#like. its not like we were given a choice whether or not to control kris. thats just how the game was set up | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

agentravensong · 2 years

Text

Why Kris Does (and Can't) Play the Piano

Something I've been thinking about for a little while is why Kris can't play the hospital piano when given the prompt by the Soul/Player.

My assumption from back in the days of Chapter 1 was that it was simply a byproduct of the possession, that something about the way Kris is being controlled keeps them from being able to play properly. But the more I've thought about it, the less sense it makes. It's not as if we're given an interface like with the piano in UnderTale that would limit Kris to pressing one key at a time, it's a yes or no input. And think of all the things Kris can do in battle in response to a one or two-word prompt given by us. Like with dialogue choices, the Soul may give Kris the basic command, but they're free, to a certain extent, to interpret and embellish upon it. Why would piano be any different? They should be free to play whatever they want.

For a lot of people, the kris_dreemurr_kris page complicated this question further. Does pianpian's complexity and subjective beauty prove that Kris can actually play piano, or does its chaotic nature with a lack of a clear melody prove that they don't actually know how? Or, does the fact that they go to play it after getting a look like they're "remembering something" suggest that the piano skill was never theirs at all?

For me, kris_dreemurr_kris provides an answer.

Specifically, thanks to this bit:

Kris doesn't want Noelle to watch them playing piano. Whether because they're still learning and get somewhat embarrassed by it, or because they just want it to be a private thing, they don't want an active audience.

Now, we don't know exactly how much time has passed between this blog post and the events of the game, but, based on the first line of the page ("there was a time when they were coming over almost every day"), it's been a little while since Kris began this piano ritual. We don't know how good they've gotten at it since then, but based on the harsh look they give Susie when she teases them for not being able to actually play piano, I'd wager a guess that they've gotten good enough that their pride was hurt by such a comment.

But if Kris can play, why don't they?

Because it's something they do for themself. Music, after all, is a form of self-expression.

And whether or not they'd be willing to let Susie be an audience to it, it can't be Kris's genuine self-expression when they're not fully themself. When someone else is making them do it (even if they would have full control over the actual playing). It has to be their choice.

So they flub it on purpose. A dissonant chord that gets across the idea "oh, they can't play anything better than this", and thereby lets them back away. And as much as they hate how it leads Susie to the incorrect conclusion, they'd rather that than play wonderfully when a) there's the risk of her later finding out about the possession and attributing their piano skill to their possessor, or, just, b) it can't be genuinely theirs.

Now, as far as why Kris gets that strange look of remembrance on their face before going to play Noelle's piano... That's where we get more into out-there theory territory.

I don't think that Kris is being possessed at those moments - not in the way we currently understand it, at least. While it does seem likely that there's been something fucky with their Soul for a good while now that got them to have a routine for taking it out, the look Noelle describes them having in these moments doesn't seem to match up with how the possession has been described to affect Kris. The nurse in the hospital says in Chapter 1 that they look a little sick, and when Noelle in post-Snowgrave describes how Kris is acting weird, she says they've only been acting strange "recently". If Kris was being possessed pre-Chapter 1, it was a possession of a significantly different kind (and I have to wonder why such a possessor would be taking them away from their time with Noelle to play piano, and why they would force Kris to stop the second they're observed).

So if it isn't that... what is it?

Perhaps it has to do with a secret in pianpian itself. As @gasterofficial discovered, with some audio editing, you can hear a scratching sound in there. If that sounds familiar, it should:

Perhaps Kris's playing of the piano is an attempt to reach out to someone - or, more in line with the way they'd leave Noelle so abruptly to start playing, to reciprocate their communication. Whether that be with the person doing the scratching, or the person in the code who also hears the scratching. If you're still fond of the possession idea in this context, you could even argue that they're channeling that person in these moments.

As far as who that person is... what characters do we know of currently who are missing, possibly trapped in the code/void... and are musicians, making it more likely that their messages would be communicated in a musical form?

Or, to put it another way: if Noelle isn't the one who plays the piano in her house... who might that have been?

#deltarune #spamton sweepstakes #kris dreemurr #december holiday #(that's who i was alluding to at the end if you didn't click the links)#it's also possible if we go with the idea that people's memories of dess got fucked with when she disappeared #that kris actually is 'remembering' something in these moments - like songs she used to play #also while i'm here:#the reason i personally am not as much a fan of the idea that it's kris's possessor actually playing the piano #is because i want the playing to be theirs #that's just me though

355 notes · View notes

dogcasino · 2 years

Note

tw talk of religious trauma and religion in general

the religious connections of dr make me so bonkers. like susie doesn't appear to be very religious but kris' family regularly went to church. they themself may be agnostic or something (they literally asked the priest for cool fruit juice i love them) but asriel was OBSESSED. and it's so,,,,,, Something To Me how ralsei, who's probably the manifestation of kris' desire to be like their older brother, is also pretty religious, but??? in the opposite way??

like kris got told that they were supposed to try and prevent the apocalypse, and failing that, banish what is basically the jesus of their world. and? they don't seem to react at all? coupled with how gaster's signature number is 666, and how the Roaring is explicitly connected to hell,,,, it just turns my

back to kris being agnostic of sorts. considering how their religion about a 'one true path' and how the soul controls them,,,, methinks they view it as a divine act. not necessarily a good thing, but not necessarily a bad thing. it just definitely alters how they feel about it, wondering whether the things they go out of their way to do even matter, like saving susie, or should they just fold in on themselves for the greater good. I Am Chewing On This Thought

last but not least. spamton connecting the Knight to communion, which means remembering acts of the divine by consuming them. does that mean they wish to combine the dark and light world out of love for the angel? do they know about the soul's connection to kris????

anyway rambling over. hope this helped :D

*kris voice* the angel was being a little bitch so i went to its temple and stole all its fruit juice

jokes aside i do think a lot of the religious symbolism in deltarune is like... Very striking especially given it mostly being lacking in undertale ASIDE from asriel. other things of note are the devil horns kris wore as a child and noelle literally being in a crucifix like pose at the end of the main route. it feels like a lot of these religious symbols are used to create a sense of unease so far, and unfamiliarity. the idea of the angels heaven being something to banish feels backwards since those are both typically associated with goodness. then again, fighting g-d/gods is a bit of an rpg trope too.

deltarune is a different universe with different rules and this feels like one of the most instant and apparent differences that we aren't in undertale. (and what seems come along with it, like monsters not using magic- feels connected to me... a lot of monster culture seems to have replaced with a facsimile of a small christian town)

i honestly have no idea what kris thinks of it but we do see in the game they have their own morals that they won't break/attempt to uphold even in the face of the soul's control (like closing their eyes when peeking into asriel's room in the mansion and not wanting to take even a couple dollars from their brother's drawer) they seem to have a lot of respect for peoples boundaries whether it's respecting their brothers privacy or asking for a hug from susie and not minding at all when she says "no." i think it shows a lot about what they value (and also interestingly enough, chapter 2 seems to be starting to give Us the option to respect kris' boundaries by showing their reaction to our choices and they also seem to be getting better at acting on their own so i wonder if we are going to get the chance to respect kris' decisions and let them act on their own/work as a team with us... maybe OUR choices don't matter but theirs do... maybe letting them make the choices is what matters....)

