Mitch Cumsteen

Anybody have Harrison Barnes winning western conference player of the week on their bingo card? I can't believe Sacto gave us a first round swap to take him off their hands.

In a 12 team playoff, we would have been in almost every one of those years.... and then probably would have been pantsed by a team with a real coach.

I’m sure Chris Paul’s hamstring will spontaneously explode in the near future, but that little fucker has been great. He’s not what he once was, but he’s far from washed. I’m rather shocked by him so far.

Cut it to 4 heading toward the fourth. This team continues to play hard each night. Bassey needs more minutes.

He missed too. Their top 9 players were out last night. Not sure why Theis got the night off but I’ve never seen anything like it.

I’m not sure how the pelicans are even fielding a team at this point. I thought Memphis last year was the worst injury bug team I’d ever seen, but this might be worse.

In the actual Pearl: Mon Chou Chou is probably my favorite, Southerleigh and Cured are also good. Not as big of a fan of Supper in the Hotel Emma, but it's fine. I don't think the food is great at La Gloria, but it's a nice patio for a margarita by the river if the weather is good. Curry Boys BBQ on St. Mary's Street is walkable (~15 minutes). It's not upscale but the food is fantastic and original.

Pearl. Hotel Emma.

I think the turnovers last night were a bit of an anomaly because OKC has such ridiculous perimeter defenders: SGA, Wallace, Dort, Caruso, Williams. They are the best in the league as a group, and maybe the best I can remember in recent memory. No weak links. And without Wemby or Vassell, there aren't many relief valves or anyone else to create shots. He had to force it a good bit. The outside shooting was off even when he got good looks, but he had been on fire from three over the previous five games. I loved it that he had the confidence to take and make that last three after throwing up so many bricks. It was a huge shot and what a confidence builder. He also didn't get any favorable calls. The rookie treatment kept him off the line probably 3-4 times. And still, he just kept playing through it all. 8 assists while taking SGA head on all night. Kid is just a winner.

Castle is going to be harassing SGA for about the next decade. Pretty awesome to see him step up to the challenge in his 10th or whatever game of his career. My expectations are completely out of wack for him.

Don’t make a shit. Make your free throws.

The little fucker has been great tonight. Also Castle is 1/10 but has been outstanding. He might be my favorite Spur since Manu.

I don’t know if they have the horses to hold off OKC for 12 more minutes, but much respect for how hard they are playing.

I dig this Cleveland team. Well constructed roster, great depth, and they play a good brand of ball. Having a healthy Garland and getting rid of Bickerstaff has taken them next level.

I was going to say, I'd do Louisville instead of Cincinnati but I admittedly haven't spent as much time in Cincy and it's been at least a decade since I've been there. I just remember it being really spread out. There is definitely something to be said about the convenience of flying in and out of there though. Louisville has a neat downtown and a lot of history. And like Lexington, has some surprisingly really good restaurants. Lots of upscale southern inspired food if you're into that.

I've spent a decent amount of time in Lexington, and I also really like the area. The rolling hills and the horse farms in the countryside are beautiful. The city itself has a good vibe, a neat downtown, and surprisingly good restaurants. I highly recommend it for a road trip. With regard to the game Saturday... I don't see how we lose barring a rash of turnovers or special teams fuck ups. On paper this looks like a classic trap game -- nestled between rival road games against Arkansas and A&M, with Kentucky essentially having two weeks to prepare. Kentucky is completely bipolar. Who knows how they are going to show up on Saturday? Outside of Florida, they haven't given up many points to anyone. Unless they've quit on Stoops, which is a distinct possibility, this feels like an ugly win where we complain about Ewers and the offense afterward but are in control most of the way. I don't care. Just win baby.

Georgia complaining about our strength of schedule is fucking rich. Don't get me wrong, their schedule this year is a motherfucker but those dickbags have been riding the second tier SEC east gravy train forever. Last year, Georgia essentially had a one game regular season schedule against Ole Miss (at home) and you could give them credit for a "tough" game against 9-4 Tennessee (who lost to every team they played who had a pulse). Their nonconference schedule was UAB, TN-Martin, Ball State, and Georgia Tech. There are always going to be inequities in the conference schedules when you have way more teams than games available. That's life. Unless you want to go to a round robin like the Big 12 had and kick a few teams out, you can't control that. It's a function of luck and circumstance (and by god karma) that OU is terrible. We scheduled Michigan for fuck's sake, not Ball State. As if we planned for them to crater after a national championship. I suppose all this could be good motivation purposes. It may not be a bad idea to play the "lack of respect" / "we haven't beaten anybody" card with the team.

Not much you can do without three of your best players and especially on a tough back to back. Next to zero chance of winning that game before it even tipped. I didn’t watch any of last night but he actually seems to be finishing better overall. When he gets into the paint I’m legitimately thinking something good may actually happen vs oh shit here we go again.

That foul on Paul was terrible. But they made a lot of mistakes regardless that cost them the game. Lots of teachable moments. Overall though, they are playing winning basketball. I don’t know where the record ends up, but they are on the right track. And I’ve been saying it since before the Spurs even picked him, but Castle was the best player in the draft. He’s such a winner.

It's probably too early in the season for the SRS and Net Rtg numbers to really mean anything, but there's no doubt the Spurs are improved. I've only watched the Lakers sporadically. They seem to be running some more diverse stuff on offense. The defense seems to have taken a step back. If Vic can keep shooting 50% on high volume three's, I like our chances. His battle with the brow last year had some great moments both ways. It will be a good measuring stick for him. Should be a fun one outside of the Lebron/Chris Paul lovefest and as long as it doesn't devolve into a three point chucking / 130+ point game.

I would probably switch Fine and Booty, but I'd need an opposite side camera angle to be sure. Whatever seems about right, though.

That last possession was rough. If I'm trying to defend him, it looks like he's anticipating the screen and he's readying for the switch. He was being too smart for his own good. But really, that's fucking horrible. The very first thing they teach you about defense is to stay between your man and the basket. The second thing they teach you is ball - eye - man. You need to constantly have your head on a swivel and know where your man is and know where the ball is at all times. Watch Jason Kidd as soon as he realizes how out of position Luka is. The crunch time thing with the Mavs is weird. I know they've had some tough calls, but I think it's more of a small sample size issue. They will win more of these over the long haul. Between Doncic and Irving, they can almost always manufacture a decent look in the clutch.

So apparently 50 points in 26 minutes is the fastest 50 in NBA history. I take back everything I said about his conditioning and shot selection. I think he’s going to work out alright.

50 burger.