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your-dietician · 3 years

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MLB roundup: Phils, Mets split after Aaron Nola's strikeout spree

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/mlb/mlb-roundup-phils-mets-split-after-aaron-nolas-strikeout-spree/

MLB roundup: Phils, Mets split after Aaron Nola's strikeout spree

2021-06-26 07:35:00 GMT+00:00 – Dominic Smith’s RBI single in the eighth inning lifted the host New York Mets to a 2-1 victory over the Phillies in the opener of Friday’s doubleheader, ruining a historic strikeout performance from Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola.

The Mets, who were one out away from a 1-0 loss before Francisco Lindor’s RBI single in the seventh.

The rally cost Nola the victory on a historic day for the right-hander. He tied Tom Seaver’s major league record by striking out 10 consecutive batters and later delivered the Phillies’ lone RBI with a fifth-inning double.

After the first two New York batters reached base, Nola struck out the next 10 hitters on 46 pitches to tie the record set on April 22, 1970, when Seaver struck out the final 10 San Diego Padres batters he faced in a Mets 2-1 win.

Phillies 2, Mets 1 (Game 2, 8 innings)

Odubel Herrera’s run-scoring groundout in the eighth inning lifted Philadelphia over host to split the teams’ twin bill.

The Phillies won for just the third time in 10 games. The Mets have lost seven of 11. Bryce Harper homered to break a scoreless tie in the sixth before the Mets tied the game in the bottom of the seventh on James McCann’s sacrifice fly against Archie Bradley (3-1).

In the top of the eighth against Sean Reid-Foley (2-1), automatic runner Rafael Marchan went to third on one groundout and scored on Herrera’s sharp shot to third. Luis Guillorme failed to field the grounder cleanly and lost a chance to get Marchan at the plate. Hector Neris threw a perfect bottom of the eighth for his 11th save.

Red Sox 5, Yankees 3

Hunter Renfroe drove in a pair of runs and recorded a key out at the plate on a throw from right field, leading the Boston past visiting New York. The Red Sox snapped a two-game skid in front of their first full-capacity sellout of the year.

Xander Bogaerts also had two RBIs as the Red Sox improved to 4-0 against the Yankees this season. DJ LeMahieu drove in two runs for the Yankees, who lost for just the third time in their last 10 games.

The Red Sox had just gone ahead 4-3 on a Renfroe sacrifice fly in the third inning when Gio Urshela led off the fourth with a double. The next batter, Miguel Andujar (three hits) singled to right, and Urshela was waved home, but Renfroe scooped up the ball and gunned Urshela down at the plate with time to spare, recording his major-league-leading 11th outfield assist.

Brewers 5, Rockies 4 (11 innings)

Willy Adames hit a tying two-run home run in the ninth and Keston Hiura delivered a sacrifice fly in the 11th as Milwaukee overcame a late four-run deficit to beat visiting Colorado.

Adames finished with three hits and Kolten Wong had two for the Brewers. Joshua Fuentes had a two-run, pinch-hit homer for the Rockies.

The teams combined for 31 strikeouts, with the Brewers fanning 16 times.

Braves 3, Reds 2

Guillermo Heredia homered and made a spectacular catch late while Drew Smyly continued his June resurgence with six solid innings as visiting Atlanta held on to beat Cincinnati.

Dansby Swanson added a solo homer for the Braves, who evened the four-game weekend series and leveled their record on their eight-game road trip at 3-3.

Smyly (5-3) won his third straight start, allowing just one run and six hits. He now has a 3-0 mark with a 3.16 ERA over five June starts. Will Smith pitched around a two-out double in the ninth for his 16th save.

Giants 2, A’s 0

Curt Casali hit a home run and Johnny Cueto outdueled Sean Manaea as San Francisco opened a three-game home series against Oakland with a win.

Brandon Crawford reached a team-leading 50 RBIs with a run-scoring single, and Jake McGee recorded his 15th save to complete San Francisco’s major-league-leading 11th shutout.

Cueto (6-3) blanked the A’s on five hits over seven innings. He walked one and struck out six. Manaea (6-4) gave up one run on three hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out seven.

Marlins 11, Nationals 2

Miguel Rojas homered and finished with a season-high four RBIs as Miami snapped a four-game losing streak with a win over the visiting Washington.

Nationals left fielder Kyle Schwarber went 3-for-4 and slugged a solo homer, his 13th dinger in 14 games and his ninth in six contests. His homer was the main highlight for Washington, which had its five-game win streak broken.

Miami got Garrett Cooper off the injured list, and he went 3-for-4 with four runs, two RBIs, a homer, a double and a walk. It was his first game since sustaining a back injury on June 7.

Orioles 6, Blue Jays 5 (10 innings)

Pat Valaika walked with the bases loaded and two outs in the 10th inning to force in the go-ahead run as Baltimore came back to defeat Toronto in Buffalo and end its 20-game road losing streak.

Jun 25, 2021; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Atlanta Braves center fielder Guillermo Heredia (left) celebrates with left fielder Abraham Almonte (center) and right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. (right) after their win over the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

The Orioles tied the game with four runs in the eighth and got the win in the 10th when Toronto reliever Trent Thornton (1-3) walked three batters. That forced home Trey Mancini, who started the inning at second base.

Paul Fry (1-2) threw a perfect bottom of the ninth for Baltimore. Cole Sulser earned his second save despite walking Bo Bichette to start the bottom of the 10th with Marcus Semien at second. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. then grounded into a double play, and Teoscar Hernandez struck out swinging.

Rays 4, Angels 3

Austin Meadows and Kevin Kiermaier each went 3-for-4 to lead Tampa Bay to a victory over Los Angeles in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The Rays won their third straight after dropping their previous seven, and Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash picked up his 500th career victory.

First-inning solo homers by Shohei Ohtani and Anthony Rendon weren’t enough for the Angels, whose losing streak reached four games.

Mariners 9, White Sox 3

Luis Torrens smacked a pair of two-run home runs and Jake Fraley also hit a two-run shot to back 5 2/3 strong innings from Yusei Kikuchi and lift visiting Seattle over Chicago.

Seattle out-hit Chicago 14-6 en route to its ninth win in 11 games. The White Sox have been outscored 45-18 while losing six of seven.

Kikuchi (5-3) retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced, with Yasmani Grandal’s solo home run in the second marking the lone early blemish against him. White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodon (6-3) scattered three runs and five hits in five innings with four walks and eight strikeouts.

Rangers 9, Royals 4

Texas scored four runs in the fourth and five in the sixth to beat Kansas City in the opener of a three-game series at Arlington, Texas.

Down 1-0 coming into the fourth, Texas put up four against starter Mike Minor (6-5) who had only surrendered two hits up to that point. He got hit hard again to open the sixth and ultimately gave up all nine runs on 11 hits and two walks in five-plus innings.

Dane Dunning (3-6) went five innings and got his first win in his past five decisions. Dunning allowed two runs on five hits with four strikeouts.

Twins 8, Indians 7

Luis Arraez went 3-for-4 with two triples, a double and three RBIs and Alex Kirilloff homered as Minnesota defeated Cleveland in Minneapolis.

Andrelton Simmons went 2-for-3 with three runs, Josh Donaldson drove in two runs and Nick Gordon added two hits for Minnesota, which won for the sixth time in eight games.

Amed Rosario, Bobby Bradley, Eddie Rosario and Josh Naylor each homered for Cleveland. Nick Wittgren (2-2) gave up two runs in his lone inning to take the loss.

Pirates 5, Cardinals 4

Jacob Stallings and Phillip Evans drove in two runs each and Wil Crowe (1-4) earned his first major league victory as Pittsburgh edged host St. Louis.

The Pirates won for the fifth time in seven games, while the reeling Cardinals lost their fifth consecutive game and their seventh in eight tries. Crowe (1-4) allowed four runs on eight hits and two walks in five innings. Richard Rodriguez closed out the game for his 10th save.

Cardinals reliever Jake Woodford (1-1) took the loss after allowing the tiebreaking run in the fifth inning. Nolan Arenado hit the 250th homer of his career, and Dylan Carlson also went deep for St. Louis.

Padres 11, Diamondbacks 5

Fernando Tatis Jr. hit three of host San Diego’s five home runs, helping extend Arizona’s major league record for consecutive road losses to 24 games.

The win was the Padres’ eighth straight to open a 10-game homestand. The Diamondbacks have dropped 20 of their past 21 games overall.

Tatis’ first two homers were both part of back-to-back sets as the Padres jumped out to 4-0 and 6-3 leads. Tommy Pham and Jake Cronenworth also went deep for San Diego, and Tatis finished 4-for-5 with four RBIs and four runs. He also tied Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for first in the majors with 25 home runs this season.

Dodgers 6, Cubs 2

AJ Pollock and Max Muncy hit two-run homers in the eighth inning to lift Los Angeles to a win against visiting Chicago.

Six relievers combined to give up just one run over the final five innings and help the Dodgers end a four-game losing streak. Blake Treinen (2-3) allowed one hit and struck out two in 1 2/3 innings of shutout relief to earn the win.

Chicago starter Jake Arrieta allowed two runs and five hits in five innings. He struck out four and walked three. Kris Bryant homered for the Cubs, who used four pitchers to no-hit the Dodgers in Thursday’s series opener.

–Field Level Media

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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sci-fantasy · 7 years

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The Annotated “Playback”

Tomorrow, Friday October 20, begins OVFF 33, the annual Ohio Valley Filk Fest, the biggest filk convention (certainly in stature; probably in people too?).

I am thus pleased to announce that after months of on-again-off-again work, and the assistance of several friends including @animatedamerican and @jchance4d4, I have finished the project envisioned here, and annotated all of the references in Andrew Ross’s “Playback.”

(Well, as much as I could. One or two were not identifiable fully.)

A lot of people commented approving of this idea when @seananmcguire reblogged this, so I hope you see the fruits of our labor.

Song above the cut; references below.

“Playback” to the tune of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” filk lyrics by Andrew Ross

Mary Shelley, HG Wells, people meeting at hotels Rudyard Kipling, people singing ditties at the bar Gilbert, Sullivan, rounds of Young Man Mulligan Poul and Karen Anderson, songs in Key of R Martha Keller, Tolkein, songs of worlds as yet unseen TH White’s Arthurians, Frederick Pohl’s Futurians Tom Lehrer, Mondegreens, Slan Shacks, fanzines Music circles, Reprints, Jacobs has a misprint! We shouted “MacIntyre!” It’s our cry of battle for the Old Dun Cattle We shouted “MacIntyre!” And we haven’t parted since the circle started Amazing Stories Annuals, Pelz’s Filksong Manuals Dr. Demento tunes, Callahan’s Crosstime Saloons Hope Eyrie, Leslie Fish, bounced potatoes off the dish Robert Aspirin, Gwen Zak, Dawson’s Christian, Captain Jack Off Centaur, Teri Lee, making love in zero-G Filthy Pierre, Longcor, black market Tullamore Juanita Coulson, Red Lions, badges marked with Dandelions Dorsai have a Fan Club! Jello in the bathtub! Don’t set the cat on fire It will only fight it if you try to light it Don’t set the cat on fire And we haven’t parted since the circle started Peter Beagle, Consonance, chili cursed with sentience HOPSFA, NESFA, ConChord, and the Pegasus Award PFNEN, Ose, Amway, Talk Like a Pirate Day Dandelion Digitals, Julia Ecklar and the gulls Bob Laurent, Asimov, Jeff and Maya Bohnhoff Rocky Horror Muppet Shows, Frank Hayes feeling indisposed Bill Sutton DIY, Marischiello goodbye Challenger! Final tour! What else must we all endure? We saw the sky on fire While the world was staring, we were Jordin Karing We saw the sky on fire And we haven’t parted since the circle started Kathy Mar, Next Gen, Tullamore is back again Steve Macdonald, Elfquest, Interfilk funds a guest Tom Smith, 307 Ale, Lee Gold, Heather Dale Phoenyx, Keepers of the Flame, Filkontario’s Hall of Fame Echo’s Children, Bab-5, need a fool to feed the drive Hamlet done by John Woo, Marilisa Valtazanou GaFilk, Urban Tapestry, lives rich in fantasy Airwalls down at Orycon! Firebells at Baycon! We didn’t start a fire We were all but deafened, and began Kanefin’ We didn’t start a fire And we haven’t parted since the circle started Blake Hodgetts, Proteins, Vixy, Tony, Thirteen Stone Dragons, Moxie, Zander, Heather into Alexander Bill and Gretchen, dead mouse, alligators in the house ConFlikt, Judi Filksign, Tragedy at East Hill Mine Mary Crowell, Faerieworlds, brony boys and Wicked Girls Britain’s Talis Kimberly, Seanan’s Kellis-Amberlee Doubleclicks! Browncoats! Cats! FuMP! Toy Boat! Release the Cello! Sasquon! Thor! Pass another Tullamore! We didn’t start the choir It’s been so cathartic for the longest bardic We didn’t start the choir But when our turns have gone, it will still go on and on until the dawn…

Mary Shelley: As in, the writer of the first science fiction novel, Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus.