#asks #christianity mention #WHEW THIS WAS A LONG RAMBLE AND I GOT A BIT OFF TOPIC BC IDK MUCH ABOUT CHRISTIAN MYTHOLOGY BUT YEAH!!#very helpful love love to spend like thirty minutes writing about kris

20 notes · View notes

hellspawnmotel · 3 years

Photo

an honest conversation

#deltarune #kris dreemurr #the player #im not tagging this spoilers bc frankly this couldve been construed from the first chapter alone #art tag #idk how many people read my tags but i DO wanna talk about this a lil bit for those who do #i really want to explore the relationship between the player (us) and kris in more depth bc i dont think its as simple as it looks #like. its not like we were given a choice whether or not to control kris. thats just how the game was set up #and i think im safe in assuming that most of us dont want to hurt kris and would talk directly to them if we could #(snowgrave/weird route nonwithstanding)#so i dont really think we're the villain unless we're being assholes on purpose #HOWEVER #even if we could talk to kris would we actually do what they want? probably not tbh #we all want to be nice to everyone and explore the world. i really doubt thats within kris' comfort zone #and some good has come of it (the friendship with susie for one)#but as someone with social anxiety i think i would really hate somebody puppeting around my body forcing me to be outgoing #i dont think kris is a bad kid and i dont think they ACTUALLY want to destroy everything #theyre just your average troubled teen with average teen angst #and we're interfering with that #get out of their room MOM

11K notes · View notes

babbybones · 5 years

Text

i’m thinkin’... about me theory again, where the gonermaker sequence involves 2 separate entities, and I can’t really decide who the second one would be after all. people began to assume that Chara Undertale™ has a presence in deltarune because of the ending of the demo + their whole “moving on to other worlds” shtick in the not feeling so good run in undertale, but deltarune happens regardless of what your ending in undertale is and doesn’t negate a good ending, so it seems like the stuff that goes down in deltarune happens whether or not chara from undertale is Out There Being A Weird OP Demon Thing

however, the second entity in the gonermaker sequence Does have speech patterns consistent with chara (especially in the JP translation) and deltarune Does contain alternate versions of characters we already know, so there could be an alternate version of/analog to chara there, too. but also i think it’s made intentionally vague as to whether kris is that.

i was also thinking of how i said gaster represented Choice and chara(????kris????) represented its absence, and that actually feels kinda sinister given the game’s framing as a gaster experiment. it feels like we were given control of kris’ body as a direct result of that experiment, and it kinda feels like kris isn’t okay with that, so there’s this whole conflict over who gets the reins caused by gaster... and also us for freaking agreeing to the experiment, go us!

okay *record scratch* im just going to stop myself right there and write a text file file full of stupid crack theories instead. only then will i feel truly fulfilled in life

#deltarune

22 notes · View notes

majorasnightmare · 5 years

Text

deltarune theories including spoilers

on mobile so i cant put a readmore but just scroll past

-first, i dont think kris is a seperate human from frisk and chara. given the timelime of events in deltarune and how it appears to be a seperate universe, kris's "creepy face", mischeovous habits, morbid sense of humor, overwhelming love of chocolate, a tendency to gravitate towards bladed weapons, and THAT ending, im fairly sure kris is just chara grown older. its fairly possible that there was a name change involved somewhere (ie they made up a new name for themselves in undertale when they fell down, calling themselves chara and since that hasnt happened theyre "stuck" with their old name kris in deltarune)

-second, we have no evidence how kris feels about ralsei. its entirely possible kris doesnt care about ralsei at all. kris only reacts independently towards susie. kris reacts with a ! when the party (including susie) is attacked, kris defends susie from the King, kris calls susie their friend to toriel, and kris gets annoyed when monster kid badmouths her. as far as im aware, kris doesnt react to ralsei at all unless you the player make them.

-third, with that in mind, its possible the events of the dark world isnt kris' first "adventure". the cage has seen plenty of use before, and the end where you reach the fountain has nowhere near the same gravitas or narrarive importance as, say, the breaking of the barrier in undertale, despite being visually similar. in a "game" where your choices dont matter (except in the real world where your behavior draws looks and concern), does the "game" itself matter to the protagonist? its possible that kris has gone through many adventures in the past as they were possessed by players, all of them featuring a quirky but lovable cast and strong overtures of friendship, until the player is satisfied and leaves kris alone. they might have seen the events of deltarune play out time and time again, and at this point cant even be bothered to care. lancer even points this out when choosing a team name, that kris looks like they really couldnt care less. kris didnt even tell lancer their name, and lancer goes the whole game without knowing who kris is. in fact, kris has such a non-presence in the events of the dark world, that ralsei and susie prefer to talk to each other instead of kris. if you open the white ribbon chest with susie in your party, and then equip to ralsei, he asks susie if hes cute instead of kris. regardless of whether or not theyve "played" the "game" before, its likely that kris views deltarune as a show for the player controlling them, and interacts with the setting with that view in mind. they dont even react when ralsei looks like theyre brother, someone in the "real world" who they view highly and love deeply. the reveal is only a shock for susie (whos never "played" in one of these "games" before), and the player, who didnt expect to see asriel again after undertale. kris doesnt care. which makes sense if theyve been forced to go through this set up before, and if they dont really care about the dark world at all, because at the end of the day, deltarune isnt for kris. its for you, the player. what kris wants, or feels, their choices? they dont matter at all.

#deltarune spoilers #deltarune #deltarune theory #rambles

14 notes · View notes

toralyzer · 5 years

Text

Deltarune take

It’s a pretty classic Portal Fantasy. Kris's life sucks, they get sent to a fantasy world and take on a heroic quest, they come back with a new perspective on life. There were also a bajillion narrative parallels to Undertale. I kept waiting for both of these things to be subverted somehow, but they never were. I'm okay with that, since it was executed well and made me feel good at the end.

There were also a few meta-videogame tricks that I thought supported the story in neat ways: "you don't get to choose who you are in life" at the beginning, Susie's "your choices don't matter", and the way the whole town is opened up to you at the end of the game the way it wasn't at the beginning. I also like how, because everyone is used to the characters and interface of Undertale now, that can be used to represent Kris's "normal world" to contrast with the "fantasy world".

Personally, I'm just ignoring that final cliffhanger scene. On it's own, it seems like some story-undermining bullshit, but I more-or-less trust Toby to do something good with it in the next chapters.

I think Kris shines as a character in the beginning and end sections, when they’re a normal kid, and we get to gradually understand what life is like for them and why they have that shadow over their eyes and what it might have meant for them to go on this adventure. I think during the quest itself they become more of a support for the speaking characters’ stories, especially since their/your choice to Act or Fight doesn’t matter. (More on that later.)

