Topic: American Sports

Anybody watching Olympic hockey at all? Today is a full slate of Men's hockey, been taking it in. The hockey is so high level at the Olympics, its so freaking great. US mens about to start soon. And how about the US women's team? Abso beating the brakes off of everyone so far. 4-0 so far in the tourney, beat Canada last game and outscoring opponents 20-1 so far in the 4 games. Those ladies are so freakin' good now man!!!! USA USA USA

@StitchJones Caught most of the Canada/Czechia game !🇨🇦! Hoping to catch whatever I can of USA/Latvia here. Your women’s team is next level, by the way!

@Metonymy Thanks. Yeah the ladies have made strides in the sport overall as well. Its great to see. The PWHL will prob never be as big as the WNBA in the US, but its great to see the interest rising. The Olympics will help. I love watching all the teams in this Tourney. That CAN/Czech game, CAN looking great as expected. The hockey is so next level no matter who you watch, its so freaking great man. I'm a hockey nut though so my opinion is biased haha

@StitchJones Yeah, I love Hockey too, man. And the Tkachuk brothers working their magic as I type this! As a massive Flames fan, I’ll forever miss Matthew in these parts.

@Metonymy I feel you. I'm a Rangers fan (sob) lol I wish there was a way we could pry Brady off of Ottawa for this retool, kind of like how FLA got Matthew. But I think that's a pipe dream, even though OTT remains kind of a dumpster fire. But we do live in a day and age of unthinkable trades in all sports. Its too bad Huberdeau isn't really working out for CAL and Rasmus is gone. Clearly time for CAL to rebuild. Maybe they can get Mckenna if they win the lottery. But Rangers are so bad, I'm hoping they can win the lottery, if not maybe get Stenberg at #2. I just hope VAN doesn't win the lottery, Mckenna will be wasted there. VAN has so many holes in that lineup already and they aren't even done selling yet this yr. Wolf is a great young goaltender, and I think CAL has enough decent pieces to get back to prominence way faster than VAN esp. if they get Mckenna. Demko is a great goalie, but that dude is always injured and now had surgery done. He's finished

@StitchJones Yeah, I think Calgary is only a few pieces away from being dangerous, giving the “retool” verbiage some credence. Really just need some consistent scoring talent. No one would benefit more from it than Huby, who’s such a great playmaker, but it’s hard not to wince at that contract. Wolf has huge potential but Calgary needs to not overwork him. I’m glad playoffs are pretty much out of the picture now, Cooley’s been a great backup this season, play him! I’m sorry to see Anderson go but he’s earned his payday. All the power to him. Obviously I’d love to see McKenna come here but I’m not holding my breath. The Flames are very good at being consistently mediocre.

I haven’t been following closely out east this season so my apologies, I can’t speak much to where the Rangers are at, other than knowing we’re kind of in the same boat!

@Metonymy Yep, we're in the same boat. Rangers in full retool mode. Chris Drury sent a letter to the fans saying its time to retool and trades will be made. They traded Artemi to the Kings before olympic break. Trocheck will prob be dished too. Everyone needs C's so they'll prob get a haul for him. Schnieder is another trade piece, R shot D-man a contending team can use at the deadline. So dark times are ahead, but a guy like Mckenna and some assets in big trades can turn the tides fast so. I was 20yo when they won the cup in 94. i got so soak it all in. therefore im patient with the Rangers.

@StitchJones Dark times, indeed. Here’s hoping for some draft luck headed your way! And you’re right, these days you never know what crazy trade might be around the corner.

Edit: And congrats on the decisive win over Latvia!

@Metonymy Thanks, but I would hope US would do that to Latvia. They only have 5 or 6 NHLer's on their roster. It will really heat up when our countries start playing the likes of Sweden, Finland, even Germany is looking solid. Hopefully its a rematch of 4nations for the gold medal my man. That was such great hockey too last year. A CAN/US rematch for gold would be perfect on the bigger Olympic stage. CAN still scares me if that's the case obv. But having Macavoy and Quinn hughes back on Def for this tourney can be the game changer US needs. Plus, made some tweaks up front with Tage and Keller. But when CAN has the likes of Makar, Mcdavid, Mackinnon and Celebrini they have to be the faves.

@Th3solution I swear Porzingis cut you up in traffic, spilled his coffee on you, took the last (whatever American treat is your favourite) the one you were saving for last, too. And maybe even stole christmas! NBA Champion Kristaps Porzingis, that is.

The funny thing about Boston is they could still finish 5th, quite easily. Every game has added tension as there is literally no room for error this year, and a lot of their wins have been because they played much, much harder to earn them. In the long run all of this is positive as it builds a new way of playing, of competing harder for longer. I think sometimes just having a lot of great players, although fun, can lead to way more frustration when they don't lock in.

New York and Cleveland should be definitely looking to finish above Boston, but the ride will still be fun, whatever happens.

The first game or so with Vooooch was pretty bleak, as they had to change how they played and everyone was kind of stopd in the wrong positions and it was clunky, and they felt like games where we needed Anferno off the bench instead. But we are starting to see what he adds. His passing is better than I knew. I rarely saw the Bulls, and when I had seen them, well, they were getting beaten by Boston most times, and even when he stood out, it wasn't quite the same with the type of team they are. And he kind of gets his threes from straight on, which is very much how we used Porzingis.

