HookEm

Also, while people will focus on the top of the list, I think it will be much more interesting to look at where we might make the cut if we go to 64, 72 or 80 teams and 4 mega-conferences. If the PAC-12 passes on Tech, Okie State, K-State and TCU they are going to go somewhere else and they might get stuck with teams like Navy, Houston, Fresno St and Colorado State.

I figured a computer rank would remove some of the bias that you get in bowl wins, AP ranks, etc. Not perfect of course, but directionally correct.

To add color to the realignment talks I thought it would be a good idea to quantify the performance of all the Division 1 teams over the last 25 years - with more weight put on the recent years. I took the Massey rating for each team and year since 1996 and gave them a recency multiplier and summed them up. The multiplier is 1x for 1996 and 2x for 2021 with every year in between scaled linearly. Here are the results. Big-12 schools are highlighted in yellow. Big 12 defectors are colored in blue and red. A couple of thoughts... First, the Big-12 has actually been pretty good on the field. Seven top-35 schools is tied with the PAC-10 for most of any conference. The SEC without us only has six. Now granted they also have 4 of the top-7 so they are very good at the top. Big-10 has 6. ACC has 4. Conference averages are as follows: SEC - 24.9 / 27.6 with / without us BIG-12 - 33.6 / 40.4 with / without us PAC-12 - 32.1 BIG-10 - 38.3 ACC - 41.9 Thus, any team ranked above the average would improve the conference while any below would dilute it. (Obviously past results are no guarantee of future performance.) Let me know if anyone wants to see the data cut in other ways and I'll throw it together.

I would love to keep playing Baylor and Tech in hoops. In football? None of them.

Magic and Bird on the same team? Those guys are amazing passers. Amazing. They would be finding Jordan for dunk after dunk. And Bird was 2x All-Defense in an extremely competitive era. He was a better defender than Magic. He was also a borderline dirty player. First attempted dunk by LeBron and he would be on his ass to send a message.

Agreed. I like what they came up with. I'm happy I got at least 1 pod right. Also it makes sense for them to split up UT and Aggy so that teams get more shots at playing in Texas. The pods also look reasonably balanced.

Looking at a recent NBA player power ranking, the Bucks are one of only 3 teams with 3 top-50 players. You can argue about relative places, but it is pretty close. When you look at something like this, you see how Utah is never going to win a title. You have to have a top-10 player or you have no chance. When Klay is back and those picks, the Warriors are going to be right back in the mix. Nets: Harden #7, Durant #9, Kyrie #16 Bucks: Giannis #4, Middleton #27, Holiday #43 Warriors: Curry #3, Klay #23, Draymond #38 Lakers: Lebron #1, AD #22 Clippers: Kawhi #2, PG13 #14 Denver: Jokic #4, Murray #27 Philly: Embiid #8, Simmons #32 Phoenix: CP3 #10, Booker #13 Portland: Lillard #15, McCollum #34 Utah: Mitchel #20, Gobert #28

A : Texas, LSU, Aggy, Arky B : OU, Tenn, Mizzou, Vandy C : Bama, Auburn, Ole Miss, Miss St D : Florida, UGA, SC, UK One permanent rival in each other pod including: UT vs OU, Tenn vs Bama, LSU vs Bama, Tenn vs Florida, Auburn vs UGA. There are two historic elite teams per pod and they in regional close proximity. All rivalries are maintained and the pods are reasonably balanced.

I think the SEC is a pretty decent downgrade for hoops. There isn’t a bad team in the Big 12. The worst is probably TCU and they can beat anybody on a given night. Kentucky will be fun though. They are even more rabid than Kansas.

I see Giannis as much more like Kevin Garnett than Shaquille O'Neal. He is a better defender and passer than Shaq - much like Garnett. Shaq was even more physically imposing than Giannis, but it was always done in the paint. Giannis can get out and run and then dunk on 2 people when he gets in the lane. He is also having to carry his team much more like Giannis. At 26, Garnett finished 2nd in MVP voting twice and was a 5-time 1st Team Defense. At 26, Giannis has 2 MVPs and 4 All-Defense selections (including DPoY).

I was just F’ing around. Jokic is clearly the better player. 10/10 NBA execs would take him over Embiid IMO.

I guess technically if Durant weren't on the team, they might have gone small ball with Shaun Livingston playing guard and Klay moving to SF. Still a great team.

What about him?

I would take Kawhi over Harden any day of the week. And Kyrie is better than every player on the row above him. CP3 is probably too high as well.