Susie’s and Lancer’s story felt more “Undertale”, subverting tropes of conflict and good and evil and blending action and adventure stories together with feelings and friendship stories. It felt like it was doing its own thing that just happened to be facilitated by Kris’s Portal Fantasy story. And I liked it a lot!!!

Susie has a really really strong character, no pun intended. At the beginning I was conflicted, because I didn’t want her to keep hurting people but I understood where she was coming from. But the way Ralsei’s initial appeal to niceness only made her feel criticized and didn’t help, and yet she ultimately chose to chill out and try “act”ing because she found her own reasons to care about another person’s wellbeing, felt like a perfect resolution to her arc and I loved it a lot.

I also loved how her story made new creative use of the battle system in a way Undertale didn’t. The way she auto-battles while Kris and Ralsei are player-controlled, the way this allowed her to fight Lancer totally separate from the party, the way she joins the party “for real” and unlocks a new range of actions!

I love Susie.

The most disappointing part of the game was where mechanics from Undertale were only halfway carried over, something Toby acknowledged in his FAQ. The choice to Fight or Act feels much less meaningful since either one defeats the enemy nonlethally and has almost no bearing on the story or the ending.

I think the problem is that Deltarune deals with the theme of violence very differently from Undertale, and both the audience experience and the design of the game were hampered by preconceptions.

Deltarune just isn’t interested in the idea of total pacifism. After all, we have an entire party member whose core strengths are violent, even after she “joins the party for real”, and she and Ralsei both ultimately concede to each other’s perspectives.

R: * I was foolish to think we could act so soft to everyone.

R: * This isn’t a world where kindness always wins, is it?

S: * Eh, it’s complicated.

S: * Yeah, sometimes there’s people you just gotta fight.

S: * But if you NEVER let your guard down, then...

S: * You might just... hurt someone you care about, too.

I think it’s a surprising choice given how much more room there is for games like Undertale that reject the centering of violence. But I don’t think it’s a bad choice or a betrayal of the original game’s meaning.

Where Undertale subverted RPG and fantasy tropes, Deltarune plays them straight. Undertale placed us in a peaceful society where it would be bizarrely cruel to attack instead of just talking. Deltarune, however, sends us on a quest to save everyone from an evil king, with enemies actively trying to prevent us... while at the same time, we’re actually never given the option to kill or do lasting harm - in a sense, “sparing” is taken as a given.

Undertale is about having power and how you choose to wield it over others. Deltarune is about being powerless and how you choose to protect yourself.

Here’s how I would fix the Deltarune battle mechanics.

First, all the options to fight go INSIDE the “Act” menu. There’s no narrative consequence or moral judgement attached. In fact, the generic “Fight” command could be replaced by all sorts of fun and silly variations that are specific to the enemies. Susie could trip enemies, give wedgies, punt them into the sun, etc. Rework the enemies so that both violent and nonviolent strategies are called for depending on the situation.

In the beginning, Susie still automatically fights all the time, but the problem is framed a little differently. The problem isn’t that she fights at all, it’s that she always chooses to fight, even when it’s ineffective or detrimental. There could be some fights where her auto-fighting is helpful, but others like K. Round where it makes things worse.

Perhaps while she’s autobattling, she always just does a generic “Attack” or “Axe Swing” action, but once the full act menu is open to her she has a varied and interesting range of both violent and nonviolent moves.

There would be no difference in the ending based on whether you used violence or not. Probably, the underlings overthrow the king either way, and are grateful to you for taking him on even though you had to fight them along the way.

Although it doesn’t have the same kind of anti-violence message as Undertale, I’m pretty interested in a game of this kind that expands on the “Act” Menu idea and makes battles more narrative than numerical. I think it still in some ways humanizes the enemies/NPCs and subverts the playstyle of thoughtless murder created by traditional battle systems, even while it returns to the essentially conflict-focused narrative of traditional RPGs.

#dialoguelogue #deltarune

5 notes · View notes

theconservativebrief · 6 years

Link

The concept behind A Star Is Born is the stuff of scientific mythology: For one star to be born, another must flame out. The world has a ceiling on its potential star count.

Whether or not that’s true, Hollywood — located, after all, in the City of Stars — finds the metaphor alluring. The latest version of A Star Is Born, directed by and starring Bradley Cooper alongside Stefani Germanotta (a.k.a. Lady Gaga), is now the fourth movie to bear both the title and a plot arc about one star rising while another dims.

The first one came out in 1937, focusing on an aspiring starlet (played by Janet Gaynor) and an established actor (Fredric March) whose alcoholism is causing his own career to plummet. The film was remade in 1954 with Judy Garland and James Mason, and then again in 1976, this time set in the world of music and starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson.

Differing cinematic sensibilities due to the era aside, the concept remains the same: A man who’s seen it all in show business and who’s been driven to addiction by its hollowness encounters a talented, refreshingly authentic woman (younger, to varying degrees) and falls in love with her almost on sight, then introduces her to the business he’s already conquered.

They marry just as the industry is beginning to take note of her. Though they mutually support one another, his love for her can’t overcome his own depression. The celebrity on which he’s coasted won’t save him forever. And meanwhile, he’s dragging down the woman he loves.

Some people have said that every generation makes its own A Star Is Born (though I’m personally glad we skipped whatever “sell-out” fable the ’90s would have served up). And this one contains homages aplenty to the earlier films, particularly the 1976 version. By now, you can’t just watch A Star Is Born; any new iteration of the story begs to be seen through the lens of not just its predecessors, but also the world into which its particular star will be born.

Bradley Cooper — for whom the 2018 film, his directorial debut, is a passion project in every sense — seems to understand that intuitively. His Star Is Born follows the same contours as earlier versions, but feels anchored in 2018, particularly because the extra-cinematic work of his leading lady — unapologetic pop provocateur Lady Gaga — lends extra meaning to the film.

Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga in A Star Is Born. Warner Bros.

And it’s also the first of its breed to focus predominately on the love story between the rising and falling stars, equal partners in the relationship who nonetheless find their deep connection altered and shaped by the ways that success in creative work can keep shifting the landscape under two lovers’ feet. The movie works best, above all, as a melodrama about the limits and possibilities of love, and how love can make us into the best and worst versions of ourselves in the very same moment.

Laced with instantly memorable songs and — clichés be damned — stellar performances, 2018’s A Star Is Born is the kind of movie that tries to harness all of its cinematic possibility to make your heart burst. And it more or less succeeds.

Like its predecessors, A Star Is Born introduces both its stars in media res. The star on the decline — his alcoholism and addiction have long since exceeded the “high functioning” stage — is Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper), the character called “Norman” Maine in earlier versions. Here he’s a blues-rock megastar, a wounded man with a soft heart whom Cooper plays with credibly bruised gruffness.

Following a gig that he drunkenly pulls off just fine — we’re meant to know this is a nightly occurrence — he asks his driver to stop at a random bar, which turns out to be hosting its weekly drag night. He sticks around.

