#i also know that the most recent season is apparently heart wrenching so that’s fun

[darth-does-stuff]

just now watching the owl house how shameful of me /hj

[strange-destinations]

what's the game of rassilon thing???

Oh, thank you for giving me permission to invite all of your into my current hyperfixation hole.

The Game of Rassilon is a fan-made actual-play RPG podcast where a bunch of very funny and very creative people play the official Doctor Who roleplaying game. If you've been following me on Twitter recently you may have noticed I've done a fuckton of art for it. That's because it's extremely good! the adventures are well-thought-out, the roleplaying is choice, the goofs are hilarious and the emotional beats hit hard. it feels quite a lot like listening to a canon series of tv doctor who, except it's all improv and dice rolling and rpg.

the first two seasons are typical monster-of-the-week doctor who adventures with a gradually building plot revolving around the Doctor & co running from... someone (or perhaps something), and a Big Plan that even the Doctor isn't sure of the details of, at least at first. there is the Power of Friendship! there are Pokemon battles! there is freestyle jazz scatting, much to the Doctor's exasperation! it's all excellent. i haven't started season 3 yet because of Time Issues on my end, but I have no doubt it's going to be just as good as the first two seasons.

You can listen to it on their website (go to the start of the archive and start from the beginning) or on most podcast apps. The episodes are about 1/1-1/2 hours long each, and there's currently two and a half seasons out (20ish episodes each season, i believe) so it's not quite as intimidating as like. TAZ is. definitely not as scary as CritRole.

also i wrote fic for it. i would link to it here, but it's spoiler-y for all through to the start of season 2. and i am writing more, because i apparently just can't help myself when it comes to One Certain Character.

so yes. go listen to it and then come back and let me know so i know that i've got more people into it. i'm on a roll here. i will drag everyone i know into this very good podcast!

if you're curious about the content and don't mind mild spoilers, then come with me beneath the cut and I will introduce you to the Party, featuring some Fun Art From Me

The Doctor

played by Riley Silverman. eternally delightful force of chaos. 'the most 90s doctor', according to michael, and honestly he's not wrong. canonically trans! in the sense that her player is also trans and said 'if you think she's trans also i'm 100% behind you' and i choose to think she's trans

got stranded in the 90s for a while, which explains why the interior of her TARDIS currently resembles a 90s coffeeshop. gives very good very doctor-y speeches. stubborn. curious.

Travis Killian

played by Dan Peck (who is the sort of RPG player who breaks the game at least once every session. and it's great). worked at a library in New Jersey, 1998, and then Things Happened and now he lives in a time machine. you know how it goes. 'gentle ball of confident anxiety'. Star Wars fan, Pokemon nerd. basically half his character sheet is based around how much he loves his friends. Best Boy!! with a really genuinely excellent character arc.

welcome to the travis killian stan club. i love him very much.

Millie Earhart

yeah, that Amelia Earhart. big strong lady with a wrench who is very good at flying things! planes in particular but she's very adaptable. a bit of a walking paradox, considering she's supposed to, you know, die on a plane trip, but it's fiiiine. it's all fine. trust her! she's amelia earhart!!

Roman

technically an NPC (it's a bit complicated). still a member of the party, in my heart if nowhere else. i will not spoil anything to do with roman because his reveal is just too good to spoil. but please rest assured he's a delight and by s2 you will love him just as much as i do.

Carrie Vu

played by châu kate lê. carrie 'i think time lords should unionize' vu is also a delight who i will similarly not spoil, simply because she doesn't show up until about mid-s2. but i couldn't not mention her. also, she has a softball bat, and is keeping the doctor who tradition of 'tiny women going to town on aliens with blunt objects' alive and well. queen

Gunther

is the doctor's cat. she is a sweetheart and she is perfect and she is also currently my profile picture on most of my social media. we all love Gunther.

in conclusion come join me in the game of rassilon. i need someone to cry over roman with and i need to justify the fact that i've written over 50k of fanfiction from travis's point of view somehow

[leejihoonownsmyheart]

Click, Click

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4 , 5 , 6 , 7, 8 , 9 , 10 , 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25

Chapter Twenty-Six:

Proposing that you two be careful had sort of just been you running your mouth as a result of endless nerves. You were constantly talking- just trying to fill the void with words so that you couldn’t do something stupid. Of course, that usually resulted in you doing something stupid but that was hardly the point.

