05 Jun 2024 16:29:39 GMT
Knicks 2023-24 Player Review: Deuce McBride
[New York Post] – Thu, 06 Jun 2024 01:57:00 GMT
- Kristaps Porzingis has gone through it all to reach NBA Finals stage
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- Kristaps Porzingis ready to suit up for Game 1 vs. Mavs
- Jason Kidd’s comments on Porzingis hint at how Mavs misused big man
- Kristaps Porzingis injury update: Celtics big man expected to return for Game 1 of NBA Finals, per report
[Posting and Toasting] – Wed, 05 Jun 2024 20:59:10 GMT
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- Ryan Dunn 2024 NBA Draft Profile: Everything you need to know about Knicks’ potential target
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- NBA draft prospect Ryan Dunn: ‘You’re bringing in a defensive monster’
[Sports Illustrated] – Wed, 05 Jun 2024 16:30:19 GMT
- Knicks Center Included in Latest Trade Proposal
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- Mitchell Robinson to Grizzlies? Would trade for Knicks center work?
- Could Mitch Robinson Trade Lead to New York Knicks Signing Superstar?
- Warriors land 26-year-old shot blocker in latest proposed trade
[Sports Illustrated] – Wed, 05 Jun 2024 12:00:08 GMT
New York Knicks Named Favorite for Lakers Forward
[Hoops Habit] – Thu, 06 Jun 2024 03:12:00 GMT
NBA Trades: Knicks land Brunson’s dream co-star in potential blockbuster with Nets
[Empire Sports Media] – Wed, 05 Jun 2024 21:45:30 GMT
- Could the Knicks be a trade destination for Minnesota Timberwolves star big man?
- Grade the Trade: Knicks flip All-Star for Timberwolves big man in howling proposal
- Knicks Rumors: NBA Trade Idea Adds Wolves Karl-Anthony Towns
- New York Knicks Listed as Popular Trade Destination for $221,000,000 Star Which May See Them Let Go of Julius Randle
- $172 Million Headache for Alex Rodriguez, as Anthony Edwards’ Teammate Tempted by Knicks Through Playoff ‘Audition’
108 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2024.06.06)”
Jonathon Mogbo
Found some video on Mogbo that goes deeper than the highlights. He has a hodgepodge of skills that you want at various positions, but I’m not sure what position he should play in the NBA (other than Winner!). Unlike some guys with that description, he might be sharp enough at those skills to find his way into a lineup.
SCORING
He was a PF for a mid-major and played a lot out of the post, but he measured 6’6″ w/o shoes at the combine. He struggled against size and against some of the bigger schools. He should at least be able to punish switches onto smaller guards.
He’s a lob threat. They ran a number of plays designed to get him above the defense. He looks like a quick leaper, who gets above the rim with ease, has a large catch radius, and finishes with oomph.
He can’t shoot at all. Took threes 3s and missed all of them, didn’t seem to have great touch or form, and shot 69% from the line. Of course 69% is a big step up from his 43% the previous season, so at least he’s improving. Defenders would constantly sag off him and dare him to shoot.
In short, I don’t know how he scores in the halfcourt. You’re basically relying on cuts, lobs, and putbacks. But if he can’t play C, then you’re going to run into problems.
PASSING
His passing is the really intriguing bit. He was a 5’8″ PG in HS and it shows. His team ran the kind of offense that Hartenstein dreams of, with a lot of shooters in motion and backdoor cuts. He finds players out of the short roll instantly with several highlight worthy touch passes.
But Mogbo has also shown a lot of things I haven’t seen Hartenstein do with his passes. His ballhandling ability lets him lead the break where he can make the touchdown throw, kickout to the corners, finish himself with authority, and even put on a slick licking Euro step on occasion. It’s an enticing skillset when you consider he grabbed 12.7 reb/36.
The last part of his passing game I’ll mention is his ability to feed the post and get the ball behind the defense. It’s been a lament of this board that we can’t seem to get our Cs easy buckets, Mogbo is a guy who can. If Mitch, iHart, or Randle can seal off their man, then Mogbo can drop the ball into them for the easy 2. Randle in particular struggled with a second unit last year that struggled to get him the ball in the post.
