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jmunneytumbler · 2 years
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If You Were Promised Robots and Got 'After Yang,' What Would You Think?
After Yang (CREDIT: A24) Starring: Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Justin H. Min, Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, Haley Lu Richardson, Sarita Choudhury, Clifton Collins Jr., Ava DeMary, Brett Dier Director: Kogonada Running Time: 96 Minutes Rating: PG for A Mortality-Tinged Milieu Release Date: March 4, 2022 (Theaters and Showtime) After Yang opens with a really rousing dance number that…
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dailynewswebsite · 4 years
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Hopkins helps Cardinals rally past 49ers 24-20
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Kyler Murray used the brand new toy Arizona received him this offseason to get his second season off to a rousing begin.
Murray related on 14 passes to newcomer DeAndre Hopkins, together with the throw that arrange Kenyan Drake’s go-ahead 1-yard rating with 5:03 to play that led the Cardinals over the San Francisco 49ers 24-20 on Sunday.
Murray threw for 230 yards and a landing and ran for 91 yards and one other rating to assist the Cardinals overcome a pair of fourth-quarter deficits to beat the defending NFC champion 49ers in a smoky opener at an empty stadium.
”I knew we had one thing particular the day I walked into this constructing,” Hopkins stated. ”This staff works. How Kyler and this staff work. I have been round lots of nice folks and Kyler works prefer it’s his final day on this Earth … Nothing is a shock about what occurred at the moment.”
Hopkins was acquired in a commerce this offseason from Houston and took little time to make an affect. His 151 yards receiving made him one in every of 5 gamers with not less than 14 catches and 100 yards receiving within the season opener
His 33-yard cross to Hopkins received the ball all the way down to the 1 after which Drake ran it in on the following play to present Arizona the lead.
Jimmy Garoppolo led the 49ers all the way down to the 16 earlier than throwing an incomplete cross to Trent Taylor on fourth-and-5 that ended the comeback try.
”We had been in that scenario loads of occasions final 12 months,” Garoppolo stated. ”If you get in these conditions, clearly it is just a little completely different at the moment with out the gang, that game-day really feel wasn’t there. It simply comes all the way down to execution. Within the final minutes like that, each play is essential, each yard is essential. We simply did not execute.”
Garoppolo threw a 5-yard TD cross to Jerick McKinnon to present San Francisco a 20-17 lead with 8:38 to play earlier than Murray led a late comeback.
Murray had given the Cardinals the lead earlier within the fourth with a 22-yard scramble and his operating potential wore down San Francisco’s protection as the sport went on.
”That is probably the most proud I have been of him up to now as a result of that is a tricky protection,” coach Kliff Kingsbury stated. ”You get these monsters coming after you for 4 quarters, it isn’t straightforward to take a seat again there and proceed to hold within the pocket, proceed to make performs along with your toes and he simply saved preventing.”
Garoppolo completed 19 for 33 for 259 yards and two scores, additionally connecting on a 76-yarder to Raheem Mostert within the first quarter.
SMOKY SKIES
There had been concern all week in regards to the standing of the sport due to poor air circumstances from fires throughout Northern California. The Air High quality Index remained under the 200 threshold and the sport was performed as scheduled.
RACIAL JUSTICE
The 49ers stood on the objective line as a staff in the course of the taking part in of ”Raise Each Voice and Sing.” McKinnon and receiver Richie James Jr. kneeled in the course of the nationwide anthem. The Cardinals remained within the locker room for each.
BLOCKED
The Niners had been in command of the sport early with a 10-Zero lead till Ezekiel Turner broke by means of and blocked a punt by Mitch Wishnowsky. The Cardinals recovered on the 10 and scored on the following play on a cross from Murray to Chase Edmonds.
SAFETY FIRST
San Francisco received its first interception from a security in almost two years when Jaquiski Tartt got here up with a tip from teammate Dre Greenlaw. Tartt additionally had the earlier interception from a Niners security on Oct. 28, 2018, towards Arizona’s Josh Rosen.
SWITCHING SIDES
Niners CB Richard Sherman moved round and principally performed the extensive facet of the sphere quite than spending the day on the defensive left facet. In line with NFL Subsequent Gen Stats, Sherman had 23 snaps on the correct facet, almost twice as many as he had all final season. Hopkins had three catches for 22 yards on 15 performs going towards Sherman, in comparison with 10 catches for 96 yards towards Emmanuel Moseley.
INJURY REPORT
Cardinals: S Jalen Thompson left the sport with an ankle harm within the first half. … C Mason Cole left within the second half with a hamstring harm.
49ers: James left within the second half with a hamstring harm, leaving San Francisco with simply three wholesome receivers. … TE George Kittle performed the second half regardless of a lower-leg harm however wasn’t focused in 30 snaps after halftime.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: Host Washington on Sunday.
49ers: Go to New York Jets on Sunday.
Extra AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP-NFL
from Growth News https://growthnews.in/hopkins-helps-cardinals-rally-past-49ers-24-20/ via https://growthnews.in
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365footballorg-blog · 6 years
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Kick Off: RBNY take Shield, points record from ATL | Galaxy knocked out
Hate missing the Kick Off? Of course, you do. Sign up for The Kick Off e-mail.
October 29, 201811:35AM EDT
Here is everything you need to know about MLS and North American soccer today:
Red Bulls smash ‘n’ grab Shield, points record
The New York Red Bulls raised the Supporters’ Shield for the third time in six years after a 1-0 victory over Decision Day guests Orlando City. After missing a spot kick, Derrick Etienne Jr. regrouped to hit the winner that claimed the day’s big prize. READ MORE | RECAP
The Red Bulls were able to jump to the top at the final hurdle because Atlanta United were roughed up 4-1 at Toronto FC. Charles Boehm notes that Decision Day was largely owned by a pack of spoilers led by the Reds, who left the Five Stripes kicking themselves for blowing a shot at the club’s first trophy. READ MORE | RECAP
Sporting KC are kings of the West
Sporting KC won the West on Sunday with a 2-1 home triumph that knocked LAFC down to the third playoff seed. Daniel Salloi broke a deadlock 18 minutes from time to hand the hosts their first conference crown since 2012. RECAP
Galaxy can’t keep lead, playoffs slip away
The news was far worse for the LA Galaxy, who squandered a two-goal halftime lead to suffer the 3-2 home defeat to Houston that kept them out of the playoffs. The defensive breakdowns and failure to capitalize on chances left the Galaxy devastated by the reality of missing the postseason for the second year in a row. READ MORE | RECAP
Sounders secure Knockout Round bye
Raul Ruidiaz netted a brace over the final 11 minutes to help Seattle grab second in the West with a 2-1 home win against San Jose. A fair word of warning to all potential MLS Cup foes: the Sounders enter the postseason with five straight victories to cap a 14-2-0 closing kick. RECAP
FC Dallas missed out on second in the West, settling for fourth due to a 2-1 collapse loss at Colorado. Cole Bassett and Tommy Smith netted in the final 10 minutes to flip the result. RECAP
#FarewellPhonzie: Davies’ spectacular sendoff
Vancouver finished the regular season just two points short of the playoff party following a 2-1 Cascadia derby defeat of Decision Day visitors Portland. Alphonso Davies scored both Whitecaps goals to enjoy a rousing BC Place send-off before heading to Bayern Munich. READ MORE | RECAP
D.C. steal a home game, NYCFC secure theirs
D.C. United’s thrilling playoff chase has officially ended with them taking fourth in the East after a scoreless draw at Chicago. The visitors did get a top-shelf display from recovered right back Nick DeLeon, who was making just his second start in five months. RECAP
Three first-half goals seemingly busted New York City FC out of their autumn slumber as they cruised to clinch third place in the East by topping Sunday guests Philadelphia, 3-1. Aside from slipping to sixth place for the reward of an instant Knockout Round return to Yankee Stadium, the Union also have a player bust-up over field responsibilities to clear up before the playoffs start. READ MORE | RECAP
Zardes trick locks in Crew SC slot
Columbus went into Sunday’s regular-season closer worrying about their playoff spot, but ended up rising instead of falling thanks to a 3-2 victory over guests Minnesota United FC. Gyasi Zardes scored the first two goals of the game, and after the Loons rallied to tie, also bagged the 83rd-minute winner. RECAP
Their sole competitors for the spot going into the Decision Day, Montreal, abandoned all playoff hope with a 1-0 loss at New England. Matt Turner shined on his return to the Revs net and Diego Fagundez netted his 50th-career MLS goal with 16 minutes left to take the points. RECAP
On to the Knockout Round!
The midweek match-ups to open the 2018 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs are now set, compelling Armchair Analyst Matt Doyle to offer up a capsule look at all eight participants. Meanwhile, Ben Baer has filed early previews for all four Knockout Round games. READ MORE | EARLY PREVIEW
Bracket Challenge: Make your picks!
Now that the field is set, you can show off your MLS knowledge and make your picks in the Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs Bracket Challenge. You could win season tickets to your club or even an exhilarating VIP Audi driving experience for two! MORE INFO
MLSsoccer.com Must-Watch
Jimmy Conrad joins Match Day Central for the Decision Day wrap
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Kick Off: RBNY take Shield, points record from ATL | Galaxy knocked out was originally published on 365 Football
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fashiontrendin-blog · 6 years
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20 Famous Speeches That Will Make You A Better Man
http://fashion-trendin.com/20-famous-speeches-that-will-make-you-a-better-man/
20 Famous Speeches That Will Make You A Better Man
From Winston Churchill to Malala Yousafzai, history is awash with inspirational speeches spoken by great men and women. Naturally, though, not all speeches are created equal. You need only look at the orations of certain current political figures to notice that sometimes, when people speak, they really aren’t saying anything at all.
Luckily, everyone on this list not only has a point worth making, they deliver it with rare elegance, grace, and often humour. Whether you’re searching for best man speech inspiration, or simply looking to become a more rounded individual, there’s plenty here to serve as inspiration. And if your favourite speech is Mel Gibson’s pre-battle “Freeeedom!” call to arms in Braveheart, this is the list for you.
1. Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat
Winston Churchill
Britain’s most popular Prime Minister (sorry Theresa) is perhaps most famous for his rousing soliloquies on defiance in the face of adversity. Naturally, the most memorable of his speeches were given during his first run in the top job, from 10 May 1940 to 26 July 1945. Inheriting a tough job just as World War II was heating up (we’ve all seen Darkest Hour, right?) Churchill delivered his “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat” speech to a parliament less than convinced that he was actually the right person to lead Britain to victory.
In it, he sets out his stall and explains the make-up of his new government. The most famous bit, though, comes towards the end: “You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory. Victory at all costs —Victory in spite of all terror — Victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.” Not bad for his first speech in the job.
The lesson: Stick to your guns, even when those around you doubt your capabilities
2. Royal Wedding Sermon
Bishop Michael Curry
A passionate African-American preacher giving the sermon at a British royal wedding? It’s sad that in 2018 this seemed so radical. But judging by the much-memed expressions of certain guests, Bishop Michael Curry’s sermon was exactly the shake-up the establishment needed. And what a sermon it was. Focusing on “the power of love” (no, we’re not talking Frankie Goes To Hollywood), Curry’s speech reminded everyone that there’s nothing to be ashamed about when it comes to the warm fuzzies and that we’d all benefit from letting a little compassion into our lives. Well, it was a wedding, after all.
The lesson: “There’s power in love” obviously
3. I Have A Dream
Martin Luther King Jr.
This 1963 speech is perhaps the most famous speech in history. As King explains, it should be “self-evident that all men are created equal.” But, over half a century later, can we really say that King’s dream has come true? With #BlackLivesMatter today equally as vital as King’s campaigns, and less inclusive reforms taking place across the West, you might argue that we’re someway off. It’s worth, then, reacquainting yourself with King’s words, and seeing what you can do to help bring about equality between men, women and non-binary people of all creeds and colours. Because, occasionally, dreams do come true.
The lesson: Love thy neighbour, and keep fighting the good fight
4. That Rock N Roll
Alex Turner
The Arctic Monkey’s third Brit Awards win for both best British Band and Best British album made them unique among their peers. It’s understandable, then, for thinking Alex Turner – a real rock star, no less – might be a trifle tired of accepting awards from the pop-promoting awards body. His 2014 speech, in which he references rock n roll emerging from the slime may have had people making jokes about “rockstars in the toilet, practising their lines”, but to mock Turner is to miss the point. And the grins his bandmates are trying to hide. Let’s have a bit more mic-dropping, and a bit less Ed Sheeran. That rock n roll, eh?
The lesson: Don’t take yourself too seriously
5. Ich Bin Ein Berliner
JFK
The US President’s 1963 address to West Berlin crowds, against the backdrop of the Berlin Wall, is often considered the Cold War’s most important speech. In it, Kennedy rallies the hearts and minds of the West against the tyranny of communism. The US will stand strong with the residents of West Berlin – a people surrounded on all sides by the Russian-held half of Germany.