HG Wells: Wrote The Time Machine and War of the Worlds and, along with Jules Verne, is considered one of the fathers of science fiction by people who don’t count Mary. (Jules pioneered “hard” SF, where he justified as much as he could with science; HG was busy making social metaphors.)

People meeting at hotels: AKA “conventions.” The first SF con was (debatably) Philcon in 1936, when ten people from the New York SF club went down to Philly to meet those guys. They called it a convention because the Democratic and Republican National Conventions had both been in Philly earlier that year, so it was a joke, see. The first World Science Fiction Convention was in New York in 1939.

Rudyard Kipling: English poet and journalist, famously a representation of British imperialism, but a lot of his stuff got set to music by Leslie Fish (for whom see more later).

People singing ditties at the bar: AKA filk. Or karaoke. Or any other sort of thing that happens when people who sing are near people who sing.

Gilbert, Sullivan: Light operettists famous for patter. They get refilked a lot.

Rounds of Young Man Mulligan: "Old Man Mulligan” was a 1940 story from Astounding Science Fiction by P. Schuyler Miller; as far as I can tell it was a pretty standard adventure story but it featured the titular Old Man who’d been around forever. “Young Man Mulligan” is an SFnal version of "The Great Historical Bum” (aka “I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago” or “The Bragging Song”; lyrics here); it opens “I was born about ten thousand years from now,” so you can see how it’ll go from that. It was one of the original “everybody keeps writing new verses” songs; Bruce Pelz published almost 70 in an early filkbook and many many more have been written since. (The Pelz lyrics do not appear to be available online.)

Poul and Karen Anderson: Poul was a Golden Age writing legend, one of the Grand Masters of SFWA, maybe one rung down from Asimov and Heinlein (maybe). Karen, his widow and sometimes co-writer, is among many other significant things the first person to deliberately use the term “filk music” in print. They both wrote their fair share of filk, and were inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame in 2003.

Songs in the Key of R: Another way to say “off key.” See this folk song (lyrics here) of...disputed provenance (I have found a few different claims of authorship).

Martha Keller: Poet and balladeer, born 1902, died 1971. A number of her poems from Brady’s Bend and Other Ballads were put to music by Juanita Coulson (see below) in 1984 on “Rifles & Rhymes” by Off Centaur Publications (see below).

Tolkien: Do I really need to? Fine. Wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and basically created the modern fantasy genre on accident while he was busy with constructed languages and mythologies.

Songs of worlds as yet unseen: AKA “filk.” See also “Folk Songs for Folk Who Ain’t Even Been Yet,” by Leslie Fish (see below), which was the first commercially published filk album.

TH White’s Arthurians: White’s The Once and Future King is a distillation and to some extent modernization of the King Arthur legend; the first part was The Sword in the Stone and yes, that’s what the Disney movie was adapted from. And yes, there have been plenty of Arthurian filk songs over the years.

Frederick Pohl’s Futurians: An early group of SF fans, specifically New York area fans (several of them were part of the 1936 Philcon mentioned above). Famously, several politically-minded Futurians were arguably-banned (whether it was really a “ban” still gets debated today) from the first Worldcon in ‘39 for handing out political flyers; Pohl was one of those.

Tom Lehrer: He’s a retired mathematics professor who “hangs out” at UC Santa Cruz, but in the ‘50s-’60s he was an active mathematics professor and also a fairly popular political satirist. Despite having no love for folk music (see his songs “The Folk Song Army,” lyrics here, and even moreso “The Irish Ballad,” lyrics here, wherein he calls the folk song “the particular form of permissible idiocy of the intellectual fringe”), his stuff gets sung a lot in filk circles.

Mondegreens: Misheard lyrics, like the famous “‘Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy” (for “Kiss the Sky,” by Jimi Hendrix). Named by Sylvia Wright in 1954 after her own mishearing of the ballad “The Bonnie Earl o’Moray; the line was “They hae slain the Earl o' Moray/And laid him on the green,” and she heard “and Lady Mondegreen.” The term caught on, and it and/or some individual mondegreens have been the inspiration for no small number of filk songs and at least one filk band.

Slan Shacks: Early term for an SF clubhouse or house filled with fans; named for A.E. van Vogt’s 1940 novel Slan which was an early version of the persecuted-superior-race-of-beings story (think X-Men). Fans in the ‘40s-50s picked up the phrase “Fans are Slans” in yet another example of the weird ostracism/superiority cycle that pervades fandom to this day.

Fanzines: The internet before the internet. When fans wanted to communicate over long distances and all they had was printed paper, they printed papers. They made little bound fan-made magazines (hence, fanzines, or just zines) of their songs, stories, jokes, and opinions and mailed them to each other. A lot of early filk was in the pages of fanzines.

Music circles: How filk typically happens--people sit in a circle and sing. They usually take turns. See below for “bardic” and “chaos.”

Reprints: Printings again. A lot of filk didn’t necessarily get them, but some did, including some early albums, some early filkbooks like the NESFA Hymnal, see below, or the Westerfilk Collection.

Jacobs has a misprint!: While Karen Anderson (see above) was the first person to deliberately use the word “filk” in print, the first use of the word at all was a typo in Lee Jacobs’s essay, which ended up being called “The Influence of Science Fiction on Modern American Filk Music.” It spread in conversation as a funny typo for a while before Karen fixed it in a tangible medium of expression.

We shouted “MacIntyre!” (and the rest of that chorus): “When the Old Dun Cow Caught Fire” or “The Old Dun Cow” or “Macintyre!” is a very classic music hall song (written 1893) that gets performed by basically every folk or filk group that aims for that “British Isles drinking song” feel. See here for pedigree, lyrics, and recording.

Amazing Stories Annuals: In 1927, Hugo Gernsback published Amazing Stories Annual, a pulp magazine of “scientifiction” (the term “science fiction” hadn’t been coined yet). It sold so well he made it quarterly almost immediately; he lost the rights a few years later and the magazine ended up falling to the 800-pound gorilla that was Astounding Science Fiction. But it was arguably where all this started.

Pelz’s Filksong Manuals: Bruce Pelz, a legend of California fandom, was among other things one of the first creators of bound, organized, and published filkbooks (complete with sheet music!), which were titled the Filksong Manuals. (He’s mentioned under the “Young Man Mulligan” entry; it was one of the Manuals that had those 70ish verses to “Mulligan.”) Pelz was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame posthumously in 2007.

Dr. Demento tunes: Barry Hansen, AKA “Dr. Demento,” was a DJ in 1970 when he realized that “novelty” tunes lit up the phone banks more than rock and roll, and created the “Dr. Demento” persona for a syndicated radio show of novelty, comedy, and otherwise unusual music. It was on the radio weekly until 2010 and is now produced weekly online. He’s played a fair amount of filk over the years, reintroduced Stan Freberg, Tom Lehrer, and Spike Jones to a grateful world, and both inspired and launched “Weird Al” Yankovic’s career.

Callahan’s Crosstime Saloons: Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon by Spider Robinson and the various “Callahan’s Place” stories that followed had more than a few filk songs among the lyrics (Robinson is a songwriter himself), and at one point a couple of filkers (Jordin and Mary Kay Kare, see below) appear as characters to sing their filk song about Callahan’s.

Hope Eyrie: Listen here. Considered by many to be the “anthem” of filk, or possibly of science fiction fandom (inasmuch as it’s possible). Written by…

Leslie Fish: One of the most significant filkers in history; not only did she write “Hope Eyrie,” she also wrote the infamous-beyond-infamy “Banned from Argo,” created the subgenre of “Kipplefish” by setting Rudyard Kipling’s (see above) poetry to music, had the first commercial filk album (see above), helped to popularize filk music, wrote some of the earliest Kirk/Spock slash fiction...she’s pretty important, is what I’m saying. When the Filk Hall of Fame was founded in 1995, she was one of the first three inductees.

Bounced potatoes off the dish: At Westercon XIX in San Diego in 1966, the hotel was legendarily bad. Most notably, the Guest of Honor banquet featured completely inedible food, prompting Poul Anderson (see above) to set a filk to the tune of “Waltzing Matilda,” entitled “Bouncing Potatoes.”

Robert Aspirin: SF writer active from the late 70s until his death in 2008, Bob was also the founder of the Dorsai Irregulars (see below), and one of the people who brought early filk from private hotel rooms into public spaces, by (among others) holding a bit all-night filksing in celebration of the Irregulars’ formation in 1974. He was another of the first Filk Hall of Fame inductees in 1995.

Gwen Zak: One of the more spiritually-focused filkers, Gwen is a Pegasus Award (see below) winner for “Circles” and nominee for “I Am Lord” (cowritten with Leslie Fish).

Dawson’s Christian: A filksong by Duane Elms, written 1987, about a ghost ship. It’s been refilked more than a few times itself, including “Dawson’s Concom” (where it’s about ghost...convention runners).

Captain Jack: Not Pirates (probably), not Torchwood (probably), but the titular character of Meg Davis’s 1975 song “Captain Jack and the Mermaid.”

Off Centaur: The first filk music publishing house, Off Centaur Publications produced much of the early commercially-released filk albums, thus making filk available outside of a convention/fandom setting for the first time. They were the third of the three initial 1995 inductees into the Filk Hall of Fame. OCP was founded by Jordin Kare, Catherine Cook, and...

Teri Lee: Who went on to found Firebird Arts & Music, one of the more active filk publishers working today.

Making love in zero-G: A recurring topic in filk songs, including “Home on LaGrange,” and most notably, “A Reconsideration Of Anatomical Docking Maneuvers In A Zero-Gravity Environment, or The Zero-G Sex Song,” the latter being the most direct reference given its first line.

Filthy Pierre: Erwin “Filthy Pierre” Strauss was one of the prime movers in early filk on the East Coast of the US in the 1970s, creating some of the first songbooks, lists of top songs to know, and a lot of filk evangelism. To this day his melodica is a recurring feature at larger East Coast and world-level conventions. Pierre was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame in 1998.

Longcor: Michael “Moonwulf” Longcor has been a major figure in Midwestern filk since the 1970s; he has no fewer than ten published music albums, was twice King of the Middle Kingdom of the SCA, and was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame in 2014.

Black market Tullamore: Tullamore Dew, a brand of Irish whiskey, was Bob Asprin’s preferred drink (because it was cheap, or so the story goes), a preference that he passed on to the Dorsai Irregulars and filk community both. “Tully” is a commonly mentioned in songs about the DI, about filk itself, or about alcohol.

Juanita Coulson: Filker since the 1950s and still going strong, Juanita was one of the earliest filk encouragers, welcoming and encouraging new people to filk circles. She had several early OCP albums, brought Martha Keller’s (see above) poetry to the attention of many filkers, and was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame in 1996.

Red Lions: Red Lion Hotels (now bought and owned by Doubletree) were the sites of many filk conventions, especially in the Pacific Northwest.

Badges marked with Dandelions: Kathy Mar (see below) and Lindy Sears founded the “Dandelion Conspiracy” to encourage general SF conventions to be filk-friendly and to push back against the somewhat unsavory reputation of filkers among conrunners. In Kathy’s words: “In taking the dandelion as the filker's symbol, I hope to convey, as gently as the flower-power movement did, that filk is almost impossible to root out. If disturbed, it tends to proliferate. It can be beneficial at times, and it can even be beautiful in spite of its weedy reputation.”

Dorsai have a Fan Club!: At the Worldcon in Toronto in 1973, various security-type duties were the purview of local rent-a-cops, who...did not mesh well with fan culture, and more critically, did not understand fan valuation. This especially manifested in their Art Show duties; a very valuable Kelly Freas painting was swiped from the show because the rent-a-cop checking receipts didn’t know enough about the painting to realize that the receipt he was being shown did not nearly cover the value of the painting the thief was claiming to have bought. Bob Aspirin (see above) decided that Something Must Be Done, and formed an organization by fans, for fans, and of fans to do various convention-running duties on a by-contract basis. He named them the Dorsai Irregulars, a reference to the Childe Cycle of boks by Gordon R. Dickson about a planet of mercenaries, the Dorsai. (The joke being, if the “regular” Dorsai were off fighting in battles, doing con security was definitely a job for the “Irregular” Dorsai.) As mentioned above, the celebration of the Dorsai’s establishment was a watershed moment for filk, and to this day many Dorsai veterans are Midwestern filkers and vice versa.