REBOUNDING
I’m not going to watch rebounding tape, but he was one of the best rebounders in college. There may be some fall off because he played smaller schools, but I’d expect it to be great. Kenneth Faried was an intriguing comp I saw, but perhaps a dinosaur in today’s NBA.
DEFENSE
Per 36 he had 1.0 blks and 2.0 stls. He moves very well laterally and should be able to defend perimeter players. He has a strong body and won’t get pushed around by wings or forwards. His 7’2″ wingspan goes a long way towards him playing “bigger than he is”. His standing reach is only 1″ shorter than Yves Missi who is nearly 6’11” and has the same wingspan (idk how, that’s just what it says).
He gets backdoored a bit too often because he’s watching the ballhandler instead of his man. He also doesn’t seem to do a great job closing out at times. He’ll gamble in bad places to get some of his steals.
Conclusion
I really love his passing, rebounding, and defense but I just don’t know how he fits into an offense. It’s similar to the Ryan Dunn problem but at least he can contribute to offense in a couple ways that Dunn can’t.
It’ll be interesting to see how his game changes playing alongside teammates who are better offensive threats than him. Hopefully it’ll give him more opportunities to play make instead of being forced to score from the post.
I propose we draft him at 38 to be our Designated Inbounder.
Watching highlights of Dunn, I think he does a better job mirroring offensive players than their reflections do.
It’s unfortunate his offense is so awful. At least he can cut well.
Mogbo sounds like a poor man’s Andre Iguodala? Very interesting.
We had a “jack of all trades, master of none” guy in RJ, and that never quite worked out. That said, he was taken with the third pick, not one in the mid-20s, and he was quickly allowed to be a centerpiece of our offense, whereas anyone we take in this draft would at best be an eighth or ninth man this season. So it’s in no real way analagous, granted. But it does raise an interesting philosophical question, particularly when you’re picking as low as we theoretically are:
Would you prefer drafting a player who’s at least decent at a lot of things, but great at nothing, or a player who has one elite skill, but who is genuinely bad at another significant part of basketball?
If the elite skill had some relationship with BB IQ, I would always opt for the latter.
Wait, what? Shams and everyone else have been reporting that Redick was by far the frontrunner for the Lakers job, and now Woj is saying that Danny Hurley is the guy they want, and that he might actually take it:
https://x.com/wojespn/status/1798696993277218997
Mogbo can’t faceup to the basket and take someone off the bounce. He’s not going to be a scorer like RJ or Igoudala.
He is a master of at least one skill — rebounding — but unless he manages to play C that’s not enough.
I think he’s a more highly skilled passer than RJ
RJ reminds me a bit of Randle as a passer. They’re slashers who can hit an open man after the defense collapses.
Mogbo won’t get those assists, but he can thread the needle inside and lead a shooter to his spot while hitting him in the pocket. It feels very point guard-y.
There’s probably better players to talk about but I can’t help falling in love with his archetype.
Daron Holmes II is projected higher and we could maybe use him as a backup PF/C. He can shoot a bit and supposedly has defensive versatility. The combine seems to back that up.
Maybe we could slot him in as a backup PF and 3rd string C, cutting Precious for salary purposes. Feels very Rose/Perrin/Aller-esque.
I love the idea of Mogbo as like a poor man’s Draymond, but I don’t really think he is the best fit for us, as we already have Josh Hart doing a lot of similar things. And although Mogbo’s passing is really unique, I don’t see a world where Thibs lets him cut loose with the 2nd unit as the main distributor.
Currently I’m intrigued by late bloomer Isaiah Crawford from Louisiana Tech, although he isn’t mocked anywhere for some reason. He’s kind of a poor man’s OG with great athleticism, defensive switchability, and a good 3pt shot.
I am one of Thibs’ bigger supporters on this site, but if the Knicks fired him today and snagged Dan Hurley I would not be very disappointed.
“Would you prefer drafting a player who’s at least decent at a lot of things, but great at nothing, or a player who has one elite skill, but who is genuinely bad at another significant part of basketball?”
It’s an interesting theoretical, but I don’t think that is what we are talking about here with Mogbo vs. Dunn.
Mogbo is not decent at a lot of things, not in an NBA sense. In watching his film, I see a guy taking advantage of smaller, slower players. He’s a pretty good passer for his size, but beyond that, I don’t see anything but a generic undersized big.