The point was you hadn’t really expected Jihoon to take you seriously when you suggested being careful. It simply wasn’t really something that you could see the two of you doing, but when it was finally time to leave Jihoon and return back to your life, it was clear that he was taking your words seriously.

“Here.”

He handed you a black jacket, one that you awkwardly took in your hands and frowned at unsurely as he continued to rummage through his things. He handed you a few other items- dark glasses and a face mask, and when you didn’t immediately put them on he simply rolled his eyes and started to do so for you.

“If you don’t want to get caught, you should cover up more,” he explained as he wrapped his jacket around you. You hadn’t even realized how cold the room was until the jacket was covering your bare arms. You slide yourself more comfortably into the jacket, and he adjusted it as you wiggled your body ever so slightly.

Thanks to Jihoon’s affinity to large clothing the jacket that he put on you was huge. It fell well past your hands and hung down your body to your knees. You couldn’t even begin to imagine how small you must look standing there before him.

But you knew that he found the look to be completely and utterly adorable. He huffed a small bit of air from his nose when he looked at you.

He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to for you to know exactly what was going through his head. Your face reddened deeply, and your eyes flitted downwards, but just as they did, his hands went to the back of your head. He ran his fingers gingerly behind your ears and then carefully hooked one of the straps over your ear.

He pulled the face mask over your lips, and over your other ear, and smiled as he secured it over your nose.

Then he slid the glasses up onto the bridge of your nose, your vision drastically darkening as soon as the glasses were in position.

“There,” he mumbled. “To the untrained eye you are completely unrecognizable.”

He reached behind your head and pulled the hoodie over you, peaking at you from underneath the cloth.

“But to trained eyes?” You asked softly. Jihoon laughed, his voice still soft.

“You’re mine,” he whispered pleasantly. You rolled your eyes at the words, but you raised your jacket covered hands to his wrists, where they were still holding your head carefully.

“I’ll see you soon,” you said to him. You lowered his hands down back to his sides and turned around. You started to wander off, but before you could really do anything, his hand was on yours again.

“One more thing,” he whispered. “I think it’s about time that we traded phone numbers.”

A thing as small as a phone number shouldn’t seem as completely life changing as it did for you as you made your way back to your place and yet it still seemed  like everything in your life had changed with just the addition of a few extra numbers in your phone.

You had gotten into a weird habit as of lately and at some point, you just... Stopped adding people’s contacts to your phone.

Maybe it was one of those dumb things you were self-consciously doing to avoid getting too close to people. Maybe it was just something that you did because you were too lazy, or you just forgot. You weren’t sure, and at the moment, your mind was running too wild to really think about it.

The first thing you did once you were far enough from Jihoon’s place was pull out your phone.  

You opened your contacts and clicked the small plus sign in the corner. You stared at the number that Jihoon had texted you with, surprised to find that you already knew the numbers fairly well.

You wondered if you would even need to add his number if you memorized it but deep down you knew that you didn’t care. You wanted his contact in your phone. You wanted his name to pop up on your phone screen when you had a text. If you called him- you wanted to see his photo in the background, and if he called you? You wanted to be able to pick out a ringtone for when he called that was specific just for him.

You wanted to keep this relationship between you a Jihoon special and honestly, finally having his phone number after so long... It just felt so liberating.

If you missed him, needed to talk to him, or even wanted his attention? You didn’t need to post on Instagram or go up to his place. All you had to do was send him a text or click the call button on your phone and you could hear his voice.

You bit down on your bottom lip as you typed in his stage name, and then... Rethinking it, you deleted it and instead wrote out his full name.

Once again, however you rethought it, and deleted it.

His contact name had to be perfect after all. It couldn’t be something that wasn’t special. You two were dating- but it also couldn’t be something too cringy as you knew Jihoon would poke fun at you for that.