And, as luck (or fate) would have it, Ally (Gaga) is performing. A waitress at a much fancier joint by day, she’s a singer by night, and because she used to work at the bar, its proprietors let her have an act in the drag show. She sings La Vie en Rose and brings the house down. In the time it takes to sing that one well-worn song, she wins Jack’s artistic respect and, it is clear, his heart.

Lady Gaga and Anthony Ramos in A Star Is Born. Clay Enos / Warner Bros.

From there, the story is familiar, though with some 2018 twists. Ally writes her own music, but doesn’t usually sing it in public; Jack convinces her she ought to, and then drags her out onstage to do so. (The song they perform, “Shallow,” which Ally is meant to have written, is almost certainly a shoo-in for Best Original Song at the 2019 Oscars.) They work in different genres — his sound is blues-rock with a hint of country; hers is pop — but they complement one another perfectly.

Jack warns Ally not to lose her authenticity; she has something to say, he tells her, and she should use the platform she’s given in order to say it. (That perspective could cast the movie as anti-pop, until you consider who’s playing Ally.) Meanwhile, he’s not old, but his soul, his music, and his act are, and the film not-so-subtly suggests that what he represents — and the lifestyle that goes with it — may need to step aside and make room for others. (“Maybe it’s time to let the old ways die,” one of Jack’s most frequently performed songs begins.)

This is Ally’s story as much as Jack’s — she’s the star in the title, after all. He lights the spark beneath her, but she already contains everything needed to burst into flame, including a healthy skepticism about losing control of her own image in an image-based business. Though she suffers a few growing pains in the form of lousy pop songs, she is more than capable of finding her way.

A Star Is Born’s songs were written and produced by a stable of talented artists all over the genre map: Jason Isbell, Lukas Nelson, Mark Ronson, Diane Warren, Anthony Rossomando, and others, as well as Cooper himself and, of course, Lady Gaga, who brought in a number of her frequent collaborators to write Ally’s songs.

And while it’s not a perfect film — though the first hour just may be — A Star Is Born boasts more than enough passion to make up for some of its narrative hiccups. It swings from intimate drama to concert film and back again with a limpid pace and fluidity. And when it deviates from its predecessors on certain plot points, those choices feel both modern and perfectly natural. It’s hard to imagine watching the film and not being moved.

Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga in A Star Is Born. Warner Bros.

A Star Is Born has only a moderate interest in the actual music business, however — a fact that will doubtless raise the hackles of some viewers positioned closer to the industry. Whereas some of the earlier versions of A Star Is Born have dwelt on how stars are actually created, and what makes them fade, this one is more interested in what happens between the stars themselves.

So this is a musical melodrama, one shot through with heat and light. Cooper, acting his heart out while directing at the same time — it turns out he’s great at both — plays Jack with a low growl, a tribute to the older brother (played by the wonderful Sam Elliott) whom he idolizes.

As Ally, Gaga is luminous, funny, and brilliant. She’s hard to look away from, playing Ally as a fully-developed star in her own right who just needs a couple of nudges to be set aflame. And together, their chemistry is, at times, goosebump-inducing. (Earlier films often emphasized an age gap between the characters, but it’s shrunk over time, and though Ally is certainly a little younger than Jack here, they seem equally matched.)

Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga in A Star Is Born. Warner Bros.

The electricity of their connection — and the fact that their relationship develops into something that can bear the weight of both hardship and success for so long — is, the movie suggests, due at least as much to their mutual respect for one another’s gifts as creators and performers. It would be wrong to say there’s no hint of jealousy. But where envy creeps in, it never becomes about tearing the other person down; theirs is a loving, passionate, complicated link that lets them both create some of their best work, and become their better selves, too.

Love can’t conquer everything. Scars run deep. But love is what ultimately allows the jealousy to fade. A Star Is Born is undoubtedly a swirling, highly produced, Hollywood-style melodrama, but it has something to say about the world it’s set in, about what it takes to remain a human in the midst of a celebrity-making machine that would rather package people to conform to its own standards. The message the film sends is that it’s not really about “being authentic”; we stay real because other people see us, and they love us for what they see.

A Star Is Born premiered at the Venice Film Festival, made its North American debut at the Toronto International Film Festival, and will open in theaters on October 5.

Original Source -> Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper shine in the newest version of A Star Is Born

via The Conservative Brief

#IFTTT #The Conservative Brief

0 notes

flauntpage · 6 years

Text

Imagining an NBA Head Coach Draft

It's hard to evaluate success for an NBA head coach. Wins and losses are far from a sufficient measuring stick. On-court success is obviously nice, but so is player development, the groundwork of a scheme that fits its personnel like a tailored tuxedo, adoption of modern principles, intelligent strategy, and so on.

In many cases, coaches implement, solidify, and steer the franchise's culture. They’re graded on expectations, temperament, communication skills, consistency, and execution. They’re teachers and thinkers, and even with all the data that’s available to analyze every game, possession by possession, disentangling a coach's struggle and strengths from the roster’s talent—or lack thereof—is basically impossible.

In this business perception often still rules the day, for better or worse. We know who the good coaches are, but ranking them against one another is a particularly subjective task because there’s no baseline. (In The Book of Erik Spoelstra, for example, any disillusionment his current team endures is merely a footnote; there’s no separating him from his journey to the Basketball Hall of Fame, and that makes just about any form of criticism extremely difficult, polluted by caveats that are scribbled in the margin.)

For this exercise, we’ve drifted into an alternate reality where the league’s 14 worst teams are able to “draft” a new head coach. Setting aside the fact that all 30 franchises would not want to participate, it’s hypothetical enjoyment that lets us imagine how different coaches fit into different situations.

The teams are listed by what their draft order would be if the season ended Monday morning. From there, each organization chooses from a pool that includes just about anyone (except their current coach) who’s held an NBA head coaching job in the last 10 years, basing it off who they’d want on their sideline from this point forward. Everything is taking into account, from ownership to the front office to their cap situation to the roster to where they currently stand in their timeline. (Gregg Popovich is the best coach alive, but would you want him to take over a lengthy rebuild?)

Any questions? Great! With all that out of the way, let the fun begin!

1. Chicago Bulls: Brad Stevens

Photo by Bob DeChiara - USA TODAY Sports

Brad Stevens is the best coach in all of basketball (non-Popovich edition). His unparalleled success at Butler has since carried over into the NBA, where the Boston Celtics have increased their win total by at least five games in his first four seasons and are on track to do the same this year (58 wins would do the trick; according to FiveThirtyEight that’s the exact number they’re projected to reach).

He accentuates strengths in players who, for all intents and purposes, were left for dead. Evan Turner crawled into Boston an NBA vagabond after having been buried on the Indiana Pacers—an offensive liability whose inability to hit threes turned him into a DVD player the same day Netflix revealed their own streaming service. He walked out with a four-year, $70 million contract. Isaiah Thomas went from Lou Williams to Nate Archibald. Jae Crowder morphed into a critical trade chip. This isn’t all because of Stevens, but the trend isn’t a coincidence.