Jello in the bathtub!: At the 1974 Worldcon in DC, Joe Haldeman (presumably, hopefully, jokingly) remarked that his ultimate sexual fantasy involved a bathtub full of green jello. By the end of the con, his bathtub had been jello-ed, with a couple of naked girls for, ahem, flavor. (Or perhaps texture.) The incident got inevitably filked about, though not many of those appear to be available online.

Don’t set the cat on fire (and the rest of the chorus): A four-line version of Frank Hayes’s (see below) “Never Set the Cat on Fire” (lyrics here).

Peter Beagle: Writer of The Last Unicorn (novel and screenplay) and numerous other works; also a filker himself, with an album (cassette, of course) of his live performance at Baycon 1986.

Consonance: Bay Area filk convention since at least 1992, probably longer.

Chili cursed with sentience: Beware of the Sentient Chili by Chris Weber (lyrics here).

HOPSFA: The Johns Hopkins SF club. They put out a filkbook, the HOPSFA Hymnal, in the 70s.

NESFA: The New England Science Fiction Association. They put out the NESFA Hymnal in the 70s, too.

ConChord: A filk convention held in the LA area starting in the early 80s, and closing its doors in the 2010s due to low attendance.

The Pegasus Award: The main community award (think the Hugo Award equivalent) for filkers, given out annually at the Ohio Valley Filk Fest (OVFF) every fall since the late ‘80s.

PFNEN: A fanzine (see above) called Philk-Fee-Nom-Ee-Nom, published by Paul Willett in the ‘80s. It was nominated for a Hugo in 1984.

Ose: A common musical style of filk, for sad, depressing stuff. The joke being it’s “ose, ose, and more ose!” (As in, “morose.”) Since a lot of the folk music tradition is similarly depressing, it was inevitable.

Amway: OK, I’ll admit, I’m not 100% on this one. I suspect it’s how “Amway salesman” could be considered one of the most mundane of mundanities, as in Roberta Rogow’s song “A Use for ‘Argo,’” but that’s all I got.

Talk Like a Pirate Day: The “holiday” on September 19 every year, wherein people, well, talk like pirates. Tom Smith, see below, wrote the official Talk Like a Pirate Day Song in 2003 see here.

Dandelion Digitals: Since the Dandelion Conspiracy (see above) was a thing, it’s no shock that a label called Dandelion Digital would spring up. They put out some of the first filk CDs in the ‘90s.

Julia Ecklar and the gulls: Julia Ecklar is a very well-known filker, one of Off Centaur’s (see above) most prolific artists; she has nine Pegasus Awards (see above) and also won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1991. By all accounts, she has a fondness for birds--if I’m reading this right she works at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh. Beyond that, I’m not sure about the gulls.

Bob Laurent: Californian filker and fan; he founded Wail Songs in the ‘80s to distribute tapes of live convention recordings, and also founded Consonance (see above) and Interfilk (see below). He was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame in 1996.

Asimov: Isaac Asimov, to be precise, one of the Golden Age of Science Fiction’s most famous writers. He didn’t coin the word “robot” but you’d believe he had. He also, inevitably, wrote a couple of filksongs himself back in the day.

Jeff and Maya Bohnhoff: Californian musicians and filkers with a half dozen albums (see here), a recording setup to help other filkers record quality albums, a couple of Pegasus Awards--and Maya’s an SF writer in her own right with an impressively long bibliography.

Rocky Horror Muppet Shows: There really are no words. Just a link. Written by Tom Smith (see below) and performed a couple of time, originally in 1987 and twice more in the 2010s

Frank Hayes feeling indisposed: Frank Hayes is yet another leading light of filk. He wrote the infectiously upbeat “Never Set the Cat on Fire” (see above) as well as many other songs, but he’s most known for Frank Hayes Disease: that is, forgetting his words. And causing other filkers to forget theirs. (It’s been known to happen that someone will borrow his guitar and suddenly forget lyrics they’ve had cold for decades.) Frank was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame in 2009 and is married to Teri Lee (see above).

Bill Sutton DIY: Bill Sutton is a filker from Indiana; he and his wife Brenda have a couple of albums. Bill’s most famous song is “Do It Yourself,” which he describes as “a vintage song about vintage computing.” (“You can build a mainframe from the things you find at home,” it proclaims.)

Marischiello goodbye: Bill Marischiello was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame in 1996...but had died in 1986. (I’m sure it’s this because this is chronological, as see…)

Challenger!: Space Shuttle Challenger, as you’re probably aware, broke apart on liftoff in January 1986. The song “Fire in the Sky” by Jordin Kare (see below) is largely about that and the other successes and failures of the Space Program.

Final tour! What else must we all endure?: This reads like fluff that rhymes, to me.

We saw the sky on fire (and the rest of the chorus): As mentioned above, this is all based on Jordin Kare’s “Fire in the Sky.” (Link is to the version on the album To Touch the Stars.)

Kathy Mar: Cofounder of the Dandelion Conspiracy (see above), part of the second annual induction into the Filk Hall of Fame in 1996, winner of seven Pegasus Awards, and yet another of Those Names.

Next Gen: As established, this is chronological, so we’re into the late ‘80s. Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered in 1987.

Tullamore is back again: I can’t find confirmation of this, but I seem to recall hearing that Tully was hard to find for a few years in the ‘80s thanks to the Troubles.

Steve Macdonald: “Smac,” as he is affectionately known, is a member of the Dorsai Irregulars (see above), a 2006 inductee in the Filk Hall of Fame, winner of six Pegasus Awards, once administrator of the same to great effect, and is known as Gallamor the Bard at Renaissance Faires.

Elfquest: The legendary long-running comic book fantasy epic is one of those properties that filkers seem to really be fond of. There’s been an album of Elfquest filk, a songbook of filk about Elfquest, and, well, see for yourself.

Interfilk funds a guest: Interfilk, founded in 1992, is an organization dedicated to the cross-pollenation of filk, by paying to send filkers to conventions in other regions. They are a registered nonprofit, and most filk cons do an auction of donated goods (rare music, songbooks, knick-knacks, food, drink…) to raise money.

Tom Smith: The World’s Fastest Filker, fourteen-time Pegasus Award winner (and 34-time nominee), 2005 inductee into the Filk Hall of Fame. Along with “Rocket Ride,” his paean to the Golden Age of Science Fiction, his most famous song is...

307 Ale: ...the story of a few MIT geeks who managed to brew beer inside of a tesseract and got a liquid that’s 153.5% alcohol--that is, it has a proof of 307. (He saw 307 ALE on a license plate and ran with it.)

Lee Gold: California SF fandom, publisher of the filk zine (see above) Xenofilkia since 1988 (and still going). Inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame in 1997 and publisher of several posthumous filk collections (that is, collections of deceased filkers’ work; she’s still alive).

Heather Dale: Filk by way of the SCA, officially a Celtic bard-style performer with something like 20 albums to her name. She’s been at numerous filk conventions, won four Pegasus Awards, been nominated for another four.

Phoenyx, Keepers of the Flame: Celtic fusion rock band Phoenyx, founded by Heather Alexander (see below), had one album, “Keepers of the Flame.” Long out of print.

Filkontario’s Hall of Fame: The Filk Hall of Fame, mentioned extensively here; inductions happen at FilkOntario (FKO), an annual filk con--guess where.

Echo’s Children: Filk duo Echo’s Children, Cat Faber and Callie Hills, four-time nominees for Pegasus Awards for performance; Cat won seven times for writing/composing or individual songs. In addition to several songs about various tabletop RPGs they were in, and a few about other media, a lot of their songs are about…

Bab-5: Babylon 5, the TV show created by J. Michael Straczynski, which was doing long-form arc storytelling in the mid-90s in syndication. Besides Echo’s Children, a few other filkers have done songs about it; Tom Smith (see above) did a whole-show summary to the tune of Barenaked Ladies’ “One Week.”

Need a fool to feed the drive: “Fool to Feed the Drive” by Jordin Kare (see above) is a refilk of “Fuel to Feed the Drive” by Cynthia McQuillin--McQuillin being a multiple-Pegasus award winner herself and 1998 Filk Hall of Fame inductee. “Fuel,” the original, is a sad elegy about a spaceship that runs out of fuel in deep space, doomed. “Fool” points out that fusion drives use water, and humans are mostly water…

Hamlet done by John Woo: Oh, Andrew...this is a bit of self-promotion from the writer of this song, Andrew Ross. Andrew was nominated for a 2011 Pegasus Award for his song “Crispy Danish,” which is, well, a retelling of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark as a John Woo film, set to “Sheep Marketing Ploy” by Tom Smith (see above).

Marilisa Valtazanou: Oh, that’s why--he needed something to rhyme! Marilisa has been nominated for over a dozen Pegasus awards, alone or as part of a group, and helps run the annual UK Filk Convention.

GaFilk: The start of the filking New Year, GAFilk is held the first full weekend of the year in Atlanta, GA (hence the name). One of the more well established filk cons.

Urban Tapestry: Canadian filk trio of Debbie Ridpath Ohi, Allison Durno, and Jodi Krangle; they’ve won two Pegasus Awards and released three albums, and were inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame in 2011.

Lives rich in fantasy: “Rich Fantasy Lives,” by Tom Smith (see above) and Rob Balder, is in contention for “Filk anthem” with “Hope Eyrie” (see above) and its ilk. It celebrates the joy of having more worlds than one to visit on occasion. Best sung in a crowd.

Airwalls down at Orycon!: OK, this one I can only go off of what @jenroses said: “The Airwalls at Orycon was one of those legendary disasters that ended up sparking the best filk circle I’ve ever been at.”

Firebells at Baycon!: This one got filked by Bob Kanefsky (see below): it’s the mostly-true story of a massive problem at Baycon in 2002. The fire alarms kept going off. Every five minutes or so.

All night.

We didn’t start a fire (and the rest of that chorus): See above. “Kanefin’” refers to Bob Kanefsky, considered one of the grandmasters of the refilk. 2007 Pegasus Award winner for Writer/Composer and nominee for specific songs, Bob has a legendary habit of taking one song by a singer, and rewriting the lyrics (often to make it another song by that same singer)...and then convincing the original singer to sing the filk--he got verbed. To Kanef is to sing your mashup-filk parody of a specific filker’s work at said filker. He has several albums of just that. One of the greatest parodists in filk.

Blake Hodgetts, Proteins: Filker Blake Hodgetts, two-time Pegasus Award nominee for writing, has a song called “Proteins” which is a sci-fi version of one of those cowboy ballads about a cowboy who meets a Mexican girl, they get together briefly, share no language, spend the night, then they part...in his version, it’s an alien, and our lonely singer remembers too late that biochemistry mismatches can lead to anaphylactic shock...

Vixy, Tony, Thirteen: Filk duo Vixy and Tony from the Pacific Northwest, two-time Pegasus winners; their first album was “Thirteen,” and at time of writing was their only album. (Their second came out in 2016.)

Stone Dragons: Canadian filk duo of Tom and Sue Jeffers. Tom was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame in 2012.

Moxie: Play it with Moxie is the nine-member “house band” at GAFilk (see above), which plays the annual GAFilk Banquet.

NOTE: These next two pieces discuss trans individuals, and use their “deadnames”--the names they went by before transition. In both cases, the individuals are public about their transitions and former names, so I am given to understand that this is not considered a breach of etiquette.

If it is, I apologize and will edit the post.

Zander: Zanda Myrande describes herself as “still recovering from the trauma of being Zander Nyrond for several decades,” but still gives “ house room to Zander and the rest of the deadbeats who populate her head.” Zanda is a UK filker, two-time Pegasus Award winner, and writer of the song that UK filk has claimed as their own anthem, “Sam’s Song.”

Heather into Alexander: Celtic musician and filker Alexander James Adams, the Faerie Tale Minstrel, describes himself as “the Heir to Heather Alexander,” who went to the lands of Faerie (thus invoking the “Changeling Child” tale). He has a handful of Pegasus Awards, and wrote the archetypal song of battle, “March of Cambreadth.”