The only skill that Mogbo had that impressed me more than what I see with Dunn is his passing, and that’s not really a factor when drafting that kind of player. Mogbo is almost certainly not going to be a point forward. Beyond that, his ball-handling is overrated, I saw nothing that will work in the NBA. Same with his post-up game. Sure, he can catch lobs and finish over smaller players. None of that will probably translate either.
For me, the thing that truly stands out about Dunn relative to any other player I have looked at in this draft is the combination of defensive court awareness, speed, and motor. The way I see those things translate should not be described as “elite at one thing.” For his size, he is elite at guarding all five positions, elite at on-ball perimeter defense, elite at on-ball interior defense, elite at pick-and-roll defense, elite at weak-side help defense, elite at rim protection, elite at deflections, etc. He also played at a higher level of competition, and is a full year younger.
Here’s a pretty good breakdown of specific things that Dunn does as a defensive disrupter. It also points out how his elite speed, motor, and athleticism translates into lightning quick cuts and straight line drives.
I honestly don’t see how anyone can compare these two and conclude that they are even close.
This is not to say that Mogbo shouldn’t be drafted…I would be fine if they took him in with a second rounder. Even though he is almost 23, there might be upside to unlock. Maybe his shooting and ball-handling improve to the point that he can be a good NBA player. I just think that Dunn has the raw materials to dominate the defensive side of the ball, the motor and IQ to make them translate, and enough athleticism to free himself up for opportunistic baskets on offense. I think he can help an NBA team off the bench this year, so long as he has a ball-dominant scorer, even a guy like TJ McConnell, running the offense.
Reading about Dunn and Mogbo here, they both sound very flawed, but I would pick Dunn over Mogbo, and it’s not very close. It’s not clear Mogbo’s skills will translate against better opponents and , even if they did, I don’t know what position he’d play. Dunn, on the other hand, will definitely fit a position and give you good defense.
If a guy can’t score in college there’s not much chance he’s going to be able to score in the NBA.
I really like Bobi Klintman. He has the size and athleticism that we need. Also, looks like a decent shooter.
I’m not really comparing Mogbo to Dunn except to say neither can shoot.
I’m talking about Mogbo because I like his game and I watched a lot of video on him to understand why a guy with those numbers wasn’t going higher.
I’ll say that Dunn’s success seems more attributable to his timing, anticipation, discipline, and footwork than to his athleticism. Very good athlete though.
I had a weird dream last night.
Doncic and Irving were boxing. Irving won the first two rounds easily with speed and movement. Doncic threw a huge right hand haymaker in desperation and missed. It looked like he threw out his right shoulder when he screamed in pain. It was so bad, Irving looked at him with concern. The 3rd round ended. They came out for the 4th and Irving still seemed like he was concerned for Doncic’s well being. Doncic rushed across the ring, threw the most beautiful straight right hand you are ever going to see, landed it perfectly, Irving went flying through the ropes onto the floor, staggered trying to get back in the ring but got counted out. Then I woke up. I have no idea what that means, but it was a pretty vivid dream.
I never thought of RJ as a jack of any trade, to be honest.
Dunn sounds unplayable in the NBA unless the idea is to make him into a Draymond-esque backup C.
The sooner we make “can shoot” part of our player profile here, the better.
I really like Bobi Klintman.
The history of Knick players with Swedish mothers is not very good.
I think KP is the key to the finals.
1. Dallas is going to try to put KP in P&Rs to get switches and have him cover Doncic (or Irving) same as they tried to do with Gobert. If Boston doesn’t have a way to counteract that, it’s going to be a problem.
2. On offense KP is going to have to hit his 3s to gain the respect of Dallas’s defense and create the space Tatum and Brown will need. If he’s not hitting 3s, Boston is going to have more trouble scoring than they’ve had in other series because Dallas’s defense is very good.
“I’ll say that Dunn’s success seems more attributable to his timing, anticipation, discipline, and footwork than to his athleticism. Very good athlete though.”
This is why I think he’s such a standout. It’s one thing to get by on athleticism, and another to have all these things plus athleticism.
