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Mitch Cumsteen

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Everything posted by Mitch Cumsteen

  1. Chicago is without Lavine, Ball and Patrick Williams. I can’t blame any of that on Donovan. That’s a lot of talent they’re missing.
  2. Regarding Sheppard, it's also a matter of next year's draft class being much deeper/better, so it probably pushes him down a few slots if he comes back. But anytime you can go first round, much less projected in the top 15 -- or even better top 10 -- you gotta go. You're an idiot if you don't. He's one of the guys I'm really high on but I do wonder how much of his projection is based on his brother. I mean, a 2-3 inch taller version of Jalen Williams is an extremely enticing prospect. He was also playing on a veteran team so he wasn't featured as much as you would probably like to see. So just like the rest of them, it's a difficult evaluation. The interviews and workouts will be critical for him but it's probably going to come down to how much you believe in his shooting.
  3. I don't know that I've ever seen an NBA draft as messy and unpredictable as this one. I suppose there will be a little more clarity once the lottery goes down, but probably not much. Iin the meantime here is a consensus draft that takes input from the Athletic, ESPN, The Ringer, Tankathon, Yahoo, and a bunch more of them. I do think it's most likely that Sarr ends up number 1. I think that scouts will look at all the other guys and say fuck it, let's default to drafting the biggest most athletic dude with the highest upside. But who knows? Each guy has some serious flaws, including Sarr. Risacher was thought to be maybe the safest prospect who at worst case would be a serviceable three and D guy, but his shooting has gone into the toilet over the past several weeks. And people are wondering which part of his season is the aberration. Topic got hurt just when his team stepped up in class and has been slow to recover from something that was perceived to be minor. Another guy with suspect outside shooting. You also wonder if he can guard anybody. Dillingham is undersized and a poor defender. Clingan is not really built for the modern game. Sheppard is undersized and white athletically limited. Buzelis can't shoot. Castle can't shoot, either. Cody Williams was injured, often invisible, and has a sketchy 3 point shooting projection. Ron Holland is yet another guy who can't shoot. One guy who I kinda have my eye on is Jared McCain from Duke. He's one of the better shooters in the draft, a surprisingly decent rebounder for his size, and probably a better athlete and defender than given credit for. I think he's going to shoot up the board as we get closer to the draft. I'm interested to see where the older guys like Dalton Knecht, Devin Carter and Terrance Shannon go. In this draft in particular, teams may opt for more established prospects earlier in than we've seen in the past.
  4. Riiiight. I'm sure Washington fans would rather play Oregon State than Michigan or Ohio State. I'm sure Rutgers fans (if there are any) are pining for the days when they played UCONN and Temple instead of Penn State and Wisconsin. And hello? A&M is a regional school. Oklahoma is a regional school. Arkansas is a regional school. We are all for playing those regional schools. There's just little upside to playing Baylor, TCU, Cougar High, etc.
  5. I would like to motion that we NOT create a separate playoffs thread and just keep this one going until the off season.
  6. Disregarding that, there is no way that putting a cap on someone's ability to earn money off of their own name, image and likeness would stand up in court. The NCAA already tried this and the Supreme Court took a giant shit on them.
  7. Your first time watching the eastern conference in the last 20 years?
  8. Don’t worry. We’re sure to be less obnoxious over the next ten or so years.
  9. Of course the regular season needs to be cut to probably 50 games, but that’s never going to happen. They aren’t going to give up the revenue. Call it a gimmick if you want, but so what? You want more competitive compelling games or less of them? You want more teams tanking or less? You want to have more stars playing meaningful games and having a chance to make a run or less of them? Maybe the warriors didn’t belong in that game last night, but tell the Sacramento fans that game was meaningless. That’s probably their biggest win in close to 20 years.
  10. I like the play in, a lot. You get fewer teams tanking. You get meaningful games with teams jockeying for seeding. You get a chance to still make the playoffs if your star gets hurt early in the season but comes back. You get competitive win or go home games. I really don’t understand the criticism.
  11. Highway 6 running both ways like a motherfucker right about now.
  12. Get back to me when you’ve taken the Donkey Lady Road shortcut from Blanco to Military.
  13. It's astonishing that even your taste in geography is fucked up. There's a huge difference, at least for someone who grew up in SA. Wurzbach Road has been around forever and extends from Lockhill-Selma to Fred into the Medical Center and beyond. Wurzbach Pkwy is a wacky, meandering psuedo-highway that they built as a shortcut from 35 to Lockhill Selma. Also as confusing as the Harry Wurzbach / Wurzbach Rd / Wurzbach Pkwy is, trying to explain where Jones-Maltsberger starts/ends/starts again/ends again is even more fucked up.
  14. I honestly don't know and I never asked about it. It may have been the expanded role thing, but my gut is that they just didn't want to pay him what he wanted. He had been there so long that they probably felt they knew all of his tricks and techniques, and didn't need him any longer. I would hope they picked up something from him after 17 years. I know nothing about the new guy, Jimmy Baron, other than he's got his work cut out for him.