Bill and Gretchen, dead mouse: Bill and Gretchen Roper, filkers from the Midwest, literally own the domain filker.com. Bill has three Pegasus Awards, one with Gretchen; that one is for “My Husband, the Filker,” and includes a snippet about a dead mouse to the tune of “Our House” by Crosby, Stills, and Nash.

Alligators in the house: Filk about exactly what it sounds like. Written by Betsy Tinney (see below) and performed by Betsy, Alexander James Adams (see above), and S.J. Tucker as Tricky Pixie.

ConFlikt: A relatively new filk convention in the Pacific Northwest, foudned 2007.

Judi Filksign: Judi Miller is a talented filker, singer, and musician in her own right, but is primarily known in filk as an ASL translator. Many filk concerts see her at the side of the stage, signing the songs. She won the Pegasus Award for Best Performer in 2006 and was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame in 2007.

Tragedy at East Hill Mine: “The Wreck of the Crash of the Easthill Mining Disaster” by Brooke Abbey (formerly Brooke Lunderville), a Canadian pharmacist and filker.

Mary Crowell: That’s Dr. Mary Crowell to you, punk! Dr. Crowell is a piano, composition, music theory, and music appreciation professor from Alabama, a four-time Pegasus winner (including once with Play It with Moxie, see above) with another dozen-plus nominations, has two albums and major parts on several more, and is one of filk’s roving accompanists; she can provide a piano backing on the fly.

Faerieworlds: A music festival in Oregon, which has featured a number of filk musicians, including S.J. Tucker and Alexander James Adams (see above) both individually and as Tricky Pixie (also see above).

Brony boys: A lot of fandom subcultures develop their own filk; Harry Potter has Wizard Rock, Doctor Who has Time Lord Rock, and yes, My Little Pony has its own filk. (Note: This was written before “Brony” stopped being considered anything except a warning sign of the Sad Puppies and the like. Look that one up yourself if you want, this is long enough as is.)

Wicked Girls: The fourth album of filker and author Seanan McGuire, six-time Pegasus Award winner. Wicked Girls was the first single-artist filk album to be nominated for a Hugo Award (To Touch the Stars, see above, did it earlier but was multi-artist), for Best Related Work in 2012. “Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves,” shortened to “Wicked Girls,” is also the central track of the album.

Britain’s Talis Kimberley: Talis Kimberley, UK filker and activist, has been nominated for 32 Pegasus Awards and won 9, released over a dozen albums, and was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame in 2014.

Seanan’s Kellis-Amberlee: Under her open pseudonym of Mira Grant, Seanan McGuire (see above) wrote the Newsflesh series, in which a manmade virus called Kellis-Amberlee causes zombification upon death. (The similarity to the sound of Talis’s name is a coincidence.)

Doubleclicks: A nerd-rock duo--they they don’t self-identify as filkers, but they’re well regarded and friends with many Pacific Northwest filkers.

Browncoats: The organized fandom for Firefly, densely populated with filkers.

Cats: One of the most common subjects of filksongs that aren’t actually about fantasy or science fiction.

FuMP: The Funny Music Project, a loose affiliation of comedy musicians that has considerable overlap with the filk community (including Tom Smith and the Great Luke Ski, among others).

Toy Boat: Toyboat, a hard-rock filk band from the Midwest.

Release the Cello: An album by filker and cellist Betsy Tinney (see above).

Sasquon: Sasquan, the 2015 World Science Fiction Convention, which was the current con when this song was written.

Thor: The God of Thunder, Mighty Thor! This probably refers more to the Leslie Fish song, though--she was doing that sort of thing before the Marvel Cinematic Universe made that version a household name.

Pass another Tullamore: Tullamore Dew (see above).

for the longest bardic: At filksings, “bardic” refers to a style of turn-taking in which the opportunity to sing and/or play (or, in some variations, request a song of someone else) progresses around the circle in order. This contrasts with “chaotic”, a style in which there are no set turns and anybody can request to perform next.

#filk

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thomascarruthers-blog · 2 years

Video

vimeo

Howard Britz Jazz Piano Trio Presented By Bethel Jazz and Festival52 1st set 11-9-22 LaZingara Bethel CT 2nd set from CTFF on Vimeo.

Howard Britz Jazz Piano Trio Presented By Bethel Jazz and Festival52 1st set 11-9-22 LaZingara Bethel CT 2nd set

Bethel Jazz Presents: British JazZ Pianist Howard Britz, Bassist Dmitri Kolesnik and Drummer Eric Halvorson.

Howard Britz Piano, Bass Player and Composer Versatile and creative Pianist, Bassist and composer Howard Britz was born in London, England 1961. He played trumpet then saxophone in high school and had begun to play professionally when an jaw injury forced him to give up wind instruments. Switching to bass at 17 years old he also started composing. After attending Guildhall School of Music in London he played in the London and UK scene from 1985.

In 1995 he made the move to the US taking up a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA then transferring to New England Conservatory and graduating in 1995. During the Boston years played with some of the great artists on the scene at the time including saxophonists Seamus Blake, Bill Pierce and Jacques Schwartz- Bart, pianist Danilo Perez, vocalist/composer Luciana Souza, The Jazz Composers Alliance and composer/pianist Guillermo Klein’s Big Van as well as many Latin Jazz and Salsa groups. Moving to Philadelphia, PA in 1996 to join his wife who was studying at the University of Pennsylvania, Howard didn’t know a soul there but quickly found a fertile music scene going on. Although somewhat off the radar of many these days, Philly had some great musicians and he was soon in demand for a variety of Jazz groups, vocalists, Salsa and Latin Jazz groups. Philly was also a great finishing school with all of the clubs, after work lounges and bars around the area, a real working Jazz musicians scene.

In 1998 Howard moved to Brooklyn, New York and recorded his first CD. Released in 1999, ‘The Future, The Past’ was made with some of great musicians he had played with in Philly, with pianist/composer Uri Caine, trumpeter John Swana, and drummer, Byron Lancaster. With original compositions by Britz it was a mature statement by a deeply soulful and experienced musician and composer. Quickly establishing contacts with New York players and old ex-Boston contacts he started working around the city and doing some touring.

In 2005 he released his second CD, ‘Made In Brooklyn‘ with a crew of top NY musicians, including drummers Terrion Gully and Anthony Pinciotti, saxophonists, Jacques Schwartz-Bart and Casey Benjamin and pianists James Hurt and Helio Alves The album also documented a group of musicians who were regularly getting together to play, jam and experiment and record as well as playing on gigs together. Some tracks were made in these informal sessions and some recorded more traditionally at Tedesco studios in NJ. ‘Here I Stand’, Britz’ third CD released in 2007 is perhaps his most cohesive and successful artistic statement. A quintet recording of eight original compositions featuring George Colligan on piano, David Smith, trumpet, Casey Benjamin, saxophone and Sylvia Cuenca, drums.

The CD received excellent reviews for the playing and writing, it contains all the elements that you hear in Britz’ playing, inventive melody, driving swing, latin influenced grooves, intelligent yet accessible songs.

From around 1998, Howard had also become interested in the possibilities of playing piano as well. He had long used the piano as a composing aid but had never developed the technique or chops to really play live. He set himself the task of playing piano professionally. His first serious instrument being a saxophone back in High School, he never lost the sense of loving melody and solos which are not the main role of the bass. Having worked for at the piano for many years, he recorded a CD that came out in 2013 called ‘The Feeling of Jazz’, featuring, the great saxophonist, Donny McCaslin guesting on two tracks and bassist Bill Moring and drummer Eric Halvorson.

Eric Halvorson - Drums Eric has performed with John Fedchock, Dave Liebman, Bob Sheppard, Dave Stryker, Donny McCaslin, Steve Slagle, Vic Juris, Scott Robinson, Adam Rogers, Joe Locke, Bruce Barth, Marilyn Maye, Beegie Adair, vocalist Kenny Washington, Fred Hersch, Mark Murphy, James Moody, and Bill Henderson; vocalist Lucy Woodward; toured internationally with Ute Lemper; Broadway stars Sherie Rene Scott and Christine Ebersole; composer Frank Wildhorn; songwriter and pianist Marvin Hamlisch; soul singer Ben E. King; blues artist George Kilby Jr. and the legendary Pinetop Perkins to name a few.

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tabloidtoc · 5 years

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Closer, February 10

Cover: Cher -- secrets I’ve never told

Page 1: Contents

Page 2: The Big Picture -- Gregory Peck and wife Greta and sons Jonathan and Stephen in 1950

Page 4: Celine Dion mourns the loss of her beloved mom

Page 5: Ozzy Osbourne reveals he’s battling Parkinson’s disease, Kim Novak finds new life as a painter

Page 6: Hellos & Goodbyes

Page 8: Picture Perfect -- Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda guest-hosted The Ellen DeGeneres Show with guests Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston and Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Page 10: Al Roker got things charged up when NBCUniversal kicked off its new Peacock streaming service

Page 11: Paula Deen on her 73rd birthday, the cast of The Goldbergs got a visit from the Phillies Phanatic, Stephen Colbert

Page 12: Tamron Hall on the Fit and Fabulous episode of her talk show

Page 13: Lauren Ash and Jerry Springer on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Cameron Mathison and Debbie Matenopoulos on Home & Family, Terry Crews on America’s Got Talent: The Champions

Page 16: At 73, Sally Field keeps busy with family and friends and exciting new projects

Page 18: Cover Story -- Even after years in the spotlight, Cher still has a few confessions to make

Page 22: Faye Dunaway battles her reputation as a diva and hopes for one last big comeback

Page 24: David Janssen’s lifelong search for love

Page 27: Spot the Difference -- Jessy Hodges and Adam Pally on Indebted

Page 29: Horoscopes -- Aquarius Morgan Fairchild

Page 30: Entertainment -- Jennifer Lopez on the Super Bowl halftime show, Fran Drescher on Indebted, In the Spotlight -- Edie Falco

Page 32: Movies -- Blake Lively on The Rhythm Section

Page 33: DVDs, Books, Music -- Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers on their album The Unraveling

Page 34: Television

Page 36: Great Escape -- Dylan Smith on Johannesburg, South Africa

Page 40: 5 ways fasting can help you, Kate Walsh

Page 42: Whatever Happened to the Cast From The Wayans Bros. -- John Witherspoon, Anna Maria Horsford, Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans

Page 43: It Happened This Week

Page 44: Michele Lee on her 60-year career, motherhood and the benefits of a good sense of humor

Page 48: Ingrid Bergman’s daughters remember her as a strong warm mother

Page 50: Memories of M*A*S*H -- before the sitcom Elliot Gould and co. turned war into the top comedy of 1970

Page 52: Inside the College Admissions scandal

Page 54: The Style of Kelly Washington

Page 56: Valentine’s Day outfit -- Drew Barrymore

Page 58: My Life in 10 Pictures -- Kevin Costner

Page 60: Flashback

#tabloid #tabloid toc #cher #sonny bono #ingrid bergman #m*a*s*h #sally field #Gregory Peck #faye dunaway #david janssen #michele lee #kevin costner

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junker-town · 5 years

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Dorktown: The most dominant week in NBA history was authored by a bad team

Most NBA franchises have never beaten an opponent by 55 points. The 1992-93 Kings, a considerably bad team, did it twice in a row. Don’t ask us how.

Hello, pull up a chair, the time has come to talk a bit about the 1992-93 Sacramento Kings.

On the surface, there’s not a ton to get overly excited about. They had Mitch Richmond who was cool, at least until he suffered a season-ending broken thumb, and their starting point guard was a 5’7” former slam dunk champ, but that was about it.

Coming into that season, they’d been among the dregs of the NBA for a while. They were the only team to have lost over 50 games each of the prior six years, and they hadn’t won a playoff game since riding a losing record all the way to the 1981 Western Conference Finals.

So the Kings were a bad team, but for a period of time – about a week and change – this bad team dominated more than any other bad team ever had before, more than any average team ever had before, more than any great team ever had before, more than any team ever had before.

When the ‘92-’93 season kicked off under new coach Garry St. Jean, it was initially more of the same: through 24 games, they emerged victorious in only a third of ‘em, and that was coming off back-to-back OT squeakers to even be winning that much. Then they comfortably beat a pretty good Celtics team before things got really, really bizarre.

