#I feel that it massively dropped the ball on every character in its roster

[mizukagami-takamagahara]

I 100% agree with your tags about what could have made EE look a little better. I really didn't mind RR as much as EE probably because it at least retained the Blazblue aesthetic and style. RR felt like a weird knockoff Blazblue game, BBDW was an actual Blazblue VN dressed up as a gatcha game (my possibly unpopular opinion is that if BBTAG can be considered a legitimate part of the series so can BBDW), EE doesn't even feel like a knockoff it just feels like Blazblue characters in a completely unrelated game. And from what has been revealed about EE's story this may literally be the case as in that is the whole plot. That I feel is what specifically gives off the "parading around the corpse of the Blazblue franchise" feel to me.

A quick salt warning; I aim to fall somewhere in the range of neutrality on this blog, particularly when dealing with Entropy Effect. I want people to be able to enjoy the game fairly and to feel safe sharing that excitement here! I'm willing to try to meet the game on fair, even ground. That said, when it comes down to my own biased feelings, I would've married BBDW if I could've, and I already have some pretty strongly negative feelings about the studio behind Entropy Effect. So I have a bad taste in my mouth about this upcoming game. I don't plan on being particularly harsh in this post, but I will be sharing my uncensored opinions here. No disrespect meant.

Now. Carl. Oh my god, Carl. I'm dying, Carl.

I played Revolution Reburning while waiting for BBDW to launch, trying to scratch the "upcoming game hype" itch, and the gameplay was super fun! But damn did it leave me with a serious hatred for the game itself and the studio behind it. The game has a story mode that is poorly translated, horribly bastardized/watered down, and just... just really bad. I'd respect it as a fan game, but the fact that it's a legitimate thing just pushes my buttons too damn much. Call it a pet peeve.

Again, the game is fun! It's cool! I really enjoyed playing it! There is not an ounce of doubt in my mind that Entropy Effect will be fun as hell, because this studio knows how to make a fun game.

But I really, really wish they weren't involved in BlazBlue. As I mentioned elsewhere, a lot of my rage comes from this sense that what I personally love about the BlazBlue series [the story, the setting, the world Mori has crafted since his youth] has been placed in a zero-sum game against another totally enjoyable aspect of the series [gameplay, and if I'm feeling bitter, the whims of ArcSys's marketing team.] It's not like these two facets actually need to be opposed to one another. Hell, they should be flourishing in tandem. But after everything that happened with BBDW and Mori leaving the studio, I can't let go of the idea that projects that focus more on gameplay and consumer appeal [such as EE] are being pursued "instead of" or "at the cost of" the parts of the series I love the most. So. I get salty. I do, genuinely, hope that time proves me wrong on this.

You, Carl, mentioned EE's story. Like you said, everything we've seen of it so far suggests this isn't even a real "spinoff" title for BlazBlue, in the sense that spinoffs like RR and CrossTag told their stories using the same building blocks as BlazBlue's setting. I personally don't interpret them as existing within the same canon, but they're undoubtedly using the same material.

Entropy Effect's story and setting seem to be entirely original. They look interesting, but I'm stuck with this feeling of "why the hell did they make this a BlazBlue title, and not just an original one?" Maybe when the game releases it will surprise me and I'll understand, but at the moment, with my current levels of saltiness, it feels like a heartless cash grab.

We know there's some level of turbulence behind the scenes at ArcSys around the BlazBlue IP, since BBDW's failure and Mori's suspicious departure. We also know that in the current media landscape, a lot of executive heads are rampantly refusing original projects and insisting on pumping out installments of franchises that already have a name and a following. I don't have any information on whether or not ArcSys is struggling with this, but it's been a growing problem in the gaming industry for years now.

The worst case of this in my memory is the Dead Rising franchise, another one of my all-time favorite games. Differing visions for the franchise and an unwillingness to support new properties let to an absolute mess on the development side of things, and ultimately the death of the series.

Note; If you're interested in what happened to Dead Rising, Did You Know Gaming has a wonderful video on it.