Al Horford and Gordon Hayward left reputable institutions to play for Stevens. His name is synonymous with winning in unexpected, disciplined, and principled ways. Now picture him rebuilding in Chicago, where there’s already far more young talent than he had growing up with the Celtics.

Lauri Markkanen, Kris Dunn (who’s finally starting to show what he can do now that the ball is in his hands), and Zach LaVine are, potentially, an explosive trio. Throw in their incoming lottery pick and a fortuitous cap sheet, and all of a sudden the Bulls could be back in business as a reputable opponent.

So many of Chicago’s problems over the past couple years have been tied to malignant ownership and a front office that’s more interested in keeping their jobs than anything else. Stevens will not be able to singlehandedly turn those negatives into a good thing, but with whatever players he’s supplied on the court, there’s an almost definite likelihood that he squeezes more from them than anybody else can.

2. Atlanta Hawks: Erik Spoelstra

There’s really no motivation for Atlanta to want a new coach. Mike Budenholzer is perfectly fine, and engineered one of the most magical campaigns in recent NBA history. But for this exercise he has to go. In his place it’d be a delight to see what Erik Spoelstra could do with a roster that’s mid-renovation and prioritizing long-term opulence over present-day mediocrity.

There’s really not much criticism that can be directed Bud’s way, but it’d also be interesting to see how Spoelstra would not only shepherd Atlanta’s rebuild and carry over the guiding creed so long followed in Miami, but also utilize today’s roster. This team isn’t trying to win right now, but developing Taurean Prince’s playmaking ability and reverting Kent Bazemore back to the play-finisher he once was instead of the play-creator he’s masquerading as, would be smart.

It’d be cool to see how aggressive on the defensive end Atlanta would be. This team is already forcing a ton of turnovers and bringing bigs up to double ball screens more than most teams, but would Spoelstra ratchet that up even more? The guys in Atlanta don’t have the same supernova explosion on the defensive end that Dwyane Wade and LeBron James did during Miami’s peak years invading passing lanes, but Prince, Bazemore, John Collins, and Dennis Schroder can all create havoc when dialed in and executing a rabid scheme.

In the end, Spoelstra’s X’s and O’s aren’t the primary reason he gets the nod above every other coach in the league. Fair or not, there’s a comfort level in knowing your coach has been to the mountain top, seen it all, knows what it takes to get there, and won’t panic once the roster’s talent catches up to his own IQ. He’s a phenomenal leader whose players don’t take possessions off, and the Hawks would be set up in a terrific position with him as the face of their franchise for the foreseeable future.

3. Dallas Mavericks: Mike D’Antoni

Rick Carlisle has had an incredible decade-long run with the Mavericks. He’s constructed an impenetrable reputation and the right to coach for as long as he wants. But, as we’ll detail later on, Dallas has adopted a snail’s pace in recent years. Some of this is due to factors Carlisle can’t control, but there are players on that roster who would benefit from less micromanagement.

Assuming he’d be able to do whatever he wants, Mike D’Antoni is an ideal elixir. Dennis Smith Jr. is dying to be unleashed in an uptempo, spread pick-and-roll offense that features Nerlens Noel at the five and Harrison Barnes at the four. On the rare occasion he’s allowed to zip up the floor off an opponent’s made basket, a burgeoning star materializes with his most appealing traits.

D’Antoni has worked with some of the greatest point guards in history. Smith Jr. isn’t near that plane, but pairing him with a revolutionary genius would do wonders for his career, and jump start a sludgy attack that continues to fizzle.

4. Sacramento Kings: Jason Kidd

Photo by Kelley L. Cox - USA TODAY Sports

This is an odd (almost definitely incorrect) choice for a variety of reasons, but hear me out. Sacramento is in the basement of a colossal rebuild that’s nearly a generation in the making. They’re so far from where they need/want to be and regular playoff appearances feel, at the very least, like they’re at least half a decade away.

From that standpoint, skipping steps would be a major mistake, and ensuring that De’Aaron Fox can be the crème de la crème of his loaded draft class should be a focal point.

Kidd is not one of the 20 best coaches in the league—though that says more about how awesome NBA coaches are right now than his own shortcomings—and the defensive system he’s implanted in Milwaukee is riddled with rudimentary holes that could lead upper management to eventually make a change. But let’s throw him in this pressure-less environment and see what he does with Fox.

Kidd deserves some credit for Giannis Antetokounmpo's evolution and can’t be blamed for Jabari Parker’s knee injuries. It sounds dramatic, but Sacramento’s future will either hold strong or shatter depending on how Fox develops; even though there are a dozen superior names that can be thrown into this conversation, the logic in selecting Kidd is (sort of/maybe not) sound.

5. Memphis Grizzlies: Tom Thibodeau

It’s impossible to choose someone for this team, given how rudderless and confused they appear to be. But whether Memphis is gung-ho about resuscitating the Grit N’ Grind era until neither Marc Gasol nor Mike Conley can walk, or have finally embraced reality and the need to build from the ground up, Thibodeau feels like someone who’ll commit himself to either timeline with tireless energy and a tried-and-true ideology.

(Also, it's really hard to stop people in today's NBA without length on the perimeter. Minnesota's lack of depth on the wing, plus Karl-Anthony Towns' growing pains as a defensive anchor, help explain the Timberwolves' woes on that end more than any fault in Thibodeau's message.)

6. Phoenix Suns: Luke Walton

Walton is a dark-horse Coach of the Year candidate who’s convinced young players to buy into roles that were probably smaller than they expected, and had a hand in Luol Deng’s benching—the type of move that could, if handled poorly, sidetrack a growing team.

Things aren’t perfect in Los Angeles, but by all accounts Walton is a terrific communicator who’s hard on his pups without deflating their confidence. And even though he’s experienced winning at the highest level, both as a player and coach, Walton is patient enough to go through a rebuild the right way, without cutting corners—which is something a coach ultimately can’t help, more often than not.

Block out their owner from this discussion as best you can and the Suns have a genuinely promising future! Devin Booker is good enough to win a scoring title at some point, Josh Jackson has unteachable two-way tenacity, vision, and bounce, and Dragan Bender (who turned 20 three weeks ago!) is full of potential that stretches beyond his ability to knock down corner threes. It makes sense to pair them with a coach who can be in it for the long haul.

7. Los Angeles Lakers: Steve Kerr

The Lakers’ surprising youth movement has momentarily diverted our attention away from their ambitious summer plans. Walton is perfectly fine, but bring Steve Kerr into those meetings and your chance of acquiring Paul George, DeMarcus Cousins, or LeBron James makes a substantial leap.

The Lakers may not land any of those All-Stars in July, but they will get someone. Couple that with Brandon Ingram’s pending stardom, Lonzo Ball existing as a helpful cog whose shot will—more likely than not—come around, and Kyle Kuzma's Hall of Fame resume, and L.A. can accelerate its timeline with savvy use of the trade market at a moment's notice. Overnight championship contention is a setting Kerr obviously knows how to handle.

