Advice for Players

Starò qui, bella!

As we head into the weekend, Inter Milan coach Antonio Conte offers all of you serious athletes (the male ones, at least) a bit of advice to keep you competitively focused. The former Chelsea boss has strict rules for his squad as it regards relations with the opposite sex:

‘During the season, I advise my players to have sex for short periods and with the minimum of effort, and better use positions where they are under their partners. And preferably, with their wives, because if with others, well, that needs extra action.’

Have sex as fast as you can, as lazily as you can, and keep expectations as low as possible.

And that's...one to grow on.

Wanna See Some Shit?

Event ticket prices have been on the rise for some time. Not even just in that I'm-a-cranky-old-man-who-paid-$12-to-see-The-Ramones way. I've shelled out over $100-a-pop more than 20 times so see bands or sporting events now.

I will again this weekend at OSU-PSU, and you can't say it's not worth it. The Ireland-England Six Nations match cost us hundreds each.  More expensive than the international plane flight.

Springsteen on Broadway.  So glad my dad picked that one up.  Jesus.

The friggin' Cult... $60 in Jersey in 2 weeks, but it's a mini-Summit, so Gheorghe is picking it up.

That's life in a good economy. We could dedicate a whole post to what costs what these days, but the scope of this one is a simple parallel that makes me chuckle, marvel, grumble, shake my head, think about what could have been, shrug my shoulders, and chuckle again.

A couple of games in the National Football League this weekend... well, they're a same planet/different worlds situation.

Click on the images and look at the prices -- both of the lowest priced seats (at left), and the highlighted section.  Lordy.

New Music Tuesday, Featuring Michael Kiwanuka

I am an Apple Music guy, not a Spotify guy. I don't have a great answer why that is the case. But it's how I roll. Either way, today's technology is neat b/c we all have a nearly infinite music selection on our phones. I often hear about, and then download, music without much thought and then give it a whirl whenever I feel up for it.

I caught a mention in a magazine (remember them?) last month about a new album by a young British singer/songwriter named Michael Kiwanuka. The review was very positive, so I found and downloaded the album in ten seconds on Apple Music. I listened to the album, and to quote a smart guy I saw on the TV...



It's sometimes funky and more often mellow, and this seems like the right time of year for that mellow vibe, as I chill in front of the fireplace with brown liquor at night. So I'll give you three recs to hopefully get you to fall down a rabbit hole. Two are from the latest album and one is from an older album.

The first tune is You Ain't the Problem, from his new album. It's a funky mix of rock, jazz, folk and Afrobeat grooves. The video is hard to explain, but the tune is awesome.

The second tune, also from his new album, is I've Been Dazed. It's mellow and mournful and blew my mind a bit. Its lyrics resonate to me for personal reasons.

The third tune is Kiwanuka's first big "hit" from his second album a few years ago, Cold Little Heart. You may have heard it on Big Little Lies or in movies. It's smooth and soulful. The video intro is 90 seconds, if you find it's too long for your meager attention span. And in case you're wondering, yes, that's Atlanta/Get Out star Lakeith Stanfield in the video.

He's touring heavily this winter.  Go get some.

This Week in Wrenball: The Pair Up There

Hurriedly getting one final Wrenball post up while we can still brag on the Tribe's undefeated record.

W&M topped Hampton on Friday, 78-65, to run its season mark to 4-0, the team's best start since 1992-93. Senior transfer Andy Van Vliet scored a career-high 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, grad transfer Bryce Barnes added a career-high 21, and stalwart big man Nathan Knight had a quiet game by his standards, going for 15 points and a game-high 13 board.

Knight's double-double was his fourth of the season - The Commodore has gone for double digit points and rebounds in every one of the Tribe's games and is averaging 18.5 points and 11.8 rebounds. Van Vliet's not far behind him at 17.3 and 9.5 per outing. The 7-footer has recorded double-doubles in three of W&M's four contests.

The two (forthwith known as The Pair Up There) present a unique challenge for opposing defenses. Knight's a classic post, with an array of inside moves and a powerful 6'10" frame. He's only made 1 of 9 three-pointers this season, and he's only a 24.5% career shooter from deep. Van Vliet's connected on 43.8% of his threes, extending the opponent's defense to open up the inside for Knight. And in the limited highlights I've seen, the transfer from Wisconsin's also got decent footwork in the paint himself. Oh, and both of the them are lefthanders, a vexing proposition in its own right.