With that experience in my memory, I'm worried about the future of BlazBlue. I wonder if it was always the plan to make Entropy Effect a BlazBlue title, or if it was originally pitched as its own IP, but rejected unless it could be tied in to an established franchise.

[junker-town]

We simulated a video game to try making the greatest college basketball coach ever at Western Illinois

Western Illinois is trying to become the greatest college basketball program of all-time in our simulated dynasty in College Hoops 2K8.

Welcome back to the Western Illinois Leathernecks’ chase for greatness in our simulated dynasty in College Hoops 2K8. This series was started in the early days of the pandemic after real sports were put on hiatus. The objective was spelled out bluntly in the headline of the very first story: Can the worst college basketball program ever win a video game national championship?

I decided to takeover Western Illinois University in College Hoops 2K8 — the last college basketball video game made by 2K Sports — and try to lead them to a title while simulating every game. I would only control the recruiting and coaching strategies. Now in Year 19 of the series, the goal has changed. At this point, I’m trying to see if Coach Rick — better known as Ricky Charisma — can turn into the greatest college basketball coach of the modern era.

Here’s how the game works: as you accomplish certain tasks — beating the No. 1 team in the polls, landing a five-star recruit, ect. — you earn bonus points to improve your coach in six different categories. Staying at Western Illinois still has its challenges: we get fewer recruiting points as a low-major program, and some prospects prioritize playing at a premier school.

The project has grown in ways I never would have imagined. We stream every NCAA tournament game on Twitch to an eager community of fans (please join us). We run yearly bracket contests with the winner getting to create themselves or a character as a five-star recruit in the game (more on that later). We’ve also have a fan-started Instagram page, subreddit, and recruiting database. One reader in Japan even wrote a novel about the first eight seasons of our journey. Seriously.

The game gives you 40 seasons, and I plan on playing it out. New readers are very welcome to parachute into the middle of this, but you can find spoiler-free links to every season here if you want to read from the beginning. Skip the next few bullet points if you don’t want a big picture recap of everything that’s happened up to this point.

Coach Rick is now 43 years old as he enters Year 19 of his career with the Leathernecks. We won our first national championship in Year 8 (or 2015) as a No. 10 seed. We won our second national championship in Year 13 (or 2020) as a No. 7 seed. We went to the Final Four one other time, in Year 11.

Coach Rick’s record currently stands at 475-113 for his career. We are usually going undefeated in the Summit League at this point — unfortunately, the game doesn’t have conference realignment.

Our season has ended in the Elite Eight the last three seasons.

Coach Rick has a career record of 30-12 in the NCAA tournament. The 30 tournament wins would be tied for eighth among active college basketball head coaches.

Before we pick up with Year 19, here’s a recap of everything that happened last season

We started the year ranked No. 18 in the preseason polls and rated as a 99 overall with four returning starters. We dropped only one game — to No. 5 Stanford — during the regular season and then won the Summit League tournament once again.

We earned a No. 4 seed to the NCAA tournament and blew out No. 13 seed Florida Atlantic in the opening round, and No. 5 seed San Diego State in the round of 32. Read the recap here. We then beat No. 8 seed Louisville in the Sweet 16 before losing to UConn in the Elite Eight. We ended the year at 31-2. UConn went on to win the national title. Read the recap here.

We landed a four-man recruiting class that was ranked No. 9 overall in the country. It’s considered our best recruiting class ever.

Western Illinois, Year 19, 2025-2026 season

Here’s a look at the roster coming into the season:

We return two starters from last year’s Elite Eight team. After losing four seniors to graduation, this year’s team to going to feel different. We’re unranked to start the season, but rated as a 97 overall.

Let’s run through the starters real quick:

PG Angel Keita, redshirt senior (90 overall): Averaged 8.2 points and four assists per game on 37.8 percent three-point shooting last season as a first-time starter. Experienced major turnover issues in the second weekend of the NCAA tournament, coughing the ball up a combined 12 times in our two games. The 6’2 guard is super fast (96 rating in speed), and he’s the best passer (89 rating) and second best three-point shooter (81 rating) on the team. After a disappointing end to last year, he needs to regain the trust of the fanbase and show out in his final season of college basketball. Former No. 58 overall recruit with C- potential.