You wondered if there were anything that you could make his name that could be special between the two of you. Something that most people would be confused by, but you and Jihoon could smile at fondly, knowing that it meant you two were in something that most people would compare to love.

You typed out the name “Not my boyfriend” and quickly put one of the pictures that Jihoon had taken on your phone from that day at the park. You stared at the phone contact and then after a few minutes slipped the phone into your pocket, knowing that if you kept looking at the contact you would just find other ways to change it.

It was a little chilly outside, but you hadn’t really seen it snow just yet. You wondered if it ever would.

You were fairly fond of the snow. In fact, you were also very fond of the wintertime. It was a beautiful season, in which you found it very easy to be happy when it was normally much harder to be so. When it came to that certain time of the year you just found yourself feeling a bit more light-hearted. The worst things could happen to you and your heart would still find it in yourself to feel positive. To be... Happy.

And this was as close to thrilled as you could recall being in recent times. You quite honestly felt like you were walking on air as you made your way back to your place. You felt like nothing could take you down. You had Lee Jihoon’s phone number.

How many people could say that? That they had Lee Jihoon’s phone number? You knew not many could and-

“Hey!”

You jolted a bit when someone’s hand landed on your shoulder, and you looked back to find Jeongin standing there, a large smile on his lips.

“Look who it is... Miss stupid enough to even push her own boyfriend away.”

Jeongin grabbed the hood of your jacket, pulling it down so that he could see your face.  

"But judging by your attire, you got over yourself?" He asked.

Part of you kind of wanted to be surprised by Jeongin’s sudden appearance, but you couldn’t really say you were knowing the way that people sort of just popped in and out of your life here in Korea. At this point you thought maybe it was more surprising if you didn’t just bump into somebody that you knew on the streets.

"More like Jihoon forced me to talk to him," you replied. "But... I don’t know... Maybe, I’m starting to think the dumbass life isn’t for me.”

"Finally," Jeongin mumbled. He wrapped his arm around you and smiled. "What did you guys do? Anything? Have some fun?"

Jongin wiggled his eyebrows at you, and you blew hard out of your mouth.

"You know we didn't," was all you said in response. You tried to knock his arm off of you, but all it did was make him pout. You were about to retort that he was being a baby, and not to touch you, but before you could you felt your phone buzz, and apparently so did Jeongin. His eyebrow raised.

“So, you do get notifications on your phone,” he commented dryly. You elbowed him in the side as you pushed your hand into your pocket, trying to see who was messaging you this time. When you saw the notification on your phone, you felt your heart skip a beat.

It was Jihoon. Jihoon was already texting you?

You fumbled with your fingers as you unlocked your phone to check and make sure that your eyes hadn’t been deceiving you.

Not my boyfriend: I’m sensing a disturbance in the force... Is Jeongin with you?

Your eyebrows rose in surprise and you glanced back over your back, looking around the street to see if you could find Jihoon standing there. You didn’t see anyone, so you looked back down at your phone.

Are you following me?  

It only took him a moment to respond to you.

Not my boyfriend: No lol, Jeongin hacked my phone and he texted me that you look good in my jacket.

You stared at the text, and didn’t even have a chance to responded before he added: Which is true, you should keep it

You rolled your eyes at the message on your phone and before you could type out a response, Jeongin grabbed your phone from your hand. Your eyes widened and you reached out for it, but he held it out of your reach, laughing a little bit.

“Who are you texting that’s got your cheeks red like that?” He asked teasingly. You wrestled him a bit for the phone, but your at first genuinely hostile energy eventually dissolved as the two of you tumbled with one another on the sidewalk. He wrenched his head around once he had a slight advantage, and his eyebrows shot up high in surprise.

“Oh, it must be your boyfriend,” he teased lightly. “Look at you, being all cute and spoiled and shit.”

You scoffed, but before you could say anything more to him, he slid your phone back into your hand.

“Where are you off too? We should hang out,” he stated. You went to tell him that you couldn’t hang out with him. It had been... What...? Two days since you had been back to your place. You had kind of just dropped off the planet of the Earth and hadn’t told anyone where you had been.

