UTDD

I definitely hope Stanford gets a little Fighting Irish luck to get them at the big boy table...I think ND would have a lot of pull to fight for them.

I was already out on the coaching staff, but I think I'm out on Dak now. Some players just don't elevate when needed (James Harden in the NBA is another example) and I feel like this is what we have at the QB position.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Staley heh, might be changed quick but I laughed.

I try not to add speculative info, but this is a commit I heard a bit about personally from people around him. (Born and raised in Hawaii, and still there 8-10 weeks a year with a small condo in Waikiki with most of my family still out there.) He's not considered in the same tier of talent as Manti Te'o/Tua/Mariota, but like most Hawaii kids, good work ethic and character. Seems to have high football IQ and instinct/vision, which plays well to his projected position. Concern is more just pure physical talent. Just repeating what I'm hearing from a fairly honest source that would know. I'm really hopeful he and Akana work out because I personally feel Austin has some things that local kids could really like here...it could bode well for the future.

Great TO. Jeez...

I think if I was a coach I would consider Texas a Top 5 job or pretty close to Top 5 at worst. The combination of advantages added with a little less pressure of immediate success is appealing. The most unfortunate thing about Beard's situation is how clearly the trajectory of the program was hitting a positive tipping point. Shaka Smart almost feels like a different world, and it felt like the program was about to take off in a way we only can dream of with the football program. I'd say UCLA is a pretty good job personally **IF** the university would commit to the program, especially if they end up in the Big Ten. I think they are still a sleeping giant, and Los Angeles/Westwood isn't the worst place either for a number of reasons. I do think Cronin is bumped up to about 4 million? Beard is I think 5.25? But Calipari is over 8. UCLA was also just in the Final Four two years ago and are clearly not Tier 1 consistently with recent results, but it's not Indiana bad either. I think Duke will likely end up ok but they need a non Coach K to lead them to positive results as his shadow won't last forever. But they're going to have a grace period to continue that momentum.

Underrated factor in how they translate to the NFL too...

Auburn/Aggy battle of the titans this weekend?

9 guys all out in the box -- stick to the run up the middle. Hmph...

Not sure how updated this is but was curious... Buddy Hield 24-54 3 pointers Lakers five of LeBron, AD, Westbrook, Beverly, Walker - 21-112 3 pointers

I almost think you could have an offensive coach draw up a 3rd and long defense that just by random chance would have a better stop rate given our stats. Ugh.

Maybe the defense should allow 8 yards on first and second down combined to improve our odds on third down.

Please don't Keontay Cain err Casey Ingram...whatever who gives a shit...play another snap at UT.

What a weird sequence. 1) Dallas calls TO to give the Giants one nice play to try and get in FG range. (but maybe it will work out but doesn't seem smart to me) 2) Giants call a quick 3 second play versus trying to use up 6ish seconds just in case they don't convert so Dallas has only 1 play versus 2.

TE wide open. Again.

I guess 3rd and 20 and 3rd and 23 is right where they want us...ugh.

Card would never make a throw like that...

Wow, that's an absolute train wreck decision. Not even counting his woeful defense...I don't even buy him as an elite offensive player either. Not to get into the weeds with metrics, but just one example -- there is a metric called TS Added, which basically is a flawed but sometimes decent metric that measures the average added points by True Shot Attempts (based a lot of TS% which is flawed to me but still kind of useful in its specific context) made above the league average of all players for that given year. So one can in a sense use it for any given year as it tries to account for each league average each year, etc. It has some flaws as an overall offensive metric because turnovers, playmaking, and other specific factors aren't taken into account, for but just shooting, it's not awful. Beal last year had a TS Added of -45.9, which isn't even the league average (it's 0 by design) much less elite...or even close. Jokic in contrast last year had a TS Added of 286.9. I get that some of that is his roster (he certainly gets more defensive attention) but his entire career hasn't shown me that he's much more than a talented but ultimately inefficient volume scorer. If he was an elite defender, that would help, but he's awful there too. What a terrible contract. Just for those that were curious -- the best ever all-time in NBA history. So Jokic got pretty close to 300, and when you take his playmaking into account, his overall offensive value I think is pretty elite to say the least. Curry 2016 454.7 Barkley 1988 433.5 Durant 2013 394.9 Durant 2014 383.9 Barkley 1990 374.5 Malone 1990 362.8 Barkley 1989 362.0 McHale 1987 359.6 Amar’e 2008 352.0 LeBron 2014 347.0 Peja 2004 340.1 Reggie 1990 338.7 LeBron 2013 336.6 Jordan 1989 330.4 Reggie 1991 328.8 Mullin 1990 322.7 Dantley 1986 317.5 Jordan 1990 315.1 Jordan 1988 311.4

I think Phoenix is most likely, but I bet Miami, Phillly, and Portland put together some serious offers. I can't blame Durant -- would you want to be dealing with Ben Simmons and Kyrie at this point?

Grew up on Oahu and used to eat almost every day at Giovanni's Shrimp Truck (a short walk from Kahuku High School) during a summer break job on the North Shore. I've heard really good things about this kid's character. Really glad to see him coming here!

Pretty much agree with this mostly -- I think it's very fair and rational considering it's always hard (I feel like it is for me anyway) to judge a Longhorn against others. I don't consider anything the Warriors do as down against Durant, the circumstances are always different each year. I also don't agree with the idea floated by some that any good wing player that could score could simply replace KD in 2017 and beat the 2017 Cavs, that was actually a really good team. 2018...ok. The 2017 Warriors were one of the greatest - if not the greatest - teams of all-time, but to be honest, I was more impressed with Durant against the Bucks than anything from 2017. He was carrying that team with more than one magnificent performance in a much tougher situation than 2017 coming back from injury too. I have no doubt that version of KD could win titles with a lot of different situations/rosters. 2014 KD too. And I think if Steph won a title and FMVP, I'd start to consider him above Durant in an ATG list too but only because Steph has moved up, not Durant going down.

I wouldn't have had huge issues with Embiid or Giannis winning -- they both had great years. But I would have voted Jokic personally, with Embiid pretty close behind. (I give him some bonus points for having to deal with the Ben Simmons situation and the changed roster, etc.) If Giannis or Embiid had a clear difference in team record, I think that might be more persuasive, but Embiid and Giannis played in 45 wins, and Jokic 46. Team wins I think are 51/51/48. Given the analytics/supporting casts, I don't think is enough of a difference in team performance.

I agree with a lot of this and frankly, I think KD harbored similar feelings as a factor in leaving Golden State too. (it was always going to Curry's team no matter what he did -- he was the Alex Rodriguez to Derek Jeter of the Warriors in a way...) I don't think Giannis will ever match the skill of Durant offensively, but Giannis is definitely impressive with his defensive ability. He's already won DPOY and five Defensive All-NBA awards, and 2 MVPs, and still might have a fair amount of additional years in his prime. (Durant has never finished on an All-Defensive Team once and even LeBron has only done it about 6 times I think during his prime) Kobe I think did it nine times, although sometimes these awards have some reputation bias. I think Jokic is likely the best player in the NBA in one sense, but without a championship, I have to give it to Giannis right now. I thought it was Durant after last year right after the Bucks/Nets, I thought he was magnificent in that series.

Surely this has entered the mind of someone else? If any team were to blow a 3-0 lead, it would be one led by Doc Rivers, right?