So strong is JFK’s dedication that he wants to declare himself an actual Berliner. Their pain is his. And their strength is his. What he actually does is declare himself a “jelly donut” in the local parlance. Which only serves to make him seem even more likeable. Bloody Google Translate…
The lesson: Make sure you’ve got the local lingo down
6. Abolition Speech
William Wilberforce
When Yorkshire man William Wilberforce stood before the British House of Commons in 1789, slavery was still very much alive and well in the UK and her overseas colonies. It took some guts, then, to denounce the trade in human lives and freedoms as wretched and shameful. He asked for “cool and impartial reason”, and claimed that every single person in the House was guilty of compliance. Twenty years later, the Slave Trade Act of 1807 was passed, but the trade was not abolished until 1833. Wilberforce, by then retired from Parliament, died aged 76, just three days after hearing the the abolition act had been passed.
The lesson: If something’s worth fighting for, it’s worth being in it for the long haul
7. Quit India
Gandhi
India was the jewel of the British Empire, but enforced colonial rule could not last. When Britain refused to let India form its own government, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi – leader of the Indian Independence Movement – sought to rally the people with this famous 1942 speech. In it, he urged the people of India to come together, and resist, without violence.
“Ours is not a drive for power, but purely a non-violent fight for India’s independence.”
A long five years later, Gandhi achieved his aims when India claimed its independence in 1947.
The lesson: Words will always be more powerful than a fist
8. The Decision To Go To The Moon
JFK
Delivered to a crowd at Rice Stadium, Houston on 12th September 1962, JFK’s address was designed to persuade the average American to support the effort to land a man on the moon. It was a resounding success, and simply historic in the scope and scale of the ambition it outlines. The payoff came on 20th July 1969, when Apollo 11 became the first manned mission to the moon, changing the game for good. A must-see for any manager or general trying to rouse the troops.
The lesson: The sky is no longer the limit
9. Barack Out
Barack Obama
A president with style, charisma and comic timing is a rare thing. Even more so these days. But, in his final speech at his last White House Correspondent’s dinner, Barry O is fantastic throughout, referencing Game of Thrones, shouting out Michelle and poking fun at his future. You’ll watch between your fingers though, as he hints that Hilary is a sure thing for the next presidency. Oh, and bill him for the mic. A masterclass in how to bow out with grace, even when everything seems like it’s going down the pan.
The lesson: Always leave in style
10. The Power Of Sport
Nelson Mandela
You might think that after 28 years in prison, Nelson Mandela would have bigger fish to fry than encouraging the youth of South Africa to take up sport. But, as anyone who’s seen Invictus knows, Mandela saw sport as a way of unifying his country, and instilling national pride in people of all creeds and colours. In this sports awards speech, he says simply that sport has “the power to inspire… the power to unite people in a way that little else does… sport can create hope where once there was only despair… it is more powerful than governments.”
The lesson: Don’t write off something that gives you happiness
11. The Fringe Benefits Of Failure…
J. K. Rowling
And The Importance Of Imagination. Good title. And J.K’s speech at Harvard University is just as inspiring as it sounds. After a round of jokes to get the audience warmed up (with only a handful of Harry Potter references, just in case you forgot) J.K. gets down to brass tacks: the importance of failure, and compromise. She talks of how her parents pushed her into a vocational degree, believing English Literature would never pay the bills. But while that turned out to be far from the case, her point is that life is difficult to control, and whatever path you set off down, you never know where you’ll end up. Magic.
The lesson: Go with the flow
12. Worldwide Access To Education
Malala Yousafzai
After being shot in the head by the Taliban, standing up and addressing the UN must be a doddle, right? Yeah, right. But, if she was as terrified as we would be, 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai did not show it for a second as she recounted her story, and asked for better education for children throughout the world so that we might welcome a more enlightened future.
The key, though, is to forgive and search for new ways to solve problems. In Malala’s words: “I do not even hate the Talib who shot me. Even if there is a gun in my hand and he stands in front of me, I would not shoot him… This is the philosophy of non-violence that I have learnt from Gandhi Jee, Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa. And this is the forgiveness that I have learnt from my mother and father. This is what my soul is telling me, be peaceful and love everyone.”
A masterclass in bravery, and fighting for what’s right.
The lesson: Education and compassion are the key to greatness
13. Questioning The Universe
Stephen Hawking
A TED talk from Stephen Hawking? Yes, you are so lucky. In this 2008 speech, Hawking raises the biggest questions in the universe and tries to help us find answers. Are we alone in the universe? Where did life come from? And what is the future of the human race? Was there anything before the Big Bang? You’ll have to watch to find out.
The lesson: Always stay curious
14. How To Live Before You Die
Steve Jobs
In his 2005 speech at Stanford University, a very different type of genius tells three simple stories. The first is the story of his adoption, the second about getting fired from Apple – the company he started – and the third about death. Each morning, Jobs said, he woke up and asked himself if he’d be happy doing what he had to do that day if he only had a few days left. “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.” Just six years later, Jobs would indeed be dead, and it’s hard to say he didn’t live by his words each and every day.
The lesson: You have nothing to lose
15. Fall Forward
Denzel Washington
In 2011 Denzel addressed the University of Pennsylvania. His message: “Every failed experiment is one step closer to success.” According to Denz, it’s a fact that you will fail, lose and embarrass yourself – that’s inevitable. What matters is what you do after you’ve failed. In other words, keep on showing up.
The lesson: There’s no such thing as a mistake, just an opportunity to learn
16. Freedom or Death
Emmeline Pankhurst
Speaking in Hartford, Connecticut on 13th November 1913, the suffragette leader took no prisoners in her call for women to be treated as equal members of society, whatever it takes:
“We were called militant, and we were quite willing to accept the name. We were determined to press this question of the enfranchisement of women to the point where we were no longer to be ignored by the politicians… We wear no mark; we belong to every class; we permeate every class of the community from the highest to the lowest; and so you see in the woman’s civil war the dear men of my country are discovering it is absolutely impossible to deal with it: you cannot locate it, and you cannot stop it.”
Right on.
The lesson: Equality above all else
17. This Is Water Speech
David Foster Wallace
The late, great writer begins his speech with “If anyone feels like perspiring, I’d invite you to go ahead, because I’m certainly going to.” And it only gets better from there. His subject is, well, banal platitudes, and how they do, sometimes, have meaning – all told through the dissection of the traditional commencement speech. This might take a few watches but it’ll stay with you afterwards.
The lesson: We’re all part of something bigger
18. MUM Commencement Address
Jim Carrey
Continuing the trend of actors speaking to students, the comedian gave the commencement speech to the Maharishi University of Management’s class of 2014. Sure, there are some wild tangents, but the core of the speech sees Carrey at his most tender, touting the benefits of soft-serve ice cream, and the degree to which fear will have a role in your life. Most of us, he says, choose our path out of fear disguised as practicality.
But there’s no point in doing so. He talks about his father choosing to be an accountant instead of pursuing a career as a comedian, only to later be made redundant. The lesson he imparted to Carrey junior is that you may as well take a chance, because you can always fail doing what you don’t love.
The lesson: Take a chance, because you can still fail even if you play it safe
19. Commencement Address Agnes Scott College
Kurt Vonnegut
One of history’s most unique writers brings his peculiar take on life to the 1999 Agnes Scott College commencement address. What’s most touching is how thankful he is for education, and the possibilities awaiting new students: “Thanks to you, the forces of ignorance and brutality have lost again.” He also quotes from Robert Browning, “A [wo]man’s reach always exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?” Beautiful words from two beautiful writers. Including the best advice of all time from Vonnegut: “Wear sunscreen”.
The lesson: The possibilities of the future are endless, if you have the courage to embrace them
20. Speech to the Troops at Tilbury
Queen Elizabeth I
Before Liz The Second, Britain had OG Liz, and some say she was the country’s finest queen. Case in point: on the eve of a decisive battle against Spanish forces in 1588, Elizabeth spoke to her troops on the front line:
“I am come amongst you… not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live and die amongst you all; to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust… I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field.”
Her willingness to fight and toil alongside her soldiers was rare enough at the time (least of all for a woman) but even more so now. A truly inspirational leader.
The lesson: Lead by example, and leave it all on the line
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flauntpage · 7 years
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The Outlet Pass: Butler's Sacrifice, a Fun Cavs Trade, Oubre's Evolution
With tomorrow being Thanksgiving (Happy Thanksgiving!), The Outlet Pass has arrived one day earlier than normal this week. Enjoy!
1. In Honor of Thanksgiving, Here’s a Fake Trade We Can All Be Thankful For
Cleveland gets: Marc Gasol Memphis gets: Brooklyn’s first-round pick in 2018, Tristan Thompson, and Iman Shumpert
When Gasol first signed his five-year $110 million deal nearly two and half years ago, popular thought was father time would tarnish it sooner than later. This was something the Memphis Grizzlies had to do, even while fully understanding the odds-on risk attached. (A broken foot suffered the following February increased the likelihood of it being a sunk cost.)
Instead, at 33 years old and in his 10th season, with a new coach, overhauled system, and personal submission to the three-point line, Gasol is still kicking as a borderline All-Star, albeit one whose crater-sized impact in Memphis isn’t as expansive as it used to be.
According to Synergy Sports, Gasol is currently the least efficient player in the league when he gets double-teamed in the post. Some of this is thanks to a small sample size, diminishing athleticism and curbed quickness, but his surrounding personnel deserves a smidge of blame, too. Even though some of their shooting percentages are up, opposing teams are still open to doubling off Chandler Parsons, Tyreke Evans, James Ennis, Dillon Brooks, and the rest of Memphis’ roster.
A move to Cleveland would do freaking wonders for Gasol’s one-on-one game. The attention LeBron James demands is unrivaled, and picturing those two surrounded by three dead-eye snipers—like Kyle Korver, J.R. Smith, Kevin Love, healthy Isaiah Thomas, or Jae Crowder—is a daydream. James has never played with someone like Gasol: A pass-first center who can space the floor, anchor an excellent defense, and singlehandedly create open threes on the weakside when he goes to work on the block.
And just think about the lineups Ty Lue could utilize with LeBron on the bench. Gasol and Love, by themselves, could become the NBA’s mightiest frontcourt tandem this side of New Orleans. Gasol helps in a likely Finals rematch against the Golden State Warriors in a way very few players can. He’s a savant on both ends.
The risk in trading a lottery pick for any player who can opt out of his contract in 2019, let alone a declining 33-year-old who plays the league’s least attractive position and would have to sacrifice a whole bunch of touches overnight, is an obvious risk—even if said pick is owned by a Brooklyn Nets squad that figures to finish with the sixth or seventh worst record and not the first or second.
But let’s play out one possible scenario if they don’t make a seismic trade: Cleveland adds a borderline-washed-up buyout candidate, loses in the Eastern Conference Finals or Finals, lands the sixth pick, watches LeBron leave in free agency, and is bad forever. If surrendering the Brooklyn pick for someone like Gasol is possible, then convincing James to stay is the right move.
Meanwhile, Memphis should do this in a heartbeat. Injuries around the Western Conference are keeping their playoff odds on a respirator, but Mike Conley’s weary Achilles tendon isn’t really allowing them to make up much ground. They’ve lost five in a row and eight of their last ten, with an offense that ranks 22nd despite them never, ever turning the ball over.
The smart long-term play here is to squeeze as much as they can get for Gasol, then rebuild around two lottery picks, with one potentially landing in the top five, in a five-player draft. They can also move on from Thompson and maybe even get a late first-rounder for his service as well. Memphis already has its own top-eight-protected first-round pick headed to Boston in 2019 (which becomes unprotected in 2021), so the best time to replenish their roster with high-upside youth is today.
2. Victor Oladipo…
Photo by Steve Mitchell - USA TODAY Sports
...has more points than Anthony Davis, Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving, Paul George, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, Karl-Anthony Towns, John Wall, and...Russell Westbrook. The Indiana Pacers have had a top-10 offense all year long despite not having Myles Turner (the dude everyone expected to be their best player) for seven games. Oladipo deserves a statue.
3. It’s Time to Expand Kelly Oubre Jr.’s Role
The Wizards are an obscenely dominant basketball team when John Wall, Bradley Beal, Otto Porter, and Kelly Oubre Jr. share the floor, outscoring opponents by 22 points per 100 possessions. This makes sense. Three of those players are on a max contract and the fourth is a 21-year-old southpaw who’s shooting 47 percent from above the break.