It was bad enough that you continued to just ignore all of the messages on your phone, still unable to bring yourself to respond to the ones you needed to.  You could feel anxiety gripping at your heart as you wondered what you should do about it. Could you even just respond to them now? It had been days since you had even admitted to being alive. What kind of a person waited that long to respond to someone and then just responded as if no time had passed at all?

A pretty shitty one probably.

But you supposed in that way maybe you were pretty shitty.

You went through this dilemma a lot. On one hand, you had been like this for a few years now. You got too inside your head about responding to people’s messages when it had taken what could be counted as “too long” and then you put all this pressure on yourself to give a good response.

If the response in your head at the time wasn’t good enough or you didn’t allot yourself enough time to respond to it, then you would just stress yourself out enough to push off responding even more. That would just lead to you leaving the message unread for days, weeks, even months until the person sent another message to you and maybe you would finally dignify them with a response.

You had gotten used to the shitty way you let anxiety rule your life and tried to knock it aside by being better about responding and talking to people- more like you used to.

But it never worked, and you beat yourself up, and you tried not to mention how much it stressed you out just to send a text message, because honestly, the whole situation seemed so pathetic to you.

It was just a response after all, it took at max two seconds to send people a message and inform them of your well-being. All you had to do was send a minor text to assure people that you were alright instead of putting it off and causing yourself more anxiety.

You did end up telling your friend once that you felt this way. Admitted that it was one of the reasons that you hated on yourself so much. You knew that you tended to be hard on yourself, and if anyone knew it best other than yourself, it had to be this friend.

You tried to be more honest with her then you were with most people. Tried to convince yourself that your anxieties weren’t as big of a deal as you thought they were, and that most of it was just you overthinking everything in your head.

She was good at reminding you of that. Good at ensuring you that maybe you were thinking a little too much and that people weren’t mad at you for all of the reasons that you thought they were.

If people don’t know by now that you are going to take forever to respond, they just don’t know you.

And it was true, and somedays, it made you feel a little bit better about not responding to some people.

But... Not every day.

Because somedays, things were just... Too good.

Everyone was so nice to you. All the time everyone was just so kind. Didn’t seem like a problem, but it made you feel like they had some reason to do so. You knew that people didn’t take you seriously most of the time. You opened your mouth, and you could tell that people thought you were just fucking around with everything that you were doing.

They thought you weren’t smart enough for college, or they thought you didn’t take dancing seriously, or that you couldn’t lead a dance group because you had no background in it. They thought you couldn’t write because you didn’t have published books, they thought you couldn’t paint just because you didn’t have art up in the museums.

And you understood it to some extent. You had a lot of hobbies, some of which you didn’t take as seriously as others, but everything that you did was important to you. Every word that left your mouth was a true statement that you honestly thought needed to be heard.

Just because they couldn’t see that didn’t mean they had the right to belittle you the way that they always did. And that was what made the niceness seem so fake.

You got so tired of being belittled by everyone that you worked harder to be taken seriously, so when you were finally taken seriously by the people around you, it just... Didn’t seem real because you were so used to not being taken seriously.

And then all of a sudden you were supposed to accept everyone treating you like you were some sort of hero?

It didn’t make sense it didn’t add up in the clusterfuck of a blackhole that your brain was constantly in.

So instead, you just have yourself more reasons to despise yourself and make you feel like truly weren’t worth all the praise and good attention. Which gave you more social anxiety and started the whole thing all over again.

Did anyone actually dislike you for not responding to messages right away? You were sure they didn’t truly mind. Jeongin for instance- You knew he wasn’t really mad at you. He understood you, and he liked being with you in person more than chatting on the phone anyways.

Did that mean that you weren’t going to still worry about it when your mind grew quiet.

“Hey, let’s go get Patbingsu again,” he commented, his fingers intertwining with yours. “I mean I know right now you look like you are legitimately on a walk of shame, but Patbingsu always cures all that ails anyone!”