8. Los Angeles Clippers: David Fizdale

Fizdale didn’t have enough time in Memphis to build up a profile or display a standalone identity, but his attempt to usher the Grizzlies into the 21st Century did not go unnoticed. Neither did his infamous, merch-spawning soliloquy during last year’s playoffs. Fizdale should still have a job and be given the opportunity to chaperone a team through tough times. The Clippers are about to experience just that, and selecting a smart home-town product who’d help them on the court (and possibly in free agency) would be a win-win for all involved.

9. Brooklyn Nets: Brett Brown

Photo by Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

From a stylistic perspective, there’s little difference between how the Nets are approaching their rebuild and what Brown did before he had genuine NBA talent to work with. They attack in transition and launch a ton of threes. It's smart basketball.

Brown and Nets general manager Sean Marks both sprouted from San Antonio’s tree, so this makes sense for no other reason than they’d be on the same page with an understanding of how to play intelligently on a night-to-night basis even with inconsistent results.

10. Charlotte Hornets: Rick Carlisle

When healthy, the Hornets have enough win-now talent to crash parties, and even though no club in the last three years has sniffed the same amount of time attacking in the half court as Carlisle’s Mavs (as opposed to running in transition), plopping him into a Dirk Nowitzki-Free environment where he can focus on adapting more contemporary concepts that enhance a splendid dynamo like Kemba Walker, could be interesting. The Hornets have a funky roster that isn’t ideal, but Carlisle is still a mastermind who’d find ways to set up mismatches all over the floor with an intriguing cast of characters.

11. Orlando Magic: Quin Snyder

Orlando is perpetually hopeless and somehow has the second-worst defense in the entire NBA. No coach stands out as a good match for what they've got going on, but it’d be fascinating to see how an ingenious tactician like Snyder would use Aaron Gordon—how about experimenting with him at the five?—or whether he’d be able to instill any sort of confidence in someone like Mario Hezonja.

The Magic should be better on both ends than they currently are, and Snyder, in my opinion, is one of the five smartest minds in the league. If anyone can turn things around down there, it's him.

12. Oklahoma City Thunder: Gregg Popovich

I've already said this at least twice, but here goes again: Popovich is the best coach in basketball. But, frankly, given his scroll of accomplishments and the stage of this Mt. Rushmore run he’s on, it’d be irrational to throw him on any roster that isn’t ready to compete for a championship right now.

The Thunder have enough talent to pierce the championship contender conversation, but as currently constituted lack the proper restraint. Getting Carmelo Anthony to come off the bench and not take out his frustration with diminished effort is much easier said than done. Calling timeout to publicly chew out Russell Westbrook for taking a terrible shot instead of passing the ball to Alex Abrines would be unheard of.

Photo by Soobum Im - USA TODAY Sports

But these are things the Thunder probably need right now. Few people alive have the clout and stature to pull it off. Pop sits atop that list.

13. Miami Heat: Terry Stotts

A cultural shift for sure. Stotts’s defenses in Portland have been some of the most conservative in the league, while Miami—personnel pending—is so dauntless on the perimeter. Beyond that, Stotts is just a really smart guy who belongs somewhere on this list. He isn't afraid to get experimental and is more analytically-inclined than most. I'm actually not sure how good a fit Stotts is with Miami's current roster, but feel like there's enough offensive talent (particularly with Kelly Olynyk at the five) for him to cook.

14. New York Knicks: Stan Van Gundy

It’d be fun to see how Van Gundy—a top-10 head coach whose team magically started to play better after his starting point guard became healthy—maximizes Kristaps Porzingis. He's had three traditional franchise bigs in each of his three stops (Shaquille O'Neal, Dwight Howard, and Andre Drummond). Porzingis is the opposite of conventional, and would encourage more creativity from one of the league's most expressive personalities. The Knicks (and their media contingent) would be happy to have him.

Imagining an NBA Head Coach Draft published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

0 notes

amtushinfosolutionspage · 6 years

Text

Imagining an NBA Head Coach Draft

It’s hard to evaluate success for an NBA head coach. Wins and losses are far from a sufficient measuring stick. On-court success is obviously nice, but so is player development, the groundwork of a scheme that fits its personnel like a tailored tuxedo, adoption of modern principles, intelligent strategy, and so on.

In many cases, coaches implement, solidify, and steer the franchise’s culture. They’re graded on expectations, temperament, communication skills, consistency, and execution. They’re teachers and thinkers, and even with all the data that’s available to analyze every game, possession by possession, disentangling a coach’s struggle and strengths from the roster’s talent—or lack thereof—is basically impossible.

Any questions? Great! With all that out of the way, let the fun begin!

1. Chicago Bulls: Brad Stevens

Photo by Bob DeChiara – USA TODAY Sports

2. Atlanta Hawks: Erik Spoelstra

3. Dallas Mavericks: Mike D’Antoni

4. Sacramento Kings: Jason Kidd

Photo by Kelley L. Cox – USA TODAY Sports

From that standpoint, skipping steps would be a major mistake, and ensuring that De’Aaron Fox can be the crème de la crème of his loaded draft class should be a focal point.

Kidd deserves some credit for Giannis Antetokounmpo’s evolution and can’t be blamed for Jabari Parker’s knee injuries. It sounds dramatic, but Sacramento’s future will either hold strong or shatter depending on how Fox develops; even though there are a dozen superior names that can be thrown into this conversation, the logic in selecting Kidd is (sort of/maybe not) sound.

5. Memphis Grizzlies: Tom Thibodeau

(Also, it’s really hard to stop people in today’s NBA without length on the perimeter. Minnesota’s lack of depth on the wing, plus Karl-Anthony Towns’ growing pains as a defensive anchor, help explain the Timberwolves’ woes on that end more than any fault in Thibodeau’s message.)

6. Phoenix Suns: Luke Walton

7. Los Angeles Lakers: Steve Kerr

The Lakers may not land any of those All-Stars in July, but they will get someone. Couple that with Brandon Ingram’s pending stardom, Lonzo Ball existing as a helpful cog whose shot will—more likely than not—come around, and Kyle Kuzma’s Hall of Fame resume, and L.A. can accelerate its timeline with savvy use of the trade market at a moment’s notice. Overnight championship contention is a setting Kerr obviously knows how to handle.

8. Los Angeles Clippers: David Fizdale

9. Brooklyn Nets: Brett Brown

Photo by Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

10. Charlotte Hornets: Rick Carlisle

11. Orlando Magic: Quin Snyder

Orlando is perpetually hopeless and somehow has the second-worst defense in the entire NBA. No coach stands out as a good match for what they’ve got going on, but it’d be fascinating to see how an ingenious tactician like Snyder would use Aaron Gordon—how about experimenting with him at the five?—or whether he’d be able to instill any sort of confidence in someone like Mario Hezonja.

The Magic should be better on both ends than they currently are, and Snyder, in my opinion, is one of the five smartest minds in the league. If anyone can turn things around down there, it’s him.