Washington knows what it has with its three best players, but Oubre Jr.’s growth is the variable worth watching. Right now he’s still raw and able to impact games with his athleticism, energy, and length. But knowing the ball ultimately starts in Wall or Beal’s hands—particularly throughout the postseason—it’s worth wondering what type of developmental path Washington should try and set their moldable Sixth Man on.
Oubre Jr. has only run a handful of pick-and-rolls this season, and, to nobody’s surprise, whenever he does dribble off a screen and try to make a play his timing and vision are both a little off.
Despite a leap in playing time, his assist to usage ratio is still near the bottom at his position (and down from where it was last season). He averages as many potential assists per game as DeAndre Jordan—fewer than Steven Adams and Tyson Chandler—and his 20.9 passes per game are fifth fewest in the entire league among all players who average at least 25 minutes.
This doesn’t make him selfish. Oubre Jr. is happy and willing to swing the ball and forfeit his own good shot so a teammate can have a better one. His job is to finish plays instead of start them, but given Washington’s routine bench struggles, it’d be a godsend if Oubre Jr. could quickly grow to become a reliable secondary or primary ball-handler when Wall and Beal both rest.
If the organization’s plan is to win with this foursome leading the way, the Wizards would be wrong to clone another Porter instead of encouraging Oubre Jr. to become a more versatile offensive weapon. In about eight fewer minutes per game, he touches the ball less than Jeff Green. It isn’t too early to diversify Oubre Jr.’s responsibilities. When you’re a good team that knows it’ll make the playoffs, that’s exactly what the regular season is for.
4. Everyone is Surprised by Portland’s Secret Weapon Except LeBron James
Last week, the Portland Trail Blazers decided to turn back the hands of time by deploying Jusuf Nurkic and Caleb Swanigan in their starting lineup. The mammoth-sized duo was a predictable disaster, clogging up driving lanes for C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard, preventing either big from having as much room to operate in the post, and creating at least one mismatch on the defensive end that could be exploited by a more modernized frontcourt.
Despite going 2-1 during this week-long experiment—that was partly induced by injuries elsewhere on the roster—Portland consistently found itself in a hole from the jump, causing Blazers head coach Terry Stotts to start the third quarter of last Wednesday’s win over the Orlando Magic with Pat Connaughton, instead of Swanigan, on the court—a game-saving halftime adjustment. (Stotts’s final straw came two nights later when the Blazers scored 82 points in a very bad loss against the Sacramento Kings. Noah Vonleh has started at the four since.)
The buried lede here is that while Portland struggled to score trotting out two slow frontcourt players who don’t complement one another in any way, what they discovered during this same stretch is a three-guard unit that could be their secret weapon.
Lillard and McCollum are an obvious staple that create myriad headaches for the opposition. Throw Shabazz Napier into the mix and it’s pandemonium. The trio only played 20 minutes last season, but in 38 minutes this year they’ve blitzed opponents by 38 points per 100 possessions.
Last summer, Evan Turner was paid a handsome sum to be the ball-handler who could enable Portland’s two franchise guards to work off the ball, decimate opponents off screens and rouse panic by setting paralyzing picks for each other on the weakside. He can still do that, especially from the block when backing down smaller defenders. But replace Turner with Napier and install a versatile wing like Mo Harkless or Al-Farouq Aminu at the four, and all of a sudden the court becomes a hornet’s nest.
The offensive upside is clear: three ball handlers who can shoot, drive, and pass, constantly racing around to kick dirt in your eyes, is hard to slow down. But so far (small-sample-size alert!) they’ve also been able to hold their own on the defensive end, in part because Napier plays like an unswattable mosquito whose hands and feet never stop moving.
But there are limits to being “frisky” when you aren’t catching an opponent off guard, and some of their success is because Napier’s three-point percentage is actively burning a hole in the ozone layer. That doesn’t mean this speedy triad should be demoted or even stuffed in glass as a “Break-in-Case-of-Emergency” axe. Stotts should ride this unique group as long as he can, knowing few teams have the personnel to match up with it on both ends.
5. Jimmy Butler is Sacrificing Too Much
The Timberwolves are not the NBA’s most disappointing team. Since November 1st, they own a top-10 defense, and for the whole season they’re outscoring opponents by 6.8 points per 100 possessions when Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson share the floor. But this team, at 10-7, feels disappointing.
They’ve yet to find a way to synchronize their overwhelming talent in a way that accentuates each individual’s skill-set, and startling losses against the Phoenix Suns and Detroit Pistons (a game they should’ve won, considering they were home, with a day of rest, against a team that’d just dropped two in a row) have been the result.
Given his contract situation, past performance, and high expectations, Butler’s struggle to look like himself is probably the team’s largest concern. Nobody should’ve expected a fluid overnight fit, but 15 games into his seventh season, the three-time All-Star has yet to find any rhythm in a system he’s already familiar with. Sacrifice is wonderful and necessary, but the degree to which Butler has altered his role to appease Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Jeff Teague is a little excessive.
What’s best for him is probably also best for the Timberwolves. Instead, watching him play he looks out of rhythm, like he doesn’t know when to hunt and when to be passive. The degree of difficulty in some of Butler’s scoring situations has been higher than it should be, too, given the influx of talent by his side. Last year, 17.1 percent of Butler’s shots were hoisted when the shot clock was “late” or “very late,” according to NBA.com. This year, that’s up to 25.9 percent. He has more catch-and-shoot opportunities, which sounds nice but has never been his strength.
According to Synergy Sports, Butler’s possessions as a pick-and-roll ball-handler are down 11 percent from last season. What was once a tool he used to carve defenses up has been more of a dull blade.
Butler’s usage is down, he’s touching the ball 11 fewer times per game, his turnover rate is at a career high, and his free-throw rate is at a career low. That last point is crucial. What initially elevated Butler to an elite level was his ability to draw contact and live at the line. Last season, he was fouled on 20.1 percent of his shots, which ranked in the 98th percentile among all wings. That percentage is currently half what it was. (A plethora of pull-up twos are acceptable when you live at the free-throw line; he’s not quite Tobias Harris, but trending in that direction.)
So much of this is because Minnesota’s roster simply isn’t conducive for a slash-first-ask-questions-later bulldog like Butler. His drives to the basket are now more complicated than Catherine Zeta-Jones vs. one million lasers, in large part because defenses are ready and willing to help off a majority of his teammates.
There are few in-house alterations that can make life easier for Butler, but he hardly ever plays with Nemanja Bjelica (who, ho-hum, is the most accurate three-point shooter in the league right now); in the 52 minutes they’ve shared the floor Minnesota has obliterated everything. (General side note: Gibson has been awesome but Gorgui Dieng and Shabazz Muhammad have not—play Bjelica more often Thibs!)
There’s no need to panic in Minnesota. But youth, lack of shooting, and non-existent depth at the wing are concerns they’ll have to navigate the rest of the season. Putting the ball in Butler’s hands more often won’t solve them, but Jamal Crawford, Teague, and Wiggins should not have a higher usage rate than he does.
Among all players who’ve seen the floor for about the same or fewer minutes than Butler this season, Evan Fournier, Jayson Tatum, Tim Hardaway Jr., Jeremy Lamb, Will Barton, and Bojan Bogdanovic have all scored more points. Something needs to change.
6. Toronto’s Offense Is Official
Despite struggles in the clutch, which reflect a reversion back to the isolation-heavy, late-shot-clock-heaving approach that hurts them so much when it matters most, Toronto’s offense is quietly morphing into an unselfish monster.
Last season, the Raptors ranked dead last in assist rate. (They were 28th in November during the 2016-17 season.) This year, they’re up to 14th, with 17 more passes per game. They’re 14th in pace (up from 22nd last season), shooting way fewer long twos and a lot more threes. Paths to the rim are wider and open more frequently. The result? They rank fourth in offense and third in effective field goal percentage.
It’s growth in real time, partly due to the infusion of youth from guys like OG Anunoby (the most underrated rookie in an abnormally loaded class), Fred VanVleet (whose name I thought was “Van Fleet” for about two years), Delon Wright (who just dislocated his shoulder), and a few others.
Toronto’s two lynch pins are doing their part and C.J. Miles is flashing Ryan Anderson-esque range. The ball moves better when DeMar DeRozan isn’t on the floor, but that’s also when their offensive rating drops to its lowest point. Probably because the guy’s footwork makes it look like he’s hovering two inches above the court at all times.
DeRozan jacked up three shots beyond the arc in the opening minutes of Sunday’s win against the Wall-less Wizards. While still low, his three-point rate is exactly double what it was last season. They aren't perfect, but Toronto's evolutionary shot profile makes them the second-best team in the Eastern Conference.
7. Orlando Treats the Three-Point Line With Too Much Reverence
The Magic should shine on defense. They have athletes who excel at key positions and a coach who’s known for extracting brick-wall execution from much less physical ability.
But after a hot start shooting the ball, Orlando’s defense has become one of the league’s 10 worst. Part of that’s due to injuries up and down the roster, and high usage big men—like Nikola Vucevic—who have known limitations. But a bit of their struggle can be explained by an aggressive “stay home!” attitude towards the three-point line.
Orlando’s defenders, as twitchy as most of them are, have been directed to form a permanent fence at the arc. They don’t allow swing passes to open threats on the weakside and aim to make outside shooters feel claustrophobic. According to Cleaning The Glass, Orlando holds its opponents to a 27 percent three-point rate, which is second-lowest in the league. And from there, the strategy of always being in position to contest outside shots has worked pretty well, with opponents only making 34.5 percent of their threes (though that’s likely a bit more happenstance than strategic ingenuity).
On the surface, this is a rousing success! But in reality it’s like they’re hermetically sealing a body part that actually needs reconstructive surgery. Here’s an example:
At the top, Aaron Gordon does a good job keeping Joe Ingles from getting to the middle of the floor, leaping up and forcing him left. But as the Australian swingman drives towards Vucevic, neither Elfrid Payton nor Evan Fournier pinch in to tag the rolling Derrick Favors. Instead, they treat Raul Neto and Donovan Mitchell like they’re Splash Brothers when, actually, they're Raul Neto and Donovan Mitchell. Favors snatches Ingles’s pocket pass and finishes with an easy dunk.
The moral of the story: Personnel matters. It’s great that the Magic are executing their coach’s scheme and denying three-point attempts en mass in a league that’s filled with teams that are obsessed with that exact shot, but nothing will ever be more efficient than a layup, and nobody is allowing more of those than the Magic.
8. The Willie Cauley-Stein Bandwagon Has Plenty of Room
Photo by Brad Penner - USA TODAY Sports
I will forever believe that Willie Cauley-Stein is a useful, if not good, basketball player. He’s my personal equivalent to how a specific segment of NBA Twitter once felt (feels?) about Anthony Randolph. If Cauley-Stein was, like, seven percent more confident and nine percent more aggressive, with a point guard who draws attention, manipulates back-line rotations, and can shoot, he’d be Steven Adams.
Cauley-Stein actually made a three last week, too, and is one of a few centers who’s defended Joel Embiid without much help and not been steamrolled in the process. I want nothing more than to see him develop outside of Sacramento, not sharing the court with Zach Randolph and Kosta Koufos. Is that too much to ask?
9. You Can’t Help But Respect Carmelo Anthony’s Commitment to Being Carmelo Anthony
Before clarifying is words and backtracking from the belief that he, Paul George, and Russell Westbrook need to be more selfish in order for the Oklahoma City Thunder to find offensive nirvana, Carmelo Anthony concluded that he and his two All-Star teammates are instinctive players who need to be more instinctive.
Even though his instincts have been wrong for quite some time, that’s a perfectly fine thing to believe. But if I played for the Thunder and read this quote, I'd refrain from ever passing him the ball. On top of a defensive demeanor that exudes the same amount of energy and attention I used to display on Thanksgiving morning throughout my early 20’s*, Anthony’s assist to usage ratio is only higher than nine percent of fellow forwards around the NBA. He could wear wide receiver gloves sprayed with stickum for an entire quarter and nobody would notice the difference.
*The below isn’t a great reflection of Oklahoma City’s collective effort, but Anthony somehow manages to make everyone else look like they're hustling their ass off. He airballs a jumper and then backpedals to midcourt as the rest of his teammates turn to run.
Salute.
10. Donovan Mitchell’s Audaciousness Is Inspiring
The Utah Jazz are in a sad place, but, on the bright side, they also have Donovan Mitchell, a fearless firecracker with more responsibilities on his plate than any rookie on a decent team should. Just look at this wraparound pass to Rodney Hood, the finishing touch on Utah’s execution of a Hammer action.
Freeze the clip at the exact moment the ball leaves his fingertips. Even though Mitchell knows Hood is about to (probably) spring free in the corner, it still must feel a little scary to sidearm a ball the length of the baseline towards empty space. It arrives a little low, but that's nitpicking. This was hard and he made it look easy.
