Robert H
basketball and soccer obsessive. Books, too many books.
- OK, now I’ll engage in wild speculation of my own: wondering if the Clippers subtly tearing it down is a sign that the league may be coming down on them for PlantingTrees-gate soon. Very unlikely, but still fun to consider.
- One of my least favorite aspects of the current social media environment for sports scoops are the incentives to release incomplete information, simply for attention’s sake. The confused speculation that follows from everyone is considered a feature, not a bug.
- “New York’s going to feel like they won this one twice”. Truer words were never spoken by Jay Bilas.
- You diagram a play with 0.3 left and throw a weak lob, yikes not great Knicks.
- Absolutely ridiculous call on Bridges with 0.3 seconds left, insane really
- “Good” win for the Knicks in terms of maintaining momentum and following good process against a Laker team that chose to junk it up with zones and traps. Bench players stepped it up. Hard to read too much into it given how flawed the Lakers are.
- Not sure how far the Rams can go with this “bend don’t break” highwire approach they’ve had all playoffs, but god, Stafford is fun to watch when he’s humming.
- Feels like I just got LASIK watching the dynamic back and forth of this Seahawks-Rams first half, after enduring the punishing weather conditions and eye-bleeding nihilistic conservatism of Pats-Broncos.
- I get the difficulty around spotting all the hand fighting and holding and pass interference and what to call or let go, but a face mask on the QB is missed somehow?
- All credit to the Patriots, who were very good defensively and mostly solid otherwise…while their last two opponents were arguably even better defensively but did Multiple Stupid Things offensively.
- The Broncos used their second timeout with 3:02 left after forcing a punt…why?
- Following a missed 46 yard FG attempt in swirling winds and snow with a cut to a Bronco player ripping off his helmet in celebration, and Romo saying “what a game” is certainly one way to sell this 10-7 sludgefest.
- Me before the game: Denver is a superior team, even with a backup QB with no snaps in two seasons, how can the inexperienced Pats be so heavily favored Me after watching Stidham come down from the high of his first TD drive: Oh.
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- What I love about this post is the last college football final I really remember vividly was that Vince Young win, it’s kept me watching almost every championship game even when I have no personal investment, hoping something magical will happen.
- Now *that* is a cool way to score and feed the narrative. Incredible QB draw on fourth down.
- Joe Burrow is correct that I have no idea what a catch is, but watching this game, I *really* don’t know what pass interference is lol
- Can’t say I’m heavily invested in this college football game beyond the usual narratives thrown at a casual like me. But I’m always amped up for a good doink.
- Mavs have scored 4 points in over 5 minutes and so NY has cut a 30 point lead down to….19.
- At this rate, Mike Brown is going to run out of timeouts when the Mavs go up 40 before the end of the third quarter, after Max Christie has made his 12th 3 pointer. (note: I am a Max Christie fan, so no shade)
- Josh Hart is one of the better defenders in the league guarding bigger players, but he is getting *cooked* by Naji Marshall. Marshall just effortlessly converting middies over him.
- Make no mistake, Dallas is absolutely scorching offensively, but NY is offering absolutely no resistance. Giving up one make after another after a simple blow by or a pump fake.
- Flagg continues to show off his post injury burst against a molasses-slow Knicks team, outsprinting both McBride and Hart on a steal and layup. Knicks have looked awful defending in transition all game.
- Not often anyone, let alone a 19 year old rookie, can discard Anunoby so effortlessly…but Flagg has done it twice. Has a left handed drive, baseline turnaround exploiting a mismatch on Shamet, and a three.
- Bizarrely conservative calls toward the end of regulation by the Rams, they fully deserved to get pantsed by an unbelievable throw by Caleb.
- I get the primary receivers are out and the O Line is compromised, but would the Texans have won this game if Mac Jones or Jimmy G had been their QB?
- What’s the record number of interceptions for a winning playoff QB in NFL history? (just a hypothetical, I don’t think CJ’s team is winning this game)
- OKC holding the Spurs under 100, with only 25 pts combined from Fox/Barnes/Johnson when those guys combined for 50+ in the previous two games…that’s taking care of business.
- OKC executing on the same formula for success they’ve always had, just improved on the margins in exploiting matchups, defending, and getting contributions from non-SGA players. Special shoutout to Jaylin Williams who’s been *great* on both ends.
- That’s as animated as you’ll see SGA in a regular season game. Total takeover in the third, and that swarming OKC defense finally rattled the Spurs. Too many rough, out of control possessions for SA.
- Plenty of time left, but OKC seems to be doing a better job of getting Castle off SGA, and SGA in turn has optimized those possessions. Helps of course that his teammates are helping him out, J Dub especially getting downhill.
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- Spurs-Lakers looks exactly like what it is: two teams in the first week of January on the second night of a back to back.
- Not even invested in either of these teams (my antipathy for Rogers notwithstanding) and that is a horrible way to lose.
- Rudy Gobert is on the front of their webpage , and I see Spencer Dinwiddie follows the company as well 🙃
- Great interview with one of my all-time favorite critics.
- Huge win for the Cavs, who looked a hell of a lot sharper than the Spurs down the stretch. 13 of 43 shooting from Castle/Fox/Barnes/Vassell may be the team just hitting a wall, but it points to a possible Achilles heel with late game offense.
- Somehow the Mavs aren’t down 20 despite losing AD, losing shooters constantly on defense, and a boatload of terrible offensive possessions. Still looks like a long shot for them given Steph and Jimmy haven’t even played up to their typical level.
- Days before the first Spurs-OKC game in the Cup semis, podcasts were talking about SGA’s legacy among all-time greats and the Thunder as an all-time defensive team. What a difference a week makes.
- This may be the Spurs’ year, but I still think they’re a year away given their youth. Wemby/Harper/Castle are going to be amazing with another year of experience, but right now Fox is their best individual scorer against a set defense.
- 36 points in the first quarter, 43 the next two quarters while missing 21 of 24 threes after making 4 of their first 6. I would say the Spurs have OKC in a stranglehold.
- Not really sure OKC has answers here playing a double big lineup + Dort vs the Spurs, Wemby or no Wemby. Spurs’ guards just getting to the paint and attacking the drop mercilessly, while OKC doesn’t have enough non-SGA offense to keep up.
- Caruso has to be available for those three point looks and he’s missing very makeable open ones, but it’s still weird to watch him become Game 7 John Starks as the Spurs let him gun away.
- Maybe it’s just me having time to watch the first couple of Xmas NBA games live in ages, but the first two games have been seriously intense, near playoff levels of effort at times.
- It’s still early, but across two games and a quarter of basketball, this Spurs team looks almost tailor made to negate every OKC advantage. Rangy hyper talented scorers and defenders, plus there’s Wemby with Kornet as a perfect backup.
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- Noon on Xmas Day and this is some serious high quality shotmaking on display. Great game at MSG.
- Knicks are still hanging in this game early in the 4th (barely), but the defense has been fairly wretched all day. Cavs just moving crisply, exploiting mismatches, and making shots.
- All the early season angst about Cooper Flagg was just noise. Anyone who watched him play in person — high school, college or pro — knew this guy was for real. Incredible composure running the show for the Mavs tonight vs Denver.
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- Brunson shouting out OG, Kolek, Clarkson, and Robinson during his MVP presentation was very cool and apropos, not empty praise at all. Exactly what a captain and leader should do.
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- Spurs showed their youth in that fourth quarter. Faced a team playing as hard if not harder than them, took some ill advised shots (Wemby, Harper, Castle) down the stretch, ability to create quality shots in clutch time vaporized.