Van Vliet was just named CAA Player of the Week. One of the Tribe's key challenges this season was figuring out whether anyone could share the offensive load with Knight and relieve the All-CAA pivot of the responsibility of carrying the team himself. With Van Vliet and Thornton Scott (12.8 ppg, 52.4% from deep), it looks like coach Dane Fischer's found something that's worked, at least in the early going.

That going gets a lot rougher this evening on the road against Oklahoma. We're not going to win, but it'll be really interesting to see how the dual-big setup fares against a Power Five opponent.

No One's Jamming Her Transmission

When we last checked in on Juliana Hatfield, she was righteously pissed that we left her out of our pantheon of cute rock babes. To which, bygones. And, well, we're sorry. That was a mistake.

She appears to have gotten over it. The former Blake Babies lead singer just released an album that's solidly in a musical strike zone that's so mine that I didn't even realize it existed. Hatfield's new record is called, evocatively, Juliana Hatfield Sings The Police. On it, Juliana Hatfield sings songs originally recorded by...The Police.

Sexy female voice singing one of my favorite band's songs? Wheel. House.

Denial, Handicapping, and Wardrobe Questions

Several members of the G:TB family have sent kids off to college, and a few more of us are on the cusp. My 18 year-old has completed all of her applications, written her essay (it's pretty good - she must have good writing/bullshitting genes), taken her SAT (a second time, and boy did she need it), and visited a decent number of campuses (this is a feature of the college search process, says this college town-loving dad).

In an effort to maintain some rationality about the process, and avoid thinking about how different my house will feel without her buoyant, emotive, large personality, herewith a catalog of the schools to which she's applied, along with some typically Gheorghian commentary (fluffy and largely made up). We'll go in alphabetical order:

College of Charleston
Charleston, SC
Undergraduate Population: 10,488
Tuition, Room & Board: $45,000 (out of state)
Colors: Maroon and White
Odds of Attendance: 25-1

Charleston is the farthest distance away from our home, some 9.5 hours by car. It's also, as you likely know, a phenomenal town - full of history, great restaurants, and a pleasant coastal climate. The College is smack in the middle of the city, just blocks away from an eclectic dining and shopping district. She'll probably get in here, but my sense is that she's only applying because she thinks her folks would like to visit Charleston more often.

Franklin & Marshall College
Lancaster, PA
Undergraduate Population: 2,324
Tuition, Room & Board: $74,600 (private)
Colors: Blue, Light Blue, and White
Odds of Attendance: 25-1

Each year for the past six, she's competed in a dance competition at the convention center smack in the middle of downtown Lancaster. As a result, we've enjoyed the opportunity to get to know a bit about the little town in Amish country. F&M is on the outskirts of Lancaster, just outside the downtown area. It's a beautiful campus, a mix of very old and modern with a ton of green space. There's a surprisingly robust food and beer scene, and more arts than I'd have expected in the middle of Trumpland. I've posted relatively long odds largely because I don't think she'll get in - F&M is highly competitive, and while she's got very good grades and above average SATs, I don't think that'll be enough.

Ithaca College
Ithaca, New York
Undergraduate Population: 5,852
Tuition, Room & Board: $59,600 (private)
Colors: Blue, Gold, and Gray
Odds of Attendance: 20-1

If we'd visited Ithaca as a standalone, I think it'd rank higher on her list. But we visited it on the same weekend we visited Skidmore, and as we'll learn later, she loved that little school. Ithaca's a great college town, with both IC and Cornell within a handful of miles of one another. Ithaca College is on top of a hill with spectacular views of Cayuga Lake. The downside to that location is that the winter winds whip across the relatively open campus, making three months of the year a dismal proposition. While I don't think she'll wind up here, we did have killer Thai soup at a little joint in Ithaca's funky downtown.

