Friends in fast breaks,
We went from Techs for staring at a dude too much to rear naked chokeholds that only get 5 game suspensions.
How can you be both soft on the Techs you call AND soft on actually punishing bad behavior?
You never cease to confuse me Adam Silver.
WEEK 4 PICKS
- Points One-And-Done
- Survivor #1
- "All 30" One-And-Done
The GM AWARDS
Rewarding whatever random things I feel like. Feel free to suggest topics!
Worst Wrestling Technique - Draymond Green
Green runs away with this one. Not because of technique, not because of effectivness. But because of WHAT THE HELL are you doing? I respect his game, but the man has just endlessly provided reasons to hate him. It was astounding to finally hear Kerr agree that it was "too much", the dude's leash has been too long for too long.
Baldest Baller - Derrick White
I'm not deeply knowledgeable about BOS, but to see White's come up with Smart gone has been excellent. I was barely aware of him until his game winner in the playoffs, but I love seeing him succeed now with Marcus Smart gone. All hail "The Buffalo"!
Brokest Back - Ben Simmons
I was hoping Ben would get it together this year, I love underdog stories. I didn't expect him to ever get back to his previous peak, but there's no reason he couldn't have been a Draymond-esque non-shooter who plays good D and helps orchestrate the offense. Here's hoping this latest issue is short-lived.
Honorable mention to Bradley Beal, who was a DNP today after his back issues were elevated to being out for a few weeks. Heal up, I don't want to see another wasted "Big 3" with KD.
Best Soap Opera Storyline - Kelly Oubre Jr
If you're out of the loop, Oubre was injured after allegedly being a pedestrian in a hit and run case, causing him to break a rib and have some serious bruising. "Alleged" being an important word here. Then the story came out that security footage from near where he said he was hit shows nothing. And then TMZ somehow got access to his Ring doorbell footage showing him in pain but walking a bicycle back in. It's the crazy stuff that has people saying the NBA is just a soap opera for men.
PICK STATS
Walking Bucket Wilt OAD
- D. Fox takes our top spot this week with 58 picks
- He's been out with an ankle sprain, but has seemed back to form since coming back
- His last four games he's scored 39, 37, 28, and 28
- Right on his heels is N. Jokic with 56 picks
- With no Murray, he's been a one man wrecking crew
- Four straight games of 32+ points looks REAL good
- Our other big picks: T. Maxey (47 picks), S. Gilgeous (41), and K. Durant (37)
- Maxey outpaced his MVP-candidate teammate Embiid (25 picks) handily
- SGA continues to be a bucket, no questions here
- And Durant is possibly playing without his costars AGAIN, so he should be set up for a big night
- Interesting low volume picks: J. Harden (3 picks), Z. Williamson (2), B. Ingram (2)
- Harden continues to get no faith from our pickers... which is very reasonable so far
- Pels getting no respect for Zion or Ingram
- Digging into the Golden Spreadsheet...
- Mitchell at the top (52.5%) just ahead of Luka (50.1%)
- Embiid is his own little tier at 44.2%
- Then a big spread of people in the 30-40% range
Survivor #1
- CLE runs away with our top pick, with 100 riding with them
- That's 36.6% of the pool
- They're against DET, I get it
- But they've also got Garland and Mitchell listed as questionable to play
- It'd take a miracle game from DET to pull it off...
- Behind them is NYK (46 picks), LAL (23), and then several teams in the teen range
- WAS is bad, yes yes. What happens when (if?) Poole catches fire like we've seen in the past?
- POR is also not scary, LAL feels safe
- The breadth of picks we've got on small teams almost certainly means we'll still be shedding some pickers this week
- MEM over SAS picker, brave!
- HOU over LAC picker, braver!
- DET over CLE picker, BRAVEST!
- Digging into the Golden Spreadsheet...
- This only looks at picks from alive players in the pool
- BOS at the top with 56.6%
- Followed by MIA, still buoyed by their one big week, at 49.1%
- CLE and PHI are both in the high 30%
- Then it's a loooot in the 10-23% range
- TOR has no picks, so sad
"All 30" One-And-Done
- Another week of top picks looking like Survivor
- CLE (59 picks), NYK (33), LAL (19) at the top
- CHI makes a leap up the board relatively
- 11 here vs 4 in S1
- They're the only "surprise" I'd say
- Digging into the Golden Spreadsheet...
- Far less "extreme" here, thanks to the non-elimination
- BOS, MIA, and CLE are all very close in the mid 30% usage
- Then there's a nice slow decline amongst the remaining teams
- Including TOR with their one pick!
