UTDD

Yeah, I have friends that live in Cape Town, which is kind of a nicer area in general compared to a lot of the country. But if you visit even a large city like Johannesburg, it's shocking to see how close a "rich" area is next to a "poor" one. Anyone can google South Africa overhead shots rich/poor neighborhoods to see this over and over. The racism with some people I have met there is literally eye opening, and I've seen some bad stuff here locally.

I've been there, and am friends with a few people that live there. It is hard to overstate the shocking level of wealth inequality in that country. I've seen rich countries and poor ones, but only here have I seen extreme wealth in such close proximity to incredible poverty. You have a completely different existence (first world versus third world at extreme levels) mere minutes away from each other with specific neighborhoods and schools, etc. From giant estates with massive land/buildings for horses and such to barely standing tiny huts type of disparity.

For the first time in a long time, I'm definitely more excited about basketball than football. There may be an issue of not reaching peak efficiency due to playing time with specific rotations/combinations, but this is a pretty good concern versus not having...you know, good (even average) coaching, enough talent, etc.

I'd be curious how traditional ratings fare over the next ten years in general. I have no doubt interest is down this year without the biggest stars/teams, but I also wonder how well the ratings are measuring very real shifts in viewership with the very younger set and how it's likely moving more away from traditional TV ratings over time. (I don't have an answer, but I'm curious about this maybe they are measuring streaming somehow better than I realize) Every NBA fan I know (admittedly only about a dozen or so but I think it's kind of representative for a not insignificant number of people) under 20 has basically for the most part never - or barely have ever - watched an NBA game on television. They stream everything, and a lot of them don't even bother to watch the game live but just avoid the score and then wait for YT highlight videos so they can watch it in ten minutes versus two hours plus. They know to wait about 3+ hours or so from tip off to be kind of close to having those videos available.

They don't have good point guard play to me. It's a poorly constructed roster with more scorers than playmakers. LeBron would help a little given his passing, but he's not the same player he was five years ago. A LeBron in his prime would probably solve a lot of their playmaking problems, but that player is gone now and he's not coming back. I mean you can say a Michael Jordan in his prime would do wonders too I suppose. Not fair to use once in a generation players as a comparison. But even a CP3 would do wonders for this team in my opinion. Dame's a great player, but he's not really an elite playmaker either. It's not like this team has a ton of defensive stalwarts either. The parts just don't seem to mesh well, I mean why in the world for example is LaVine on the team? What does he bring that others of a similar skillset don't already do better? Tatum on paper is supposed to be a plus at worst and almost elite defender at best but I haven't seen it yet. Maybe they will take it more seriously later, but the real worry is maybe they are already playing kind of hard...yikes.

That is just the nature of a sport with injuries, and I find it curious you included the 2015 Warriors because (unless you meant the 2017 Warriors which is a VERY different story, nobody was beating them) more than a few people feel that is a team that benefited with an injured Cavs team. I don't think Milwaukee (if they win, and I'm not convinced yet they will) winning a title will be that shockingly different than the Raptors beating an injured Warriors team for example. Stuff like this happens all the time...and not just in basketball. Also, the majority of casual fans - especially with the passage of time - will not care that much about the details either.

I don't mind the Trae/Steph comparisons, but I think Trae is a better playmaker, but much worse shooter right now. Steph from Day 1 has always been a 42-45% 3 point shooter, and Trae is still basically below average to league average for shooting. (34-35%ish from 3, 43ish percent overall) To be fair, he's taking tougher shots than a lot of other shooters, but I personally am skeptical he will ever hit mid 40s consistently. But he has a similar disruptive effect/gravity on defensive schemes, and that's pretty awesome to see.

Always look at context with a lot of things. Way more impressed with KD in Games 5 and 7 than anything he ever did at Golden State. He just ran out of gas in OT, and it was very clear. I think Nash should have considered a TO - even though I like not calling it normally to not allow a set defense - at the end of OT given KD's minutes/situation.

He ran out of gas

Maybe, but I'm not sure I'd feel all that confident with LeBron James in his prime with this roster for Game 5 either. It's not useless, but it's not exactly a roster built to do super well missing Irving/Harden, and the Bucks are a good team.