James Madison University
Harrisonburg, VA
Undergraduate Population: 20,779
Tuition, Room & Board: $22,600 (in-state)
Colors: Purple and Gold
Odds of Attendance: 10-1

Her mom (JMU '95) isn't being terribly subtle about her preference. My daughter, though, isn't as high on JMU as I think she should be. Her complaint: "All of Loudoun County goes to JMU. I want to meet new people." While I think that's a bit dramatic (one thing she can do is drama), I take her point. She wants to have an opportunity to at least minor in dance in college, and if she's serious about that, JMU is likely her best bet. As one of her two in-state options, there a good deal of financial appeal, too. And I was more impressed than I expected to be when we toured the school - JMU has a ton of support programs in place to help kids succeed.

Skidmore College
Saratoga Springs, NY
Undergraduate Population: 2,680
Tuition, Room & Board: $71,200 (private)
Colors: Green and Yellow
Odds of Attendance: 15-1

There may be cooler college towns than Saratoga Springs, but there aren't many. Town and gown are pretty tightly interwoven. As we drove through the (very) upscale avenue that leads to campus, my daughter expressed intimidation at just how preppy-cute the place is. But once we got on campus proper (led by one of the most exuberant tour guides I've yet seen - dance/drama major, natch), my kid had her head turned. Skidmore has small classes, very student-driven academic tracks, a large emphasis on international study, and a really fucking high price tag. If she gets in, I think she's really going to want to go. A potential silver lining for me and Mom: like F&M, I'm not sure she'll be able to get in. (Bonus Skidmore fact: the school is about 45 minutes from the Teej's hometown. That's gotta be worth something.)

Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, VA
Undergraduate Population: 24,051
Tuition, Room & Board: $26,000 (in-state)
Colors: Black and Gold
Odds of Attendance: 4-1

Personally, I think VCU is the best fit for my girl. It's diverse, quirky, just far enough from home, offers dance and academic programs that align with her interests, and is replete with musical and artistic opportunities. Selfishly, it's a pretty good fit for me, too - the price is right (or as right as any college price can be) and I'll have an excuse to get down to Richmond to hang out with FOG:TB Mike Litos and watch the Rams play ball.

It'll be a few months before we start hearing from schools. Time enough to keep working on my daughter's understanding of just how much $70,000 is. We'll keep you posted on our progress. I think I'll look good in Havoc.

Who's the Man(dalorian)?

There's a lot of excitement in the Geekosphere about the first live-action series to be spun off from the Star Wars canon. None moreso, perhaps, than right here in our corner of the world. Observe:

Right on, Teejus. We knew you when.

JaMarcus Hustle

In early January 2012, we wrote a post about an electric moment authored by a precocious young basketball player. In that post, we said "Thornton's missed dunk was notable not for the result, but for its sheer audacity."

I was reminded of that dunk, and those words, earlier this week when I saw what Ja Morant tried to do against the Rockets earlier this week:

Ja Morant almost killed himself. pic.twitter.com/wM7ZX0f1SH

— Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) November 5, 2019

Morant had his doubters when he entered the NBA. An undeniably spectacular college player, the combination of his slight build and lower-tier competition led to skepticism. Eight games in (and this weekend's back to back game load management vacation), the doubters ain't chirping all that loud. Morant's playing faster than fast, scoring 18.9 points on 46.2% three-point shooting, and averaging 5.5 assists and 3.5 boards. He's also turning the ball over 4.5 times per game, perhaps an unavoidable consequence of a guy learning at top speed.

If his game grows at this level as much as Marcus Thornton's did in college, Morant's audacious miss portends something special.

More zman Boulliabaise

I've been to lazy to write any posts but I've had lots of ideas. Here are a few.

1. Colin Quinn: The New York Story is on Netflix and it's funny. New Yorkers will love it and people from outside New York will understand why New Yorkers act the way they do. It's worth 60 minutes of your time.

2. You should watch The Chi. Sometimes it's like The Wire, other times it's like What's Happening!!, at all times it's good. It's written by Lena Waithe (from Master of None) and it stars Kima from The Wire, Ronsel from Mudbound, Mister June from True Detective, and a kid who is Rerun's spiritual successor.

via GIPHY

3. Malcolm Gladwell! Eddie Alterman! Autonomous cars? Keep an eye out for "Autonomy," coming soon to iTunes.



4. You should read The Bulwark. It's a website full of good writing by smart people who maintain a pre-2016 conservative worldview. Bill Kristol is the editor-in-chief. I estimate that 90% of the articles involve grinding axes against Donald Trump and his bootlickers. There are also well-reasoned think pieces addressing things like flaws in Elizabeth Warren's Medicare for All plan and Middle East policy. These pieces are thoughtful and respectful. Taken together with the other left-leaning stuff I read it's a decent approximation of the Washington Post op-ed section 15 years ago. I miss that.