You smiled and turned your attention to Jeongin as he made a serious attempt to drag you along the sidewalk. While you thought for a moment, maybe he was being too clingy, you quickly dismissed the thought.

You liked it when people were clingy after all. It proved that they liked you, no matter how distant you could be sometimes.

“Okay, Patbingsu,” you agreed. “Even though it’s too cold for it.”

Jeongin beamed at you and just before he dragged you back along you made sure you did one thing:

Hey, I miss you already

And then you made sure to properly reprimand Jeongin for his clear Patbingsu problem on the way to the little shop he was taking you to this time.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

[versighss]

Winter Wrap-Up

On February 2nd, thousands gathered in the small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to watch the famed groundhog Punxsutawney Phil arise from his hole only to see his own shadow and scurry back in to the ground. According to folklore this can only mean one thing, six more weeks of winter. I, however, don’t believe in the predictions of famous rodents and apparently neither does the weather in South Texas. Not only have we welcomed weeks of 70-80 degree weather, we’ve also seen the rise of our beloved bluebonnets along highways and roadways around the city. With the onslaught of an early Spring comes the conclusion of a mild Winter, and so we have reached the Winter wrap-up, a summary of what I’ve been listening to this season and a review of a few of my favorite Winter releases.

To see a full playlist of what I’ve been listening to this Winter, click here, or click the title under each album cover for a direct link to my favorite releases from the last three months.

The Hamilton Mixtape - Various Artists

Unless you happen to have been living under a rock for the last few months, you have probably heard of the smash hit musical Hamilton or at least of the plays creator, Lin Manuel-Miranda. Lucky for me I have been living above ground and have fully immersed myself in the world of Hamilton and in the kind, inspiring words of Pulitzer Prize winner, Lin Manuel-Miranda. Being a long time fan of musical theater I have found myself right at home amongst Hamilton fans and, like many, I was all too excited when the Hamilton mixtape dropped at the beginning of December. The Hamilton Mixtape features covers from the hit musical done by your favorite top 40 artists such as, Nas, Usher, Sia, Kelly Clarkson, and even long-time Hamilton supporter Jimmy Fallon. The Hamilton Mixtape is one of my favorite Winter releases because it shows just how poignant the story of founding father Alexander Hamilton can be in our current political state. From fun and beat fueled hits like My Shot to the heart-wrenching ballads of It’s Quiet Uptown and Dear Theodosia, The Hamilton Mixtape has got you covered in the feels department. Any fan of Hamilton, of musical theater, or hell just a fan of good music could agree that this album is a necessity for your Winter playlists.

Youth is Only Ever Fun in Retrospect - Sundara Karma

I was first turned on to this UK band by a Twitter follower of mine from Peru. After sending out an open invitation for music requests the unique name “Sundara Karma” immediately caught my eye. I searched them up on Spotify and was pleased to find they had just released their debut full length album. I was hooked from the first song on the album, A Young Understanding, an upbeat tune about the knowledge and experiences of youth which continues to be one of my favorite songs on the album. As I usually do when I find a new band I quickly searched their album on my favorite review site, albumoftheyear.org, and found a treasure trove of reviews and fun interviews with the band. With their poetic and intricate lyrics and not quite beach rock vibes they have been heralded by Clash as the front-runners of a new “intelligent indie” scene and I truly couldn’t think of a better way to describe them. Sundara Karma are fresh and young and their freshman album reflects exactly that, giving a smart twist to the adolescent experience so often attempted to capture in music. 

Zombies on Broadway - Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness

Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness is the most recent project of piano rocker Andrew McMahon, formerly of bands Something Corporate and Jack’s Mannequin. I’ve been a long time fan of McMahon and I was more than a little excited to here this follow up to his 2014 self-titled album. In this sophomore release Andrew McMahon has hit the pop indie nail on the head, with the first single Fire Escape quickly taking over the alternative airwaves. Zombies on Broadway combines indie piano rock dance electronica and it really works. It’s awesome to watch an artist like Andrew McMahon continue to refine his craft and find something that hits with catchy melodies guaranteed to stay with you beyond your drive home. 