And athleticism is also a blurry term. Upper body strength, lower body strength, straight line speed, no-step vertical, one-foot jumping, two-foot jumping, burst, lateral quickness, endurance, durability….these are all facets of athleticism to me. But things like timing, anticipation, discipline, and footwork magnify whatever athleticism you have. Josh Hart is an excellent example. He’s a very good but not a great athlete, and yet, he seems to beat everyone to the spot time after time. Dunn seems to have that same quality.
It was so bad, Irving looked at him with concern. The 3rd round ended. They came out for the 4th and Irving still seemed like he was concerned for Doncic’s well being. Doncic rushed across the ring, threw the most beautiful straight right hand you are ever going to see, landed it perfectly, Irving went flying through the ropes onto the floor, staggered trying to get back in the ring but got counted out. Then I woke up. I have no idea what that means, but it was a pretty vivid dream.
you are luka doncic. kyrie is the knickerblogger haterz idiotically dancing about, claiming that winning trades is a terrible idea and questioning the well being of anyone who espouses doing so. z-man is the impulse momentum function blasting out luka’s rope a dope right hand with the fury of pure vindication. damyean dotson is your alarm clock.
I think this is actually going to be the Al Horford series.
For one thing, I don’t think KP is really healthy. They’re risking Kevin Durant-style calamity bringing him back.
But more importantly, I think Horford is truly one of the all time greats to play basketball, and with the schedule the way it is (9 days off before game 1, two days off between 6 of the 7 games), it’s set up for him to be able to play 30 plus minutes every game.
None of these prospects are NBA-ready as is. It becomes a matter of: who has the physical tools, grit, and IQ to make the necessary improvements? Herb Jones is a great example. He was theoretically unplayable coming out of college. Not any more. Some faux-draft-analyst here thought that IQ would be unplayable and should have gone undrafted. Not any more.
I don’t think you can do what Dunn does without a high level of IQ and grit. I’m guessing that he quickly learns what he needs to improve and works his ass off to improve it to the point where a coach just has to play him. In contrast, I don’t think that Kolek has the physical tools to do that. Just an opinion, of course!
You already bullied the guy off the site, Z-Man. Let it go.
Herb Jones shot 71% from the line & 35% from 3 in his last collegiate year. He also put up 4.8 ast/40 for good measure.
Dunn shot 20% from 3 and 53% from the line.
Dunn could make improvements but Jones had actually shown improvement prior to being drafted.
A lot of truth to this (excepting the one of the all time greats). Horford played well in the conference but his tongue was hanging out at the end. If it went longer the minutes likely would have been an issue. Playing 40+ minutes is rough on a guy his age with the every other day format.
Nah, I had zero interaction with that scumbag in his latest self-immolation.
You already bullied the guy off the site,..
The guy left the site this time on his own accord when his take on usage post OG trade did not pan out. That said, given we are likely to actually draft someone, his insights would be welcome if he chose to re-engage.
He’s a hall of famer in my book. All time underrated basketball player.
what the heck strat, I thought old folks weren’t able to recall dreams very easily…
did you write it down as soon as you woke…
it’s been so long since I can remember a dream…
I’m jealous strat 😊
I’m gonna guess the Celtics win the series in six games…
that laker news is surprising…danny hurley would definitely be a surprising choice…
not sure why he would leave connecticut though…maybe coaching in the nba is a dream for him…
Not a hill to die on but it is hard to put him in a club with. Kareem, Hakeem, Jokic, Wilt, Russell, Shaq, Robinson, Ewing, Mourning, Moses, Artis Gilmore, McAdoo, Lanier, Nate Thurmond, Dave Cowens, Willis Reed, Walt Bellamy, Robert Parrish and even defenders like Gobert and Mutombo just off the top of my head.
He’s a fine player who averaged 13/8/1.2 for his career and even though he has made himself into the prototypical stretch 5 by learning the 3 ball the last half of his career… the HOF? A matter of opinion.
maybe coaching in the nba is a dream for him…
From the NY Post, Nov 2018:
With the college basketball season getting set to tip off, new UConn coach Dan Hurley took a timeout for some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: Would coaching in the NBA ever appeal to you?
A: Yeah, I tell every recruit that I’m a young and hungry coach. As they aspire one day to play at the NBA level, I would love someday, way down the road, hopefully after accomplishing some amazing things here, I would love to be an NBA coach.
I think Horford is a HOF level player. He is so not about his own stats that his impact on winning gets lost in the shuffle. If the Celtics had kept him, they probably have a championship already in this run. And without him, they might have been eliminated by now.