Most of the 21-year-old’s offensive numbers are dreadful, but bold, trustworthy traits seen in sequences like this are enough to convince me the Jazz have a keeper.
The Outlet Pass: Butler's Sacrifice, a Fun Cavs Trade, Oubre's Evolution published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv
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The Outlet Pass: Butler’s Sacrifice, a Fun Cavs Trade, Oubre’s Evolution
With tomorrow being Thanksgiving (Happy Thanksgiving!), The Outlet Pass has arrived one day earlier than normal this week. Enjoy!
1. In Honor of Thanksgiving, Here’s a Fake Trade We Can All Be Thankful For
Cleveland gets: Marc Gasol Memphis gets: Brooklyn’s first-round pick in 2018, Tristan Thompson, and Iman Shumpert
When Gasol first signed his five-year $110 million deal nearly two and half years ago, popular thought was father time would tarnish it sooner than later. This was something the Memphis Grizzlies had to do, even while fully understanding the odds-on risk attached. (A broken foot suffered the following February increased the likelihood of it being a sunk cost.)
Instead, at 33 years old and in his 10th season, with a new coach, overhauled system, and personal submission to the three-point line, Gasol is still kicking as a borderline All-Star, albeit one whose crater-sized impact in Memphis isn’t as expansive as it used to be.
According to Synergy Sports, Gasol is currently the least efficient player in the league when he gets double-teamed in the post. Some of this is thanks to a small sample size, diminishing athleticism and curbed quickness, but his surrounding personnel deserves a smidge of blame, too. Even though some of their shooting percentages are up, opposing teams are still open to doubling off Chandler Parsons, Tyreke Evans, James Ennis, Dillon Brooks, and the rest of Memphis’ roster.
A move to Cleveland would do freaking wonders for Gasol’s one-on-one game. The attention LeBron James demands is unrivaled, and picturing those two surrounded by three dead-eye snipers—like Kyle Korver, J.R. Smith, Kevin Love, healthy Isaiah Thomas, or Jae Crowder—is a daydream. James has never played with someone like Gasol: A pass-first center who can space the floor, anchor an excellent defense, and singlehandedly create open threes on the weakside when he goes to work on the block.
And just think about the lineups Ty Lue could utilize with LeBron on the bench. Gasol and Love, by themselves, could become the NBA’s mightiest frontcourt tandem this side of New Orleans. Gasol helps in a likely Finals rematch against the Golden State Warriors in a way very few players can. He’s a savant on both ends.
The risk in trading a lottery pick for any player who can opt out of his contract in 2019, let alone a declining 33-year-old who plays the league’s least attractive position and would have to sacrifice a whole bunch of touches overnight, is an obvious risk—even if said pick is owned by a Brooklyn Nets squad that figures to finish with the sixth or seventh worst record and not the first or second.
But let’s play out one possible scenario if they don’t make a seismic trade: Cleveland adds a borderline-washed-up buyout candidate, loses in the Eastern Conference Finals or Finals, lands the sixth pick, watches LeBron leave in free agency, and is bad forever. If surrendering the Brooklyn pick for someone like Gasol is possible, then convincing James to stay is the right move.
Meanwhile, Memphis should do this in a heartbeat. Injuries around the Western Conference are keeping their playoff odds on a respirator, but Mike Conley’s weary Achilles tendon isn’t really allowing them to make up much ground. They’ve lost five in a row and eight of their last ten, with an offense that ranks 22nd despite them never, ever turning the ball over.
The smart long-term play here is to squeeze as much as they can get for Gasol, then rebuild around two lottery picks, with one potentially landing in the top five, in a five-player draft. They can also move on from Thompson and maybe even get a late first-rounder for his service as well. Memphis already has its own top-eight-protected first-round pick headed to Boston in 2019 (which becomes unprotected in 2021), so the best time to replenish their roster with high-upside youth is today.
2. Victor Oladipo…
Photo by Steve Mitchell – USA TODAY Sports
…has more points than Anthony Davis, Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving, Paul George, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, Karl-Anthony Towns, John Wall, and…Russell Westbrook. The Indiana Pacers have had a top-10 offense all year long despite not having Myles Turner (the dude everyone expected to be their best player) for seven games. Oladipo deserves a statue.
3. It’s Time to Expand Kelly Oubre Jr.’s Role
The Wizards are an obscenely dominant basketball team when John Wall, Bradley Beal, Otto Porter, and Kelly Oubre Jr. share the floor, outscoring opponents by 22 points per 100 possessions. This makes sense. Three of those players are on a max contract and the fourth is a 21-year-old southpaw who’s shooting 47 percent from above the break.
Washington knows what it has with its three best players, but Oubre Jr.’s growth is the variable worth watching. Right now he’s still raw and able to impact games with his athleticism, energy, and length. But knowing the ball ultimately starts in Wall or Beal’s hands—particularly throughout the postseason—it’s worth wondering what type of developmental path Washington should try and set their moldable Sixth Man on.
Oubre Jr. has only run a handful of pick-and-rolls this season, and, to nobody’s surprise, whenever he does dribble off a screen and try to make a play his timing and vision are both a little off.
Despite a leap in playing time, his assist to usage ratio is still near the bottom at his position (and down from where it was last season). He averages as many potential assists per game as DeAndre Jordan—fewer than Steven Adams and Tyson Chandler—and his 20.9 passes per game are fifth fewest in the entire league among all players who average at least 25 minutes.
This doesn’t make him selfish. Oubre Jr. is happy and willing to swing the ball and forfeit his own good shot so a teammate can have a better one. His job is to finish plays instead of start them, but given Washington’s routine bench struggles, it’d be a godsend if Oubre Jr. could quickly grow to become a reliable secondary or primary ball-handler when Wall and Beal both rest.
If the organization’s plan is to win with this foursome leading the way, the Wizards would be wrong to clone another Porter instead of encouraging Oubre Jr. to become a more versatile offensive weapon. In about eight fewer minutes per game, he touches the ball less than Jeff Green. It isn’t too early to diversify Oubre Jr.’s responsibilities. When you’re a good team that knows it’ll make the playoffs, that’s exactly what the regular season is for.
4. Everyone is Surprised by Portland’s Secret Weapon Except LeBron James
Last week, the Portland Trail Blazers decided to turn back the hands of time by deploying Jusuf Nurkic and Caleb Swanigan in their starting lineup. The mammoth-sized duo was a predictable disaster, clogging up driving lanes for C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard, preventing either big from having as much room to operate in the post, and creating at least one mismatch on the defensive end that could be exploited by a more modernized frontcourt.
Despite going 2-1 during this week-long experiment—that was partly induced by injuries elsewhere on the roster—Portland consistently found itself in a hole from the jump, causing Blazers head coach Terry Stotts to start the third quarter of last Wednesday’s win over the Orlando Magic with Pat Connaughton, instead of Swanigan, on the court—a game-saving halftime adjustment. (Stotts’s final straw came two nights later when the Blazers scored 82 points in a very bad loss against the Sacramento Kings. Noah Vonleh has started at the four since.)
The buried lede here is that while Portland struggled to score trotting out two slow frontcourt players who don’t complement one another in any way, what they discovered during this same stretch is a three-guard unit that could be their secret weapon.
Lillard and McCollum are an obvious staple that create myriad headaches for the opposition. Throw Shabazz Napier into the mix and it’s pandemonium. The trio only played 20 minutes last season, but in 38 minutes this year they’ve blitzed opponents by 38 points per 100 possessions.
Last summer, Evan Turner was paid a handsome sum to be the ball-handler who could enable Portland’s two franchise guards to work off the ball, decimate opponents off screens and rouse panic by setting paralyzing picks for each other on the weakside. He can still do that, especially from the block when backing down smaller defenders. But replace Turner with Napier and install a versatile wing like Mo Harkless or Al-Farouq Aminu at the four, and all of a sudden the court becomes a hornet’s nest.
The offensive upside is clear: three ball handlers who can shoot, drive, and pass, constantly racing around to kick dirt in your eyes, is hard to slow down. But so far (small-sample-size alert!) they’ve also been able to hold their own on the defensive end, in part because Napier plays like an unswattable mosquito whose hands and feet never stop moving.
But there are limits to being “frisky” when you aren’t catching an opponent off guard, and some of their success is because Napier’s three-point percentage is actively burning a hole in the ozone layer. That doesn’t mean this speedy triad should be demoted or even stuffed in glass as a “Break-in-Case-of-Emergency” axe. Stotts should ride this unique group as long as he can, knowing few teams have the personnel to match up with it on both ends.
5. Jimmy Butler is Sacrificing Too Much
The Timberwolves are not the NBA’s most disappointing team. Since November 1st, they own a top-10 defense, and for the whole season they’re outscoring opponents by 6.8 points per 100 possessions when Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson share the floor. But this team, at 10-7, feels disappointing.
They’ve yet to find a way to synchronize their overwhelming talent in a way that accentuates each individual’s skill-set, and startling losses against the Phoenix Suns and Detroit Pistons (a game they should’ve won, considering they were home, with a day of rest, against a team that’d just dropped two in a row) have been the result.
Given his contract situation, past performance, and high expectations, Butler’s struggle to look like himself is probably the team’s largest concern. Nobody should’ve expected a fluid overnight fit, but 15 games into his seventh season, the three-time All-Star has yet to find any rhythm in a system he’s already familiar with. Sacrifice is wonderful and necessary, but the degree to which Butler has altered his role to appease Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Jeff Teague is a little excessive.
What’s best for him is probably also best for the Timberwolves. Instead, watching him play he looks out of rhythm, like he doesn’t know when to hunt and when to be passive. The degree of difficulty in some of Butler’s scoring situations has been higher than it should be, too, given the influx of talent by his side. Last year, 17.1 percent of Butler’s shots were hoisted when the shot clock was “late” or “very late,” according to NBA.com. This year, that’s up to 25.9 percent. He has more catch-and-shoot opportunities, which sounds nice but has never been his strength.
According to Synergy Sports, Butler’s possessions as a pick-and-roll ball-handler are down 11 percent from last season. What was once a tool he used to carve defenses up has been more of a dull blade.
Butler’s usage is down, he’s touching the ball 11 fewer times per game, his turnover rate is at a career high, and his free-throw rate is at a career low. That last point is crucial. What initially elevated Butler to an elite level was his ability to draw contact and live at the line. Last season, he was fouled on 20.1 percent of his shots, which ranked in the 98th percentile among all wings. That percentage is currently half what it was. (A plethora of pull-up twos are acceptable when you live at the free-throw line; he’s not quite Tobias Harris, but trending in that direction.)
So much of this is because Minnesota’s roster simply isn’t conducive for a slash-first-ask-questions-later bulldog like Butler. His drives to the basket are now more complicated than Catherine Zeta-Jones vs. one million lasers, in large part because defenses are ready and willing to help off a majority of his teammates.
There are few in-house alterations that can make life easier for Butler, but he hardly ever plays with Nemanja Bjelica (who, ho-hum, is the most accurate three-point shooter in the league right now); in the 52 minutes they’ve shared the floor Minnesota has obliterated everything. (General side note: Gibson has been awesome but Gorgui Dieng and Shabazz Muhammad have not—play Bjelica more often Thibs!)
There’s no need to panic in Minnesota. But youth, lack of shooting, and non-existent depth at the wing are concerns they’ll have to navigate the rest of the season. Putting the ball in Butler’s hands more often won’t solve them, but Jamal Crawford, Teague, and Wiggins should not have a higher usage rate than he does.
Among all players who’ve seen the floor for about the same or fewer minutes than Butler this season, Evan Fournier, Jayson Tatum, Tim Hardaway Jr., Jeremy Lamb, Will Barton, and Bojan Bogdanovic have all scored more points. Something needs to change.
6. Toronto’s Offense Is Official
Despite struggles in the clutch, which reflect a reversion back to the isolation-heavy, late-shot-clock-heaving approach that hurts them so much when it matters most, Toronto’s offense is quietly morphing into an unselfish monster.
Last season, the Raptors ranked dead last in assist rate. (They were 28th in November during the 2016-17 season.) This year, they’re up to 14th, with 17 more passes per game. They’re 14th in pace (up from 22nd last season), shooting way fewer long twos and a lot more threes. Paths to the rim are wider and open more frequently. The result? They rank fourth in offense and third in effective field goal percentage.
It’s growth in real time, partly due to the infusion of youth from guys like OG Anunoby (the most underrated rookie in an abnormally loaded class), Fred VanVleet (whose name I thought was “Van Fleet” for about two years), Delon Wright (who just dislocated his shoulder), and a few others.
Toronto’s two lynch pins are doing their part and C.J. Miles is flashing Ryan Anderson-esque range. The ball moves better when DeMar DeRozan isn’t on the floor, but that’s also when their offensive rating drops to its lowest point. Probably because the guy’s footwork makes it look like he’s hovering two inches above the court at all times.
