Friends in fast breaks,

We’re about 9 games into the season. And while it's a whole new season, you can't help but feel like... This feels familiar. 

WEEK 2 PICKS

• Walking Bucket Wilt OAD
  • Summary | Overall Standings
• VC's Knees Survivor
  • Summary | Overall Standings
• Your group picks (get in a group with friends!)

New car smell

Familiar faces in new places: Mitchell in CLE, Sexton in UTA, D. Murray in ATL, Gobert in MIN, Simmons in BKN, Brunson in NYK.

The outcomes are all over the place. Mitchell has looked phenomenal, putting up even better numbers than we're used to. Sexton hasn't looked bad off of his injury, but I think everyone expected a bit more with the opportunity to be more of a focal point. D. Murray has slotted in excellently next to Trae, but I'm not sure if he's improved the team defense as much as people hoped for. I'm not sure if Gobert has paid off how the TWolves have hoped, with discussions of lane-clogging hurting Ant's dunking (where are my highlights). Simmons continues to devolve. Brunson looks great in MSG, and all the hubbub over his contract size seems pretty unnecessary so far. But again, for all of this... 9 games. There's still basically 90% of the season to go!

New faces in new places: The Rooks are here and plenty of them are are running amok. In a good way. Why doesn't anyone use amok in a positive way?

Banchero is posting young Lebron-esque statlines, forgive the strong comparison. The athleticism isn't there, but the scoring and some of the playmaking are. Mathurin has a comically big chip on his shoulder and so far he's delivering on HIS expectations - I'm excited for the Lakers matchup. K. Murray, who I feel like was treated as the lowest potential of the top picks, is playing like the Rockets should reconsider their choice. J. Smith Jr is... making the Rockets reconsider their choice. Chet's on the bench :( Ivey is as electric as advertised.

Same old, same old

Lillard, Harden, Kawhi, Hayward, and Simmons are all injured. Again. I hate injuries and would kindly request we turn the setting to "off" so we can enjoy the best version of every team please. MIL and PHX are sitting atop the standings. SAC, DET, ORL, and HOU are bottom-feeding. Refs are frustrating everybody. Carrying the ball is something we acknowledge every once in a blue moon. Traveling doesn't count on game-winning buzzer-beaters. And Kyrie should consider this old adage: "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt".

PICK STATS

Walking Bucket Wilt OAD

• Morant is our top pick this week with more than 70 picks expecting him to pile it on the injury-depleted CHA
• Mitchell, Durant, Doncic, and Giannis round out our top five
• Mitchell has both been on fire AND is going up against DET's abysmal defense, I like the strategy
• Durant will be a one-man army out there, I'm just not sure who else can shoulder the load
• Looking down amongst our low volume picks: George, Grant, Clarkson, Green
• We gotta keep our eyes on the injury reports: Leonard, Hayward, and Lillard are all very unavailable to play. Hope your backup picks are good!

VC’s Knees Survivor

• CLE holds our top spot, with more than 25% of you hoping their strong showings holds up against the struggling DET
• MEM is next with 23%, also with an advantageous matchup against CHA (depleted, as mentioned above)
• BOS is in third with ~11%, another pick that hits me as bold just like picking BOS last week. CHI isn't killing it right now, but they're 5-4 and there are definitely weaker teams to pick on out there
• Brave picks on ATL (vs NOP), SAS (@ LAC), and GSW (@NOP). But no comment means no Moxie award, leave a comment so I can better respect your bravery!