  15. So... I guess I'll get this started. This figures to be a pretty well scrutinized offseason, although I don't expect them to make any major moves - just fix some things around the edges. And I don't think there's much use in speculating about the draft until the lottery and we see how things shake out with both their own and the Toronto pick. So other than endless bullshit Trae Young and Darius Garland trade rumors, what do we have to look forward to? Team Needs: They have to get more outside shooting. They have to reduce their turnovers (much of that is on Victor, btw). They have to get better defensively overall. They could definitely upgrade point guard (as well as just about every other non-Victor position, if we're being honest). I think they need another bruising big. Mostly, they need some vets who know how to win. They check all those boxes combined with internal growth and barring injury, they are vying for the play-in even in this brutal conference just because Wembanyama is that fucking good. And getting better at a frighteningly rapid pace. The Roster: Again, it would shock me to see any major moves. That's just not their m.o. Here is how I see the roster shaking out with the 15 spots: 1. Wemby - they should probably keep him around for another year to make sure last year wasn't a fluke. 2. Vassell - will almost assuredly be back. 3. Jones - will almost assuredly be back; would be solid backup in an ideal world and not your starter. I was starting believe in his three point shooting post all star break. Then he went 3-19 in the final five games. Woof. 4. Collins - they can't move off his contract without sending assets. The Wemby/Collins lineups were a disaster early, but in hindsight I wonder how much of that was due to point Sochan and/or Wemby just starting to feel his way in the league. We saw more of those Collins/Wemby combos late and they weren't nearly as atrocious. 5. Keldon - he's always the name brought up in trades but I don't know what they could get for him. He's underperforming his contract on one hand, but is a such a strong culture guy on the other. It doesn't make sense to unload him unless some other team falls in love with an undersized forward who doesn't finish well, is inconsistent from 3, is sporadic on defense and carries a pretty bad cap number. Yeah, he's not going anywhere. 6, 7, 8. Sochan, Wesley and Branham - you have to give these guys at least 3 full years before making a decision on them. All three have had their bright spots and plenty of horrific moments, but they are each only 20 years old. It's waaaaay too early to give up on any of them. Don't make me go through the list of really young guys who stunk for two years before turning it on in year 3. 9. Sidy Cissoko - he's on a two year deal and another really young guy (just turned 20) who almost assuredly will be back. No way they punt on him. 10. Mamu - they gotta bring him back on a cheap deal, right? Right? Probably? Maybe? 11. Spurs first round pick 12. Toronto's pick or their own second rounder (#35 overall). If they can get that SRP on a two way or move it altogether, it opens up another roster slot. Barlow is another 20 year old who has shown quite a bit of growth. Can't they put him on another two way? That would help free up a roster spot as well. I'd imagine they'd like to keep him, all things considered. So that leaves three spots, four if the Toronto pick doesn't convey. I think they move off Graham although the success of his archetype (undersized no defense playing point guard chucker) in limited sample size around Wemby may be instructive for future roster construction (vis a vis Rob Dillingham in the draft). They would have won more games playing him over Wesley and probably Jones (or alongside Jones) in crunch time. Bassey can't stay healthy, so they probably cut him too. Cedi? I think he's a goner. They have to upgrade from Champagnie who actually had some moments lately, especially defensively. But he's got two more years plus a third year team option at a paltry $3 million per. I just have a suspicion that they're going to keep him much to my chagrin, but otherwise he seems like good ballast to be used for matching cash in a trade. Free Agency: It's a piss poor free agency class and they don't have a ton of cap room, even if they clear some salary moving off Graham and Bassey. As much as they could benefit from Malik Monk or Grayson Allen, I think they're long shots to even pursue either. Scratch Allen - he just signed a relatively cheap extension in Phoenix. D'Angelo Russell may also be out of their reach. Same with Hartenstein. I don't see them pursuing big names on the downsides of their careers like Klay Thompson or Demar Derozan or even Tobias Harris. But they have to add some floor raising, tone setting vets and outside shooting. Nic Batum would be a dream for me - he's French, won't be expensive or require a long term deal, is clutch, can shoot from outside, and is a tremendous defender even at 35. They should be looking at low cost guys who know their role in the vein of Justin Holiday, Gary Harris, Malik Beasley, Andre Drummond, Robert Covington, Monte Morris, Kyle Anderson, etc. Will Toronto pick up Bruce Brown's option? Will Memphis pick up Luke Kennard? I wouldn't mind them kicking the tires on either of them should they be available. Finally, there is still the Pop question. You just never know when he's going to pull the plug on this thing. If that happens -- and I don't think it will -- then we're looking at a whole new batch of issues. Finally, I'll leave you with 30 minutes of Wemby doing ridiculous shit. GSG.
  16. Just watched it on a whim with zero expectations. It took me a couple of minutes to get into it but I thought it was great. I’m in.
  17. Not necessarily. If the lakers lose to New Orleans and then beat the winner of GS/SAC then it would be LA vs OKC.
  18. True. But they’re moving into territory where they’re more likely to be 6 or worse than top 5. Whatever. Maybe the karma will be good.
  19. Charlotte won. If the spurs lose they lock up a three way tie for the third worst record pending the blazers losing. Going to be sooooo pissed if they fuck around and win this thing today.
  20. Thank God. They need that L tomorrow to keep pace with Portland.
  21. His mom sure made it with MJ’s kid.
  22. That probably cost them three spots in the draft but totally worth it.
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