Luka is just amazing. It's not just a numbers game -- he's controlling the series so far and creating so many open looks for his supporting cast. I love Dirk and consider him an amazing player too, but I have little doubt Luka is going to surpass him someday for a career. I'm so fascinated to see Luka continue and grow his game (he can still improve with 3pt/FT shooting and turnovers) and I think when it's all said and done, he may even surpass all-time every player from this current generation (Curry/Durant/Harden types) except maybe LeBron.

Really tougher than I thought at first glance -- I have a few really close together with 3-5. Magic, Steph, Oscar, CP3, Stockton, Thomas, Nash, Kidd.

Jeez CP3, 23 points, 6 rebounds, 16 assists, 2 blocks, 4 steals, zero turnovers. Nice.

Gregory had some draft flags -- not just the positive test, but on his questionnaire, he had answered affirmatively that he had 1) been depressed before and 2) had thought about killing himself. It's been a while, but I think that impacted his draft status.

Not sure if people know a little more background about Osa. Good student, brother drafted by the Giants in the third round a few years ago if I remember. Osa's father shot and killed three people, and Osa overcame a difficult childhood. One hopes he has the hunger and desire to maximize his potential.

These rankings kind of make sense to me based on gut feel and observation. Last year was a nightmare, but I thought 2019 was a very troubling year overall because I felt a lot of good pieces were there to do well as a team. I had hoped a new coach was a good fix...but even so, I have no blame for 2020 at all (well...shitty defensive coaching) versus 2019. I think the luxury of the line for some years has made some fans not appreciate what an average offensive line really is...or way below average. I'd love the Cowboys to nail a good OL with a pick, I don't think the health/age issues are small concerns anymore. About Pitts, who knows but reports are multiple teams have him at #2 on their Boards. I doubt he makes it to the 10th pick, but of course could I see Jerry trading up...

Definitely blame a lot of adults, but I also think the influence of social media in the lives of youngsters has emboldened certain behaviors as well. I do deal with some younger people fairly consistently, and while this specific example isn't really anonymous, there are so many avenues/outlets for behavior/statements most people - even a lot of teens know better - wouldn't dare do without the safety of anonymity. The worst I have seen personally is actually on Discord. (probably because I'm not really using SC) Plenty of racial/offensive (mostly memes) content everywhere. The sad truth is that some parents need to be really vigilant about the types of groups/servers your children are on sometimes...and that's not even considering how many parents are already failing their children with how they talk (or don't) about other types of people, etc.

Just pretending these issues don't exist, I'd say the 2020 season PFF ranking of Watson as the #3 QB might be a tad high, but not too much. I think he's a Top 5 talent as a QB, and I do believe most GMs in the NFL would rate him somewhere in that range. Given his age and upside, he would be an incredibly valuable commodity for trade value...but all that's kind of moot, the guy obviously has other issues right now.

Oh no, I feel so bad for Texas Tech...I think they have suffered enough...

I dislike Westbrook's game quite a bit, but I'll always respect his motor. I wish I could transplant that motor into some other talented players that are wasting away their potential. Westbrook just never learned to harness his motor/talent in more efficient ways, but some talented players can't even be bothered to go that far. And I agree with the poster above about Westbrook as a person. He seems way more well adjusted in life than some other clear examples we all can guess.

I guess Karic is working out -- I remember that a few people were debating him and the other prospect...Lindberg if I remember (went to Georgia).

I think that's way too harsh. He's definitely got a bad history with being thin skinned and how he handles social media, but I think he's done a lot of good that has nothing to do with basketball. I kind of wish he could ignore certain things or not overreact, but it is what it is...but frankly, compared to Kyrie and Harden, I like my chances of having a better overall character in Durant. And for basketball, no matter his Warriors/Nets tenure, I think he's guaranteed to be Top 15 all-time at worst and for this generation, # 2 (I no longer believe Curry/Kawhi types will surpass him) behind LeBron.

Beard got his Masters from Abilene Christian too...what an amazing turn of events. Tech fans complaining about a graduate returning to his alma mater seems hollow... https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2938028-abilene-christian-president-says-win-over-texas-earned-school-close-to-120m

Their Go Fund Me page is going to cross 1 million.

The most relevant part about the group to me was if it was actually 9,500 agents, that's a pretty substantial percentage of all of the Border Agents overall.