DeRozan jacked up three shots beyond the arc in the opening minutes of Sunday’s win against the Wall-less Wizards. While still low, his three-point rate is exactly double what it was last season. They aren’t perfect, but Toronto’s evolutionary shot profile makes them the second-best team in the Eastern Conference.
7. Orlando Treats the Three-Point Line With Too Much Reverence
The Magic should shine on defense. They have athletes who excel at key positions and a coach who’s known for extracting brick-wall execution from much less physical ability.
But after a hot start shooting the ball, Orlando’s defense has become one of the league’s 10 worst. Part of that’s due to injuries up and down the roster, and high usage big men—like Nikola Vucevic—who have known limitations. But a bit of their struggle can be explained by an aggressive “stay home!” attitude towards the three-point line.
Orlando’s defenders, as twitchy as most of them are, have been directed to form a permanent fence at the arc. They don’t allow swing passes to open threats on the weakside and aim to make outside shooters feel claustrophobic. According to Cleaning The Glass, Orlando holds its opponents to a 27 percent three-point rate, which is second-lowest in the league. And from there, the strategy of always being in position to contest outside shots has worked pretty well, with opponents only making 34.5 percent of their threes (though that’s likely a bit more happenstance than strategic ingenuity).
On the surface, this is a rousing success! But in reality it’s like they’re hermetically sealing a body part that actually needs reconstructive surgery. Here’s an example:
At the top, Aaron Gordon does a good job keeping Joe Ingles from getting to the middle of the floor, leaping up and forcing him left. But as the Australian swingman drives towards Vucevic, neither Elfrid Payton nor Evan Fournier pinch in to tag the rolling Derrick Favors. Instead, they treat Raul Neto and Donovan Mitchell like they’re Splash Brothers when, actually, they’re Raul Neto and Donovan Mitchell. Favors snatches Ingles’s pocket pass and finishes with an easy dunk.
The moral of the story: Personnel matters. It’s great that the Magic are executing their coach’s scheme and denying three-point attempts en mass in a league that’s filled with teams that are obsessed with that exact shot, but nothing will ever be more efficient than a layup, and nobody is allowing more of those than the Magic.
8. The Willie Cauley-Stein Bandwagon Has Plenty of Room
Photo by Brad Penner – USA TODAY Sports
I will forever believe that Willie Cauley-Stein is a useful, if not good, basketball player. He’s my personal equivalent to how a specific segment of NBA Twitter once felt (feels?) about Anthony Randolph. If Cauley-Stein was, like, seven percent more confident and nine percent more aggressive, with a point guard who draws attention, manipulates back-line rotations, and can shoot, he’d be Steven Adams.
Cauley-Stein actually made a three last week, too, and is one of a few centers who’s defended Joel Embiid without much help and not been steamrolled in the process. I want nothing more than to see him develop outside of Sacramento, not sharing the court with Zach Randolph and Kosta Koufos. Is that too much to ask?
9. You Can’t Help But Respect Carmelo Anthony’s Commitment to Being Carmelo Anthony
Before clarifying is words and backtracking from the belief that he, Paul George, and Russell Westbrook need to be more selfish in order for the Oklahoma City Thunder to find offensive nirvana, Carmelo Anthony concluded that he and his two All-Star teammates are instinctive players who need to be more instinctive.
Even though his instincts have been wrong for quite some time, that’s a perfectly fine thing to believe. But if I played for the Thunder and read this quote, I’d refrain from ever passing him the ball. On top of a defensive demeanor that exudes the same amount of energy and attention I used to display on Thanksgiving morning throughout my early 20’s*, Anthony’s assist to usage ratio is only higher than nine percent of fellow forwards around the NBA. He could wear wide receiver gloves sprayed with stickum for an entire quarter and nobody would notice the difference.
*The below isn’t a great reflection of Oklahoma City’s collective effort, but Anthony somehow manages to make everyone else look like they’re hustling their ass off. He airballs a jumper and then backpedals to midcourt as the rest of his teammates turn to run.
Salute.
10. Donovan Mitchell’s Audaciousness Is Inspiring
The Utah Jazz are in a sad place, but, on the bright side, they also have Donovan Mitchell, a fearless firecracker with more responsibilities on his plate than any rookie on a decent team should. Just look at this wraparound pass to Rodney Hood, the finishing touch on Utah’s execution of a Hammer action.
Freeze the clip at the exact moment the ball leaves his fingertips. Even though Mitchell knows Hood is about to (probably) spring free in the corner, it still must feel a little scary to sidearm a ball the length of the baseline towards empty space. It arrives a little low, but that’s nitpicking. This was hard and he made it look easy.
Most of the 21-year-old’s offensive numbers are dreadful, but bold, trustworthy traits seen in sequences like this are enough to convince me the Jazz have a keeper.
The Outlet Pass: Butler’s Sacrifice, a Fun Cavs Trade, Oubre’s Evolution syndicated from http://ift.tt/2ug2Ns6
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stefanjase · 7 years
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Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Summit makes a rousing debut in Houston
Caldwell, senior pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church, asked those in the audience at the Marriott Marquis Houston to extend their arms in a prayer. Adaola Oduwole, a Houstonian who works in diversity training and consulting, teared up as Caldwell spoke of black entrepreneurs' feeling comfortable in their black skin. Caldwell's comments, which also touched upon the importance of connecting spirituality with business, came the morning after Mayor Sylvester Turner, NBA Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler and Earl Graves Jr., president and CEO of Black Enterprise, welcomed roughly 1,000 attendees. from Business http://www.chron.com/business/article/Black-Enterprise-Entrepreneurs-Summit-makes-a-11156053.php
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itsworn · 7 years
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Entry Lists Released for U.S. Short Track Nationals at Bristol
The expected entry lists for Bristol Motor Speedway’s U.S. Short Track Nationals have been released.  To no one’s surprise the lists are massive, with over 500 drivers ready to attack the historic facility May 19-21.
The divisions involved are Super Late Models (co-sanctioned by CRA, CARS, and the Southern Super Series), Pro Late Models (sanctioned by CRA), Late Model Stocks (sanctioned by CARS), Modifieds (sanctioned by the National Short Track Racing Alliance), Street Stocks (sanctioned by CRA), and Sport Compacts (sanctioned by Vores Cup)
Just a few weeks ago Bristol requested the participating sanctioning bodies limit each division to a certain number of entrants.  The maximum number set by the Speedway are: 80 Super Late Models, 80 Pro/Crate Late Models, 60 Late Model Stocks, 80 Modifieds, 110 Street Stocks, and 110 Compacts.  The numbers have been exceeded in all but two divisions.
Bristol is now asking those who may not compete to contact their corresponding sanctioning bodies.
For more information visit www.bristolmotorspeedway.com
U.S. Short Track Nationals Entries as of 3/27/17
Super Late Models (CRA/CARS/Southern Super Series # DRIVER CITY ST 1 C Keith Cahela Boaz AL 1 J Cody Coughlin Delaware OH 1 S Derek Scott Franklin TX 1 Jake Crum Taylorsville NC 2 J Kyle Jones Germantown OH 2 L Robby Lyons Seminole FL 2 N Trevor Noles Fuquay-Varina NC 2 W Donnie Wilson Oklahoma City OK 4 A Dalton Armstrong Alexandria IN 4 M Rob Maynor Hartland WI 4 N TBA 4 P Kyle Plott Mareitta GA 4 R Cory Roper Baytown TX 4 X Ben Rowe Turner ME 5 B John Beale Verona WI 5 D Nathan Davis Dora AL 5 S Will Sahutske Northville MI 6 R Logan Runyon Cambridge OH 6 S Brandon Setzer Newton NC 7 C Tyler Church Concord NC 7 D Erik Darnell Huntersville NC 7 E Doug Elliott New Smyrna FL 7 G Weston Griffith Jr Crown Point IN 8 F Tate Fogleman Durham NC 8 N John Hunter Nemechek Mooresville NC 9 C Jeff Choquette Orange Park FL 9 T Jason Timmerman Hicksville OH 12 Harrison Burton Huntersville NC 14 D Chris Davidson Pearland TX 14 G Cale Gale Athens GA 14 O Connor Okrzesik Grand Bay AL 15 H Roy Hayes Concord NC 15 M Joey Miller Lakeville MN 16 Lucas Jones Mooresville NC 17 B Josh Brock Corbin KY 17 M Eddie McDonald Rowley MA 23 S Thomas Skiles Indianapolis IN 23 V Eddie VanMeter Indianapolis IN 26 B Bill Burba Germantown OH 26 P Bubba Pollard Senoia GA 26 S Chandler Smith Jasper GA 26 T Rick Turner Yorktown IN 26 X Travis Braden Wheeling WV 27 Gatlin Lance Morristown TN 29 D Spencer Davis Dawsonville GA 29 S Tommy St.John Indianapolis IN 30 Joshua James Saukville WI 34 Nolan Pope Harrisonville MO 35 Derek Ramstrom Worcester MA 41 B Brandon Johnson Mooresville NC 41 J Hunter Jack Auburn IN 41 L Nick Leitz Chesapeake VA 43 Dennis Schoenfeld Van Buren AR 45 Joey Mucciacciaro Wolcott CT 47 C Brian Campbell Wyoming MI 47 K Allen Karnes Sharpsburg GA 47 S Dakota Stroup Owensboro KY 49 Jeff Batten Nashville NC 51 G Noah Gragson Las Vegas NV 51 N Stephen Nasse Largo FL 51 O Brandon Oakley Dayton OH 51 R Cole Rouse Fort Smith AR 53 J Boris Jurkovic Manhattan IL 53 W Jerry White Concord NC 54 Matt Craig Kannapolis NC 55 TBA 56 Robert Ford Lake City FL 57 C John Coffman Live Oak FL 57 T Cole Timm Mooresville NC 58 A Tyler Ankrum Colton CA 58 F Jeff Firestine Venice FL 62 Cassten Everidge Hudson IN 66 B Logan Beardan Leander TX 66 W Steve Wallace Mooresville NC 71 John VanDoorn Fruitport MI 76 Bubba Wallace Forest City NC 79 Kyle Bryant Navarre FL 81 F Jared Fryar Trinity NC 81 X TBA 83 Joey Padgett Concord NC 87 Mike Mazzagatti Clinton OH 88 Garrett Jones Mooresville NC 93 Dave Russell Clarence NY 96 Blake Jones Sevierville TN 97 Chase Purdy Huntersville NC 98 K Paul Kelly Pendergrass GA 98 M Mason Mingus Nashville TN 99 H Fred Hopkins New Castle IN 99 L Raphael Lessard St-Joseph CAN 99 O Justin Oertel Lincolnshire IL 112 Augie Grill Hayden AL 158 Daniel Webster Polk City FL 354 Chris Nash Portage MI JEGS/CRA ALL STARS TOUR # DRIVER CITY ST 0 Brandon Curron McCalla AL 1 C Cody Coughlin Delaware OH 1 D Dave Duncan Cicero IN 1 L Brandon Johnson Mooresville NC 1 S Jon Beach Watervliet MI 2 John Bolen Jasper AL 4 H Matt Hall Newport MI 4 X TBA 4 Phil Bozell Portage MI 5 C Michael Clancy Jr Ortonville MI 5 H Tyler Hufford Schoolcraft MI 5 L Eric Lee Macomb MI 6 Cody Quarrick Uniontown PA 7 B Jackson Boone Franklin TN 7 