Swaggy-P Forecast

• We had a pool of 114 eligible players for the four honors (All NBA, MVP, DPOY, ROY), but not all players were available for every award
• 79 of the 114 were picked, which is WAY higher than I would have guessed 
• ALL-NBA
  • We saw 58 unique players selected for All NBA (wow!)
  • 28 Guard, 28 for Forward, and 15 for Center
  • Because the NBA is annoying, some players can appear in multiple positions. Complain to Adam Silver, I can’t fix that
  • Giannis was the top All NBA vote-getter with 354 votes
  • Luka (311), Jokic (244), Morant (224), and Tatum (186) followed
  • Some notable single vote-getters: Brunson, Bamba, Brooks, Horford, and Banchero. I’m not here to rain on anyone’s parade, I hope these happen!
  • We saw 181 total unique All NBA lineups submitted
  • Our most common lineup was Morant, Doncic, Giannis, Tatum, and Jokic with 44 picks
  • Second most common was similar, but with Curry instead of Morant and 29 picks
  • There were 140 unique lineups submitted once. Love love love the people going brave!
• MVP Votes
  • 18 players garnered an MVP vote.
  • Giannis again took first place here with 129 votes, followed closely by Luka with 117
  • Then there was a steep drop to Morant (51), Tatum (34), and Embiid (25)
  • Jokic, our back-to-back and reigning MVP, only caught 10 votes. I know we talk about voter fatigue but dang
  • Interesting single vote-getters: Kawhi, Paul, Beal, and Wiggins!
• DPOY Votes
  • 41 players received a DPOY vote (!!!)
  • Gobert ran away with 1st here, holding 138 votes
  • Giannis (96), Adebayo (44), Smart (26), and Embiid (16) rounded out the top five
  • Smart is the reigning DPOY, and Bridges (10) was last year's runner-up, leaving Gobert in third last year.
  • Rudy coming to MIN and pushing their defense to a new level could be what he needs to get number four. That would tie him for the all-time DPOY count with Ben Wallace and Dikembe Mutombo *finger wag*
• ROY (aka Tiebreaker) Votes
  • Remember, these only matter as a championship tiebreaker. But numbers are numbers and we’re gonna peek!
  • 11 of the 12 candidates received a vote. Poor Tari Eason left out in the cold
  • Banchero ran away with this, getting 302 votes. Not the greatest tiebreaker if everyone is on the same dude...
  • Then there’s an insane three way tie at 21 votes for Mathurin, Murray, and Jalen Williams
  • Mathurin and Murray have both shown great flashes so far, so I understand them here.
  • Jalen Williams is a surprise - He hasn’t played too much. Maybe we’re hoping the OKC tank-a-thon will get him more minutes to fill up the stat sheet? Maybe we’re just all Santa Clara University fans and want an alum to do well? 

WEEKLY AWARDS

Westbrook Bank Shot Moxie Award

Boldest pick WITH a comment. You can't win a SZN competition without a little Moxie!

@JoshAllenLooksGoodInShorts (Sixers): "The fact that no one appears to be good and no one appears to be bad right now makes this borderline impossible."
GM says: No Harden and potentially no Embiid against the Knicks? May Maxey grant you salvation, brave soldier.

"Who's the GOAT?" Award

Our best weekly comment (or three)

@Mr_Rodgers_Neighborhood (ATL): "Is it just me, or does Trae look like he’s got more hair this year? Hair club for men works miracles!!!"
GM says: This is the part of the D. Murray trade that nobody talks about. Getting "Hair" from the Spurs was easily worth the extra picks.

"I Could Sell You Kings Tickets" Award

Most convincing comment.

@Merf (GSW): "Ladies and gentlemen, can I please have your attention. I've just been handed an urgent and horrifying news story. I need all of you, to stop what you're doing and listen. Cannnnnon ballllll! (It’s a Poole Party tonight.)"
GM says: Basically the entire GSW starting lineup is out, ergo their 6th man should feast. The Anchorman quote is just the cherry on top.

KD Would Retweet This Award

The spiciest/wildest take.

@RJthegreat (NOP): "We all know Zion won't play much longer this season."
GM says: No more booty bruises, no more foot fractures. I want to see full-speed Zion please!

MORE PICK COMMENTS

@kbanaian (CLE): "Is it possible BOTH Utah and Cleveland got better through the Mitchell trade? Because early returns from here in Minne-So-Cold from Gobert are quite mixed."
GM says: You referring to future All-Star Markkanen? I'm trying to will this into existence.

@Rickfrrr (PHX): "Booker T would approve this pick.. Can you dig it???!!?"
GM says: Hopefully this works out better than Booker T's invisible mayoral run for Houston in 2019. Dropping "The Bookend" on props at rallies surely would have garnered some votes.

