Topic: American Sports

@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.

@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!

@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!

@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.

@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!

@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.

@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!”

@StitchJones Cheers! 👊

@StitchJones I was just searching for the thread! Way too close for comfort. Didn’t think we looked great out there today, to be honest. Czechia did a phenomenal job keeping us boxed out of the slot. We had a lot of shots but not a lot of high danger looks and Dostál was great. We got it done in the end but it could have went either way. Couldn’t agree more that 3-3 and shootouts shouldn’t be anywhere near a tournament like this. Good luck against Sweden here! Should be another great game.

@StitchJones Congrats! Was another tight one. One step closer to that rematch 😄

@StitchJones People would be rioting, as embarrassing as it is. Even the worst teams in the NHL are still playing pretty good hockey, so I’ll gladly watch but, yes, I’ll definitely be missing meaningful hockey. Women’s tomorrow!

@StitchJones Obviously not the ending I was hoping for but huge congrats! USA brought it when it mattered most. What a game.

@StitchJones Yeah, I’m not happy with the 3 on 3 but it is what it is. We lost the game on that last powerplay. It was our chance to seal the deal but instead the momentum changed and USA got it done. I commend the resilience. It was the difference.

@StitchJones Well said, though I think Poulin will be back. Knight gets to retire in a high note though. Much deserved!

@StitchJones Yeah it’s been a day, no doubt about that. Cheers!

@StitchJones Thanks! We got it done 😅 I didn’t get to see the game as I’m back at work (I was fortuitously off sick the last week or so) but it sounded like an intense one. As for the sweaters, I haven’t noticed anything so I can’t give an opinion. Good luck to USA! I’d love a gold medal match-up!

Hockey guys, are Canada... nervous? They seem kind of clumsy, error prone and at least half a step behind on everything, which to me makes most sense when people are not feeling fully confident and composed, or simply not locked-in mentally.

Does the game need a good fight to focus their minds, perhaps? @StitchJones @Metonymy 👀

Edit: You're welcome, @Metonymy 😉

@Ravix Canada definitely took a bit to find their feet. I was slightly worried after the scoreless 5 on 3 advantage but we pushed through. Hockey means far too much here for Canada to roll over. Bars were open at 5:00 am! It’s wild. C’mon boys!!! 🇨🇦