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UTDD

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Everything posted by UTDD

  1. I really like Toronto's defensive potential. Good length and speed everywhere. They definitely can win the East if they play well. OG/Siakim/Ibaka/Kawhi are really good parts for a great defensive lineup and guys like Green are no slouches either and he was All-Defense 2nd team pretty recently to boot. I think Lowry is no slouch defensively either even with his size.
  2. Embiid is looking more efficient on offense and has clearly worked on trying to limit his turnovers from last year. Considering he was already very advanced defensively, his new possible offensive upgrade is making him into a complete two-way center at a very elite level. It's exciting watching him develop from his injured past to where he is right now where he might get in the future. I'm extremely excited for the NBA right now with big men like Davis, Embiid, and Jokic out there even with the calls of death knells for big men in today's NBA. I think Simmons is also an incredible talent but is still 1-2 years away from being a more complete player. Having said that, he's still amazing. Philly needs to take advantage of their cap window. I think they only have like mid-60s in cap for next year, so they can make moves before Simmons is up, and they have an albatross contract in Chandler coming off the books too. Having Covington at his current rate is huge too, because I think he's very high value at that price when you consider what many other teams are paying for similar - and often inferior - wings. I think it's one of the best contract gambles in the NBA right now, he's already a good value and could end up even better.
  3. I think statistically it was about a 75% or so shot to make a 38 yard field goal and about the same odds to make 1 yard. So I would have gone for it.
  4. UTDD

    Cruz vs Beto

    Well, let's see after this Tuesday, I think 2018 is mostly defined by this day more than any other. Also, each district/county/state is different than one another, so I don't think you can blanket statement that kind of thing so easily. I think it's a case by case basis and it greatly depends on the specific opponent, demographics, potential base turnouts, prior voting history/trends, and many other factors. If Manchin or Tester for example didn't run in the middle somewhat, they would possibly get annihilated in their specific situations. Whether Beto's strategy was best will be greatly shown Tuesday. I personally think he ran a good campaign except for his TV ads so I can't fault him much overall.
  5. UTDD

    Cruz vs Beto

    I think Beto ran to try and turn out in his mind a dormant base that has never been fully committed and motivated enough to make a difference in Texas. He could have tried to run as a moderate to siphon off some voters that way, but you can't easily fault someone for running as their authentic self. I get the sense he'd rather lose as himself than triangulate just to win. I think his grass roots campaigning has been good for him but also other candidates in this and future cycles. Even if Beto loses, he might help a few local candidates get over the hump with increased turnout. My only real gripe with his campaign has been his TV stuff -- I think the ads I have seen haven't been very good and did not showcase his personal charisma and appeal. I think he should have ran more like Obama did in 2008 on TV -- showcasing a movement for change (showing crowds/individual people (that other Texans could identify with) being emotionally moved with Beto and with their real problems maybe being addressed) and real impact in Texas and get people excited about a larger theme that way...
  6. UTDD

    Sam Ehlinger

    He still missed a few key throws with a painful miss on Beck and then Ingram in the end zone, but overall, he is hugely improved from last year. He went from a true liability and concern on turnovers to essentially as good as you can reasonably expect with TOs at the QB position. That's a gigantic change to me. His vision is better and he is much faster on his progressions from last year. He's tough and has good moxie and competitive spirit you want from the position. I am confident he could be really something as a junior, and I am very confident Comsi can play either tackle position next year well too which is a great feeling going into next year. I am still curious how Rising is as a passer too, but right now no real complaints.
  7. The ugly truth is that there are still a lot of stupid people in America. At least now it is mostly harder to be so blatant about it, but it's still out there for sure.
  8. UTDD

    Cruz vs Beto

    Agreed. Texas is the real danger for the GOP and while I don't think Texas turns blue yet, I do think in about 10-15 years, Texas could absolutely be a strong purple with trends as they are now.
  9. As much as Texas has some interesting drama on a minor level. I think Georgia and Florida's elections are so much more nasty and crazy on a number of levels. I am very curious how that turns out for both states.
  10. UTDD

    Cruz vs Beto

    Sure I get that too, but I don't care if they are from Mars, I just want talent.
  11. UTDD

    Cruz vs Beto

    I can get that for some people but for me personally, I desperately would appreciate certain more certain types of talent coming into Austin specifically. I literally cannot find a few specific people for work that has been dormant locally for months with extensive recruiting and right now is remote hired out of California in the meantime.
  12. I think Tech only has a chance if OU has turnovers -- that helped Texas too in their game. Maybe it goes like OU 44, Tech 35 or something along those lines.
  13. I hadn't seen the actual penalty until that article -- it looks pretty tame to me personally. Not a fan of either team at all so I don't feel biased saying that at all.
  14. 20-21, I am not sure the team has enough shooting. I feel ok otherwise in this prediction.
  15. Relief that the shitstorm of political ads and dumb talking heads is mostly over, but a sense of foreboding knowing that the 2020 train is speeding towards my living room...
  16. UTDD