Heading into December 29th, 1992, there had been 28,806 regular season games in NBA history, of which 12 had ended with one team beating another by at least 55 points. In other words, about 1 in 2,400 games. If you feel like squinting, here is that likelihood represented visually in green (clicking probably necessary):

Then on that lovely Tuesday evening, the basketball gods gave us game #13 with a double-nickel margin when they murdered the Dallas Mavericks. By 58 points. They beat them to a bloody pulp beyond any and all recognition. Now, granted, this was a Mavericks squad that wasn’t nearly as good as their record might suggest. Their record was 2-20. Ain’t no denying it, they were so spectacularly bad it might warrant its own Dorktown content one day. But by no means does their ineptitude write off a 58-point smackdown. After all, every team in the NBA played those putrid Mavs multiple times, and still that game stands as an outlier:

The Kings never relented, dominating every single second of this affair. It was one of just 10 games in NBA history in which one team outscored its opponent by at least 15 points in three different quarters (just three of which have come in the ensuing 27+ years -- again, just talking regular season, shouts to anyone potentially recalling Nugs-Hornies). How about that one precious quarter where the Kings weren’t absolutely boat racing the Mavs? Was it close? Did Dallas perhaps even, dare I say, win the quarter? Nope, Kings still outscored ‘em by eight.

Ok, fine. Blowouts of that magnitude happen exceedingly rarely, but they still happen. Major outburst, especially executed by such a lowly team like the Kings -- but weird, singular random blips on the radar occur from time to time in sports. They surely enjoyed their New Year’s as the calendar flipped to 1993 and moved on to their next game against Philadelphia on January 2nd.

Remember that green pie slice that’s actually more like a pie needle? Well, the Kings reached their hand back into the haystack once again and beyond all rational odds again emerged with that needle in their grasp. This time, a 56-point obliteration over the 76ers.

It was so bad that Philly allowed Walt Williams to score 40 points off the bench, just the 2nd ever 40-point game by a rookie reserve. Making that seem even worse? Not only did Williams never reach 40 points in any of his other 707 career games in the NBA, he never scored 40 in any of his 105 college games at Maryland, any of his games at Crossland in high school (where any NBA player would be a superduperstar), or any other game he’d ever played in his entire life.

For those scoring at home, that’s a two-game output of the Kings scoring 293 points whilst allowing just 179. That 114-point differential smokes the pack, with the ‘89 Suns a distant runner-up and the only team to post a point differential across back-to-back games that even comes within 20 of what the Kings had just done:

With their margin of victory surpassing 55 in both, they also blow away the field as the next-highest margin reached in each of back-to-back games was those Suns at 46:

Breaking it down by half, Sacramento posted a point differential of at least +28 in three of the four:

To this day, 18 of the NBA’s other 29 teams have never won a single game by 55+ in their entire existence. The Kings, a pitiful franchise, pulled it off in back-to-back games.

We can even extend our sample with similarly stunning results. This two-game main course was both preceded and succeeded by strong wins: a 16-point victory over Boston alluded to earlier was the appetizer, and a 20-point blowout over Denver was the dessert. That’s a beyond-absurd +150 during that 4-game stretch:

But back to the back-to-backs for a sec: if we zoom out and take a look at all of NBA history up through the 2018-19 season, there were 60,231 other regular season games, of which one team beat another by at least 55 points in 17 of them. Or 1 in 3,543. That means the likelihood of any random NBA team doing so in two games straight is 1 in 12,552,849. For some perspective, here are a few hypothetical sports occurrences that would’ve been more likely:

Football

• Alex Smith throwing an interception on four consecutive pass attempts

• Drew Brees throwing an incompletion on 14 consecutive pass attempts

• Blake Bortles throwing a touchdown on five consecutive pass attempts

• Emmitt Smith failing to score a touchdown on 431 consecutive carries

• Peyton Manning failing to throw for a touchdown on 276 consecutive pass attempts

Basketball

• Peja Stojakovic, the best foul shooter in Kings history, missing seven consecutive free throws

• Steph Curry, the best three-point shooter in basketball history, missing 28 consecutive threes

• Shaq making 25 consecutive free throws

• LeBron James being held under 20 points in nine consecutive games

• Giannis Antetokounmpo missing five consecutive dunks

• Manu Ginobili killing two bats in one game, probably

Baseball

• Randy Johnson allowing hits to 10 consecutive batters

• Nolan Ryan failing to record a strikeout to 56 consecutive batters

• Babe Ruth going homerless for 234 consecutive plate appearances

• Babe Ruth homering on six consecutive plate appearances

• Bill Bergen, he of career .170 fame, getting a hit on nine consecutive at-bats

And that’d be for an average team pulling that off, but it can’t be emphasized enough: this was accomplished by a squad that had been terrible for years … and this season was not an exception! Across the other 78 games Sacramento played in 1992-93, they lost 73% of them and were outscored by over 400 points.

It’d be ridiculous to imagine even an outstanding team going on a run like this; that an awful team did so makes it one of the most mystifying things in the history of organized athletics. The life lesson here is obvious: don’t work hard to be great, always bank on just randomly stumbling into unprecedented success.

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chorddebtor0-blog · 5 years

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Michael Kenny’s Offseason Plan, and Plan Tracker

Before I get started with my own plan, I wanted to share the link to the South Side Sox offseason plan tracker spreadsheet, which I’ll be updating as all of your plans roll in. This will give us an idea of which decisions are the most popular, how much everyone is giving up in money and trades, and more.

2018-19 SSS Offseason Plan Tracker

Sorry, White Sox fans, but the window is not opening in 2019.

It could have, had things gone better in 2018. Yoán Moncada could’ve broken out for 4 or 5 WAR instead of backing into 2 and looking like 0. Michael Kopech could’ve stayed healthy and lived up to the hype. Any other prospect could’ve stayed healthy. Seriously, was Dylan Cease the only guy in the whole farm system that didn’t get injured? That’s ironic.

With Moncada providing more questions than answers, Kopech tearing his UCL, Lucas Giolito falling apart, Eloy Jiménez being held back, and a big ol’ pile of injuries in the minors, it’s become clear that 2019 is not the year. The Sox need another season of development to get the answers they currently lack, which makes pushing toward contention this winter a futile exercise.

Any moves the Sox make this offseason need to be with 2020 and 2021 in mind. In 2020, Moncada, Giolito, and Reynaldo López will have one more season under their belts, Jiménez will be settled in, Kopech will return, and the second wave of prospects will arrive in the majors. In 2021, Carlos Rodón and Yolmer Sánchez will reach free agency. Those two seasons represent the convergence of most of the organization’s talent, and hopefully enough players will take steps forward to extend the window well beyond that.

Of course, the two names on everyone’s minds are Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. I’m sure either of those guys would be thrilled to sign with a team that just lost 100 games, and I’m sure the White Sox would offer them enough money to do it, especially since they’re known for giving out blockbuster contracts. There are simply too many teams with too much money, too much existing talent, and too much TWTW for the Sox to even be a footnote in those negotiations.

My goal is to set this team up for future success knowing that the blockbuster is not happening, but hoping that they’ll go all in a year from now, when the time is right. Let’s get to it!

Arbitration-Eligibles

José Abreu – $16 million – TENDER

Avisaíl García – $8 million – TENDER

Yolmer Sánchez – $4.7 million – TENDER

Carlos Rodón – $3.7 million – TENDER

Matt Davidson – $2.4 million – TENDER

Leury García – $1.9 million – TENDER

The first four on this list are easy decisions. I wouldn’t blame you if you non-tendered Leury or Davidson, although I think they can both still be moderately useful players and their salaries won’t break the bank. If either has to be DFA’d midseason to give someone else a chance, so be it, but they stay for now.

Options

You already know how this goes in real life; James Shields’ option was declined, and Nate Jones’s option was picked up. Jones presents a tough decision, but I think that it’s wise to give him one more chance to pitch a full, healthy season. He hasn’t lost any velocity through all of these injuries, so there’s still hope that he can get back to pitching effectively.

Impending Free Agents

Miguel González (2018 salary: $4.75 million) – LET GO

Hector Santiago (2018 salary: $2 million) – LET GO

There are far too many pitchers in this organization to give any more innings to either of these guys.

Free Agent Signings

Sign RHP Nathan Eovaldi to a 3-year, $51 million contract.

After missing all of 2017 following Tommy John surgery, Eovaldi picked up right where he left off with a 3.60 FIP in 111 innings. He’s an above-average starter when healthy, and it’s unfortunate that he had such a great postseason because he’s no longer as under-the-radar as he was a month ago. I’m signing him for three years, although now I’m a bit worried that it will take four to get a deal done, so I’m upping the annual value to compensate.

Eovaldi issued just 20 walks this season, so he’ll be a great addition to a pitching staff that led the majors in free passes (653). He also generates a healthy amount of ground balls (46.8 percent career). Basically, Eovaldi should help to stabilize a highly uncertain 2019 rotation, and if he continues to pitch well, he becomes an asset to the team in 2020-21 or a trade chip to acquire help elsewhere.

Sign LHP Drew Pomeranz to a 1-year, $9 million contract.

The Sox already had one hole to fill in the rotation, but with Michael Kopech down for the count it’s probably a good idea to add another. For that reason, I’m signing both Eovaldi, a pitcher on the rise, and Pomeranz, a reclamation project.

Pomeranz posted back-to-back 3-win seasons before bombing with the Red Sox this year. He spent two months on the disabled list with biceps tendinitis, and the issue sapped both his velocity (90 mph average fastball, down from 92) and control (5.35 BB/9). He got some of his zip back in the second half, but the Red Sox bumped him to the bullpen after they acquired... Nathan Eovaldi.

Eovaldi and Pomeranz fill out the rotation, with Jordan Stephens the next man up out of Charlotte. There’s also a chance that Dylan Cease forces his way into the conversation, but given the nature of pitching there will always be opportunities.

Sign C Jeff Mathis to a 1-year, $2 million contract.

I really don’t know what to do about Omar Narváez. His bat is legit, but his glove does not belong at catcher. Like, at all. A guy who hits .275/.366/.429 shouldn’t feel like a fringe major leaguer, but that’s how much value he gives back with his defense. I gave a lot of thought to just moving Narváez to third base this offseason (hey, it worked for Brandon Inge), but I think the most realistic solution is to make him a part-time catcher, part-time 1B/DH. That will diminish his offensive value, but it will also limit his defensive damage.

Given Narváez’s limitations, Welington Castillo isn’t the right catcher to pair with him. I think keeping Omar as a catcher requires bringing in a defensive specialist as his caddy, and Mathis can be that guy. He’s a banjo hitter, to be sure, but he’s also an excellent defender. There’s a reason he’s continued to find work despite a career 50 wRC+. Oof, did I say 50? Well, ultimately he’s just keeping this spot warm for Seby Zavala.

Trades

Acquire 3B Maikel Franco from the Phillies for OF Blake Rutherford and RHP Jimmy Lambert.

The Phillies are looking to make a huge splash this offseason, and they can’t afford to wait around on Franco to realize his potential when Machado and others are there for the taking. At 26, Franco is still mostly projection because he’s yet to live up to his former elite prospect hype. He showed signs of life this year with a 105 wRC+, but his performance has been uninspiring overall, in part due to some conditioning issues. Give him a change of scenery, get him in the Best Shape of His Life, and maybe he’ll run with the new opportunity.

The Sox have such a ridiculous glut of outfielders and pitchers that they can start dipping into it a bit to diversify their assets and take a risk on a player like Franco, who has three more years of control. Rutherford and Lambert are expendable without putting the depth of the system in jeopardy.

Acquiring an everyday third baseman also allows Yolmer Sánchez to shift into a super-sub role, where I think he can be very valuable on a good team. If Franco flops, Sánchez can just take the hot corner back. This also means saying goodbye to José Rondón, but I don’t really believe his low-average power surge is sustainable.

Acquire RHP Stiward Aquino from the Angels for C Welington Castillo and $3 million.

I really liked the Castillo signing at the time. The only reason I didn’t include him in my plan last year was because I didn’t think the Sox would be able to get him. Of course, a midseason PED suspension is a great way to kill any goodwill with your organization and fanbase.

Moreover, as I said above, Castillo just doesn’t fit on this team anymore. Unfortunately, these factors combined give the Sox about as much leverage on the trade market as they had with Nick Swisher. I suspect some team that really needs help behind the plate will allow Castillo to don the tools of ignorance, but they’ll want to acquire him at a discount and give up little in return.

I imagine the Los Angeles Angels would take on Castillo given that their current catchers are a 29-year old rookie, a 26-year-old rookie, and Kevan Smith. In exchange they’re sending Aquino, a 19-year-old pitcher with a lanky 6-foot-6 frame who lost his 2018 to Tommy John surgery.

Other Moves

Offer OF Eloy Jiménez a 7-year, $50 million extension.