SG Wilky Henry, redshirt junior (87 overall): Henry enters the starting lineup for the first time after moving from small forward to shooting guard, where he falls one point on his overall rating. He’s grown three inches since entering the program and is now a 6’8 wing who can shoot from deep (81 rating in three-point shooting) and finish above the rim (86 rating in dunking). Extremely impressive ball handler (90 rating) for a 6’8 wing. A little slow for a two guard with an B- grade in speed. Former No. 80 overall recruit with C+ potential.

SF Vernard Fulton, redshirt senior (94 overall): Projected as a first round pick in the last NBA draft, Fulton made the shocking decision to return to Western Illinois for his senior season. He is our first four-year starter in a long time. A natural power forward, Fulton moves to the wing for his final season, where he drops one point overall. While Fulton hasn’t been a primary scoring option before, he does all the little things that help teams win. He enters the year with A+ ratings in inside finishing, defensive rebounding, and defensive awareness. He’s also a capable three-point shooter (76 rating) who is fast enough to play the wing with an 84 speed rating. Has a strange but quick release on his jump shot that has drawn comparisons to Shawn Marion. Former No. 30 overall recruit with B+ potential. Projected top pick in the NBA draft.

PF Allan Cunningham, redshirt sophomore (85 overall): Cunningham is a massive 6’11, 281-pound big man who enters the starting lineup after a breakout NCAA tournament run last season. Scored 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting in our Sweet 16 win against Louisville. Surprisingly fast (A- speed) and extremely skilled as a three-point shooter (80 rating). Former No. 67 recruit with C+ potential.

C Timon Suotamo, redshirt senior (91 overall): Affectionately nicknamed ‘Chewy’ by the fanbase, Suotamo moves into the starting lineup after being our sixth man last year. He’s an elite inside finisher (99 rating) and a solid shot blocker (93 rating) who only has B/B- ratings as a rebounder. Second on the team in scoring last season by averaging 12.1 points per game. Former five-star JUCO recruit with A- potential. Projected lottery pick.

I went back and forth on flip-flopping the forwards since they’re both natural fours (I wrote about the decision at our subreddit) but ultimately thought Fulton’s speed and passing advantage over Cunningham made him a better fit for the wing.

We’re going with a nine-man rotation this season. Sophomore center Pat Giddens (86 overall with A- potential) will backup both front court spots and get 16 minutes per game. Sophomore point guard Tron Whaley (81 overall) and freshman wing Wilbur Ager (80 overall) will get 11 minutes per game, and sophomore shooting guard Vitor Andrisevic (75 overall) will get five minutes per game.

We’re also redshirting the entirety of our incoming freshman class, which ranked No. 9 in the country. Here’s a look at our newest players:

C Kevin Brazzle, 76 overall with B potential: Former No. 127 overall recruit and No. 6 at his position. From Houston, stands 7’1.

PF L.F. Neal is a 77 overall with C+ potential: Former No. 137 overall recruit and No. 21 at his position. From North Little Rock, Arkansas.

SG Mathew Alloway is a 77 overall with B- potential: Former No. 31 overall recruit and No. 10 player at his position. He’s the fourth-highest ranked recruit in program history, per the Leathernecks Recruiting Database. Named Mr. Basketball in Minnesota.

PG Jamie Burke is a 71 overall with B potential: Former No. 71 overall recruit and No. 24 at his position. From Dallas.

We streamed this full season on Twitch. You can watch me play through it here.

Recruiting

We have three scholarships to recruit for this season. We need a guard, a wing, and a big. There’s an extra emphasis on getting a quality small forward, because that’s the only position we didn’t land last season. I decide to use my visits on the following players:

SG Kim Dewitt out of Pueblo, CO, ranked No. 18 overall and No. 6 at his position

SF Tanoris Estrada out of Oakland, ranked No. 54 overall and No. 8 at his position

Dewitt is an All-American, which would get me a coaching point if we can land him. I offer both players a scholarship on the first day I’m allowed to do it. My final scholarship offer goes to 6’8 center Daryl Brittian, who is ranked No. 159 overall and No. 9 at his position.