C TBA 7 D Cole Daffron Pell City AL 7 P Joey Pontbriand Norway MI 7 X TBA 8 H Hope Hornish Defiance OH 8 N John Hunter Nemechek Mooresville NC 8 T Scott Tomasik Avon IN 9 Jeff Choquette Orange Park FL 11 A Dustin Ash Las Vegas NV 11 C Stacy Crain Brentwood TN 12 B Brandon Brilliant Atlanta GA 12 L Dan Leeck Birch Run MI 14 D Corey Deuser Lanesville IN 14 H Carson Hocevar Portage MI 15 C Trey Craig Louisville KY 15 J Colt James Newton NC 15 T Kevyn Terry Citra FL 17 B Josh Brock Corbin KY 17 S Keith Sterkowitz Cedar Lake IN 20 Jack Dossey Indianapolis IN 22 Jamie Cox Dorcehster ONT 23 C Mandy Chick De Soto KS 23 G Dalton Grindle Flowery Branch GA 23 K Chris Koslek Grand Rapids MI 23 V Billy Van Meter Indianapolis IN 26 A Willie Allen Centerville TN 26 B Bill Burba Germantown OH 26 X Travis Braden Wheeling WV 27 Joe Ross Kansas City MO 28 Jack Smith Clyde OH 29 D Spencer Davis Dawsonville GA 29 K Austin Kunert Batavia IL 30 Memphis Villarreal Corpus Christi TX 32 Kent Baledge Alexandria IN 33 O Dillion Oliver Bowling Green KY 33 S Carter Stokes New Smyrna FL 40 Jordan Miller Breezewood PA 43 Justin South Leeds AL 44 Steve Laking Guelph CAN 46 Cole Williams Borden IN 47 C Brian Campbell Wyoming MI 47 S Dakota Stroup Owensboro KY 48 B Dwayne Baker Stayner CAN 48 C Kent Crane Independence MO 51 F Eddie Fatscher East Northport NY 51 N TBA 51 O Brandon Oakley Dayton OH 53 Kyle Ivey Nashville TN 54 H David Hite Apopka FL 54 T Brandon Thomson Seminole FL 56 Jerry Andrews Kalamazoo MI 66 Nate Walton Hudsonville MI 67 Ben Welch Spring Lake MI 81 Bob Varney Richmond MI 83 Andy Bozell Portage MI 88 Roger Reuse Alabaster AL 89 Bobby Reuse Alabaster AL 96 Marc Jacobs London ONT 97 I Robbie Iverness Escanaba MI 97 J Jaxson Jacobs London ONT 99 Harrison Hall Circleville OH 114 Sterling Marlin Columbia TN 127 David Strode Independence MO 145 Bill Melvin Trussville AL 407 Jason Vail Clermont FL CARS TOUR LATE MODEL STOCK CARS # NAME CITY ST 2 Paul Nogradi Knoxville, TN 2 Myatt Snider Charlotte, NC 2 Cody Haskins Marietta, GA 3 Taylor Jorgenson Stockbridge, GA 4 Mike Chambers Timberlake, NC 5 Jeremy Burns Simpsonville, SC 7 Bradley McCaskill Wendell, NC 7 Justin Crider Statesville, NC 7 Brandon Rogers Canton, NC 4 A Anthony Alfredo Mooresville, NC 8 Deac McCaskill Raleigh, NC 8 Trevor Rizzo Bluffton, SC 11 Jeff Oakley Manquin, VA 12 Ryan Wilson Randleman, NC 12 Paul Wark Winston-Salem, NC 12 Austin McDaniel Harrisburg, NC 12 Ryan Gray Raleigh, NC 14 Ryan Repko Denver, NC 15 Bryson Dennis Chuckey, TN 15 Sheflon Clay Asheville, NC 16 Colby Howard Simpsonville, SC 18 Evan Swilling Cohutta, GA 18 Ty Gibbs Huntersville, NC 21 Tim Allensworth Wallace, NC 21 Travis Swaim High Point NC 23 Zachary Dabbs Mooresville, NC 24 Kevyn Terry Citra, FL 26 Joey Trent Gray, TN 27 Tommy Lemons Troy, NC 29 Jake Ruggles Kannapolis, NC 30 Taylor Coffman Bean Station TN 32 Jerry Miracle Indian Trail NC 32 Brandon Grosso Belle Mead NJ 37 Joel Courage Dublin, CA 38 Hunter Byrd Clarksville, TN 38 J Ricky Jones Angier, NC 39 Grayson Massey Dryfork, VA 42 Craig Stallard Jenkins, KY 44 Justin Johnson Troy, NC 44 M Nate Monteith Bluff City TN 57 Justin Carroll Concord, NC 66 Austin Peters Kingsport, TN 74 Ronald Hill Rougemont, NC 77 Logan Jones Fredericksburg, VA 81 Jared Fryar Trinity, NC 87 Hayden Woods Piney Flats TN 88 Chris Davis Hillsborough, NC 88 B Josh Berry Mooresville, NC 96 Danny O’Quinn Abingdon, VA 97 Dylan Garner Yorba Linda CA 97 William Lester Lexington, NC 98 Stefan Parsons Cornelius, NC 99 Layne Riggs Bahama, NC TOP SPEED MODIFIEDS # NAME CITY ST 0 Tony Dager Grabill, IN 0 R Lucas Ripley Ulrichsville, OH 1 Wayne Jefferson Pinellas Park FL 1 Bill Prietzel West Allis WI 1 B Dan Burden North Canton OH 1 W Wayne Parker Mount Dora FL 1 W Rick Wiecorek Mount Morris MI 3 Kyle Bookmiller Riverview, FL 4 Mike Hadley Jr Greenwood, IN 5 H Bobby Heyink Eaton Rapids MI 5 Al Berry Auburn, IN 5 Greg Fullarton Howell, MI 7 S Bob Sibila Massillon, OH 7 Matt Dimit Huntington, IN 8 Scotty Tomasik Avon, IN 8 Jamie Sites Tipp City OH 9 Cory Nuttle Yoder, IN 9 N RJ Norton III Indianapolis, IN 11 Brian Nester Hamilton, IN 12 Chad Poole Springfield, OH 12 J Josh Nester Edon, OH 12 N Dave Nester Edon, OH 12 X Michael Occhipinti Dearborn, MI 13 Kevyn Terry Citra, FL 13 Kyle Purvis Marion, OH 13 M Sean McPherson Riley, MI 14 Mike Maddox Tupelo, MS 14 Tim Burkett Hamilton, IN 15 Scott Jones Marysville, OH 16 Bill Melvin Trussville, AL 16 Stephen Klinect West Salem OH 17 Chris Cotto Milton, FL 19 Andy Shutts Orient, OH 21 Ross Klingelhofer Quincy, OH 24 Buddy Gray Petoskey, MI 26 Jeff Lane Knightstown, IN 28 Dameron Taylor Indianapolis, IN 30 Y Brad Yunker Swanton, OH 30 Jonathan Martin Fort Wayne IN 31 Parker Pugh Madison, AL 31 L Chad Lemmerman Streetsboro, OH 31 Doug Meyer North Canton OH 32 D Danny McGowan Huntington, WV 33 Jason Morman Seabrook, TX 33 Jeremy Menninger Pataskala, OH 35 Evan Foster Clarkston, MI 36 Darrin Bowman Ambia, IN 39 Dave Christensen Clio, MI 40 Chris Stark Lewiston, MI 43 Billy Marcoux Goulais River Canada 44 Robert Babb Chesapeake, VA 45 Todd Gearhart Montpelier, OH 46 Doug Moff Fort Myers FL 51 Ryan Tamburro Worthington, OH 53 David Dobbins Hartville, OH 53 Z Eldon Zacek Jr Concord, NC 54 Clayton Green Marble Falls TX 57 Tim Moore Pinellas Park FL 57 N Tyler Nuckles Groveport, OH 57 Blake Rowe Ortonville, MI 58 Dan LaRocco Strongsville, OH 60 Brian Brewer Galena, OH 60 Bobby Gery Carrollton, VA 60 Sam Bigham New Franklin OH 61 Tyler Shullick Vermillion, OH 68 Stu Robinson Jr Beaverton, Canada 70 Mark Bott Port Austin MI 71 William Skaggs North Fort Myers FL 71 Johnny Brazier Hazel Green AL 71 Brett Hahne Brighton, MI 72 Gary Zink Jr Orient, OH 76 Mark Timmerman Fort Laramie OH 77 Hunter Slayton Richmond, VA 77 Kevin Doran Lebanon, OH 78 Travis Eddy Beaverton, MI 82 John Hansel Columbus, OH 82 Rick Sibila Mineral City, 84 Bubba Brooks Kalamazoo, MI 86 John Long Niles, MI 88 Travis Stepp Star City IN 88 E Ethan Mullet Hilliard, OH 93 Doug 1 Dowagiac, MI 95 Dave Stacy Enron, OH 111 George Perkins Fort Wayne IN 131 Jeff Letson Madison, AL 141 Rocky Rogers Jasper, AL TBA Mike Rush Powell, OH X Damon Breedlove Greenfield, IN CRA STREET STOCKS  # DRIVER CITY ST 00 B Bruce Burch Greenbrier TN 00 G Cliff Gaumond Midland NC 00 H Brett Hudson Owensboro KY 00 W Gordon Watson Tipp City OH 0 Ricky Young Beavercreek OH 1 D Brandon Tregembo Ray MI 1 W Jamie Whitt Wise VA 1 Jerry Zordan Bangor MI 2 B Jim Boyle East Windsor CT 2 F Bill Fisbie Jr. West Danby NY 2 S Paul Schloss Palm Coast FL 2 Mark Ross Jr Highland IN 3 M Jacob McElfresh Elwood IN 3 P Jeremy Pletz Dowagiac ME 03 E Kevin Eby Lenoir NC 03 S Ricky Stamber Bowling Green KY 03 W Matt Wilson Richfield OH 4 H John Heck Indianapolis IN 4 P Clynis Phillips Clintwood VA 4 X Matt Maurer Granger IN 5 B Chuck Barnes Sr Louisville KY 7 P Ryan Paul Richmond VA 6 HA Chris Harmon Brooks KY 6 HI Blake Hillard Owensboro KY 6 M Jeff Melton Concord NC 6 S Bryce Schaefer Niles MI 7 Jerry Lewis Waynetown IN 8 Brian McDonald Louisville KY 9 Jake Hinton Markle IN 10 B Dan Banker Des Moines IA 10 S Tom Stone Linden MI 11 Jimmy Kirby Indianapolis IN 14 H Aaron Abbott Reynolds Station KY 14 W Quentin White Greenwood IN 16 C T. J. Cochrane Buffalo NY 16 G Heath Helton Philpot KY 16 W Zach Westdorp Kalamazoo MI 16 Z Brandon Zachary Paw Paw MI 17 B James Brown Elkhart IN 17 PL Tim Pletz Sodus MI 17 PO David Powell Greenville IN 17 SC Bobby Schisler Cromwell IN 17 SH Stephen Shelpman Pittsburgh PA 18 Steve Bickett Whitesville KY 21 C Denver Carte Barberton OH 21 L Jeff Lane Knightstown IN 22 CR Skeeter Crum Jeffersonville IN 22 CU John Curtis Christiansburg VA 22 K James Kirby Indianapolis IN 22 L Brian Lewis Fairland IN 23 G Kenny Gibson Venice FL 23 I Larry Isenhower Greensboro NC 24 D Dennis Deese Piney Flats TN 24 W Jeremie Wiggins Elyria OH 25 B Louis Botti Irwin PA 25 C Jesse Collinge Swartz Creek MI 25 L Tory Lutz Wakarusa IN 25 R Kyle Ribble Delton MI 25 S Steven Schultz Drums PA 25 T Christopher Titcomb Amesbury MA 26 B Jeff Berg Louisville KY 26 H Jordan Hahn Wanamaker IN 27 Josh Poore Anderson IN 28 A Shawn Amor Walkerton IN 28 P Clark Perry Amherstdale WV 28 SH Jeffrey Shackelford Indianapolis IN 28 SI Dayton Sidner Pensacola FL 28 V Josh Varney Leeds ME 29 F Donny Fink Orlando FL 29 K Mason Keller Indianapolis IN 29 S Ken Schraufnagel Slinger WI 29 T Mike Todd Pleasant Hill IA 32 B David Bayens Borden IN 32 L Rich Lavallee Dixon CA 32 S Greg Schramm Wellington OH 33 Kimmie Greig Indianapolis IN 35 Bill Ashton Hopwood PA 36 Corey Hutchings Salem CT 39 Christopher Douton Waterford CT 40 G Rodney Glass Belhaven NC 40 M Toby Montgomery Vicksburg MI 40 P Royce Peters Kingsport TN 42 PE Curtis Peeples Round-o SC 42 PR Nick Pressler Buchanan MI 43 Douglas Post Radcliff KY 44 B Chuck Barnes Jr Louisville KY 44 H Scott Holbert Louisville KY 44 L Colby Lane New Castle IN 48 Eric Brown Springville NY 52 B Duke Bare Meadowview VA 52 S Bob Sibila Jr Independence OH 54 C Tony Conway Louisville KY 54 G Nathan Greene Muncie IN 55 J Phil Jenkins Greenfield IN 55 S Lee Slaton Constantine MI 56 Mike Short Auburn ME 57 Danny Adams Indianapolis IN 58 Larry Lathan Bedford KY 59 Corey Adams Indianapolis IN 64 Joe Mancuso Buffalo NY 65 Billy Williams Bowling Green KY 68 A Scott Adams Lake Ariel PA 68 S J.J. Schafer Bremen IN 68 V Trenten Vogts Churubusco IN 70 G Jeremy Gerstner Wesley Chapel FL 70 L Bob Lusetti Broadview Heights OH 71 Wayne Abner Heidrick KY 72A Bradley Abner Heidrick KY 72K Mike Abner Heidrick KY 72N TBA 74 BA Austin Baum Shepherdsville KY 74 BR Josh Brading New Albany IN 74 D Todd Duff Kingsport TN 75 K Mark Kalata Almond WI 75 W Ryan Waterman Danielson CT 76 Benny Bender Mobile AL 77 D Jason Drummond Gibsonburg OH 77 G Eric Greer Utica KY 78 F Robert Fink Sheatown PA 78 H Joe Holp Uniontown PA 79 Heath Bronkema Kalamazoo MI 83 Brandon Mefford Spiceland IN 84 Andrew Teepe Indianapolis IN 86 S Shawn Smith Louisville KY 86 W Geoff Wood Whittemore MI 88 Jeff Johnson Indianapolis IN 89 Josh Sage Piqua OH 90 Joe Quinn North Royalton OH 91 Rich Segvich Frankfort IN 95 Brian Hopkins New Castle IN 96 Donnie Woodard Charlestown IN 98 Jeff Caudell Scottsburg IN 99 Brian Bayer Birdseye IN 112 Mark Lushes Uniontown OH 131 Ron Ritcher Akron NY 311 Keith Bissinger Bloomsburg PA 333 Jonathan Ziegler Lafayette IN VORE’S COMPACTS # NAME CITY ST 0 Tom Gossar Markleville IN 0 Kamden Creek Anderson IN 1 A Mike Richardson Valparaiso IN 1 CT Chuck McDonald Groton CT 1 X Mark Mason Ft. Wayne IN 1 David Mehl Fairland IN 2 Brad Chandler Cedar Rapids IA 4 D Jamie Drook Maineville OH 4 Terry Eaton Jr Quincy OH 5 B Brett Duane Smith Richmond IN 5 JT Jesse Henry Jones IV Newport News VA 5 Lynn Waller Richland NC 6 H Billy Hillard Owensboro KY 6 Chris Jennings Richmond IN 7 P Paul Bittle South Bend IN 7 C Ron Masters Machanicsburg OH 7 Don Rufener III Uhrichsville OH 7 Steve Vore Ft. Recovery OH 8 Joe Jennings Richmond IN 9 T Nicholas