5. You should sign up for The Dispatch. It's a daily email newsletter written by a couple of guys who defected from National Review when it went full Trump. You can sign up here for free. It's completely self-funded by the authors and by donations from readers. Bare bones, no pictures. It's like The Bulwark only it covers a broader range of stuff.

6. You should listen to Roy Ayers. He's been buried in my iPod for years without getting any run. zson wanted to listen to something he never heard before so I put it on. Everybody sampled him. His shit is dope.





7. X Clan still holds up. Speaking of sampling Roy Ayers, I haven't listened to X Clan in over 20 years until this weekend and they still bang.



This song was oddly prescient ...

Yet Another Bills-Browns Preview

Yeah, I’m doing one of these again. The Bills play the Browns this weekend. This game will be their ninth matchup in the past thirteen years, in large part because they both perennially finish fourth in their respective divisions. Buffalo won four of the last five games. This one is particularly huge.

I knew the Bills would be 6-2 at this point. I think I said so in a comment but I’m too lazy to look. Their six wins came against five cans of corn (NYJ, NYG, CIN, MIA, WAS) and a mediocre Titans squad. I was sure they would win at least five of those games.

They have three more pushovers on the schedule: DEN, NYJ, and MIA. They also have a tough stretch in the middle of those three games: @DAL, BAL, @PIT, @NE. That’s four guaranteed losses. I know that Pittsburgh is not great this year but the Bills are 2-10 against the Steelers over the past 26.69 years with the last win coming in 1999, and they haven’t won a regular season game in Pittsburgh since 1975 when OJ Simpson ran for 227 yards.

via GIPHY

All of this means, as I expected, that the Bills need to beat the Browns this week to have a shot at 10-6 and a playoff berth.

Cleveland is favored by 2.5 to 3 points as I write this, so the bookies view Cleveland and Buffalo as a pretty even match despite their respective 2-6 and 6-2 records.

Everyone expected Cleveland to be good this year. They play a very soft schedule from here out, with only one game against a good team (Baltimore) after this week, including home against the Dolphins and two against the Bengals. The way my life works, the Browns will beat the Bills and build momentum to finish 10-6 or 9-7. Their win over the Bills will be the tiebreaker that gives Cleveland the 6 seed, keeping Buffalo out of the post-season.

via GIPHY

Final score: Bills 17 Browns 31

This Week in Wrenball: Not in the Face

Here at the internet's third (maybe fourth)-leading purveyor of William & Mary men's basketball information, we're not in the business of beating dead horses*. Good thing, because the equine carcass of the fallout from the firing of Tony Shaver heading into a season where he had an odds-on chance to win the CAA is deader than Rasputin.

* Let's not kid ourselves. Beating dead horses, hitting recurring themes, tilting at familiar windmills - those things are our stock in trade. Bite me, Randy Newman.

"What have I gotten myself into?"

No, we're not here to wallow in what might have been. W&M's 2019-20 season starts today, and we've got to go to mock-battle with the team we've got. New head man Dane Fischer sends his team out against a fairly mediocre High Point team this evening, a team that will give the green in Green and Gold an alternative meaning.

W&M returns players that accounted for 38.2% of the team's 2018-19 minutes, 13.7% of made three-pointers, 38.6% of rebounds, 44.8% of assists, and 38.2% of all points. Without context, those numbers represent a daunting challenge. If you realize that senior pivot Nathan "The Commodore" Knight represents 65% of the returning rebounds, 41.3% of assists, and 73.3% of the points, you begin to understand the nature of the task at hand.

Knight, arguably the best big man in W&M history, enters the season on the short-list for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar award, given to the best center in the NCAA. (Shouldn't it be called the Lew Alcindor award, though?). He averaged 21.0 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game last season, the first NCAA Division I player to do so since Tim Duncan in 1992. That's lofty territory. The first-team All-CAA and first-team CAA All-Defense awardee will undoubtedly be the center of attention for opposing defenses, and savvy coaches will go after him at the defensive end in an effort to get him in foul trouble.