All the talk about the degree to which Giannis carried the Bucks to a title this year has had me wondering about how the Bucks supporting cast stacks up against other champions in recent years. If you take out the best player on the last 13 champion teams, this is how I would rank the supporting casts: 2017 Warriors – Steph Curry (MVP), Klay Thompson (All-NBA), old Iguodala (All-Def), Draymond Green (All-NBA), Zaza Pachulia 2018 Warriors – Steph Curry (MVP), Klay Thompson (All-NBA), old Iguodala (All-Def), Draymond Green (All-NBA), Kevon Loony 2014 Spurs – Tony Parker (All-Star), Marco Belinelli, old Manu Ginobli (All-NBA), Boris Diaw, old Tim Duncan (All-NBA) 2013 Heat – Mario Chalmers, old Ray Allen (All-Star), Dwyane Wade (All-NBA), old Shane Battier (All-Def), Chris Bosh (All-NBA) 2012 Heat – Mario Chalmers, Dwyane Wade (All-NBA), Shane Battier (All-Def), Chris Bosh (All-NBA), Udonis Haslem 2016 Cavs – Kyrie Irving (All-NBA), Matthew Dellavedova, JR Smith, Kevin Love (All-NBA), Tristan Thompson 2015 Warriors – Shaun Livingston, Klay Thompson (All-NBA), Andre Iguodala (All-Def), Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green (All-NBA) 2021 Bucks – Jrue Holiday (All-Def), Donte DiVincenzo, Khris Middleton (All-Star), PJ Tucker, old Brook Lopez (All-Def) 2019 Raptors – old Kyle Lowry (All-NBA), Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakim, old Serge Ibaka (All-Def) 2010 Lakers – old Derek Fisher, Shannon Brown, Ron Artest (All-Def), Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol (All-NBA) 2009 Lakers – old Derek Fisher, Trevor Ariza, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol (All-NBA), Andrew Bynum 2011 Mavs – old Jason Kidd (All-Star), JJ Barea, old Jason Terry, old Shawn Marion (All-Star), Tyson Chandler (All-Star) 2020 Lakers – Avery Bradley, Kentavious Pope, old Danny Green (All-Def), Kyle Kuzma, Anthony Davis (All-NBA) The Bucks are a well constructed team. Holiday and Lopez have both been all-stars and are still excellent defenders. They beat Atlanta twice in the playoffs without Giannis (granted Trae was out one of them). I think they are middle of the pack when you consider all the other champs. How would you all rank these teams?

Bucks at 10-1 is disrespectful. They have the best NBA record over the last 4 years (by 9 games!) and finally got over the hump. They keep just about everybody and the core is still all in their prime. They also get back Donte DiVencenzo who started every game for them this year. I would bet on them before an old / injured Lakers for sure. And I don’t trust the Nets. Durant will be 33, Harden and Blake 32, Deandre 35… and Kyrie is crazy. The odds of them all being healthy are low.

I agree 100%... for now. If that group wins 3-4 more titles, then people will start talking about them in that light. Rings change perception in a hurry. Put Scottie Pippin on another team and he would never have gotten a ring and would be seen as a much different player.

I have always wondered what it would be like to send the NBA champion team (including coach), but replacing their foreign players with the best available US players. The team would already have very good winning chemistry and probably enough talent to beat any other team in the world. This year, let's say it is the Suns squad: PG: Chris Paul SG: Devin Booker SF: Mikal Bridges PF: Kevin Durant – replaces Saric (Croatia) C : Bam Adabayo - replaces Ayton (Bahamas) B1: Cameron Payne B2: Jae Crowder B3: Torey Craig Or it could be the Bucks: PG: Jrue Holiday SG: Donte DiVencenzo SF: Khris Middleton PF: Kevin Durant – replaces Giannis (Croatia) C : Bam Adabayo - replaces Ayton (Bahamas) B1: Cameron Payne B2: Jae Crowder B3: Torey Craig For 2016, you would have Cleveland representing: PG: Kyrie Irving SG: Steph Curry – replaces Delladova (Australia) SF: Kevin Durant – replaces T Thompson (Canada) PF: LeBron James C : Kevin Love B1: Draymond Green – replaces T Mozgov (Russia) B2: JR Smith B3: Iman Shumpert For 2012, you would have Miami representing: PG: Mario Chalmers SG: Dwayne Wade SF: Kobe Bryant – replaces Joel Anthony (Canada) PF: LeBron James C : Chris Bosh B1: Udonis Haslem B2: Shane Battier B3: Norris Cole For 2008, you would have the Celtics representing. They didn’t have any international players, so the whole team would go.

The Devin Booker vs. Kobe comparisons are only valid on one side of the court (if that). Kobe was a 10-time 1st team All-Defense selection. Booker will NEVER be on an all-defensive team.

Needing a top-10 American on the team to be interested is dumb. How many top-10 Americans did the Spurs have on their roster? How about Dallas with Dirk? How about the Rockets with Olajuwon? How about the Detroit teams of the early 2000s? Most of those “top 10” American players are old af. Are we sure Harden is better than Chris Paul RIGHT NOW? I’m not. Harden is fat. And injured. And he probably will be next year as well. Chris Paul is motivated to get his ring. Harden is motivated to party.

Does anybody have current info on the initiation and membership costs on any of the following: Forest Creek Georgetown Country Club Berry Creek Cowan Creek White Wing Twin Creeks

Regarding plane shitting… I’ve probably been to Manila 25 times over the years. I’m usually very careful about what I eat over there and rarely get sick. Well, one time I got to the airport and went to the business lounge. For some reason, my mind clicked to “you are back in civilization and can eat what you want” mode. I made myself a big glass of some tropical drink. It was fantastic. So I made myself another… Fast forward 2 hours and I was ready to die. I spent probably 10 hours in the bathroom. Shitting, barfing, dry heaving then back to my seat curled up in fetal position sweating my ass off… then back to the bathroom for more barfing and shitting. I literally wanted to die. After about 20 hours things were almost back to normal and I even had a couple of gin and tonics for the final leg home from Detroit. I usually enjoy that flight. Once sat next to the Pussycat Dolls in 1st class. That was interesting. I was the only other non Japanese person up there and the crew though I was with the group so they treated me like a celebrity. Another time sat next to an old Japanese dude who took off his shoes and socks…. and clipped his toenails at one point. Uggh.

Obviously everyone is going to have to earn their spot. But we wouldn’t be ranked #3 in that poll above if everyone had to reset every year with zero expectations. The point is that if you were 1st Team All-PAC 10, you are going to expect a certain amount of playing time. If you don’t get it, it is going to take some maturity and handling by the coaches to keep everyone positive.