I don’t expect Jiménez to sign an early-career extension the way many young White Sox players have. He’s a star waiting in the wings, and the Sox done him wrong at the end of 2018. That said, a record-shattering deal like this might get his attention given that his amateur signing bonus was a mere $2.8 million. It would also spare both sides the “Work on your defense for two weeks” charade.

In all likelihood, the charade is still on. If it is, Nicky Delmonico breaks camp with the major league team and, barring injury, he’s the odd man out come April 12.

Get Matt Davidson on a mound.

Seriously. I don’t think there’s any reason that a team can’t lean on its backup DH to throw two or three innings in garbage time. In an era where relievers are more important than ever, converting a defensively limited guy into a two-way player and pitching him in low-leverage situations can spare the rest of the bullpen. It may even allow the Sox to forego whatever random junkballer veteran swingman they would need instead. It’s the new market inefficiency!

The Roster

Lineup

2B Yoán Moncada C Omar Narváez 1B José Abreu DH Daniel Palka LF Nicky Delmonico Eloy Jiménez RF Avisaíl García 3B Maikel Franco SS Tim Anderson CF Adam Engel

Bench

C Jeff Mathis UT Yolmer Sánchez OF Leury García 1B/RHP Matt Davidson

Rotation

LHP Carlos Rodón RHP Nathan Eovaldi RHP Reynaldo López LHP Drew Pomeranz RHP Lucas Giolito

Bullpen

RHP Ian Hamilton LHP Jace Fry RHP Zack Burdi RHP José Ruiz RHP Nate Jones RHP Thyago Vieira LHP Caleb Frare (Or swap in Ryan Burr, Carson Fulmer, Aaron Bummer, Juan Minaya, Dylan Covey, etc.)

Summary

You may have noticed that this team is not that good, but it’s a pretty big step forward from 2018. If things break right, they could push into the 75-to-80-win range, and that would set the table for a serious push in 2020.

This team’s payroll is in the neighborhood of $88 million, and only Eovaldi and Tim Anderson (and possibly Jiménez) have guaranteed contracts beyond 2019. That kind of flexibility opens up endless possibilities for next offseason, when the free agent market will be headlined by players like these:

Source: https://www.southsidesox.com/2018/11/1/18038098/michael-kennys-offseason-plan-and-plan-tracker