Same. The college career and the longevity do it for me. And I just love his defensive game. I could watch clips of him dominating Joel Embiid endlessly.
there is nothing in Dunn’s statistical profile that suggests he’s definitely going to figure out how to shoot.
Horford is underrated for sure. I enjoy watching him play despite the fact that he plays for Team Masshole. I love a good bone crunching screen and he is one of the best at delivering those. I like watching him for that reason alone, but then of course he does other things well also. Winning player.
Because it’s not specifically the NBA Hall of Fame, I have zero problem with Horford going in for his combined work in the pros and college.
I wouldn’t complain about drafting Dunn with one of our picks because I think his defense and athleticism will keep him in the league and that’s hardly a bad outcome in our range. It’s always possible we pull of a Herb Jones-esque shot repair miracle.
Dunn is just such an utter stiff offensively though, there will almost certainly be players I prefer on the board.
Two young upside plays who could fall to us: Bub Carrington and Tyler Smith.
Carrington is a pretty classic microwave combo guard scorer, and he played that role pretty damn well this past season for one of the youngest players in the P5. There’s some IQ in there.
Smith played with the Ignite and was a pretty explosive dunker with some serious shooting chops at 6’11”. Could be something of an Obi replacement in the non-Randle minutes. Defensive issues abound, but you would think with his athleticism those aren’t fatal/
Can you imagine if Thibs had married Horford instead of Gibson? Those two would’ve been something.
Horford won two college titles which counts for the HOF
I love him as a player
If Horford was a baseball player I’d say hall of very good. He was a borderline all star for like a decade and he’s been useful even this long into his career. Pretty good defender and pretty good offensive player doesn’t sound all that great but it’s a fairly rare combo from a big
Horford played nine season in Atlanta, won a ton of games for them, yet I have no recollection of him ever playing there.
The Hawks were a lottery mainstay from 99-07. After they drafted Horford, they made the playoffs 9 times in his 9 seasons. They made it to the second round or farther 5 of the 9 times. They even had a 60 win team that got LeSpanked in the EC Finals.
I know there were plenty of factors besides Al Horford (Mike Budenholzer, Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap being chief among them) but he was their best player and he made a huge impact there.
Haven’t been tracking Dunn at all, but from the descriptions, is he basically a tall version of Matisse Thybulle? And if so, is that a good thing?
Sure, but there’s a dozen guys who don’t figure out how to shoot during their 4 years in college for every Herb Jones who did. We can’t just assume he’ll figure it out.
My impression has always been that Thybulle gambles a lot. Dunn seems to succeed with his unbelievably strong fundamentals and then adds the flashy plays on top of that.
Dunn plays defense at a level where you wonder if his offense coming around even matters. It obviously does matter, but it takes you longer than it should.
I usually can’t, but something was strange about last night.
Years ago I had a huge crush on a young woman named Kim. She worked at a local poolroom I played at regularly. I was in my mid 30s at the time, had a girlfriend, and she was in her early 20s and almost certainly not interested. I haven’t thought about her in years. But last night in my dreams I was still in my 30s, she was the same Kim and we made out. I’m glad whatever was going on my brain last night managed to remain when I woke up. Kim was an excellent kisser. 🙂
Can’t the Hurley/Redick stuff both be true? That the Lakers WANT Hurley, but they’ll probably end up with Redick?
Thybulle is elite as a disrupter, getting steals, blocks, and deflections but he is only good as an on-ball defender. Dunn on the other hand seems more like OG, good at steals, blocks, and deflections but elite at guarding his man and covering rotations.
The amount of ground Dunn covers on defense is amazing. His ability to hedge and recover is truly elite and a perfect fit for Thib’s scheme. Plus Dunn can cover 1-5 often switching onto 5s.
“there is nothing in Dunn’s statistical profile that suggests he’s definitely going to figure out how to shoot.”
If there was, he’d be a sure-fire lottery pick.
“Sure, but there’s a dozen guys who don’t figure out how to shoot during their 4 years in college for every Herb Jones who did. We can’t just assume he’ll figure it out.”
Again, that’s why we’re discussing him as a late first round flyer in a very nebulous draft. Every player taken at our spots sucks at something fundamental. None are NBA players as is.