Fischer will be counting very, very heavily on transfers Bryce Barnes (5'11" guard, averaged 6.1 points, 2.7 assists and 2.4 rebounds per in 25 games at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), Tyler Hamilton (a 6'4" guard who averaged 1.8 points and 1.3 boards in 11.8 minutes/game at Penn), and Andy Van Vliet (a 7'1" center with excellent outside touch, who redshirted last year after transferring from Wisconsin, where he averaged 3.4 points and 1.4 rebounds his junior season) to augment returning point guards Luke Loewe and Thornton Scott. Scott showed flashes during his freshman year, while Loewe is a decent defender and not much more. Your humble blogger doesn't really know much yet about freshmen Miguel Ayesa (who apparently can shoot the ball with some aplomb), Ben Wight, and Thatcher Stone, other than the fact that he's going to confuse the latter with Thornton Scott a lot, and that at least one of them had better be a stud if this team's gonna do anything at all**.

** If you're thinking this all sounds like a shaky foundation upon which to build a winning team, you may be correct.

Lionel Richie's Commodores had depth and experience. Nathan Knight's Pips, a lot less so.

CAA coaches tabbed the Tribe to finish 7th, which says a lot about Knight, and not much about coaches' ability to forecast. CBS Sports' Matt Norlander rates W&M 296th out of 353 Division I teams, which feels about right. For me, if we win 10 games and finish out of the CAA cellar, it's a good season.

Which is a Huge step down from where this squad might've been had the AD given Tony Shaver one more year. Not over it. Not nearly.

Do Your Duty, Part Deaux(die)

That last post title teed this one up pretty well.

In Canada, I'm not sure if they impersonate Dylan Thomas and "rage, rage at the dying of the light." But it appears they do rage, rage at the refusal to let you use a Tim Horton's toilet. Not gonna lie. I like this woman's chutzpah. And I had never ever ever thought of that position in the event of dropping an emergency deuce. Brilliant move, although it's a bit disturbing to see somebody so comfortable/familiar with stand-up poops.



Naturally, Deadspin covered the event well here (this is pre-purge Deadspin). Happy Tuesday. Go out and vote!

Do Your Duty

Tomorrow, we take one more step towards reclaiming our national sanity.

That sounds great. Not sure if it's true. But here in the Commonwealth of Virginia, Election Day has significant import. Currently, Republicans control the Senate by a narrow 20-19 margin, with one seat empty. If the 2017 election is any indicator, Virginia is trending blue. If the Democrats can flip that 20-19 margin, even if it's only a 20-20 tie, a number of heretofore dead on arrival legislative proposals will sail through, since the tiebreaking vote would be Democratic Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax (whose own alleged history of sexual violence has been the center of at least a few Republican attack ads this cycle - ironic if Dems' unwillingness to investigate these allegations costs them the Senate).

Among a number of noteworthy acts possible with a Democratic Senate, Virginia would ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution, which would mean that the ERA would have the required 2/3 majority of states to become codified as law. There's some headache-inducing fine print that would mean that it wouldn't actually happen right away, but it'd be a huge symbolic victory for equality.

So get out there and do the right thing, Virginians. And for those of you that live in other parts of the world, I'm sure there's something you can do to give the GOP the middle finger. Get out there and vote!

Big Pain Relents (A Little)

It's a bit of cliche that stepping on Lego bricks is one of the banes of parental existence. Cliches, my friends, have a kernel of wisdom in them. My kids are now 18 and 15, so it's been a long time since the corner of a Lego dug deep into my hypodermis, eliciting howls of pain and creative cursing, but it happened more than once. Now it's my daughters' steadfast laziness that elicits most of the cursing.

Legos have been around for 66 years. Only now have those sadistic assholes decided it might be in their customers' interest to solve this pain-delivery problem. Lego teamed with a French advertising agency (I don't know, man) to create purpose-built anti-Lego slippers, which feature a heavily padded sole to protect tender dadfeet (momfeet, too, though Moms seem better equipped to deal with a little bit of temporary pain).