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hirzilla · 5 years

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A Detroité az utolsó hely a rájátszásban, jöhet az NBA-playoff! http://hirzilla.hu/hirek/online-hirek/nemzetisport/2019/04/11/a-detroite-az-utolso-hely-a-rajatszasban-johet-az-nba-playoff/?feed_id=33883&_unique_id=5caeedda1dcd3 Nem született nagy meglepetés és fordulat, a legtöbb pályán a papírforma érvényesült az észak-amerikai profi kosárliga (NBA) idei alapszakaszának utolsó játéknapján. Nézzük, hogy mi történt! Hirdetés Atlanta Hawks–Indiana Pacers 134–135 Tartalékosan nyert az Indiana. A várakozásoknak megfelelően pihenőt adott legjobbjainak Nate McMillan, Matthews, Bogdanovic, Young, Turner és Sabonis egyáltalán nem lépett pályára, Collison pedig csak az első félidőben játszott, utána átadta a terepet a kispadról érkezőknek. Ők viszont abszolút éltek a lehetőséggel, TJ Leaf karriercsúcsot jelentő 28 pontot és 10 lepattanót jegyzett, Tyreke Evans 27 pontot és 5/8 triplát termelt 26 perc alatt, nyerőembernek pedig végül Edmond Sumner bizonyult, aki 22 pontja mellett a győztes büntetőket is a gyűrűbe küldte. A végig szoros és pontgazdag találkozón ugyanis az utolsó másodpercekben is komoly ütésváltás zajlott és bár Sumnernek volt egy gólpassza és egy duplája is az utolsó egy percben, két másodperccel az órán Taurean Prince hármasával mégis az Atlanta állt nyerésre. Volt még azonban elég idejük a vendégeknek arra, hogy megcsináljanak egy gyors játékot, Sumnernek odaütött tripladobás közben Bembry, ő pedig 0,3 másodperccel a vége előtt hidegvérrel bedobta mindhárom büntetőjét, ezzel megfordította és megnyerte a meccset csapatának. Az Indy így Kelet ötödik helyén zárt 48-34-es mérleggel és a Bostonnal kezd majd a rájátszásban. Még egy év? Többeket is kiemelhetünk a Hawksnál, John Collins 20 pontja és 6 gólpassza mellett karriercsúcsot jelentő 25 (!) lepattanót tépett le, Trae Young 23 ponttal és 11 gólpasszal, Alex Len 20 ponttal és 10 lepattanóval dupla-duplázott, de Taurean Prince is dobott 23-at, mégsem őket éltette igazán az atlantai publikum. A szezon utolsó mérkőzésén ugyanis a "one more year" rigmus csendült fel többször, amellyel a 42 éves Vince Cartert biztatták arra, hogy legyen kedves még egy szezont eltölteni a csapatnál és ne vonuljon vissza - Carter el is mondta, hogy ha akarják, akkor marad annak ellenére, hogy több csarnokban már elbúcsúztatták ebben a szezonban. A fiatal Hawks végül 29-53-as mérleggel zárta az alapszakaszt, de vannak olyan értékei, amelyek miatt bizakodva tekinthet a jövőbe. A Hawks legjobb dobói: Prince 23/15, Young 23/3, Len 20/6, Collins 20/3A Pacers legjobb dobói: Leaf 28, Evans 27/15, Sumner 22/9 Brooklyn Nets–Miami Heat 113–94 A Nemzeti Sport Online szakmaiegyüttműködő partnere a kezdo5.hu A Nets a hatodik. Semmi más nem kellett a Nets keleti hatodik helyéhez, mint hogy megnyerje ezt a mérkőzést, a hazai csapat pedig ennek megfelelő mentalitással lépett pályára és gyakorlatilag az első félidő során el is döntötte a már különösebb tét nélkül pattogtató Heat elleni derbit. Kenny Atkinson legénysége D'Angelo Russell (21 pont, 7/11 tripla, 20 perc) és Shabazz Napier (20 pont, 6/13 tripla) kinti tűzerejére, valamint a parádés lepattanózásra (20-8 a támadók aránya a javukra) építve már a nagyszünetig tizenöt pont körüli stabil előnyt épített fel és ezt a fordulás után úgy tartotta meg könnyedén, hogy senki nem játszott harminc percnél többet, sőt, a Russell-LeVert páros csak 20-at, Allen pedig 22-t töltött parketten. A gárda ezzel a 2013-2014-es szezon óta először zárt pozitív mérleggel, a 42-40 és a hatodik kiemelés pedig azt jelenti, hogy a Philadelphiával találkoznak majd a rájátszás első körében. Wade utoljára. A Miami részéről nem volt már tétje ennek a találkozónak, így teher nélkül kosárlabdázhatott NBA-pályafutása utolsó mérkőzésén a klub visszavonuló legendája, Dwyane Wade, aki természetesen ezúttal is megkapta a neki járó ünneplést egy nappal azután, hogy hatalmas fiesztával búcsúztatta el Miami. A hátvéd pedig a játékával is igyekezett tenni mindezért, 25 ponttal, 11 lepattanóval és 10 gólpasszal tripla-duplázott még így utoljára és az sem érdekelt senkit, hogy a 25 pontjához 28 mezőnykísérletre volt szüksége - a közönség éltette, amikor leült, akkor a pályára követelte, álló ovációval köszöntötte és mindebből barátai, LeBron James, Chris Paul és Carmelo Anthony is kivették a részüket az oldalvonal mellől. A Miami ikonja egyébként utolsó meccsén még megelőzte Elgin Baylort és feljött a 29. helyre az NBA örök pontlistáján, végül 23.165 ponttal zárta három bajnoki címet hozó karrierjét. A Nets legjobb dobói: Russell 21/21, Napier 20/18, Kurucs 15/3A Heat legjobb dobói: Wade 25/9, Robinson 15/9, Jones 13 Charlotte Hornets–Orlando Magic 114–122 Walker mindent megtett. Nem jött össze a rájátszásba jutás a Charlotte-nak, a hazaiak a saját vereségük mellett a Detroit sima győzelme miatt sem juthattak be a playoffba, végül 39-43-mal, a keleti kilencedik helyen fejezték be a szezont. Ez viszont legkevésbé Kemba Walkeren múlt, aki parádés idényt futott és az utolsó meccsen is remekelt, ezúttal 43 pontot szórt 16/25-ös mezőnymutatóval, a közönség pedig az "MVP" rigmussal köszönte meg neki a munkát - Walker szabadügynök lesz nyáron és bár korábban azt mondta, hogy Charlotte-ban akar alkotni, most már úgy fogalmazott, hogy át fogja gondolni, hogy mi a legjobb döntés. Ami a meccset illeti: ezúttal leginkább a védekezésük volt átjáróház, támadásban 50% felett dobtak úgy is, hogy kintről nem voltak hatékonyak, de amíg a két kezdőjét is hiányoló Orlando simán túldobja őket, addig nincs miről beszélni - James Borrego a jövővel kapcsolatban bizakodó, szerinte értékesek a fiataljaik és ha Walker marad, akkor nagy dolgokra lehetnek képesek. Hetedikként, jó formában jutott be a Magic. Az már korábban eldőlt, hogy ott lesz a rájátszásban az Orlando, csak az volt a kérdés, hogy a hatodik vagy a hetedik kiemelést szerzi meg, de előbbihez a győzelem mellett a Brooklyn hazai vereségére is szüksége lett volna. Steve Clifford nem is erőltette túl ezt az estét, a sérült Jonathan Isaac mellett Nik Vucsevicsnek is pihenőt adott, de ezúttal ez is elég volt a sikerhez, Terrence Ross oktatott a padról beszállva (35 pont, 6/10 tripla 30 perc alatt) és Aaron Gordon (27 pont, 11/18 mezőnyből) is azt csinált, amit akart, 54,5%-kal céloztak mezőnyből, így megszerezték 42. győzelmüket is - összességében 13-ból 11 sikerrel mehetnek neki a rájátszásnak, az ellenfelük pedig a Toronto lesz. A Hornets legjobb dobói: Walker 43/12, Lamb 22/12, Bridges 18A Magic legjobb dobói: Ross 35/18, Gordon 27/3, Augustin 18/9 New York Knicks–Detroit Pistons 89–115 Megcsinálta a Detroit. Egyszerű volt a Pistons helyzete a játéknap előtt, ha nyer, akkor ott van a playoffban, ha nem, akkor a Hornets kezében van a sorsa, de a vendégek dolgát nehezítette, hogy Blake Griffin sérülése annyira zavarta az erőcsatárt, hogy nem tudta vállalni a játékot. A helyzet súlyát azonban ezúttal átérezte az együttes, több pocsék mérkőzés után a ligautolsó ellen most felszívták magukat és elég hamar eldöntötték a küzdelmet: az első negyedet 14 ponttal nyerték, a nagyszünetben pedig 24 ponttal vezettek, innen nem lehetett visszaút. Reggie Jackson (21 pont, 7 gólpassz) és Andre Drummond (20 pont, 18 lepattanó) játéka és akarata jelentette az alapot, csak ők ketten túldobták a New Yorkot az első negyedben, később pedig Luke Kennard (27 pont, 4/8 tripla) is felnőtt hozzájuk a kispadról beszállva, úgyhogy összességében kérdés nélküli, sima győzelmet arattak - ezzel bejutottak a rájátszásba, nyolcadik kiemeltként a ligaelső Milwaukee lesz majd az ellenfelük. 65 vereség. Az előző két mérkőzését azért akarta nagyon megnyerni a Knicks, hogy maximum 65 veresége legyen, ezzel elkerülje azt, hogy ez az idei csapat legyen a klub történelmének legrosszabbja, de ezúttal már nem számított a dolog, hiszen már "csak" beállíthatták a negatív rekordot. Ez meg is történt, de esélyük sem volt másra, a kezdőötös összesen (!) 31 pontot tudott szerezni és csak az utolsó negyedben voltak képesek legalább valamelyest kozmetikázni a dolgon, ott az addigiakhoz képest jól játszottak, így legalább a nyolcvan dobott pontot el tudták kerülni. Véget ért a szezonjuk, 17-65-tel, ligautolsóként zártak, most pedig jöhet az, amire hónapok óta várnak: a lottery, ahol eldől, hogy sikerül-e megszerezniük az 1/1-es draftcetlit. A Knicks legjobb dobói: Jenkins 16/6, Allen 13/6, Ellenson 12/6A Pistons legjobb dobói: Kennard 27/12, Jackson 21/9, Drummond 20 Philadelphia 76ers–Chicago Bulls 125–109 A playoff a célkeresztben. Brett Brown semmit nem akart kockáztatni a Phillynél, a komplett kezdőötösét kiültette a tét nélküli utolsó alapszakasz-meccsre, úgyhogy előkerültek a cserék és azok a játékosok, akik eddig nem nagyon kaptak szerepet - a kezdőben találta magát például Zhaire Smith és Furkan Korkmaz, 28 percet játszott Shake Milton és 15-öt a karrierje negyedik mérkőzésén pályára lépő Haywood Highsmith. Ennek ellenére a jelenlegi Bullsnál így is jobbak voltak, TJ McConnell (18 pont, 9/10 mezőnyből, 6 gólpassz, 23 perc) és Boban Marjanovics (18 pont, 8 lepattanó, 6 gólpassz, 2 blokk, 2/3 tripla, 25 perc) volt a húzóerő, melléjük pedig többen is felnőttek, Jonathon Simmons (20 pont, 7 lepattanó, 5 gólpassz) például valósággal lubickolt. A látványos és eredményes játék (55,9% mezőnyből, 46,2% tripla, 30 gólpassz) a mindig nagyon kritikus Sixers-szurkolótábornak is tetszett, a gárda 51-31-gyel a keleti harmadik helyen jutott be a playoffba és a Brooklynnal játszik majd az első körben - "apró" probléma, hogy Joel Embiid nem biztos, hogy bevethető lesz a nyitómeccsen... Vége. Lezárult a Chicago hullámvasút-szerű szezonja, a klubnál volt edzőváltás, hosszú sérülések, nagyobb csereügylet, látványos és biztató javulás, majd újabb sérüléshullám, így végül 22-60-nal, a liga negyedik legrosszabb mérlegével fejezték be az idényt. Ezen az estén is hét alapemberük hiányzott, úgyhogy még egy ilyen tartalékos Philly ellen sem tudtak mit tenni, az ex-körmendi Walter Lemon Jr. legalább beszórt 20 pontot, amivel ő lett csapata legeredményesebb játékosa, de a klubnál már mindenki a nyárra és a következő idényre fókuszál - Jim Boylen vezetőedző is az edzőtáborról beszélt és hogy van potenciál a Dunn-LaVine-Porter-Markkanen sorban, főleg hogy olyanokat is hozzájuk tudnak még tenni, mint a régóta sérült Wendell Carter Jr. A 76ers legjobb dobói: J. Simmons 20/9, McConnell 18, Marjanovics 18/6A Bulls legjobb dobói: Lemon Jr. 20/6, Arcidiacono 14/3, Luwawu-Cabarrot 14/3 Memphis Grizzlies–Golden State Warriors 132–117 Nem érdekelte a meccs a bajnokot. Steve Kerr csak arra figyelt, hogy a megfelelő pihenő jusson mindenkinek a Golden State-nél, a megsérülő Steph Curry mellett DeMarcus Cousins, Draymond Green és Shaun Livingston sem lépett pályára, az előző este pihenő Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala és Andrew Bogut pedig átmozgató jelleggel volt ott a parketten - közülük egyedül Iguodala játszott 18 percnél többet, de meg ő sem szakította magát. A csapat hozzáállása a rotáción kívül főleg a védekezésen látszott, a nagyszünetig 86 (!) pontot kaptak a vendégek ettől a legalább ennyire tartalékos Memphistől, úgyhogy végül 57-25-tel, Nyugat élén, ligaharmadikként tudták le az alapszakaszt. A lényeg viszont még csak most kezdődik számukra, a rájátszás első körében a Clippers vár majd rájuk és ha azt megoldják, akkor a második körben jó eséllyel már egy borzasztó éles párharcot vívhatnak a Houstonnal - persze ez még bőven arrébb van... Szépen búcsúzott a Memphis. Ugyan kilenc fontosabb játékos is hiányzott a Grizzliesnél, de a gárda most is talált olyanokat, akik messze felülteljesítették az elvárásokat: a 3,7 pontot átlagoló Jevon Carter 32-vel karriercsúcsot szórt 8/12 triplával, Bruno Caboclo 21 egységet rámolt be 3/6 hármassal, Justin Holiday 22 pontig jutott 5/10 távolival, Delon Wright pedig karrierje harmadik tripla-dupláját is behúzta, mindet az utóbbi négy meccs során. Az ő lelkesedésük és a GSW "csak ne tegyünk felesleges mozdulatot" hozzáállása azt eredményezte, hogy az első negyedben dobott 45 pontjuk szezoncsúcs, az egy félidő alatt dobott 86 pontjuk pedig franchise-rekord, a nagyszünetig 60% felett céloztak mezőnyből - látványos játékkal és szép győzelemmel zárták elég nehéz, Marc Gasol elcserélését és 33-49-es mérleget hozó szezonjukhat. A Grizzlies legjobb dobói: Carter 32/24, Holiday 22/15, Caboclo 21/9A Warriors legjobb dobói: Durant 21, Thompson 19/9, Bell 15 Milwaukee Bucks–Oklahoma City Thunder 116–127 Paul George nélkül is ment. Kihagyta az utolsó meccset a Thunder fő pontszerzője, de sem ez, sem a back-to-back nem számított, a gárda hatalmas önbizalommal és parádés játékkal nyert Milwaukee-ban is, ezzel megszerezte a nyugati hatodik helyet és a Portlanddel találkozhat a rájátszás első körében. A vendégeknél Russell Westbrook az előkészítésre figyelt (15 pont, 11 lepattanó, 17 gólpassz, 7/10 mezőnyből), Dennis Schröder a pontszerzéssel törődött (32 pont, 10/21 mezőnyből), Jerami Grant pedig kiválóan felnőtt melléjük (28 pont, 4/8 tripla), úgyhogy két statisztikai mutatóban is franchise-rekordot döntöttek: a 23 bedobott tripla és a 40 kiosztott gólpassz is új csúcs náluk, ezzel sorozatban ötödik győzelmüket is behúzták. Ebben nyilván a Bucks hozzáállása is segítette őket, de az tény, hogy a Donovan-legénység jó formában érkezik meg a playoffba, Russell Westbrooknak pedig erre az estére is jutott egy mérföldkő: ez volt karrierje 138. tripla-duplája, amellyel utolérte Magic Johnsont a vonatkozó lista második helyén. Arccal a playoff felé. Az egyébként is sérült Brogdon-Mirotic-Gasol-Snell-DiVincenzo sor mellett Antetokounmpo, Bledsoe és Lopez is kiülte a meccset az alapszakasz-elsőséget már régen bebiztosító Milwaukee-nál, így egyáltalán nem szakadtak meg a győzelemért annak ellenére, hogy ők voltak otthon és frissebben is léphettek pályára. Az egyetlen "állva maradt" kezdő, Khris Middleton is csak 17 percet játszott, egy pillanatra sem ült le viszont Tim Frazier (48 perc, 29 pont, 13 gólpassz) és csak pár másodpercre DJ Wilson (47 perc, 18 pont, 17 lepattanó, 4 gólpassz), de Bonzie Colson is kapott 45 percet. Middleton szerint ugyan kikaptak, de ezúttal ez kicsit sem számított, így is rendkívüli magabiztossággal kezdik meg a rájátszást és hosszú menetelésre készülnek. A Bucks legjobb dobói: Frazier 29/12, Middleton 21/9, Colson 21/9A Thunder legjobb dobói: Schröder 32/24, Grant 28/12, Westbrook 15/3 San Antonio Spurs–Dallas Mavericks 105–94 Biztos Spurs-győzelem. A hazaiaknak még számított a találkozó végeredménye abból a szempontból, hogy a hatodik, hetedik, vagy nyolcadik helyet szerzik-e meg Nyugaton és a győzelemmel biztosíthatták, hogy az első körben elkerülik a GSW-t. Ezt megtették különösebb gond nélkül, LaMarcus Aldridge (34 pont, 16 lepattanó, 15/21 mezőnyből) vezetésével kereken húsz ponttal léptek meg már az első félidőben, úgyhogy nem forgott veszélyben a sikerük, bár Gregg Popovich így sem akart pihentetni, Aldridge 36, DeMar DeRozan pedig 34 percet játszott az alapszakasz zárásaként. Így összességében 48-34-es mérleggel, hetedikként jutottak be a playoffba, ahol majd a Denver lesz az ellenfelük az első körben. Nowitzki búcsúja. Már-már hazai hangulatot teremtettek a szenzációs NBA-pályafutását ezzel a meccsel lezáró Dirk Nowitzki számára San Antonióban, hiába vívott korábban óriási csatákat a Spursszel, most az egész csarnok őt éltette, skandálta neki az "MVP" rigmust, ünnepelt, amikor kosarat szerzett és csalódottan morajlott, amikor elrontott egy dobást. A német legenda meg is köszönte mindezt és végül 20 pontos, 10 lepattanós dupla-duplával intett búcsút a ligának, az utolsó kosara pedig stílszerűen egy védő felett eldobott, hátradőlős tempóval született meg. Ez a nap nem szólt másról ebben a csarnokban, csak erről, a Dallas 33-49-cel, Nyugat utolsó előtti helyén zárta a szezont és készülhet arra, hogy jövőre már Nowitzki nélkül, de a Doncic-Porzingis párossal valami komolyabbat alkosson. A Spurs legjobb dobói: Aldridge 34, DeRozan 19, White 14/6A Mavericks legjobb dobói: Nowitzki 20/6, Jackson 14/6, Lee 14/6 Denver Nuggets–Minnesota Timberwolves 99–95 44 percig jó volt a Minny. A vendégek Karl-Anthony Towns, illetve a veterán Taj Gibson (meg még jónéhány fontos játékos) álltak ki, hetek óta semmi tétje nincs már a meccseiknek, így papíron jóval gyengébben kellett volna teljesíteniük, és talán ebben bízott egy kicsit a Denver is. A Wolves azonban rácáfolt erre, Gorgui Dieng dupla-duplázott, Wiggins jó dobásokkal jutott 25 pontig, Tyus Jones 8 gólpasszt adott, a kispadról pedig az újonc Cameron Reynolds jelentkezett öt triplával. Emellett védekezésben is nagyon akartak, ennek köszönhető, hogy 4 perccel a vége előtt még 11 pontos előnyben voltak. 84-95 után viszont már nem szereztek pontot, így végül dicstelen véget ért zaklatott szezonjuk... Másodjára már nem hibázott a Nuggets. Tavaly a két gárda ki-ki meccset játszott a playoffért, akkor a Wolves nyert, és sokáig úgy tűnt, hogy megint beleköpnek a második kiemelésért hajtó hazaiak levesébe. Végül azonban győzött a túlerő, Nikola Jokics karrierje egyik legrosszabb mérkőzése után egy nappal 29 pontos, 14 pattanós estével jelentkezett, és bár a támadójáték szervezésében ő sem tudott segíteni (2 gólpasszára 4 eladott labda jutott), a végén a kemény védekezés meghozta sikert – a végjátékban egy 15-0-s futással zárták az összecsapást, és jöhetett a megkönnyebbülés. A Denver a tavalyi 9. hely után idén 2. helyen bejutott a playoffba, a liga legjobb hazai mérlegével (34-7) zárt, és a rájátszás első körében pályaelőnyből csap össze a San Antonio Spursszel. A Nuggets legjobb dobói: Jokics 29/3, Murray 17/9, Harris 14.A Timberwolves legjobb dobói: Wiggins 25/9, Reynolds 19/15, Dieng 18/6. Los Angeles Clippers–Utah Jazz 143–137 – hosszabbítás után Grayson Allen azt akarta, hogy minél tovább tartson. A vendégek számára az égvilágon semmi tétje nem volt már a meccsnek, hiszen betonbiztosan ötödik helyen végeztek Nyugaton, ennek megfelelően Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert és Derrick Favors teljes pihenőt kapott, Ingles és Crowder pedig 14-16 percet lötyögött. A kezdőben így ott lehetett a Duke-legenda újonc, Grayson Allen, aki egész szezonjában sikertelenül próbálta beverekedni magát a rotációba, most viszont megkapta az esélyt, és élt is vele: 7 pattanó és 4 assziszt mellett kerek 40 pontot szórt, ebből 14-et a negyedik negyedben, amikor a Jazz kilencpontos hátrányt dolgozott le. Mellette Gobert helyén remekelt Ekpe Udoh is (14 pont, 13 pattanó, 5 gólpassz, 4 blokk), de a padról is sorjáztak a remek teljesítmények: Niang 24 pontot szórt, Bradley dupla-duplázott, Mitrou-Long pedig kilenc gólpasszt adott. A rendes játékidő végén azonban hibáztak egyet védekezésben, a ráadás pedig nem róluk szólt, de emiatt valószínűleg annyira nem bánkódnak – az utolsó pillanatban a 4. helyre leeső Houstonnal találkoznak a playoff első körében. Beverley újra fedélzeten. A Thunder és a Spurs meccse hamarabb befejeződött, így a meccs javarészében már a Clippers számára sem maradt tét a közönség kiszolgálásán kívül, hiszen biztossá vált, hogy a 8. helyen jutnak be a playoffba, ahol a Warriorsszal találkoznak. Azért viszont fontos volt ez a meccs, hogy a sérülését kikúráló Pat Beverley vissza tudjon kicsit rázódni, ennek megfelelően elég sokat volt fent együtt a kezdő – a hátvéd végül 14 ponttal, közte 4 hármassal, 6-6 gólpasszal és lepattanóval zárt, ránézésre meggyógyult é a formájával sincs gond. Vele mindjárt kiegyensúlyozottabbnak tűnt a LAC, a kezdőben mindenki megtalálta a helyét és a dobásait, a cseresorból pedig Harrell 24 ponttal jelentkezett – a második félidőben aztán már boldog-boldogtalan pályára került, és végül a ráadásban kibrusztolták az idei 48. győzelmüket is. A Clippers legjobb dobói: Harrell 24, Zubac 22, Williams 15/3.A Jazz legjobb dobói: Allen 40/15, Niang 24/6, Crowder 17/12. Portland Trail Blazers–Sacramento Kings 136–131 Egy félidőig érdekelte a meccs a Sactót. A vendégek a megszokott kezdőötösükkel álltak fel, jól is játszottak, az első félidőben a megszokott módon rotáltak, így nem csoda, hogy a mindössze hat (!) embert forgató Portland ellen 25 ponttal vezettek a nagyszünetben, sőt a második félidő elején az előny volt 28 egység is – az első 24 percben 87 (!) pontot dobtak. Fordulás után aztán az edzői stáb bedobta a gyeplőt a lovak közé, általános dobálgatásba fulladt a játékuk, mindössze 48 egység érkezett tőlük, a portlandi cseresor pedig megérezte a vérszagot: a harmadik negyedben 10, a negyedikben 20 pontot vertek rájuk. A Kings ezzel 39-43-as mérleggel zárt, és bár a playoffba nem jutottak be, az előző évek vesszőfutása után játékban, játékosokban és jövőképben is nagyon nagyot léptek a helyes irányba. Akkor most akarta ezt a győzelmet a Blazers, vagy nem? A normál rotációból Zach Collins, Jake Layman és Meyers Leonard maradt hírmondónak, összes többi fontos játékosát leültette Terry Stotts, összesen hat játékost forgatott, az első félidőben pedig tetemes hátrányba került a Portland. Utána viszont megragadta a lehetőséget a 37 pontos újonc, Anfernee Simons vezette társaság: a hátvéd hét tripla mellett 9 gólpasszt osztott ki, Skal Labissiere korábbi csapata ellen alig tudott hibázni (12/17 mezőnyből, 29 pont, 15 lepattanó), Leonard is dupla-duplázott, a kezdőötös 123 pontjához pedig az egyszem csere, Collins 13 egységet tett hozzá. A negyedik negyedben pillanatok alatt ledolgozták hátrányukat és végül megszerezték a nyugati 3. pozíciót, így az 5. Jazz helyett a 6. Oklahomával játszanak az első körben. Stotts egyébként annyit nyilatkozott a meccs előtt, hogy nekik az elsőkörös hazai pálya volt a lényeg, azt már előző nap megszerezték, ma pedig nem fognak számolgatni, lesz, ami lesz –ennél jobb válasz nem érkezett a címben feltett kérdésre... A Trail Blazers legjobb dobói: Simons 37/21, Labissiere 29/6, Layman 19/6, Trent Jr.-Leonard 19/3-19/3A Kings legjobb dobói: Bagley 20/6, Ferrell 17/9, Fox 17/3. Az alapszakasz végeredményét itt tekintheti meg. Az április 13-án kezdődő rájátszás első fordulójának párosításaKeleti főcsoport: Milwaukee Bucks (1.)–Detroit Pistons (8.), Boston Celtics (4.)–Indiana Pacers (5.), Philadelphia 76ers (3.)–Brooklyn Nets (6.), Toronto Raptors (2.)–Orlando Magic (7.)Nyugati főcsoport: Golden State Warriors (1.)–Los Angeles Clippers (8.), Houston Rockets (4.)–Utah Jazz (5.), Portland Trail Blazers (3.)–Oklahoma City Thunder (6.), Denver Nuggets (2.)–San Antonio Spurs (7.) NBA, ALAPSZAKASZAtlanta Hawks–Indiana Pacers 134–135Brooklyn Nets–Miami Heat 113–94Charlotte Hornets–Orlando Magic 114–122Memphis Grizzlies–Golden State Warriors 132–117Milwaukee Bucks–Oklahoma City Thunder 116–127New York Knicks–Detroit Pistons 89–115Philadelphia 76ers–Chicago Bulls 125–109San Antonio Spurs–Dallas Mavericks 105–94Denver Nuggets–Minnesota Timberwolves 99–95Los Angeles Clippers–Utah Jazz 143–137 – hosszabbítás utánPortland Trail Blazers–Sacramento Kings 136–131