***HONORABLE MENTION*** Landmark - Hippo Campus This album came out too recently for me to write a real opinion on it but I’ve listened like 3 times now and it’s a banger. This one is sure to carry over into Spring.

What are you listening to this season? Are there any releases you think I missed that I should know about? Tweet me or reblog and add your suggestions and let me know!!!

[thefiller]

15 thoughts after 30 NBA games

By: Philip Rolz Dec 18, 2017

The season is still very young and some of the things we’ve seen so far may excite or worry some fans, but it’s merely a mirage (in some cases). If LeBron James has taught us anything, it’s that the regular season isn’t really that important (specially the first couple of months).

Having said that, It’s been a really exciting NBA Season so far and I’ve come across 30 facts, things, surprises, letdowns, doubts and treats that I’m gonna share in no particular order.

Serge Ibaka is just “Average”

This hasn’t been easy for me, since I’ve been rooting for him since his early days in OKC and have always thought he’s the future of the NBA. I mean a big athletic power forward/center that can dribble, pass, shoot mid range and long range who’s also is a rim protecting force of nature with great rebounding abilities. Sounds like someone with the talents of an Anthony Davis or a Kristaps Porzingis right?  I thought so, too. And so did Sam Presti when he had to choose between James Harden and Serge Ibaka (well, he didn’t HAVE to choose between them but that’s another story) and wound up trading Harden for a bag of potato chips.

Since his OKC days he’s been traded twice in a very short time ending up in a Raptors team loaded with young big men. Ibaka at 28 years old is averaging 13.2 points per game, 5.5 rebounds per game, 1.4 blocks per game. While his scoring is not bad, his rebounding and shot blocking have severely dropped. But what’s most concerning is the fact that we haven’t even talked about him as an instrumental part of the Raptors success this year. And that’s because, sadly, Serge Ibaka is now an average NBA big man. Dang!

Injuries ☹️

Here we go again! Let’s debate whether the 82 game regular season is just too long. Personally, I’ve always thought it’s ridiculous to think that playing too many games is the actual reason players have these awful, gut-wrenching injuries that happen because of freak accidents. But it’s been a season in which two of last year’s front runners for MVP (Kawhi Leonard and Isaiah Thomas) are not playing because of injury. Then there’s Gordon Hayward, Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley, Zach Lavine, Nikola Jokic and apparently the entire Clippers roster. So yeah, maybe 82 is too many. We need all these players out there to keep the league competitive and entertaining. Let’s just pray to the basketball gods that nobody else goes down. I hate the “what if” after teams win or lose because of injuries.

Houston, We Have a Problem Real Shot!

“James Harden and Chris Paul won’t be able to play together” said everyone back in July. Boy have they proved us wrong, though. 

Houston has the best record in the league and these two superstars have clicked like nobody expected them to. James Harden thrived last year as he switched to the PG role averaging a league leading 11 assists per game and controlling the basketball most of the time, so bringing Chris Paul in the mix never really made sense, since he’s also a pass first point guard who usually has to have the ball in his hands. But everything’s possible in a D’Antoni offense that seems to be a very free spirited, free minded system that allows these talented dudes to just... play.

There’s some doubt, however. James Harden AND Chris Paul have a history of choking in the playoffs. And as much as D’Antoni’s offense always seems to be the recipe for success, he’s really never taken his high scoring teams very far in the playoffs. But hey, maybe this year, right? And there’s always the LeBron James to the Rockets rumor.

It seems hard to out-shoot the Warriors but this roster already beat them once this year. We’re all really looking forward to the next game in January 2018.