Apparently the Lego jerks are only making 1,500 of these, to be distributed randomly this holiday season. Because they like mocking our pain.

Self-Preservation

Guys and gals from my graduating class are starting to turn 50. Which, in the way of things, means that I'm not all that far from that daunting milestone myself. In many ways, though, I feel pretty good about the state of my corporeal being. I'm not in the best shape of my life, but I weigh the same thing I did 10 years ago, and I can play soccer for two hours every weekend, keeping pace with dudes 15-20 years my junior. And while my memory isn't what it once was (used to be aces at trivia games, which ain't the case these days), I generally make up for it with anticipation and experience. Just got promoted, and I've learned a whole lot this year, so I've retained a capacity to pick up new tricks, older dog status notwithstanding.

I look pretty good, too, at least by my standards. Got all my hair, skin's in good shape, eyes are bright and clear. All of that's subject to change.

So I took advantage of modern technology to freeze my avatar-self in this moment of reasonable pulchritude. Eat your hearts out, Gheorghies.

“Yo rob, I’m really happy for you, I’ll let you finish, but The Teej has one of the best memoghis of all time.”

"Game 7, Baby! GAME 7!" Open Thread

Thank you, Zaza:

 


While you're here, let me know your best game 7 memory, across any sport. rob, you're not allowed to participate.

Nathan Knight and the Pips 2019 Tour

We're about 10 days away from the tip of William & Mary's 2019-20 men's basketball season. At the end of the 2019 CAA Tournament, most observers tapped the Tribe as one of the top two teams headed into this year. W&M stood its best chance in a long time to make that elusive appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

We know what happened next. And no, we're not over it, and we won't be any time soon. Hell, Marls won't even return the school's calls wondering why he's giving all of his hard-won money to St. John's

Regardless of how we feel, though, life goes on. While I will long remain a critic of the current W&M athletic administration (just wait until I get a chance to post a review of the new strategic plan), I can't in good conscience take my feelings out on the kids that wear the green and gold.

Those kids and their new coach, Dane Fischer, play at High Point a week from Tuesday. At some point, we'll offer a half-assed preview of the season, one in which we'll be lucky to win ten games. For now, though, we've dropped into this space to form a posse to attend the Tribe's second game.

On Friday, November 8, W&M comes to D.C. to face American University at Bender Arena. The Teej and I have visited Bender to see the Eagles play in a Patriot League playoff game. It's a tiny little bandbox, but it's fun. Holler at me in the comments if you'd like to go see Nathan Knight (who finds his name on multiple lists of the nation's top players) and what passes for a supporting cast get after it. Counting on you, in particular, Teej.

NBA Action.......It's Fantastic (Especially When You Stay Up Late With Drugs And Don't Have to Go to Work)

We are now one week beyond my spine surgery. My scruff is turning into a real mess, I can't drive, my neck brace is annoying and I have a large bandage slowly falling off my neck. But on the positive side, nobody is nagging me to shower, folks buy food I want, the opioid-induced constipation has passed, and it's a very good stretch of the sports calendar for a fan on the mend. And I am stocked with licit and illicit narcotics to make the pain and ennui more tolerable.



A key component of passing the time has been watching the first two nights of the NBA season. With many stars on the move and a lot of high-profile rookies entering the league, I am excited to dig in and attempt to forget the dumpster fire that is the New York Jets.

One of my favorite things about the NBA is analyzing box scores. I did it religiously as a kid, when my mom would come home from work at 530 PM and hand me the sports section so I could learn what happened the previous night. While I have been able to watch chunks of five different NBA games over two nights, I have dug into all the box scores. I thought I would share my favorite five findings from the first two nights:

1) Andrew Wiggins gonna Andrew Wiggins.  You may have noticed Wiggins scored 21 points last night. Sounds impressive right? Like he's finally becoming the second T-Wolves threat that should keep folks from double-teaming KAT? Um, not really. It took Wiggins 27 shots to get there. And he had 0 assists. In 36 minutes. With KAT as a teammate. That is piss poor. I leave you with an eloquently titled YouTube video that sums up how T-Wolves fans feel about Wiggins.