“Dunn plays defense at a level where you wonder if his offense coming around even matters. It obviously does matter, but it takes you longer than it should.”
And that’s what stands out to me. He is widely viewed as the best defender in this draft. That is more than confirmed by the eye test and the stats. There’s nothing gimmicky about it. He can probably play better than average defense in the NBA right now, and will likely be a defensive stud once he goes through the initiation of getting schooled by crafty NBA players. He will be good enough as a defender to stick around.
Probably the closest thing to his floor as an NBA player is Andre Roberson. You could definitely argue that Roberson would be unplayable in today’s NBA. At the same time, in 2016-17 he played over 2000 minutes for a playoff team, made second team all-defense, and put up a 4.2 BPM. For four straight seasons, his on-off numbers were outstanding. He also played big minutes in a conference finals run the year before. Unfortunately he got way overpaid, and his shooting never improved, he blew out his patellar tendon and never really recovered.
Roberson was overrated in his outsized role, but given the Thunder’s roster, they didn’t have much choice. For the Knicks, Dunn would likely be nothing more than a non-rotation depth piece for his entire rookie contract, sort of a Deuce McBride at the wing position. But if he develops his offensive game even a little bit, he can be a lot more than that.
Thybulle is a pretty good comp for Dunn, although Matisse was at least a pretty good FT shooter in college and even hit 36% of his threes on reasonable volume. He was also drafted at #20.
The guy drafted at #21 that year is also a decent comparison, Brandon Clarke. He couldn’t really shoot a lick in college, and his shot hasn’t really developed at all, but he still became an impact player largely because of his defense and garbage buckets. Dun is more of a wing and Clark is more of an undersized big, but there are definitely similaritles.
“Smith played with the Ignite and was a pretty explosive dunker with some serious shooting chops at 6’11”. Could be something of an Obi replacement in the non-Randle minutes. Defensive issues abound, but you would think with his athleticism those aren’t fatal”
I checked out Smith earlier this week, and concluded that I can’t imagine the braintrust for a Thibs-coached team considering a player who Kevin O’Connor described this way:
As to Bub Carrington, I like him a lot, but many mocks I looked at have him being long gone by the time we pick.
I thought to myself, “Kawhi couldn’t shoot in college either,” but then I looked up his college stats and he was a 74% FT shooter. Ryan Dunn at 53% has maybe a snowball’s chance.
There’s always the “work ethic and teachability” X-factor, but I think Dunn is more a second round flier than an end-of-the-first flier.
dang strat, that is like the most awesome – of awesome things…
very nice way to start the day…
hell yeah – that would keep me humming along for a while…
Another guy catching my eye:
–Jamal Shead: looks spectacular on this highlight reel, but probably has an extensive lowlight reel as well. Undersized and iffy shooter, but has a lot of dog in him. Reminds me of Nate Robinson, except a much better defender and passer. Fearless defender. Great handle and body control. Funky shot form, but has a Brunson-like ability to get his shot any time he wants…except he tends to miss them! Outstanding ast/tov ratio. Leader on a very good Houston team. Maybe an answer for TJ McConnell? (that’s Kevin O’Connor’s comp)
thanks BE, that pretty much exactly answers that question…
the lakers aren’t in too great of shape at the moment, but if hurley is thinking long term, yep, marquee sports franchise for sure…
best choice would be that whomever they pick – they commit to the coach…they should have made lue a fair offer when they had the chance…
Strat After Dark…..
Truly you never know where this website will go
Patrick Ewing on the roommates show and they’re looking at pics of Ewing’s daughter carrying baby Brunson around Jamaica.
It is just so crazy, and it brings me so much joy, that the kid of our 12th man is the star of the Knicks today.