We also have to create a character for the winner of last year’s bracket challenge — Sean Garland. Here’s what Sean wrote:

My player will be me, he’ll be as true to life-size (5’5”, 150) as the game will allow. Slashing point guard similar to De’Aaron Fox or John Wall, with great passing skills and plenty of speed to burn. Decent outside shooter but more often uses his quickness to get to the rim through traffic. Predictably bad at contesting shots on defense but can pick a pocket or two. Messy blonde/light brown hair and I’ll also continue the created player beard trend we’ve got going here. Also not sure if I can still pick a future opponent too but if so I’d love to see a Houston matchup!

Garland is our fourth created player to enter the Leathernecks Cinematic Universe. It’s worth noting our first winner Matt Boswell committed to Dayton and ended up winning national freshman of the year. There is information on how to enter this year’s bracket contest at the bottom of this post.

It’s finally time to start the season

We open the year against our in-state rivals Illinois. The Illini are a 92 overall. Let’s go!

Loss, 69-57. Man, that is not how we wanted to start the season. Just a brutal shooting performance from our guys: we shoot 29 percent from the field and go 1-for-18 from three-point range. Our backcourt of Keita and Henry was particularly brutal. You aren’t beating anyone when you’re that cold and also have 16 turnovers.

As we sim to the next week, Brittian gets an offer from New Mexico that he likes significantly better than ours. We drop him and offer Artie Snipes, a 6’11 center out of Riverside, California who is ranked No. 177 overall and No. 10 at his position.

Next on our schedule is Arkansas. The Razorbacks are an 85 overall. Can we pick up our first victory of the season?

Win, 81-68. Look at Fulton bully his way to 17 points by going 11-of-12 from the foul line. We love to see it. Keita had a nice game (14 points on 6-of-11 shooting), and I was impressed by our young bench of Tron Whaley and Wilbur Ager. That was a game we had to win and we took care of business.

Seton Hall is next. The Pirates are No. 14 in the latest polls and enter the game as a 96 overall. The Hall has been making deep tournament runs consistently in this simulation. This is going to be a huge test.

Loss, 96-89. We were able to hang tough against a talented team, but our offense just fell apart in the second half. The good news: Chewy was incredible to finish with 34 points and seven rebounds, and I loved what Keita did putting up a 14-8-5 line. Bad news: Fulton fouled out in 16 minutes, and Henry and Cunningham didn’t do anything. We fall to 1-2 overall, which is not how we wanted to start the season.

As the early signing period begins the next week, we face an uphill climb for both Dewitt and Estrada despite being the only offer at the moment for both. Colorado leads for Dewitt, and San Jose State leads for Estrada. I’m going to ride it out but I fear that we may need to start looking into backup options.

We have two games this week. The first one is against Dayton, led by iconic sophomore power forward Matt Boswell.

Win, 91-75. Boswell was excellent (22 points on 7-of-14 shooting), but we were able to pull away early and lock down the win. I love what Henry was able to do (14 points on 5-of-9 shooting), and Chewy continues to be productive. Also shout-out to Tron for hitting double-figures in scoring for the first time in his career, I believe. He’s going to be really good down the line.

We wrap up the week with a home game against No. 11 Duke. That’s right, we got the Blue Devils to come to Macomb. Duke enters at a 95 overall. We streamed the simulated game on Twitch on Wednesday night. It should start when you press play:

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Win, 96-74! We looked great ... expect for Keita, who the entire fanbase now hates. In better news, I have a feeling that Allan Cunningham is going to go down as a Leathernecks legend. He’s such a killer finisher on the inside and is shockingly super skilled on the perimeter. Here’s two great plays from Honey Ham (as the Twitch chat calls him) in this clipped by reader Abby: a tomahawk dunk after getting the defense to bite on a pump fake, and a tip-dunk off a miss by Henry:

That’s our biggest win of the year. We’ve been shaky in simmed games so far this season, but I’m thrilled that we looked so good when we actually watched the game. That’s a great sign for tournament time when we watch every game.