BEST PICK COMMENTS
@Logan2273 (LAL, Survivor #1): "I thought more people would be out by now..."
GM says: Double elimination coming in clutch for keeping things interesting. We were already down 73% of the pool at this point last year!
@StatCzar (L. Doncic, K. Durant): "Bradley Beal justifying his exclusion from this list by missing even more games!"
GM says: Don't pick on the guy, his back is tired from carrying this sorry team with two super stars!
@kbanaian (A. Davis, J. Randle): "I just need one of AD (vs DeAndre DominAYTON) or Book (vs the Jazz) to play. Watch them both get scratched at game time."
GM says: DominAyton is such a clever (though lame) nickname, I love it. But when I learned he gave himself the nickname (and doesn't really deliver on it), it really ruins it.
@Rodgers_is_dead_to_me (D. Fox, D. Bane): "Jam it home! (oh, wait, that's just what the suggested comment says... works for me!)"
GM says: Who said originality is dead?
@YikesVikes (L. Doncic, J. Tatum): "Could these two become a rivalry like as LeBron James and Stephen Curry did when they competed against each other in four consecutive NBA Finals series? As the next generation of superstars start to enter their prime, it’s expected that the trend of repetitive NBA Finals matchups will re-emerge. Based on this belief, Jayson Tatum and Luka Doncic have the most potential to star in the NBA’s next iconic rivalry. Rivalry not yet... but points for me this week yes!"
GM says: I'll pass this note along to the script writers.
@Logan2273 (L. Doncic, N. Jokic): "Would have liked to save Luka, but I'm coming for that first interval championship"
GM says: Take what you can, while you can!
@Flem (SAC, Survivor #1): "The spurs don’t deserve wemby. I may start picking against them every week out of spite."
GM says: I DEEPLY want to hear more from you on this - Why? I want him to succeed like I want every kid to when given insane expectations. But when he fist-pumped at the Rockets not getting the #1 pick... I also want HOU to beat them viciously at every opportunity.
@RedEd4 (S. Curry, D. DeRozan): "Is the random scroll and select method working yet? "
GM says: Middle of the pack via random selection feels like proof it is?
@kbanaian (NYK, Survivor #1): "Going to ride this contra-Wizards strategy all the way to 250th place."
GM says: At worst, you're already at 279th. So maybe get this one win and you're at your goal!
@AC0606 (L. Doncic, S. Gilgeous): "Bold choice"
GM says: Two top five MVP candidates, as spicy as a bowl of white rice!
@Jts5522 (D. Bane, D. Lillard): "Bane, Bane! Interested to see just how bad Memphis’ record is when Ja returns and the feel for the team at that time. They could definitely use another player and what better way to draft them (where they have to play a few years.)"
GM says: Bane's done admirably without Ja, but there's been a definite hit to his efficiency by being THE GUY. You expect it, but it's pretty clear the "kicking butt without Ja" performance from the past doesn't exist any more.
@GaviK (Z. Lavine, J. Butler): "Where's halaberton at "
GM says: He's unavailable because IND doesn't have a Fri/Sat game this week. Happens with up to ~4 teams each week during the season based on the schedule.
@Sportsfan90 (MEM, Survivor #1): "To win you have to be unique "
GM says: Unique New York. Unique New York. Unique Memphis... doesn't have the same ring to it.
@Sportsfan90 (MEM, All 30): "Time to be different "
GM says: Wait, but you just said...
@Logan2273 (LAL, All 30): "So many game time decisions for the in season tournament, not looking like a success so far"
GM says: There's been some unexpected chippy-ness which I'm here for, but do the stars actually push to play in them?
@Rodgers_is_dead_to_me (CLE, Survivor #1): "I'm a survivor, I'm not gon' give up I'm not gon' stop, I'm gon' work harder I'm a survivor, I'm gonna make it I will survive, keep on survivin' Beyonce was much better with Destiny's Child, and that's just straight facts."
GM says: You had me boppin' in the first half, not gonna lie. But I CANNOT cosign the second half.
@YikesVikes (CLE, Survivor #1): "It's the first matchup between Cleveland & Detroit this year. And I'm being cavalier in taking Cleveland. In the NFL Cleveland beat the Ravens, so in NBA they should beat the Pistons. Now that's great NBA hoop logic..... "
GM says: If I know one thing... it's that basketball and football are basically the same thing and that this logic checks out
@RedEd4 (CLE, Survivor #1): "I guess...the Cavs? "
GM says: With Garland and Mitchell both questionable? Bollllllllllld! Oh against DET... Nevermind.
Yours in Roundball Rock,
The GM