got me thinking strat…up until maybe five years ago, i rarely if ever committed myself too much, in particular to other humans…
the youngest was about 5 at the time, he basically let me know he wasn’t gonna listen too much to me if all i was – was god dad…
had to go full dad…i think it was all the pj masks and paw patrol stuff that got his head so twisted to the notion…no, peppa pig probably…who could ever live up to daddy pig though…
after the kids, ended up with a dog, and now maybe a partner type…it’s amazing the stuff your kids can teach you…
finishing a week with the boys, have them say hi to ma tomorrow before i drop them back off to their mom’s house, this weekend heading up towards san jose way with the pooch to see if i can make the partner thing flow for me…
friend got a gig about 20 minutes or so from where i used to live and work in santa clara…
one of the spots she’ll be helping out at is in los gatos…yeah, los gatos…an absolute little peace of paradise, or at least that’s how i remember it…
the other spot she’s at is close to this mall i used to go to to get my comics at…
the whole area there is really crowded (that was back in the 90’s)…the south bay is a really nice area though…there are a bunch of great outdoor spots all over the area, good taxes = good parks…the weather is probably the nicest of anywhere i’ve ever lived…
romance is good for the soul…
I mean from what people are describing of Dunn, at 24 or 25 I’d definitely take a gamble on that. An elite defender you can spend time developing the offense. Just has to hit three’s decently. You can shoot a bit from 3 and defend at a high level multiple positions you’re a useful player off the bench.
“I mean from what people are describing of Dunn, at 24 or 25 I’d definitely take a gamble on that. An elite defender you can spend time developing the offense. Just has to hit three’s decently. You can shoot a bit from 3 and defend at a high level multiple positions you’re a useful player off the bench.”
There’s a decent history of elite impact defenders that somewhat improved their shooting over their careers, or who didn’t but didn’t really have to. Bruce Bowen, Trevor Ariza, Tony Allen, Marcus Smart…
I’m pretty sure this is just a mad lib pulled from a prior Ntilikina comment and retrofitted for the 2024 FA season, nice try though
“I’m pretty sure this is just a mad lib pulled from a prior Ntilikina comment and retrofitted for the 2024 FA season, nice try though”
I know at least one poster who never would have advocated for drafting Frank Ntilikina at any position.
PS I thought of you when I brought up Brandon Clarke as a Ryan Dunn comparison….how’s it going?
If he could shoot as well as any of those guys did in college he’d probably be a top 5 pick (except Ariza who was 18, sucked for 4 more seasons, and was already better at the FT line by the time he reached Dunn’s age).
He has to make a shooting jump to match rookie Mitchell Robinson.
I like the kid but people are really minimizing how bad his shooting is.
“If he could shoot as well as any of those guys did in college he’d probably be a top 5 pick”
Well then I guess he’ll be long gone by the time we pick, so no use discussing him.
Ryan Dunn had TS%s of .566 and .564 in his two college years.
Tony Allen was at .527 and .564
In 4 years, Bruce Bowen was at .515, including .533 his senior year. Never above .550
Marcus Smart was .532 and .552
Ryan Dunn has taken 51 3’s and 99 FTs in his college career. Pretty small samples. He did shoot 62% from 2…does that count?
One thing that is different from college and the NBA is that you can suck at shooting in college and still get to start and to play 27.5 MPG. There really wasn’t the urgency to improve that there will be from here on out. He might improve, he might not. But unless he’s dumb, he has to know that the key to playing time in the NBA is to improve his shot.
He did shoot 62% from 2…does that count?
As we all know, TS% is the best way to indicate skill in shooting the ball. This is why we use Mitchell Robinson to space the floor instead of one of those pesky 3pt shooters.
There’s plenty of reasons to like Dunn, we don’t need to invent new ones.
If Ryan done could be a 6 foot six Mitchell Robinson in terms of defensive impact, and put up the same TS, that would be a pretty good outcome.
as to TS, when comparing him to similar players, it’s a pretty similar measure. You said those guys were better shooters. They weren’t.
Unlike TS%, which gives a lot of credit to guys like Mitchell Robinson, FT% predicts 3p%.
Bowen shot 69.5% from the FT line in college
Allen shot 65.8%
Smart shot 75.1%
Ariza shot 50.7% but by Dunn’s age was shooting like the other guys
Dunn shot 52.5% over his 2 years. His form looks terrible so maybe he’ll be passable after you overhaul it, but no he does not project as well shooting the ball as those guys did.
If Ryan Dunn could be a 6 foot eight Mitchell Robinson
FIFY x 2
I’m going with Mavs in 6, but with low confidence. Like, Celtics in 4 wouldn’t shock me either. I just get the feeling most of the games will be close and the Mavs have the guys you want in those situations.