As we enter the final week of the early signing period, I’m crossing my fingers we have chance with Dewitt, who is at 93 percent interest and still doesn’t have any other offers.

First, we have No. 9 Miami this week, who enters the game at 6-0 on the season. Big test. Can the win over Duke be a launching point for the rest of the season?

Loss, 87-71. Ugh. Another big game from Suotamo (24 points) and a solid effort from Keita (13 points and seven assists) but we got run off the floor in the second half. This team should have shooters — we have three starters rated in the 80s in three-point shooting — but we haven’t been able to consistently hit from downtown yet. That could be a problem. Next is our two early conference games that we have every year, and we blowout both South Dakota State and Fort Wayne.

We get some bad news on the recruiting front the next week: Dewitt commits to Colorado, and Estrada commits to San Jose State. The dream of landing our first All-American is pushed off to another year. Also, congrats to our created player Sean Garland for committing to Ole Miss. This can be you in the next post if you win this year’s bracket challenge:

We have to find some new recruits now. After scouring the uncommitted prospects, I decide to offer the following players:

SF Jitim Dupre out of Chicago, ranked No. 91 overall and No. 19 at his position

PG Koko Reeves out of San Antonio, ranked No. 62 overall and No. 27 at his position

I love Dupre’s size on the wing, and considering most of my players have been growing once they get in school, I figure he could get up to 6’11 or so eventually. Reeves is small at 5’10 but his AAU numbers were tremendous. We could really use a stud shooter like him in the backcourt.

I’m also continuing to recruit Snipes, but I’m starting to get concerned because ‘playing at a big program’ is revealed to be his No. 1 priority.

Next on the schedule is a game against the defending champs and the team that knocked us out of last year’s NCAA tournament in the Elite Eight: UConn. The Huskies enter at 9-1 and No. 2 in the polls. They’re rated a 100 overall. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

Loss, 88-75. Can’t say I’m surprised with that result. We actually had it tied at halftime before another second half collapse. The loss drops us to 5-4 on the season.

We have three more games before conference play begins. The first one is against Notre Dame, who reached the national championship game last year before falling to UConn. The Irish appear to have lost most of their top players from last year but still look formidable.

Loss, 83-78. Man, we are struggling this season. I’m officially nervous we’re not going to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since Year 4 if we don’t get the automatic bid by winning the Summit League tournament.

Next up: Stanford. The Cardinal beat us in the regular season last year — one of only two losses we had all season — before reaching the Final Four. We’re out for revenge:

Win, 83-75! We really needed that one. That might have been the best game of Angel Keita’s career — 18 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and five steals on 5-of-12 shooting. I don’t think he’s had a great season but it’s nice to see him step up against quality competition. Chewy continues to be a monster as the man in the middle, and I’m liking Henry’s production, too.

The final game of the non-con schedule comes against Charlotte. The 49ers have consistently been one of the best programs in the country in this simulation, so I’m not expecting this to be easy.

Loss, 90-63. Blown the hell out, sheesh. Suotamo was awesome (32 points) but otherwise that box score is UGLY. We can’t afford many more 3-for-14 shooting nights from three. The loss drops us to 6-6 as we enter conference play.

We are typically dominant in the Summit League, going six straight years without a loss at one point. Can we run the table and finish 18-0 in conference again?

Yes we can. We finish the regular season at 23-6 overall. Here’s a look at our team stats:

Suotamo had an absolutely dominant year, finishing second in the entire country in scoring behind a center from Cal. I’m pleased to see all five of my starters averaging double-figures in scoring. Keita’s per-game numbers look good, but it’s worth noting he was very inefficient as a shooter, finishing the year with at 43.7 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from three-point range.

In-season recruiting is now over as well. All three of our targets — Dupree, Reeves, and Snipes — have their recruitments totally up in the air to this point. We’ll have to wait for the spring signing period at the conclusion of this season.

That brings us to the Summit League tournament. While we’re clearly the best team in the field (the next highest rated in the conference is Southern Utah at 78 overall), this is still going to be intense because I’m not sure if our resume is good enough to get an at-large bid if we lose.