Meade West Carrrolton OH 9 X Josh Richardson Ft. Wayne IN 9 Steve Vore Ft. Recovery OH 9 Wesley Ennis The Plains OH 10 Jake Albright Dover OH 11 Zachary Smizer Stafford VA 12 N Charlie Nickel Chili WI 12 James Scott Pierson Ona WV 13 Mark Jennings Centerville IN 14 Joseph Jennings Centerville IN 15 Andy Jennings Richmond IN 16 Michael Brewer Fairborn OH 17 Bill Honious Miamisburg OH 18 D Derek Davis South Bend IN 18 Gary Eaton Jr West Liberty OH 19 H John Handeland Belleville WI 19 RI Dylan Cabral Richmond RI 19 Joe Workman Milton WV 20 John Denny Erie PA 21 David Gilliland Harrison TN 22 Kevin Broski Cleveland OH 24 T Aaron Teegarden New Weston OH 24 Nicole DeVos Allendale MI 24 Cole Roelofs Dove MI 25 A Christopher Brown Cottontown TN 25 B Ben Belanger Whitefield NH 25 Tim Durfy Lockport NY 27 I Dan Irvine Valparaiso IN 27 Bo Hoelscher Riverside OH 28 BJ Honious Dayton OH 29 Josh Easto Cedar Lake IN 31 X John Isaac Davis Cookeville TN 31 JR Vester Muncie IN 33 X Thomas Kapish Mountain Top PA 33 Justin Brown Boggstown IN 35 Gary Stark Jr Ft Atkinson WI 37 Darek Morris New Castle IN 38 X Ryan Spillers Ft Wayne IN 39 Kelly Lilie Port Clinton OH 42 Johney Greer III Indianapolis IN 44 X Josh Brown Cottontown TN 44 Brooks Horseman Lebanon OH 46 Andy Manes Indianapolis IN 47 Kory Appleby Greenwood IN 49 B Derick Bradshaw Mount Washington KY 49 TBA/Hoffman Demotte IN 50 Craig Frase New Lenox IL 51 G Christopher Gammon Portland TN 51 Keith Watson Salt Rock WV 53 D Tim Dilg Cincinnati OH 53 Jr Lemasters Indianapolis IN 54 JT John Trimble Scott Depot WV 54 Chip Heintzelman Ft. Wayne IN 55 Kyle Byrd Greenfield IN 56 Sean Frederick Goodlettsville TN 57 Ricky Wilson Frankfort IL 58 Johnathan Waldrop Chesterfield VA 59 Kodi Bater Landis NC 61 Matthew Jackson New Carlisle OH 62 Mike Sabina Ft Wayne IN 63 Larry Hatfield Indianapolis IN 64 Derek Smith Clarksville IN 67 Rob Rehm Indianapolis IN 69 X Jeff Isbell Lebanon OH 69 Jeff Striegel Lanesville IN 70 Levi Hill Dayton OH 71 Trent Gossar Markleville IN 72 Bobby Sanders McCordsville IN 78 Michael Hughart Saint Albans WV 79 Todd Metz Jr Charlotte MI 81 Dalton Cox Versailles KY 82 Harvey Yoder Kenton OH 85 Phil Iliff Portland IN 87 Scott Kerley Elizabethton TN 88 X Steven Brock Elizabeth IN 88 Joshua Foltz Medway OH 91 Cameron Cruise Bradenton FL 92 TBA/Hoffman Demotte IN 93 Tim Cassidy Wayne WV 95 A Daniel Harper Portland TN 95 David Yoder Kenton OH 96 Jim Granzow Hobbart IN 97 M Matthew Morris Louisville KY 99 M Travis Lea Miller Jacksonville NC 99 Chris Clark New Haven IN 111 Devon Dixon Janesville WI 117 Ryan Hoffman Demotte IN 119 Brandon De Lacy Stunghton WI 126 Harry O’Neill Wapwallopen PA 133 Jess Drook Maineville OH 151 John Hunn Rolla MO 181 Daniel Herron Newcomerstown OH 192 Kyle Stark Marshall WI 223 Greg Garrison Bloomington IN 410 Steven Tito Drums PA
    The post Entry Lists Released for U.S. Short Track Nationals at Bristol appeared first on Hot Rod Network.
from Hot Rod Network http://www.hotrod.com/articles/entry-lists-released-u-s-short-track-nationals-bristol/ via IFTTT
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by Sydney Robinson. The Ring of Fire Network.
On a grey Saturday afternoon, former Bernie Sanders surrogate Nina Turner addressed an assembled crowd in front of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C., calling on them to act in the spirit of the civil rights leader and take inspiration from his struggle for the fight ahead.
Sounding an awful lot like a reverend herself, Turner inspired all who listened with encouragements about the future, spreading a message of unity. She called on progressives to come together, with one hand reaching forward to climb above the struggle, with the other hand reaching behind, to pull those still struggling further skyward.
To Turner, though we feel we are facing dark times ahead, it is just a reminder of where we have been.
“The mountain might be higher, but we’ve been here before. The valley may be lower, but we’ve been here before.”
And just like we have done before, we will face the seemingly insurmountable obstacles ahead, ever fighting, ever reaching, for the things we as a united people deserve.
‘And guess what, sisters and brothers? We can’t have a testimony without a test, and we are being tested right now for whether or not we’ve got courage enough, hope enough, fight enough, love enough to do what is necessary.”
Watch.
from Home http://ift.tt/2jmvWxT
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veronicamarycollins · 7 years
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Great night singing with @theyoungpresidents and reuniting with these IDIOTS!!! #Americanidiot #idiots4life
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flauntpage · 7 years
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The Outlet Pass: Butler's Sacrifice, a Fun Cavs Trade, Oubre's Evolution
With tomorrow being Thanksgiving (Happy Thanksgiving!), The Outlet Pass has arrived one day earlier than normal this week. Enjoy!
1. In Honor of Thanksgiving, Here’s a Fake Trade We Can All Be Thankful For
Cleveland gets: Marc Gasol Memphis gets: Brooklyn’s first-round pick in 2018, Tristan Thompson, and Iman Shumpert
When Gasol first signed his five-year $110 million deal nearly two and half years ago, popular thought was father time would tarnish it sooner than later. This was something the Memphis Grizzlies had to do, even while fully understanding the odds-on risk attached. (A broken foot suffered the following February increased the likelihood of it being a sunk cost.)
Instead, at 33 years old and in his 10th season, with a new coach, overhauled system, and personal submission to the three-point line, Gasol is still kicking as a borderline All-Star, albeit one whose crater-sized impact in Memphis isn’t as expansive as it used to be.
According to Synergy Sports, Gasol is currently the least efficient player in the league when he gets double-teamed in the post. Some of this is thanks to a small sample size, diminishing athleticism and curbed quickness, but his surrounding personnel deserves a smidge of blame, too. Even though some of their shooting percentages are up, opposing teams are still open to doubling off Chandler Parsons, Tyreke Evans, James Ennis, Dillon Brooks, and the rest of Memphis’ roster.
A move to Cleveland would do freaking wonders for Gasol’s one-on-one game. The attention LeBron James demands is unrivaled, and picturing those two surrounded by three dead-eye snipers—like Kyle Korver, J.R. Smith, Kevin Love, healthy Isaiah Thomas, or Jae Crowder—is a daydream. James has never played with someone like Gasol: A pass-first center who can space the floor, anchor an excellent defense, and singlehandedly create open threes on the weakside when he goes to work on the block.
And just think about the lineups Ty Lue could utilize with LeBron on the bench. Gasol and Love, by themselves, could become the NBA’s mightiest frontcourt tandem this side of New Orleans. Gasol helps in a likely Finals rematch against the Golden State Warriors in a way very few players can. He’s a savant on both ends.
The risk in trading a lottery pick for any player who can opt out of his contract in 2019, let alone a declining 33-year-old who plays the league’s least attractive position and would have to sacrifice a whole bunch of touches overnight, is an obvious risk—even if said pick is owned by a Brooklyn Nets squad that figures to finish with the sixth or seventh worst record and not the first or second.
But let’s play out one possible scenario if they don’t make a seismic trade: Cleveland adds a borderline-washed-up buyout candidate, loses in the Eastern Conference Finals or Finals, lands the sixth pick, watches LeBron leave in free agency, and is bad forever. If surrendering the Brooklyn pick for someone like Gasol is possible, then convincing James to stay is the right move.
Meanwhile, Memphis should do this in a heartbeat. Injuries around the Western Conference are keeping their playoff odds on a respirator, but Mike Conley’s weary Achilles tendon isn’t really allowing them to make up much ground. They’ve lost five in a row and eight of their last ten, with an offense that ranks 22nd despite them never, ever turning the ball over.
The smart long-term play here is to squeeze as much as they can get for Gasol, then rebuild around two lottery picks, with one potentially landing in the top five, in a five-player draft. They can also move on from Thompson and maybe even get a late first-rounder for his service as well. Memphis already has its own top-eight-protected first-round pick headed to Boston in 2019 (which becomes unprotected in 2021), so the best time to replenish their roster with high-upside youth is today.
2. Victor Oladipo…
Photo by Steve Mitchell - USA TODAY Sports
...has more points than Anthony Davis, Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving, Paul George, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, Karl-Anthony Towns, John Wall, and...Russell Westbrook. The Indiana Pacers have had a top-10 offense all year long despite not having Myles Turner (the dude everyone expected to be their best player) for seven games. Oladipo deserves a statue.
3. It’s Time to Expand Kelly Oubre Jr.’s Role
The Wizards are an obscenely dominant basketball team when John Wall, Bradley Beal, Otto Porter, and Kelly Oubre Jr. share the floor, outscoring opponents by 22 points per 100 possessions. This makes sense. Three of those players are on a max contract and the fourth is a 21-year-old southpaw who’s shooting 47 percent from above the break.
Washington knows what it has with its three best players, but Oubre Jr.’s growth is the variable worth watching. Right now he’s still raw and able to impact games with his athleticism, energy, and length. But knowing the ball ultimately starts in Wall or Beal’s hands—particularly throughout the postseason—it’s worth wondering what type of developmental path Washington should try and set their moldable Sixth Man on.
Oubre Jr. has only run a handful of pick-and-rolls this season, and, to nobody’s surprise, whenever he does dribble off a screen and try to make a play his timing and vision are both a little off.
Despite a leap in playing time, his assist to usage ratio is still near the bottom at his position (and down from where it was last season). He averages as many potential assists per game as DeAndre Jordan—fewer than Steven Adams and Tyson Chandler—and his 20.9 passes per game are fifth fewest in the entire league among all players who average at least 25 minutes.
This doesn’t make him selfish. Oubre Jr. is happy and willing to swing the ball and forfeit his own good shot so a teammate can have a better one. His job is to finish plays instead of start them, but given Washington’s routine bench struggles, it’d be a godsend if Oubre Jr. could quickly grow to become a reliable secondary or primary ball-handler when Wall and Beal both rest.