TheStrickland
Yankees melting down, anouncers fawning over a scoreless Jayson tatum-it’s tough out there tonight
Good call but I’m going to begrudgingly give the Celtics the respect they deserve. This is a 65 win team with all-time advanced stats going against a 50-win 5 seed whose two stars got hot. The Mavs 3 thru 8 are just not good enough to compete. Boston in 5 for me.
Might have to turn this one off for a while. Porzingis going nuclear and the Celtics hitting everything is kinda nauseating.
Porzingis made shot into Mark Wahlberg celebrating. We’re in hell.
Peak KP on both sides so far. He’ll run out of gas soon, but already had a huge impact.
Rim Runners….
Oh well…on to women’s softball…hook’em horns
This looks like it’s gonna be a short series.
Not a bad start for the Celtics uh?
And a very nice timing for KP’s revenge game…
We should all know better, in the playoffs never draw conclusions after one game.
(And this one isn’t over either btw)
If the Knicks want to be serious contenders to come out of the East next season just running it back with Randle isn’t the answer
29 point leads in today’s NBA are basically inconveniences
I remember when some kid cried because he was so disappointed the Knicks drafted KP.
I remember when KP was credibly accused of raping a woman.
The Mavericks winning this season would be a massive statistical anomaly… the Celtics are just flat out better.
Fuck Dallas’ tanking ass.
Glad they’re losing even if it’s to the Celtics.
Gasp, worrisome Soto news, cross all the fingers you have Yankees fans… 🥺
The word parity is being pushed around a lot now, but this Boston team has 5 top 30 players
They are ahead of everybody else
The Celtics winning is going to seriously chap my ass….
Enter Z-Man to tell me why its actually good the NBA title is in the Atlantic Division
Tatum 16 points on 16 shots.. what superstar can do that and his team is up 20 in the finals?
“Enter Z-Man to tell me why its actually good the NBA Title is in the Atlantic Division”
Why would I say that?
Yeah but I think Randle is part of the answer.
Randle, Brunson, and OG are the guys we have who are good enough. Hart, Donte, and Hartenstein are all good, but honestly none of those guys would crack the Celtics’ top 6.
It’s really not depth that we need.
This Celtics starting lineup is going to be good for the next 3 years, and they have some ways to improve their bench. Horford will probably decline, but if they get over the hump this year (looking very likely) they are going to be very tough to beat in a 7 game series. That said, they are really having a cakewalk this year.
They did have a cakewalk this year, but they cruised to the Eastern Conference 1 seed because they are so much better than the competition. Denver with an improved bench would be the toughest challenger and they are out West.
I don’t know, feels on brand for the only man who thought the Finals interval was just right….
Fuck the Celtics.
https://x.com/snyyankees/status/1798919588236689741
Turned it off when KP went wild. Don’t need to see that shit.
That said, without him the Celtics are very beatable, and they are likely to be without him often. Our chances (assuming no big trades) hinge on health, ours and his.
Slow your roll on anointing the Celtics fellas. It’s one game. Sure, they’re favorites but the Mavs didn’t get here by accident. They beat 2 very good and healthy teams in 6 games and 5 games to get to the Finals.
Maybe I’ll be proven wrong and the Celtics will stomp them in game 2 and cruise to a title, but we’ve all been watching NBA playoffs long enough to know one game is one game. Mavs will bounce back.
Kinda weird that you think I ever said that.
The big issue is that the Celtics can constantly generate super high quality shots because everyone in their rotation can shoot, and Tatum and Brown are obviously going to be marked closely. The same just doesn’t happen to Dallas, everything they do is Doncic and Irving laboring and creating their own shots past a hard defense, or creating open shots to significantly worse role players.
Sure, variance happens, cold and hot streaks happen, maybe Tatum and Brown revert to their bad habits and start forcing lazy hero ball shots, and in that sort of game Dallas can win, but it’s just very hard to believe this will happen in 4 games out of the next 6.
I didn’t watch the game because I had other things to do and don’t really care who wins. The layoff ended what little momentum was left for me. In looking at the box score just now, what stands out is Doncic with 1 assist and the rest of the Mavs with just 8. That indicates a game best left to the blind and to the cableless.
Z-man – the other day I wrote that we had finally found unanimity on an issue and then you immediately wrote ..:
“Honestly, I’m shocked that anyone gives a shit about the delay. “
And I found that quite hilarious!