Summit League tournament

Our first game is against Oakland, who enter at 7-21 on the season.

Win, 56-52. OMG, we needed overtime! That could have been disastrous. We badly need to get our wings going. Anyway, survive and advance. Next up is Oral Roberts, who enters at 10-20 on the season.

Win, 99-41. That’s more like it. Suotamo goes off for 37 points by hitting 18-of-23 shots from foul line. Monster. Cunningham also adds 20 points in the win. Our front line is looking good. Also! This was also Coach Rick’s 500th career win, which gets us a rare coaching bonus point! It’s been years since I got one of those. Now we have Southern Utah in the title game. They enter at 18-12 on the season. I am unreasonably nervous for this.

Win, 96-61! Chewy scores 32, Cunningham scores 20, Fulton and Henry both with 15. We’re going dancing once again.

2026 NCAA tournament

We draw a No. 12 seed and a first round matchup with No. 5 Cal. Here’s a look at our current roster:

Cal enters at a 98 overall, while we’re up to a 100 overall. Here’s how the two teams matchup:

You can look at Cal’s roster here. THIS IS A MATCHUP OF THE TOP-TWO SCORERS IN THE COUNTRY, BOTH CENTERS. I’m hyped for our Timon ‘Chewy’ Suotamo vs. Cal’s Homer Maki-Tulokas. This is basically Shaq vs. Hakeem.

We’re going to stream this game live on Twitch on Sunday, Aug. 9 at 8:30 p.m. ET. More info on that in a second. But first, we need to announce the bracket contest.

Yes, we’re doing another bracket contest. Here’s how it works

We’ve been running a bracket contest for the last few seasons, and it’s been a ton of fun. We’re opening it up to anyone who wants to enter as long as you turn in your bracket before we stream our first NCAA tournament game on Sunday, Aug. 9 at 8:30 p.m. ET.

I’ll explain everything you need to know in a minute. First, here’s a look at the full bracket:

This is everything you need to know:

How does scoring work?

We use a standard scoring format. You get one point for correctly guessing the winner in a first round game, two points for correctly a winner in a round of 32 game, four points for correctly guessing a winner in a Sweet 16 game, eight points for correctly guessing a winner in an Elite Eight game, 16 points for correctly guessing a winner in the Final Four, and 32 points for correctly guessing the national champion.

Can I see the rosters for the other teams?

Yes. You can find the rosters for every team on the right side of the bracket in the East and West regionals here. You can find the rosters for every team on the left side of the bracket for the South and Midwest regionals here. Just arrow over to scroll through the rosters.

How do I enter?

1. Click this link to open the interactive bracket.

2. After opening, in the top left select File > Make a Copy

3. Make your picks

4. In the top left, select File and either “Share” and share with sean@hoopsinsight.com or “Email as attachment” and email as an Excel file (not PDF please!) to sean@hoopsinsight.com

What does the winner get?

The winner gets to create themselves or a character as a five-star recruit ahead of next season. We won’t go after the created recruits at Western Illinois to preserve the integrity of the game, but we’ll follow the career of your character throughout our series.

Readers David and Matt made an NCAA tournament preview show

I’m considering this the greatest thing ever. They even got a celebrity guest with Dayton forward Boswell.

Last season, we had 130 entries, which set a new all-time record. Let’s break it this year. Just make sure you turn in your bracket before we start the Twitch stream at 8:30 p.m ET on Sunday night. Here’s how to watch the Leathernecks in the NCAA tournament.

How to watch No. 12 Western Illinois vs. No. 5 Cal in the NCAA tournament

Game: No. 12 seed Western Illinois vs. No. 5 seed Cal, first round, 2026 NCAA tournament

How to watch: My Twitch channel. You don’t need to sign up for anything to watch, but you do need to register for an account to comment. Do it, it’s fun.

Date: Sunday, Aug. 9

Tip-off time: 8:30 p.m. ET

If we win: We’ll face the winner of No. 4 seed Alabama vs. No. 13 seed CS Northridge in the round of 32 immediately following the first round game.