We really did have to completely rethink patterns of play, though. I din't think a single player has posted up all year at Boston, not in the way he does, anyway. Queta does for spacing, but not because we are looking to feed him from the get-go. He is used as more of a lob threat and mostly in the pick and roll in set plays we run, rather than just 'get out. post up. throw it in and see what happens'. So there is naturally some adjustment. Vucevic will pick and pop, post up and hopefully fit in similarly to KP to give Tatum and Brown more floor space when the team is 100%. Queta and Garza will then be used more like Kornet and Horford, and then you have the makings of a team that can compete in the playoffs. (I don't think we will do much this year, as if you look at NY and Celeveland's squads and how Detroit play, we are always going to be at a disadvantage in a full series. But if they keep playing hard, at least there is a path for them to compete)

San Antonio should be great. We've both seen it. We tried all kinds of things to muck it up vs Wemby, and we did it successfully for a while, but when he has a foot advantage over someone and the touch to finish over them... It kind of makes clutch games a real task to get through late on. The only chance is to limit him early, upset rhythm and wear him down enough so that he cant be effective late.

I think someone saying Flagg would go 7th is being controversial just to make a point that there is a really good draft. I hope there is a way for Boston to get him, one day. Seeing out Tatum and Brown over the years would be much easier with Flagg on the team 😅 how long are rookie deals though, and he'd have to want to go to free agency for it to work? The NBA is weird as you can't buy players like in European sports, and no one will trade a low contract syar rookie for a high contract older player, right 😂 although... Dallas are insane...

Speaking of Joe the mad scientist/psychopath. We also have to mention Brad Stevens, regular scientist. He saved I think $340million from the tax bill with deadline trades, whilst still having a team that can at least compete to a similar level as they usually do, and filling a positional need. That is quite mad, and he will win executive/GM of the year (I think that is a thing in the NBA) it also means we can pick up bigger contracts in future, if we need to go all in at any stage. Or we get a full financial reset if we keep this structure for one more season.

@Ravix Lol, Porzingis is one in the long line of NBA big men that have disappointed me. I still haven’t recovered from the great promise of Yao Ming and Greg Oden. 😅

I’m not sure on the rookie contract question. For some reason I’m thinking 3-5 years. These contract rules are so convoluted, it’s almost as bad as the U.S. tax code. But I do think one of the issues with Luka was he was eligible last summer to sign the “Super-max” contract which is the highest payout a player can have and it is only eligible for a player to make with the team that drafted him. So when he was traded, the Lakers were not able to give him (or obligated to give him…?) as much money on his contract extension as Dallas was. I’m not sure the why’s and the what-for’s on these rules but it does make for a large financial burden to draft a superstar player and keep them around.

I am curious how Harden will gel with Cleveland. Honestly, as good as he is, I don’t really think he’s a guy I’d want on my team. I suspect he won’t elevate the Cavs into a contender, but we’ll see. And I’ve stopped putting too much faith in the Knicks too. They seem to fall asleep at the wheel sometimes.

@Th3solution i'm praising them in the hope that they fail (again) 😁 they are surging a little, and i'm more aware of them now than I was earlier in the year.

Thankfully it is all star break, the C's have been running on fumes for a little while now. That said, they usually do better on less rest, so I could see us being 4th soon after all-star. That would hopefully give Tatum the psychological boost to feel that he is ready to come back though, I think at the moment he'd prefer to come back and help the team rise, rather than be at fault for any slight dips while they work out how much he can handle. And with it being so close it could be the injection of positivity to feel like it is time to lock in to a higher level as most teams tend to after all-star.

Unsure on Harden, but he is a pain to play against as he buys so many fouls, and he should make their bigs much better and more aggressive scorers. I imagine Mitchell could work out how to play with him, but secretly i'd like to see it disrupt their star, of course.

Alvarado is the trade that I fear most. He is the type of player I love, and he should fit so well in NY. I do expect the usual KAT nonsense though. But Alvarado, Brunson, Hart and Bridges 😬 i'd not love to play against that group in the playoffs.

@Metonymy Good luck to Canada today. I'll be watching. They should make swiss cheese out of Switzerland easy lol. Both US and Canada playing scrubs at the start and through the weekend. Its still cool to watch, but can't wait until things heat up and both our countries start playing the bigger dogs and see how we fair.

@StitchJones Thanks! I’d say likewise but looks like they already took care of business 😄 Congrats! And yeah, I’m also really looking forward to some elite level hockey. Hope to catch as much as I can!

@Metonymy IDK about you but I can't stand Tom Wilson. I know the hit wasn't really dirty and he went down awkward on Fiala's leg. But at the same time is it surprising that Wilson is named to the Olympic squad and he's involved in a hit that ends a guy's Olympics and season too? I can't stand that dude

@StitchJones Tell me about it. I was at the game when Rantanen fell on Zary’s leg last season… even if it wasn’t intentional, when you have such a crap reputation, it becomes a bit of a boy who cried wolf situation. Anyway, big loss for the Kings. All the best to Fiala on his recovery.

@Metonymy Yeah, the Kings owner and the GM must be pissed. They got Panarin from the Rangers before the Olympic trade freeze. Only to lose Fiala during the Olympics before Panarin plays one game. LA's a few points outside a wildcard, but the Panarin trade was supposed to maybe boost them in. It will be interesting now. Rantanen been involved in some dirty crap earlier this year too. IDK what that guy's deal is. Tom Wilson has been a goon since the start. I wish someone would put him through the boards every game

@Metonymy this is what I'd like to do at a Rangers/Caps game in NY when Wison skates by. Just swap the fans sweater out with a Rangers one and no bruins, Wilson and maybe Ovi. I love Ovi, but why not. lol
You prob saw this channel already, but if not, check it out. There's a ton of funny hockey ones like this on there.

@StitchJones Ha! Never seen the channel but yeah, that’s wild. All I can think is, “Imagine if you hit your head on the ice from that height!”

@Metonymy that's why i have to brace for impact with Wilsons face hitting the ice, not my head. Here's two more for you real quick. then i'm out lol