BGleas

Haha, yeah I’m not saying the offense was great. Just saying there’s no way the players, especially one as smart as McRoberts, didn’t know what they were trying to do or what the plan was.

I did listen to the podcast. He didn’t answer the question well at all. There’s just no way he didn’t understand what they were trying to do.

I don’t believe for one second that McRoberts doesn’t know what they were trying to do offensively. I think he just fumbled the answer. My college coach, while a good guy, was not a good basketball coach and I can answer that question about my teams 20 years later. Theres no way he doesn’t know.

Yup, and I think the biggest reason NBA guys struggle in college is that being a high major college basketball or football coach is almost less being a coach and more being a CEO. That doesn't mean that NBA guys can't be CEO's, just that going from NBA assistant, where you're mainly focused on scouting reports and player development is much different than having to manage budgets, prioritize kids class schedules, majors, ego's and personalities, build recruiting strategies 3-5 years down the line, and then all of the school stuff (compliance, speaking engagements, etc.). Juwan Howard doesn't strike me as a guy who will be afraid to put the work in, like some other NBA guys, but the question is will all the responsibilities overwhelm him before he has a chance to figure it all out?

Only thing that I saw bothering me about this hire is that I keep hearing people like Jalen Rose (who I like on ESPN) and others of the NBA guys saying things like Howard is the perfect guy the “restore Michigan basketball” or “bring the program back”? That’s so disrespectful to John Beilein. I think he’s slightly overrated, but Beilein oversaw the most successful era of Michigan basketball. Howard should be hoping he can just keep up. I guess it’s the ‘getting guys to the NBA is more important than wins’ mentality.

Could be he's just not comfortable there, but I've always thought that when teams are defending Giannis well with the "wall" and forcing him into out of control situations, I would put him on the block. Defenses would have to double him, but by operating out of the block he'd have time to see where the double is coming from, and since he wouldn't be on fly/move, as he is in the middle of the court, he'd be more under control. It would force the defense to be the decision maker and he can just read off what they're doing.

I read it as the author ranking them in terms of what they've accomplished at IU, not who the author thought was the best coach.

You keep saying 'IF he grows', and of course there are no guarantees one way or the other. There have been tall people with shorter parents and vice vera, but typically you can tell approximately, give/take, how tall a person will be based on their family. Is he expected to get much taller/bigger?

I'd love to have him on my team too. This was a tough season for him, you mentioned the Kawhi acquisition and Siakim developing, and OG was also hit with some personal issues (I think that's what Toronto called them?) and nagging injuries that made it tough for him to get into a rhythm.

Zion's floor is not Charles Barkley. Charles Barkley is one of the all-time great players in NBA history. Zion has a ton of potential and has a chance to be in that conversation, or even better, if he works hard, improves and realizes his insane potential, but his floor is something like maybe Anthony Mason. By saying his floor is Charles Barkley, you're saying at his worst he'd be as good as one of the top 5-10 power forwards of all-time. As far as the rest of the convo, Zion getting drafted 2 or 3 if he had been able to come out of high school would not be slipping, that would have been rising last year. You're viewing him only as he is now, which how he's viewed now is largely a credit to his performance at Duke and the media exposure that came with it. Coming out of high school I believe he was projected around 6th or so. At the time he was viewed as a crazy athlete that was probably overweight and didn't have a perimeter game. He was thought sort of a bigger, more athletic, but much less skilled Draymond Green. What he showed at Duke, and what propelled him to being thought of as he is now, is that he does have those perimeter/play-making skills and that his size/weight doesn't deter the perimeter aspect of hims game, it actually makes it better. Also, playing in Serbia and with social media, yes the NBA and the die-hard NBA fans would know who he is, but what makes Zion able to command $100M contracts is that his exposure at Duke made him a household name to the general, casual basketball fan and even beyond. My wife knows who he is. No way in the world she knows Zion if he played in Sebia. My elementary aged kids know him, know way they know him if he played in Serbia. The exposure he received at Duke by the NCAA/ESPN/media hype machine, along with his performance under that spotlight, made him a $100M guy, and he was not that at this time last year. Again, I'm not saying it's right or okay that he didn't get a piece of the pie playing the in the NCAA. But he unequivocally, 100% will benefit monetarily in a HUGE way from playing that one season at Duke and all the branding and exposure that came with it.

I think my point is that yes the NCAA made a ton of money off Zion and both the ACC and Duke also made a lot of money off of Zion. Absolutely, no dispute. Is it fair Zion had to assume the risk of not being compensated during that year and potentially getting hurt? Not at all. But with that said, Zion also made a ton of money off the the NCAA and Duke. That’s indisputable.

It depends on how you define “high caliber”? It also depends on the perspective you’re looking at it from, and from your post it sounds like to me you’re looking at it from the players perspective, not the teams? If you think you’re an All-Star level player, then you want to go to a team where you can be on the court the most. No team is expecting a rookie to lead a team to the playoffs. Nobody is expecting Ayton, Doncic, Williamson or RJ Barrett to lead their team to the playoffs for at least a few seasons. So the best way for the elite player to make the most in their second contract is too be on the court, play a lot of minutes and be a focal point on his franchise. Now take a guy like OG for example, his ceiling is probably starter in the NBA, not an elite player or all-star, but if he develops he’s a guy that can start on a good team. A guy like that probably does benefit from being drafted later in the first round and being developed in a well-run organization that knows how to bring guys along and put them in positions to be successful.

Yeah, easily could have just packed it in and gone back home to win Game 5. They came back from 17 down and Steph played the entire second half + overtime.

Of course Cooley isn’t a super flashy hire, but I think he could actually be pretty solid for Michigan, especially as Izzo’s career winds down. He’s a solid coach, really good motivator, and I could see him taking Michigan back from MSU in terms of recruiting the state.

The end of this Warriors-Blazers game is awesome. Tied up 111-111 with 57.5 to go.