12. Oklahoma City Thunder: Gregg Popovich

I’ve already said this at least twice, but here goes again: Popovich is the best coach in basketball. But, frankly, given his scroll of accomplishments and the stage of this Mt. Rushmore run he’s on, it’d be irrational to throw him on any roster that isn’t ready to compete for a championship right now.

Photo by Soobum Im – USA TODAY Sports

But these are things the Thunder probably need right now. Few people alive have the clout and stature to pull it off. Pop sits atop that list.

13. Miami Heat: Terry Stotts

A cultural shift for sure. Stotts’s defenses in Portland have been some of the most conservative in the league, while Miami—personnel pending—is so dauntless on the perimeter. Beyond that, Stotts is just a really smart guy who belongs somewhere on this list. He isn’t afraid to get experimental and is more analytically-inclined than most. I’m actually not sure how good a fit Stotts is with Miami’s current roster, but feel like there’s enough offensive talent (particularly with Kelly Olynyk at the five) for him to cook.

14. New York Knicks: Stan Van Gundy

It’d be fun to see how Van Gundy—a top-10 head coach whose team magically started to play better after his starting point guard became healthy—maximizes Kristaps Porzingis. He’s had three traditional franchise bigs in each of his three stops (Shaquille O’Neal, Dwight Howard, and Andre Drummond). Porzingis is the opposite of conventional, and would encourage more creativity from one of the league’s most expressive personalities. The Knicks (and their media contingent) would be happy to have him.

Imagining an NBA Head Coach Draft syndicated from http://ift.tt/2ug2Ns6

0 notes

lakestral · 7 years

Text

12/26/2016

I found the below article while searching for a blog topic for today. I have slightly edited for ease of reading. At the end there are some links to more articles as well.

12 Proven Health Benefits of Avocado (https://authoritynutrition.com/12-proven-benefits-of-avocado/) By Kris Gunnars, BSc The avocado is a rather unique type of fruit. Most fruit consists primarily of carbohydrate, while avocado is high in healthy fats. Here are 12 health benefits of avocado, that are supported by scientific research.

1. Avocado is Incredibly Nutritious What we refer to as “avocado” is the fruit of the avocado tree, called Persea americana (1). These days, the avocado has become an incredibly popular food among health conscious individuals. It is often referred to as a superfood… which is not surprising given its health properties (2). There are many kinds of avocados, and the shape (from pear-shaped to round) and color (from green to black) can vary between them. They can also weigh anywhere from 8 ounces (220 grams) to 3 pounds (1.4 kg). The most popular type is called Hass avocado. This is what a typical avocado looks like: It is often called “alligator pear,” which is very descriptive because it tends to be shaped like a pear and have green, bumpy skin… like an alligator. The yellow-green flesh inside the fruit is eaten, but the skin and seed are discarded. Here are some of the most abundant nutrients, in a single 3.5 ounce (100 gram) serving (3):

Vitamin K: 26% of the RDA.

Folate: 20% of the RDA.

Vitamin C: 17% of the RDA.

Potassium: 14% of the RDA.

Vitamin B5: 14% of the RDA.

Vitamin B6: 13% of the RDA.

Vitamin E: 10% of the RDA.

Then it contains small amounts of Magnesium, Manganese, Copper, Iron, Zinc, Phosphorous, Vitamin A, B1 (Thiamine), B2 (Riboflavin) and B3 (Niacin).

This is coming with 160 calories, 2 grams of protein and 15 grams of healthy fats. Although it contains 9 grams of carbs, 7 of those are fiber so there are only 2 “net” carbs, making this a low-carb friendly plant food. Avocados do not contain any cholesterol or sodium, and are low in saturated fat. I personally don’t think that matters, but this is one of the reasons they are favored by many “old school” experts who still believe these things are inherently harmful.

Bottom Line: Avocado is a green, pear-shaped fruit often called an “alligator pear.” It is loaded with healthy fats, fiber and various important nutrients.

2. They Contain More Potassium Than Bananas Potassium is a nutrient that most people aren’t getting enough of (4). This nutrient helps maintain electrical gradients in the body’s cells and serves various important functions. Avocados are actually very high in potassium… with a 100 gram (3.5 ounce) serving containing 14% of the RDA, compared to 10% in bananas, which are a typical high potassium food (5). Several studies show that having a high potassium intake is linked to reduced blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure (6).

Bottom Line: Potassium is an important mineral that most people don’t get enough of. Avocados are very high in potassium, which should support healthy blood pressure levels.

3. Avocado is Loaded With Heart-Healthy Monounsaturated Fatty Acids

Again, avocado is a high fat food. In fact, 77% of the calories in it are from fat, making it one of the fattiest plant foods in existence. But they don’t just contain any fat… the majority of the fat in avocado is oleic acid. This is a monounsaturated fatty acid that is also the major component in olive oil and believed to be responsible for some of its beneficial effects. Oleic acid has been linked to reduced inflammation and been shown to have beneficial effects on genes linked to cancer (7, 8, 9, 10). The fats in avocado are also pretty resistant to heat-induced oxidation, making avocado oil a healthy and safe choice for cooking.

Bottom Line: Avocados and avocado oil are high in monounsaturated oleic acid, a “heart healthy” fatty acid that is believed to be one of the main reasons for the health benefits of olive oil.

4. Avocados Are Loaded With Fiber Fiber is another nutrient found in relatively large amounts in avocado. Fiber is indigestible plant matter that can contribute to weight loss, reduce blood sugar spikes and is strongly linked to a lower risk of many diseases (11, 12, 13). A distinction is often made between soluble and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber is known to be able to feed the friendly gut bacteria in the intestine, which are very important for the optimal function of our bodies (14). A 100 gram (3.5 ounce) serving of avocado contains 7 grams of fiber, which is 27% of the recommended daily amount. About 25% of the fiber in avocado is soluble, while 75% is insoluble (15).

Bottom Line: Avocados tend to be high in fiber, about 7% by weight, which is very high compared to most other foods. Fiber can have various important benefits for weight loss and metabolic health.

5. Eating Avocados Can Lower Cholesterol and Triglyceride Levels Heart disease is the most common cause of death in the world (16). It is known that several blood markers are linked to an increased risk. This includes cholesterol, triglycerides, inflammatory markers, blood pressure and various others. The effects of avocado on some of these risk factors has been studied in 8 human controlled trials. These studies have shown that avocados can (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23):

Reduce total cholesterol levels significantly.

Reduce blood triglycerides by up to 20%.

Lower LDL cholesterol by up to 22%.

Increase HDL (the “good”) cholesterol by up to 11%.