2) PJ Washington has no fucks to give - award him the ROY now. My oldest kid somehow became a Kentucky Wildcats fan a couple years ago. So we watched their basketball team a lot last season. Tyler Herro was a beast for that team, but PJ Washington was the soul of the team. He has the game of an old-school power forward, but also with explosive leaping and nice mid-range jumper. He came out of the gates in a big way in his first game last night. The rookie PF who was the 12th pick overall for the Hornets started and lit up the Bulls with 27 points in 38 minutes. While he only had 4 rebounds, he did go 7 of 11 from the 3-pt line. New school PF stats. Bonus tidbit - the official favorite backup PG of G:TB had himself a game. Devonte' Graham is the backup PG for the Hornets. He put up 23 pts and 8 assists in 27 minutes and had a +18 rating. He backed up the egregiously overpaid Terry Rozier, who put up 7 pts and 6 assists in 30 minutes.



3. CTC for Jake Layman. My wife is a Maryland alumna. We pay attention to them. We went to an unremarkable Maryland-Marshall game in December 2015. We saw what was a pretty stacked Terps squad (Diamond Stone, Melo Trimble, Robert Carter). They also had a glue guy at SF named Jake Layman. Jake averaged b/w 11-13 ppg during his sophomore/junior/senior years. He ended up turning his "honorable mention All Big Ten" credentials as a senior into a second round pick. He took advantage of the opportunities he got with the Blazers early on in his career to get himself a nice little paycheck. Before this year (his fourth as a pro), he signed a 3-year, $11.5 MM contract with the T-Wolves. In his first game, he played 23 minutes off the bench and scored 10 pts, going 2 for 4 from behind the arc. Keep cutting them checks for Jake, who may have parlayed one strong quarter (see below) and a decent outside shot into a longer career than anybody expected.



4. Knicks have not lost that dumpster fire feeling. I'm going to give you two quintets of Knicks. Quintet 1: Marcus Morris, RJ Barrett, Bobby Portis, Julius Randle, Alonzo Trier. Quintet 2: Taj Gibson, Kevin Knox, Dennis Smith Jr., Elfrid Payton, Wayne Ellington. I want you to guess which group started the first game. I then want you to guess which quintet is bettter. I'll spare you the tension - the former quintet started their first game. And I bet the latter is the better group. The Knicks will suck ass this year, with an overabundance of redundant frontcourt veterans. The front office will feel compelled to play them, at the expense of Dennis Smith Jr and Kevin Knox. This franchise is awful. I rescinded my fandom over a decade ago, but was hoping they'd be remotely watchable this year. They won't be. And I'm further conflicted b/c MSG shares are a compelling value around the $269 level. The sum-of-the-parts value is high for that company and activist investors may be able to force that value unlock. If Dolan sells, I may unrescind the fandom that I rescinded. Lots of rescission potential on the horizon. Does that make sense? If not, give me a pass b/c Tramadol. Here is crazy Rappaport and Jim Norton doing a Mystery Science Theatre 3000-esque takedown of a video of Dolan's band.



5. Y'all Vleet Vleet Vleet Vleet. Freddy VanVleet had himself a ball game in the opener. With Kawhi gone and Kyle Lowry at the end of his peak, there are shots that need to be taken by the Raptors. Pascal Siakam should take another leap, but Freddy V has a big opportunity to do so as well. He opened the year with 34 points and 7 assists against the Pelicans. He only started 28 games last year, averaging 11 ppg, but we could see a huge uptick this year. He's only 25 y/o, so plenty of room for advancement. Will be fun to watch.

More fun games on tap for tonight: Bucks @ Rockets and Clippers @ Warriors. As your attorney, I advise you to get into an appropriate state of mind and enjoy.

Posting the Hits

Have we posted this before? I don't know, nor do I care to research whether we have or not. It's extremely #onbrand, and quite enjoyable.

 

From the This Doesn't Suck Files

I promise a full post with the highlights of my trip to Spain, as soon as the jet lag passes (and upcoming trips to Minneapolis and Chicago over the next six days are done). Until then, an amuse-yeux of sorts to whet your appetite:

This photo of the Alhambra was taken at sunset from a little cafe called El Balcon de San Nicolas in the Albaicin district of Grenada. My man Marls has been to this very spot, if I'm not mistaken. If anything, the picture understates how stunning the view is. Funny story about the Alhambra...to follow.