If the organization’s plan is to win with this foursome leading the way, the Wizards would be wrong to clone another Porter instead of encouraging Oubre Jr. to become a more versatile offensive weapon. In about eight fewer minutes per game, he touches the ball less than Jeff Green. It isn’t too early to diversify Oubre Jr.’s responsibilities. When you’re a good team that knows it’ll make the playoffs, that’s exactly what the regular season is for.
4. Everyone is Surprised by Portland’s Secret Weapon Except LeBron James
Last week, the Portland Trail Blazers decided to turn back the hands of time by deploying Jusuf Nurkic and Caleb Swanigan in their starting lineup. The mammoth-sized duo was a predictable disaster, clogging up driving lanes for C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard, preventing either big from having as much room to operate in the post, and creating at least one mismatch on the defensive end that could be exploited by a more modernized frontcourt.
Despite going 2-1 during this week-long experiment—that was partly induced by injuries elsewhere on the roster—Portland consistently found itself in a hole from the jump, causing Blazers head coach Terry Stotts to start the third quarter of last Wednesday’s win over the Orlando Magic with Pat Connaughton, instead of Swanigan, on the court—a game-saving halftime adjustment. (Stotts’s final straw came two nights later when the Blazers scored 82 points in a very bad loss against the Sacramento Kings. Noah Vonleh has started at the four since.)
The buried lede here is that while Portland struggled to score trotting out two slow frontcourt players who don’t complement one another in any way, what they discovered during this same stretch is a three-guard unit that could be their secret weapon.
Lillard and McCollum are an obvious staple that create myriad headaches for the opposition. Throw Shabazz Napier into the mix and it’s pandemonium. The trio only played 20 minutes last season, but in 38 minutes this year they’ve blitzed opponents by 38 points per 100 possessions.
Last summer, Evan Turner was paid a handsome sum to be the ball-handler who could enable Portland’s two franchise guards to work off the ball, decimate opponents off screens and rouse panic by setting paralyzing picks for each other on the weakside. He can still do that, especially from the block when backing down smaller defenders. But replace Turner with Napier and install a versatile wing like Mo Harkless or Al-Farouq Aminu at the four, and all of a sudden the court becomes a hornet’s nest.
The offensive upside is clear: three ball handlers who can shoot, drive, and pass, constantly racing around to kick dirt in your eyes, is hard to slow down. But so far (small-sample-size alert!) they’ve also been able to hold their own on the defensive end, in part because Napier plays like an unswattable mosquito whose hands and feet never stop moving.
But there are limits to being “frisky” when you aren’t catching an opponent off guard, and some of their success is because Napier’s three-point percentage is actively burning a hole in the ozone layer. That doesn’t mean this speedy triad should be demoted or even stuffed in glass as a “Break-in-Case-of-Emergency” axe. Stotts should ride this unique group as long as he can, knowing few teams have the personnel to match up with it on both ends.
5. Jimmy Butler is Sacrificing Too Much
The Timberwolves are not the NBA’s most disappointing team. Since November 1st, they own a top-10 defense, and for the whole season they’re outscoring opponents by 6.8 points per 100 possessions when Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson share the floor. But this team, at 10-7, feels disappointing.
They’ve yet to find a way to synchronize their overwhelming talent in a way that accentuates each individual’s skill-set, and startling losses against the Phoenix Suns and Detroit Pistons (a game they should’ve won, considering they were home, with a day of rest, against a team that’d just dropped two in a row) have been the result.
Given his contract situation, past performance, and high expectations, Butler’s struggle to look like himself is probably the team’s largest concern. Nobody should’ve expected a fluid overnight fit, but 15 games into his seventh season, the three-time All-Star has yet to find any rhythm in a system he’s already familiar with. Sacrifice is wonderful and necessary, but the degree to which Butler has altered his role to appease Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Jeff Teague is a little excessive.
What’s best for him is probably also best for the Timberwolves. Instead, watching him play he looks out of rhythm, like he doesn’t know when to hunt and when to be passive. The degree of difficulty in some of Butler’s scoring situations has been higher than it should be, too, given the influx of talent by his side. Last year, 17.1 percent of Butler’s shots were hoisted when the shot clock was “late” or “very late,” according to NBA.com. This year, that’s up to 25.9 percent. He has more catch-and-shoot opportunities, which sounds nice but has never been his strength.
According to Synergy Sports, Butler’s possessions as a pick-and-roll ball-handler are down 11 percent from last season. What was once a tool he used to carve defenses up has been more of a dull blade.
Butler’s usage is down, he’s touching the ball 11 fewer times per game, his turnover rate is at a career high, and his free-throw rate is at a career low. That last point is crucial. What initially elevated Butler to an elite level was his ability to draw contact and live at the line. Last season, he was fouled on 20.1 percent of his shots, which ranked in the 98th percentile among all wings. That percentage is currently half what it was. (A plethora of pull-up twos are acceptable when you live at the free-throw line; he’s not quite Tobias Harris, but trending in that direction.)
So much of this is because Minnesota’s roster simply isn’t conducive for a slash-first-ask-questions-later bulldog like Butler. His drives to the basket are now more complicated than Catherine Zeta-Jones vs. one million lasers, in large part because defenses are ready and willing to help off a majority of his teammates.
There are few in-house alterations that can make life easier for Butler, but he hardly ever plays with Nemanja Bjelica (who, ho-hum, is the most accurate three-point shooter in the league right now); in the 52 minutes they’ve shared the floor Minnesota has obliterated everything. (General side note: Gibson has been awesome but Gorgui Dieng and Shabazz Muhammad have not—play Bjelica more often Thibs!)
There’s no need to panic in Minnesota. But youth, lack of shooting, and non-existent depth at the wing are concerns they’ll have to navigate the rest of the season. Putting the ball in Butler’s hands more often won’t solve them, but Jamal Crawford, Teague, and Wiggins should not have a higher usage rate than he does.
Among all players who’ve seen the floor for about the same or fewer minutes than Butler this season, Evan Fournier, Jayson Tatum, Tim Hardaway Jr., Jeremy Lamb, Will Barton, and Bojan Bogdanovic have all scored more points. Something needs to change.
6. Toronto’s Offense Is Official
Despite struggles in the clutch, which reflect a reversion back to the isolation-heavy, late-shot-clock-heaving approach that hurts them so much when it matters most, Toronto’s offense is quietly morphing into an unselfish monster.
Last season, the Raptors ranked dead last in assist rate. (They were 28th in November during the 2016-17 season.) This year, they’re up to 14th, with 17 more passes per game. They’re 14th in pace (up from 22nd last season), shooting way fewer long twos and a lot more threes. Paths to the rim are wider and open more frequently. The result? They rank fourth in offense and third in effective field goal percentage.
It’s growth in real time, partly due to the infusion of youth from guys like OG Anunoby (the most underrated rookie in an abnormally loaded class), Fred VanVleet (whose name I thought was “Van Fleet” for about two years), Delon Wright (who just dislocated his shoulder), and a few others.
Toronto’s two lynch pins are doing their part and C.J. Miles is flashing Ryan Anderson-esque range. The ball moves better when DeMar DeRozan isn’t on the floor, but that’s also when their offensive rating drops to its lowest point. Probably because the guy’s footwork makes it look like he’s hovering two inches above the court at all times.
DeRozan jacked up three shots beyond the arc in the opening minutes of Sunday’s win against the Wall-less Wizards. While still low, his three-point rate is exactly double what it was last season. They aren't perfect, but Toronto's evolutionary shot profile makes them the second-best team in the Eastern Conference.
7. Orlando Treats the Three-Point Line With Too Much Reverence
The Magic should shine on defense. They have athletes who excel at key positions and a coach who’s known for extracting brick-wall execution from much less physical ability.
But after a hot start shooting the ball, Orlando’s defense has become one of the league’s 10 worst. Part of that’s due to injuries up and down the roster, and high usage big men—like Nikola Vucevic—who have known limitations. But a bit of their struggle can be explained by an aggressive “stay home!” attitude towards the three-point line.
Orlando’s defenders, as twitchy as most of them are, have been directed to form a permanent fence at the arc. They don’t allow swing passes to open threats on the weakside and aim to make outside shooters feel claustrophobic. According to Cleaning The Glass, Orlando holds its opponents to a 27 percent three-point rate, which is second-lowest in the league. And from there, the strategy of always being in position to contest outside shots has worked pretty well, with opponents only making 34.5 percent of their threes (though that’s likely a bit more happenstance than strategic ingenuity).
On the surface, this is a rousing success! But in reality it’s like they’re hermetically sealing a body part that actually needs reconstructive surgery. Here’s an example:
At the top, Aaron Gordon does a good job keeping Joe Ingles from getting to the middle of the floor, leaping up and forcing him left. But as the Australian swingman drives towards Vucevic, neither Elfrid Payton nor Evan Fournier pinch in to tag the rolling Derrick Favors. Instead, they treat Raul Neto and Donovan Mitchell like they’re Splash Brothers when, actually, they're Raul Neto and Donovan Mitchell. Favors snatches Ingles’s pocket pass and finishes with an easy dunk.
The moral of the story: Personnel matters. It’s great that the Magic are executing their coach’s scheme and denying three-point attempts en mass in a league that’s filled with teams that are obsessed with that exact shot, but nothing will ever be more efficient than a layup, and nobody is allowing more of those than the Magic.
8. The Willie Cauley-Stein Bandwagon Has Plenty of Room
Photo by Brad Penner - USA TODAY Sports
I will forever believe that Willie Cauley-Stein is a useful, if not good, basketball player. He’s my personal equivalent to how a specific segment of NBA Twitter once felt (feels?) about Anthony Randolph. If Cauley-Stein was, like, seven percent more confident and nine percent more aggressive, with a point guard who draws attention, manipulates back-line rotations, and can shoot, he’d be Steven Adams.
Cauley-Stein actually made a three last week, too, and is one of a few centers who’s defended Joel Embiid without much help and not been steamrolled in the process. I want nothing more than to see him develop outside of Sacramento, not sharing the court with Zach Randolph and Kosta Koufos. Is that too much to ask?
9. You Can’t Help But Respect Carmelo Anthony’s Commitment to Being Carmelo Anthony
Before clarifying is words and backtracking from the belief that he, Paul George, and Russell Westbrook need to be more selfish in order for the Oklahoma City Thunder to find offensive nirvana, Carmelo Anthony concluded that he and his two All-Star teammates are instinctive players who need to be more instinctive.
Even though his instincts have been wrong for quite some time, that’s a perfectly fine thing to believe. But if I played for the Thunder and read this quote, I'd refrain from ever passing him the ball. On top of a defensive demeanor that exudes the same amount of energy and attention I used to display on Thanksgiving morning throughout my early 20’s*, Anthony’s assist to usage ratio is only higher than nine percent of fellow forwards around the NBA. He could wear wide receiver gloves sprayed with stickum for an entire quarter and nobody would notice the difference.
*The below isn’t a great reflection of Oklahoma City’s collective effort, but Anthony somehow manages to make everyone else look like they're hustling their ass off. He airballs a jumper and then backpedals to midcourt as the rest of his teammates turn to run.
Salute.
10. Donovan Mitchell’s Audaciousness Is Inspiring
The Utah Jazz are in a sad place, but, on the bright side, they also have Donovan Mitchell, a fearless firecracker with more responsibilities on his plate than any rookie on a decent team should. Just look at this wraparound pass to Rodney Hood, the finishing touch on Utah’s execution of a Hammer action.
Freeze the clip at the exact moment the ball leaves his fingertips. Even though Mitchell knows Hood is about to (probably) spring free in the corner, it still must feel a little scary to sidearm a ball the length of the baseline towards empty space. It arrives a little low, but that's nitpicking. This was hard and he made it look easy.
Most of the 21-year-old’s offensive numbers are dreadful, but bold, trustworthy traits seen in sequences like this are enough to convince me the Jazz have a keeper.
The Outlet Pass: Butler's Sacrifice, a Fun Cavs Trade, Oubre's Evolution published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv
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fuckyeaholiviapuckett · 11 years
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"Photoshoot with Johnny and Whatsername today #canont3i #lastnightonearth @oliviapuckett @jaredneptune #greenday #americanidiot"
Via Turner Rouse Jr. on Instagram
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My friends are prettier than yours.
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fuckyeahgaybear · 11 years
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Didja hear the news?!
Word on the street is that a shout out was made on Uncle Turner's Instagram. This bear may not rage on stage, but it's definitely lovin' the attention ;-)  Shout out to Uncle Turner and his hipster glasses! 8-)
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mickrories · 11 years
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In memory of John
Or, as I like to refer to it: "PhotoGRA-aphs".
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