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junker-town · 5 years

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It’s time to blow up the Pistons

The Pistons have some valuable trade chips on the roster.

The Detroit Pistons are headed towards rock bottom, and that’s a good thing.

Before it even began, the Blake Griffin era in Detroit needed more luck to succeed than a franchise-altering transaction of that magnitude should ever require. That isn’t the same as saying it was doomed from the start, but health, internal development, and a capacity to solve potential fit-related issues were all variables that needed to fall in Detroit’s favor if they wanted more than two home playoff games every year.

At the time of the trade, Detroit’s vision was unimaginative; lofty goals were replaced by a pretend optimism, the “please clap” rallying cry of a franchise content with settling into years of aimless mediocrity. Griffin was an intriguing draw and made an All-NBA team last year, but his fading impact on winning no longer validated a max contract — hence the Clippers’ wish to trade him.

Here’s what I wrote about the Pistons at the time: “It’s unclear how good this team can be, and if Drummond continues to make strides they’ll be an unpleasant matchup more nights than not. But being locked into the back-half of a very good player’s career, paying him more money than he’s worth, feels a little depressing.”

That prediction was prescient but also safe. Since Griffin’s first game with the Pistons on February 1, 2018, they’ve won *checks notebook* zero playoff games. Their defense when he’s shared the floor with Andre Drummond has deteriorated, and is unfeasible in the postseason setting we probably won’t ever see. Today, at 13-24, between an eight seed and the league’s worst record — with Griffin still owed $75.8 million over the next two years — Pistons owner Tom Gores has finally cozied up to the eject button.

Blake is 30 years old but may be damaged goods. Drummond is trade chum. Derrick Rose is their best player. There is no roadmap to perennial contention, but where the Pistons go from here is clear and as long overdue as it is difficult to execute. Moving Griffin at this juncture may not be possible, but even if no team is desperate enough to take that contract on it still makes sense for the Pistons to take a dramatic step back and operate like every other smart small-market team would.

Cap space is no longer reserved for the right to overpay the Jon Leuer’s of the world in free agency. Instead, preserve it, and build through the draft. Partially speaking, the Pistons are where they are because they whiffed on a couple recent picks — Stanley Johnson (eighth overall), Henry Ellenson (17th) — failed to maximize another (Luke Kennard one slot ahead of Donovan Mitchell) and, from an earlier regime, mined Khris Middleton and Spencer Dinwiddie only to give up on them too soon.

But the semblance of a core that’s comprised of 24-and-under pieces is starting to take shape, in intrigue if not actual production. Bruce Brown is a bulldog. Christian Wood — who, physically, looked like Anthony Davis’ doppelganger in a recent loss at Staples Center — is starting to reach the most salivating areas of his potential. Kennard can be more than serviceable in any modern offense.

Svi Mykhailiuk is shooting 45 percent on catch-and-shoot threes. As the youngest player currently employed by an NBA team, Sekou Doumbouya has the type of body that, at a bare minimum, can eventually unlock switchy, versatile defensive lineups. He guarded Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James in two of his first three career starts, and oozes potential on both ends.

Zero members of Detroit’s youth movement may ever play in an All-Star game, or justify personnel moves that treat them as the center of an acceptable offensive system. That makes bottoming out a terrifying exercise, one the Orlando Magic, Hornets, and Cleveland Cavaliers are currently enduring at their own pace.

But a few smart transactions mixed with measured expectations and a tight focus on player development can accelerate the process. That means the rest of Detroit’s roster makes sense elsewhere, including Drummond. A monstrous force on his best day, the 26-year-old has let delusions of grandeur infect the physical dominance that once warranted him collecting a $28 million player option for the 2020-21 season.

“Who wants Drummond?” is an immaterial question when placed ahead of “Who will part with an asset to get him?” Free agency is right around the corner, and with it comes a hefty commitment for a tantalizing talent. All first-round picks should be welcome, be they from the Atlanta Hawks, San Antonio Spurs, Charlotte Hornets, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Boston Celtics, or any other conceivable suitor that wants to sniff around.

Several teams listed above are a stretch, and for those interested in a more detailed look at why Drummond is unlikely to bring back a sizable return in any transaction, I wrote about him a couple months ago. But the Pistons have other chips to dangle. One even more relevant to the playoff picture is Rose, who, at $15 million through the end of next season, has been Detroit’s closest thing to a bright spot.

Detroit soars from last to first in offensive rating with Rose on the court, running tons of pick-and-roll and catalyzing their transition game with frequent glimpses of the athletic specimen he used to be.

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Several contenders need exactly what he’s giving Detroit, which is per-minute numbers that rival his MVP season. (Last week, the Golden State Warriors habitually trapped Rose 30 feet from the basket as if he was James Harden.) But it’ll be interesting to see how lethargic defensive energy, scarce three-point shooting, and his physical inability to play significantly more minutes in a playoff setting will temper interest.

If any teams do consider mortgaging parts of their own future to get him, the Philadelphia 76ers are it. No team with championship aspirations is more desperate for someone who can playmake downhill, organize an offensive possession, score in the paint, draw fouls, and carve defenses up when coming off a high screen. A Rose-Embiid (or Rose-Horford, Rose-Simmons) pick-and-roll with three shooters spacing the floor is one highly-efficient solution to Philly’s offensive issues. He’d create shots they can’t consistently manufacture in the half court.

Relevant to the conversation are these two statistical impressions Rose is having on the Pistons:

1) He assists 2.65 corner threes per 100 possessions, which leads the NBA and is higher than every player since LeBron James averaged 2.9 during the 2016-17 season.

2) The Pistons make more assisted corner threes per 100 possessions (4.21) than any team in the past 20 years — and maybe league history, but I can’t find stats that go back that far.

Philadelphia is 22nd in corner three rate, but second in corner three-point accuracy, per Cleaning the Glass. If you’re Detroit, the argument for keeping Rose around through at least the end of next season is he can conduct a credible offense without taking it over — an important distinction for a roster that’d be full of young, impressionable talent. But if the Sixers put, say Matisse Thybulle — or Zaire Smith and their next available first — on the table then Detroit should immediately part ways. Would the Los Angeles Lakers give up Kyle Kuzma? Maybe the Milwaukee Bucks want a cheaper facsimile of Malcolm Brogdon before they head into the postseason, and offer Indiana’s first-round pick plus D.J. Wilson?

Almost everybody else represents salary filler — Tony Snell, Thon Maker, Markieff Morris, Reggie Jackson — in any deal, but contenders and teams wanting to immediately upgrade what they already have might show moderate interest in Langston Galloway, who’s armed with one of the fastest shot releases in the universe and an expiring $7.3 million contract.

Change is inevitable, and the Pistons have finally reached the point of their life cycle where they can no longer avoid it. Digging out from the cave-dark lottery won’t be easy, particularly in a market that’s barely interested when the team is competitive. But embracing a new era is the only way forward. The more aggressive they are trying to get there this season, the better off their future will be.

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