The Loaded Gun with the Faulty Trigger

Defensively they’re good. Offensively they’re at the bottom of the league. I certainly never expected that before the season started. And let’s be clear, it really does take time for a team with new pieces to start building that chemistry. So I won’t panic just yet. But something seems a little off with this team. Is it Carmelo Anthony? He’s no longer the superstar he once was, he’s now a really good NBA scorer. On paper he seems to be a good fit along two superstars such as Westbrook and George. It may be time to explore the idea of him coming off the bench. Playing the same amount of minutes and maybe even finishing games, but not starting. Is it Billy Donovan? I’m not sure. I’d hate for him to lose his job after doing a really good job the last couple of seasons with the franchise and the outstanding defensive job he’s accomplished this year. Offensively he needs to work it out, and I think it must be the most difficult job in the world trying to coach a guy like Westbrook.  Is it Paul George? I’m pretty sure he’s not. He’s playing like the alpha dog both offensively and defensively and his overall attitude is A+. Is it Westbrook? I hate to admit that this rough start might be all on the reigning MVP and face of the franchise. I want to make it clear that I LOVE this guy and that I find him the most entertaining player in the whole league. But this year has been different, mainly because it seems like he’s completely disengaged. Last season, his triple double averages were a reflection of his relentless passion to carry the whole team on his back and lead them to the playoffs. I get the feeling he’s settled down a bit with the addition of two unbelievable players and that desire to be the man seems to have dimmed a little. He needs to forget about triple doubles or numbers and averages, just give him the ball on every single possession and try to be more of a playmaker, because at the end of the day, what this team needs to click offensively is a floor general.   

Rookie Game Strong

This class was compared to the rookie classes of 2003, 1996 and other greats, but in reality we really don’t know how good these kids will be.  After 30 games I’m really impressed with all the talent, potential and the NBA-ready rooks that are already making a big impact. Dennis Smith, Jr. He’s the most explosive young PG in the league that’ll probably develop into NBA elite under the tutelage of the great and always underrated Rick Carlisle.

Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma Some players develop earlier than others, which seems to be the case with Kuzma and his stellar play. Lonzo will get there eventually, once his confidence gets stronger. Don’t call him a bust, you’ll bite your tongue in a couple of years. Donovan Mitchell Absolute steal of the draft! Go get them buckets young stud. Jayson Tatum Hats off to Danny Ainge for striking that draft day deal that gave them another draft pick next year AND a long, athletic, hard working player that’ll make this Celtic franchise good for a long long time.    Ben Simmons Ok, I’m also a little iffy on the whole “he’s still a rookie, ‘cause he hasn’t played a game” thing, but if in fact Ben Simmons is considered part of this 2016-2017 rookie class, it might just become the best rookie class ever. Keep your eyes on this guy. Future face of the league, no doubt. Markelle Fultz? OK, we still haven’t seen if he’s gonna be the real deal just yet. Here’s to hoping. Other rookies to keep an eye on: De’Aaron Fox, Frank Ntilikina, Jordan Bell, John Collins

Playoff Boogie?

It’s hard to believe DeMarcus Cousins has never been to the playoffs... ever. Yeah! I can’t believe a big man with his talents has never showcased his skill-set in a playoff series or been tested given his personality, temper and overall attitude in such a tense and competitive environment. 

That “basketball injustice” could come to an end this year (hopefully) as the New Orleans Pelicans sit on the 6th spot in a tough Western Conference. There’s still a very long road ahead, but the fact that health has not been an issue this year and having Rondo playing pretty decent basketball recently is a great sign. We deserve playoff Boogie, so let’s just hope it continues to go well for the Pels.

#PlayoffBoogie 

R.I.P. and Grind

All good things come to an end, so unfortunately it’s time to move on from that hard nosed, tough group of soldiers that made the Memphis franchise relevant. Grit-and-grind will always be a part of the league and will always be an example of how hard work and an established culture and style of play will make you successful.     Now what? Do you blow it up? Do you rebuild around Conley and Gasol? This franchise has a lot of questions they need to address. In the meantime this year will be a disaster, mainly because they need a new identity. There’s no way you can replace all the key “grit-and-grind” pieces they’ve lost. Coach Fizzdale seemed like a great fit for the long road yet the real reasons for him getting fired are and will forever be unknown. Was it Gasol? Who knows? All we know is that it was fun to watch a team play their hearts out for so long. (Coach Fizz to OKC, maybe?)

Can the NBA Universally Retire #23 already?