One of the studies showed that including avocado in a low-fat vegetarian diet led to improvements in the cholesterol profile (24). Unfortunately, all of the human studies were small (13-37 subjects) and short-term (1-4 weeks), but the results were impressive nonetheless. Bottom Line: Numerous studies have shown that eating avocado can improve heart disease risk factors like Total, LDL and HDL cholesterol, as well as blood triglycerides. 6. People Who Eat Avocados Tend to be Healthier One study looked at the dietary habits and health of people who eat avocados. They analyzed data from 17,567 participants in the NHANES survey in the U.S. Avocado consumers were found to be much healthier than people who didn’t eat avocados. They had a much higher nutrient intake and were half as likely to have metabolic syndrome, a cluster of symptoms that are a major risk factor for heart disease and diabetes (25). People who ate avocados regularly also weighed less, had a lower BMI and significantly less belly fat. They also had more HDL (the “good”) cholesterol. However… correlation does not imply causation and there is no guarantee that the avocados caused these people to be in better health. Therefore I don’t think this particular study carries much weight.

Bottom Line: One dietary survey found that people who ate avocados had a much higher nutrient intake and had a lower risk of metabolic syndrome. 7. The Fat in Them Can Help You Absorb Nutrients From Plant Foods When it comes to nutrients, the total amount of them is not the only thing that matters. We also need to be able to absorb them… move them from the digestive tract and into the body, where they can be used. Some nutrients are “fat soluble,” meaning that they need to be combined with fat in order to be utilized. This includes vitamins A, D, E and K… along with antioxidants like carotenoids. One study showed that adding avocado or avocado oil to either salad or salsa can increase antioxidant absorption by 2.6 to 15-fold (26). So… not only is avocado highly nutritious, it can dramatically increase the nutrient value of other plant foods that you are eating. This is an excellent reason to always include a healthy fat source when you eat veggies. Without it, a lot of the beneficial plant nutrients will go to waste.

Bottom Line: Studies have shown that eating avocado or avocado oil with veggies can dramatically increase the amount of antioxidants you take in. 8. Avocados Are Loaded With Powerful Antioxidants That Can Protect The Eyes Not only do avocados increase antioxidant absorption from other foods, they are also high in antioxidants themselves. This includes nutrients called Lutein and Zeaxanthin, which are incredibly important for eye health (27, 28). Studies show that these nutrients are linked to a drastically reduced risk of cataracts and macular degeneration, which are common in the elderly (29, 30). Therefore, eating avocados should have benefits for eye health over the long term.

Bottom Line: Avocados are high in antioxidants, including Lutein and Zeaxanthin. These nutrients are very important for eye health and lower the risk of macular degeneration and cataracts. 9. Avocado May Help Prevent Cancer There is limited evidence that avocado may be beneficial in preventing cancer. One study showed that it may help reduce side effects of chemotherapy in human lymphocytes (31). Avocado extract has also been shown to inhibit the growth of prostate cancer cells (32). However, keep in mind that these studies were done in isolated cells and don’t really prove anything about what happens in a living, breathing human.

Bottom Line: Some studies in isolated cells have shown that nutrients in avocados may have benefits in preventing prostate cancer, and lowering side effects of chemotherapy in some cells. 10. Avocado Extract May Help Relieve Symptoms of Arthritis Arthritis is a common problem in Western countries. There are many types of arthritis, and these are often chronic problems that people have for the rest of their lives. Multiple studies have shown that extracts from avocado and soybean oil, called Avocado and Soybean unsaponifiables, can reduce symptoms of arthritis of the bones, called osteoarthritis (33, 34). Whether avocados themselves can have this effect, and not just the extract, remains to be seen.

Bottom Line: Studies have shown that an extract from avocado and soybean oils can significantly reduce symptoms of osteoarthritis. 11. Eating Avocado May Help You Lose Weight There is some evidence that avocados are a weight loss friendly food. In one study, people were split into groups. One group was instructed to eat a meal that contained avocado, the other a similar meal without avocado. Then they were asked a series of questions related to hunger and satiety. The people eating the avocado felt 23% more satisfied and had a 28% lower desire to eat over the next 5 hours (35). If this holds true in the long-term, then including avocados in your diet could help you naturally eat fewer calories and have an easier time sticking to a healthy diet. Avocados are also high in fiber, and very low in carbs, two attributes that should also help promote weight loss, at least in the context of a healthy, real food based diet. 12. Avocado is Delicious and Easy to Incorporate in The Diet Not only are avocados healthy, they’re also incredibly delicious and go with all sorts of foods. You can add them to salads and various sorts of recipes, or you can simply scoop them out with a spoon and eat them plain. They have a creamy, rich, fatty texture and blend well with various other ingredients. A notable mention is guacamole, which is arguably the most famous use of avocados. It includes avocado along with ingredients like salt, garlic, lime and a few others depending on the recipe. An avocado often takes some time to ripen and it should feel slightly soft when ripe. The nutrients in avocado can oxidize soon after fleshing it, but if you add lemon juice then that shouldn’t happen as quickly. If you’re serious about adding avocado to your diet, then I highly recommend that you watch this video about how to pick, prepare and eat avocados. At the end of the day, avocados are an awesome food. They’re loaded with nutrients, many of which are lacking in the modern diet. They are weight loss friendly, heart healthy and… last but not least, taste incredible.

What more could you ask for in a food?

Here are some links to other articles: http://www.well-beingsecrets.com/health-benefits-of-avocado/ http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=5 https://draxe.com/avocado-benefits/

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

12 Proven Health Benefits of Avocado 12/26/2016 I found the below article while searching for a blog topic for today. I have slightly edited for ease of reading.

#holisticmedicine #holisticremedies #avocado #Blog #Diy #fruit #Gardening #health benefits #Holistic Remedies #nutrition #opinion

0 notes

flauntpage · 6 years

Text

Imagining an NBA Head Coach Draft

Any questions? Great! With all that out of the way, let the fun begin!

1. Chicago Bulls: Brad Stevens

Photo by Bob DeChiara - USA TODAY Sports

2. Atlanta Hawks: Erik Spoelstra

3. Dallas Mavericks: Mike D’Antoni

4. Sacramento Kings: Jason Kidd

Photo by Kelley L. Cox - USA TODAY Sports

From that standpoint, skipping steps would be a major mistake, and ensuring that De’Aaron Fox can be the crème de la crème of his loaded draft class should be a focal point.

5. Memphis Grizzlies: Tom Thibodeau

6. Phoenix Suns: Luke Walton

7. Los Angeles Lakers: Steve Kerr

8. Los Angeles Clippers: David Fizdale

9. Brooklyn Nets: Brett Brown

Photo by Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

10. Charlotte Hornets: Rick Carlisle

11. Orlando Magic: Quin Snyder

The Magic should be better on both ends than they currently are, and Snyder, in my opinion, is one of the five smartest minds in the league. If anyone can turn things around down there, it's him.

12. Oklahoma City Thunder: Gregg Popovich

Photo by Soobum Im - USA TODAY Sports

But these are things the Thunder probably need right now. Few people alive have the clout and stature to pull it off. Pop sits atop that list.

13. Miami Heat: Terry Stotts

14. New York Knicks: Stan Van Gundy

Imagining an NBA Head Coach Draft published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

0 notes