@LeviLeo (Cavs): "Think Lebron will go back to Cleveland to retire since the Lakers suck?"
GM says: I hear this idea floated a lot. But with how CLE's been looking with their roster moves, would they be willing to mess with it to have him back for a final ride?

@kempsoos (Cavs): "This is already the best I've done in a competition this year, I'll stick with my patented P.A.P. principle... Pick Against the Pistons... I would apologize to Detroit but Detroit doesn't care about me. "
GM says: I know this feeling. Making it past the first week has suddenly become an accomplishment in and of itself. Ease up Survivor Gods.

@cegriffi (Suns): "Dame out, blaze crew on the rode, bout to get burned by the sun. I hope. "
GM says: I don't think they've got the SPF to handle this.

@YikesVikes (Cavs): "Any team with a mascot named Moondog has got to keep me in the game. Cleveland radio disc jockey Alan Freed, who popularized the phrase "rock and roll" called himself "Moondog". It's Rock and Roll week, that's a winner in my book. "
GM says: Moondog? MOONDOG? Why is it a dog? Why is it a MOON dog? What's this have to do with being a Cavalier? Make it make sense!

@MONSTERXXX (MEM): "JA JA WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH !!!"
GM says: YES YES WOOOOOOOOO

@StatCzar (LAL): "Last week I had picked the Mavs in survivor, only to get punched in the face by an epic once a decade loss. So story time, and since it was just Halloween I have a Halloween story...about me getting punched in the face. I'm from NE Ohio, and went to college at Akron from 2008-2012 (Fear the Roo). So I was there when LeBron left, I gotta say never was really as upset with him as others, still more upset they didn't move Wally's contract in 09 and left the greatest version of LeBron (yes I know about 2013 but I'm still convinced 2009 LeBron was better) to put up an all time playoff series against the Magic while Mo Williams bricked 3s and Ben Wallace's corpse hoped to slow down Dwight Howard and a roided up Orlando squad. But I do love a good comedic bit, so for Halloween that year I got an old LeBron jersey and put a cardboard knife in the back as I figured this could lead to compliments and bigger and better things. Now every garbage can in Akron has the ironic slogan, "Keep Akron Beautiful" on it. Why is this important? Because I did get a lot of compliments with the costume, but as I was walking down with the sidewalk 2 friends, we noticed some drunk kid kicking over every garbage can, and one of our group yelled, "way to go, keep Akron beautiful!" This kid took this as a huge insult and immediately sprinted across the street demanding to know who said that and why, then continued to make accusations about how this was a huge insult to him. Then as he was getting in everyone's face, a cop drove by and he ran for cover, throwing a beer in a bush, afraid of being drunk, drinking in public, and being underage. We then proceeded to yell back at him, due to intoxication, about what a coward he was to talk shit and hide from the cops. As soon as the cop was gone he sprinted back to continue his intense interrogation as we approached my friends' house. One friend decided to run inside while I and fellow SZN member, @dkline005, remained outside still yelling. He then yelled at my friend Dan, and called him an asshole, to which I replied, if Dan's an asshole what the f---- do we call you, as I've never seen a bigger asshole in my life. This person did not appreciate this comment and was a full head taller than, as he approached me tho, I was full of liquid courage and continued to shout at him, he then punched me in the face, I responded in kind by continuing to throw punches until I had the much bigger guy against a house down to eye level as I unleashed a rapid fury of right hands. This is where I mention, he had a much larger group of friends. One came up from behind and put me in a WWE sleeper chokehold while others hit me in the ribs and face, and an entire party next door just stood there doing nothing, backing against the house so as to get as far away as possible while still watching. While I was tangled up, I hear my friend Dan yell, "let him go!" and someone respond, "what are you going to do if we don't?" I hear Dan reply "let him go or, I'll break this beer bottle over your head!" To which the person said, "you won't do th..." he never finished the sentence as I then heard the sound of glass crashing over his head. After a bit more of a kerfuffle things finally died down, but my fake knife in the back had been destroyed and I now had one helluva a swollen and bruised eye. Hope everyone had a happy Halloween and let's get buckets! "
GM says: Tell me more, tell me more, like did he have a car?

Yours in Roundball Rock,
The GM