Also be sure to check out this piece from our beat writer Matthew Morrow on the state of the team.

Go ‘Necks. See you Sunday.

Would you like email updates for this series? If so, add your email to this Google Form.

[shervonfakhimi]

The Under-the-Radar NBA Characters Who Can Shape the 2nd Half of the NBA Season

The 2nd half of the NBA calendar is about to begin (though it is technically the final 1/3 of the regular season). Teams are beginning a push one way or another, either for a playoff run or a Zion tankathon. There is still a lot to be figured out between now and June. With that being said, there are a few players that can determine how the rest of the season shapes out. I underwent a similar exercise at the beginning of the season, which looks... yikes. So let’s gasbag away and get to some of the players who can really impact the second half of the NBA season.

Chris Paul PG HOU: In case you’ve been living under a rock, James Harden is absolutely laying waste to this NBA regular season. Even though there have been games where it took garbage time, he’s found a way to score 30+ points in 31 consecutive games & piss off everyone associated with the NBA in the process. But there’s no damn way this is sustainable. His Usage Rate currently sits at 39.1%! Almost all of that has been due to the massive rash of injuries the Rockets have dealt with, from the likes of Clint Capela, Chris Paul and Eric Gordon, amongst others. But they all either are or will be back soon. Chris Paul came back January 27th. However, Harden’s usage rate in that span has *only* dipped to 38.5%. We’ve seen James Harden run out of gas in the playoffs, to the point where people tried to convince themselves the reason why was that he was point shaving in what could possibly be the greatest hot take ever uttered. This is where Chris Paul is both the solution and the problem. It is good to have another future hall of famer initiate more of the offense to allow Harden time to rest. The problem has come with Paul’s efficiency. His numbers have been down across the board this season compared to last season, where he was just as much as a 1v1 dynamo as his running beard teammate. Chris Paul boasted a 55.1 EFG% on Paul’s seemingly automatic pull-up jumpers last season, per NBA.com (Harden shot 55.3%). This season, that number has dipped to a paltry 47.6%, which is…. not great. He has struggled gaining separation from even bigs switched onto him, which was easy money for him last season. If Houston, already with glaring holes size wise and defensively (25th in defensive efficiency) really is going to challenge Golden State, they need the real CP3 to stand up and for CP3-6 weeks to never be heard from for the rest of the season. The Rockets season and status as NBA contenders depends on it.

Eric Bledsoe PG MIL: From Chris Paul to Chris Paul’s former backup. The Milwaukee Bucks have serged and transformed into a powerhouse, ranking inside the top 4 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. Obviously Giannis Antetokounmpo and the wealth of shooting around him along with the guidance of Mike Budenholzer (who constantly looks like he just stepped on a LEGO brick) has catapulted Milwaukee up to the top of the NBA standings, but Bledsoe has been a big part of it too. Not only has Bledsoe ranked 4th currently in ESPN’s Real Plus-Minus stat amongst point guards, he ranks 6th amongst point guards in Defensive Real Plus-Minus too. He’s shooting a career high 49.2% from the field and a career high 55.5 EFG%. It feels a little arbitrary and hot take-y, but it is another thing to see if it will sustain in the playoffs. With the massive amount of shooting surrounding Giannis, Bledsoe does not qualify, as he is currently shooting just 32.1% from 3. There hasn’t been much of a drop off whether Giannis has or hasn’t joined Bledsoe on the court this season. If that doesn’t change, it will be virtually impossible for Milwaukee to lose in the postseason. It’s up to Eric Bledsoe to maintain that pace and not turn to Drew Bledsoe.