    Cruz vs Beto

    The CIA/NSA/NRO and more always have and always will spy on domestics as needed -- anyone thinking otherwise is way too naive. I also happen to think it's helped the country on more than one occasion despite the ugly reality of it.
  17. Republicans wouldn't be shifting on pre-existing conditions like they are if they didn't already know it matters a lot to people. You even saw Trump tweet about Republicans protecting pre-existing conditions. It's a real issue.
  18. Many conservative judges are pretty textualist/originalist (Scalia wing) and it's hard for me to see how the 14th Amendment can be tweaked to be interpreted differently than what appears to be it's plain meaning on birthright citizenship. I think it would take the sort of judicial activism you ordinarily would not see from a Gorsuch type judge. While there was some other meaning behind it specific to the Scott case, it also clarified a pretty plain meaning right in my humble opinion. I personally wasn't happy with Obama overreaching sometimes on executive orders and the same applies for me with Trump. The nature and reach of executive power and jurisprudence by judges is far more critical long-term than any one political issue or party/politician.
  19. That one is going down to the wire I think. Much like Nevada most likely. The fear about pre-existing conditions on health care is very real in Arizona and she is getting pounded in ads for her prior votes on Obamacare. Republicans in general are shifting strategy to say they support saving pre-existing conditions just as much as Democrats now.
  20. I think the team overall is a little better, but still a lot of work to do. I think the offense has marginally improved, but still with some key concerns right now. This year, red zone scoring % is 78.6% which is very bad at 101st nationally. Last year, Texas was at....78.7% red zone scoring. A minor improvement in converting third downs with 42.9% this year versus 38.1% last year. Slightly more points, yards, and points per play across the board but none of these ranking well with best rank being 31.2 PPG at 40th nationally. The lack of offensive turnovers is also a nice improvement which has helped win games. The defense is down this year, but not terrible. The biggest difference I suspected by the eye test and I think confirmed by statistics is Texas can't get off the field on third down. Last year, Texas ranked # 3 in the entire nation in 3rd down conversion percentage at 27.1% allowed and this year they are at 39% so that's a pretty big change to me. Punting is not the same which hurts the defense as well. I'm hopeful for the future but have no issues believing that Texas could win or lose virtually any game this year (not Kansas perhaps) with what I see with the eyes and on paper. I do like the talent from this class and going forward, I am hopeful the team becomes great.
  21. The Wizards are doomed to treadmill status with this roster. The surest way to doom your future is to overpay for the talent/production you get back in return. Next year they have over 106 million dollars committed to just four players (Beal,Wall,Porter,Mahinmi) and beyond that are paying 40+ million alone to Wall, and 46.8 million in 2002-2023 season. Ouch. Wall isn't a terrible player at all, but no way is he worth that kind of money and it cripples your other salary slots to truly build a great team. If you're going to commit 40+ million, it had better be with a true superstar (and that is a very small list, maybe 4-5 players rate that money I think when you take age into account too)
  22. I don't get that vibe at all but that may be true for some people -- I think one can easily mean that the Republican platform of spending money to try and enforce social conservatism is a key problem for a fiscal conservative. (which it is for me) The government could leave people alone both fiscally and in general on social issues like sexual orientation, religion, bathroom use, contraception, etc. Money better spent elsewhere solving real problems.
  23. I live in Hawaii part of the year and am very familiar with Tulsi and also her father who is a State Senator. A very close friend of mine has helped counsel Tulsi's father politically for over a decade and helped with some initial Tulsi advice way at the beginning. Tulsi is VERY ambitious and will not likely just be satisfied winning easy House elections in Hawaii for the next 20-30 years which could be the case if she wanted to go that route. She has some conservative roots both from family and other affiliations but above anything else, she is opportunistic. You'd have to be to try running for President while being under 40 years old. She definitely took some risk in the Sanders/Clinton DNC stuff to be sure.
  24. Hard question, but for me I would say more fiscal responsibility, less focus on bathrooms, transgenders, and bakeries selling cakes to LGBT people. These are losing issues long-term, the world is changing and they need to react to that reality. Heavy, heavy. focus on stopping government waste, corruption, and greed in bloated government programs that waste far too much money because of the system as it exists right now. (this is a problem for both parties) Focus on extreme transparency in how government projects are created, written, and especially funded with all information easily available on all major spending for scrutiny with multiple audits by non-partisan entities that are also transparent and available for the media/public. Less deficit spending and actually mean it. Abandon say 500k and more salaries, and focus on a massive tax cut for the middle class without having to break the budget because you haven't cut the top rates. Sacrifice the current healthcare platform and convert to a model more based on utilities and focus on creating a better system for overall healthcare used in many countries that are poorer than us yet have better healthcare outcomes and more efficiency. That's a hugely difficult shift, but healthcare works in a lot of places better than here and with many poorer countries. Fight on the idea that bloated college debt is always the best route for everyone -- it's not actually. Create real job training for the future in tech/innovative industries to give many Americans the opportunity to bootstrap beyond their starting place in life without having to get 100k in debt for a 30k job that puts you in debt for a decade or longer. The truth is that many jobs here now will be useless in 20 years and they should be the party to have a vision for the future. Bottom line even more: A VISION for the future, not division and rhetoric. Why did 1994 go so well with them? They actually presented a vision that resonated with people, when is the last time either party actually articulated a true vision versus attack back and forth? You don't have to budge much on some issues (guns, certain reasonable social issues, tough on crime) as you can't please everyone. Just these off the top of my head, I bet there is so much more out there I suppose...
  25. Yeah's he fine especially for his age and four games into his career. He right now needs to just focus on being up to par mentally on the speed of the game because his skill level is already high. He could take a little better care of the ball and slightly better shot selection at times, but these are very small nitpicks for so early in the season. Dallas should be happy so far I think.
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