Jimmy Butler SG/SF PHI: One time for General Soreness. The former T-Wolf has been fine this season in his new digs in Philadelphia, but some of Philly’s problems still persist. The Sixers rank 22nd in Clutch situations, despite Butler shooting 57% from the floor & over 60% in those situations. Butler’s usage rate in clutch situations currently sits at just 25% and 21.7% overall for the course of the season since joining the Sixers. The Sixers were still figuring this out before adding Tobias Harris at the deadline. Luckily for them and coach Brett Brown, they still have time to figure out how handle these late game situations and find what works best for them. Perhaps it is implementing more pick and roll with Jimmy Butler, which was the source of Butler’s well publicized film room scorn at the direction of Brett Brown. Maybe they play bully ball and attack the guard on the floor not running around with JJ Redick, which is a whole other type of difficult assignment. Regardless, it feels like Jimmy Butler will play a part of it. Philly brought him in to close out tough games, not just stand around and watch Al Horford torment Joel Embiid yet again. Trading for Tobias will help give him more room to operate, and does give Philly a safety net if Butler bolts in free agency, which doesn’t sound entirely implausible. How far the Sixers go, and how Butler is involved, will prominently determine how either situation fares.

Kyrie Irving PG BOS & Gordon Hayward SG BOS: The Celtics are so damn weird. Every stat you can find, and common bleeping sense, would tell you the Celtics are not better without Kyrie. Yet….. they are 9-2 without him and the youngins on their roster took off without him last season, coming 5 minutes within making the NBA Finals. Every intangible, like chemistry and fun, as Marcus Morris pleaded for, seems to be more profound when Kyrie isn’t there. Maybe that’s unfair to Kyrie, but I could see how young guys who want to evolve their games in their own right would salivate at the opportunity to do more rather than be glorified glue guys who may be shipped out for Anthony Davis. It’s up to Kyrie, ironically playing the best season of his career, to work his game around the rest of the team and pick and choose his spots, rather than be the 1 man wrecking crew he typically is. As for Gordon Hayward, he can be Boston’s de facto trade deadline acquisition. He has certainly had his moments of brilliance this season, but it has been inconsistent. However, he has shot 46.5% and 57.1% from the floor the last 2 months, including a stellar 52.4% mark from 3 in February. He’s been a little more decisive and fearless recently too as he still is recovering from that devastating leg injury. If he becomes 80-95% of what he was in Utah, then look out. The rest of the East made big, sexy moves, but the biggest impact ‘move’ could be Hayward stepping up.

LeBron James SF LAL: Ok, it feels stupid to call LeBron James ‘under the radar,’ but bear with me. This seems pretty simple. LeBron just needs to play hard. This Laker team can’t afford him take a lot of possessions off, which has been the case recently. He’s still the greatest player in the league. He literally can mess around and get a triple double like the great Laker fan O’Shea Jackson did on January 20, 1992. But not only does LeBron need to play hard, he has to rally his teammates. The Anthony Davis trade winds have found its way to wreck the Laker locker room, which you can argue was because of LeBron himself. It must feel weird the agent of your superstar teammate is trying to acquiesce his other superstar client’s demand to take your job to join your superstar teammate. That’s not to rip Rich Paul; it’s his job to do that, as with any other agent. Regardless, the trade didn’t happen, and LeBron has to work with what he’s got now. Perhaps you could argue missing the playoffs wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for the Lakers: why get swept by the Warriors when you can give yourself a better trade chip for Davis? But missing the playoffs and wasting a season of LeBron’s seemingly never-ending prime that has to end at some point would be a colossal failure. The young players need to play better too, but it is up to LeBron to lead them. He seems to thrive when things look the most bleak, just look at the 2016 Finals and last season’s playoff run. And hey, if the Lakers avoid the Warriors, you’re telling me there’s anybody else in the west that’s going to make LeBron shook? Just a hypothetical here, what if the Lakers manage to get to the 7th seed, beat the inexperienced Nuggets, beat the overly (Legit Top 3 MVP Candidate) Paul George-reliant Oklahoma City Thunder, then get the Warriors in the Western Conference. What if the repeating champs suffer an unfortunate Steph ankle injury (I am not wishing. No I’m not that cynical. But just bear with me here). Maybe Draymond’s wildin’ out again. I’m just saying…...

Draymond Green PF/C GS: Now this one is even more simple. Don’t kick anybody in the nuts. Don’t call your superstar pending free agent a bitch. (Also, maybe find your jumper again?) Do that, and you 3 peat. See? Simple.