This is something I’ve thought about for years! I honestly think LeBron’s legacy might never surpass the greatest of Michael Jordan’s, mainly because he aspired to be like him by wearing his number and didn’t really created his own identity (might not be the case in Miami wearing #6). But let’s not get into the whole debate on whether LeBron or Kobe or whoever is the G.O.A.T., let’s just focus on how MJ put basketball and more specifically the NBA on the map for every single person on planet earth. His style, his demeanor, his passion was otherworldly and changed the game forever. Was Kobe’s or LeBron’s impact better or worse? Not really important. The fact is Jordan was first. LeBron James would like to see any NBA player who wears No. 23 to choose another number as homage to Michael Jordan, stating he is willing to initiate the movement.  The NBA should be forever grateful for what Jordan did for the game of basketball and retiring his number is long overdue.

LeBron = MVP

I’m not the biggest fan of LeBron’s attitude towards the media, fans, rivals and the fact the we keep hearing how he might bounce and join another team full of superstars or that he constantly needs more support in his current team. But maybe this is just the way it works now with social media. Maybe the former greats were exactly the same or even worse but there wasn’t a quick and global platform for them to speak out. So maybe we’re being too hard on the best player in the world. 

There shouldn’t be any debate on whether Durant, Curry, Harden or anyone else is better than the King. He really is on another level and (spoiler alert) will go to the Finals yet again this year. So love him or hate him, just enjoy his greatness while you can.

30 games in, he’s the MVP even if he (yet again) doesn’t get a trophy validating it at the end of the season.

Instagram Practice Videos

This was a huge thing in the offseason, making Marcus Smart look like Steph Curry hitting 50 feet jumpers like they were free throws and of course brought us the birth of “Hoodie Melo”, who seemed to be a better, more athletic version of New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony.

Just like everything on social media, it looks so much better than what it really is. So if you happen to catch a Raymond Felton Instagram practive video in the near future: he’s didn’t lose a bunch of pounds and he will not have a breakout season scoring 20+ PPG.

They’re pretty fun to watch, though.

Brooklyn’s Lottery Picks

Everybody’s familiar with the Nets’ questionable trades that made them miss out on every draft in the past years. These very iffy decisions led to the Brooklyn Nets to become known as the worst team in the league. OK, maybe the Sixers were worse, but they’ve become a playoff team (or at least it seems that way) and the Nets are still the Nets. The good thing about hitting rock bottom is there's no place to go but up. So GM Sean Marks has done a pretty good job at acquiring former lottery picks that somehow didn’t work out with other teams. D’Angelo Russell was the 2nd pick back in 2015, Nik Stauskas was the 8th pick back in 2014 and Jahlil Okafor was the 3rd pick back in 2015. Not a bad trio of draft picks to work around and try to develop along with a very interesting roster of other young talent and very underrated Kenny Atkinson as the head coach.  If they in fact find themselves playing for a playoff spot and having amazing individual performances, this would make them an unbelievable feel good story. Or it could just be a failed experiment like Anthony Bennett.  

Dress Code? LOL

This might sound like an old man rant butwhat the heck is going on with these ridiculous outfits? I mean I remember when the NBA implemented a dress code because players (mainly Allen Iverson) where dressed too, hum, “hip-hop” I guess would be the term. 

I always thought it was a stupid thing to impose on players but when you work in a multi-million dollar company there is such a thing as a dress code, and not abiding by it should result in a fine or you could just get fired.

So I’m pretty sure that everytime David Stern watches these “fashionista” players enter the arena he gets a bad case of diarrhea. Adam Silver seems much cooler about the dress code thing, so go ahead and keep wearing your man dresses and costumes while you can. 

Victor Ol-Star-dipo

I hate to admit this as a Magic fan, but Victor Oladipo is a bonafied All-Star.   One of the most amazing stories this season is how good the Pacers have been, when everybody criticized the Pacers’ deal to send Paul George to OKC and getting the underachieving Oladipo and Sabonis for a legitimate superstar. My best guess is that this fueled them both into becoming key pieces in the great start the Pacers have had so far. Oladipo is a Hoosier at heart so this feels like the ideal situation for him to thrive and surprise everybody in the NBA, by hopefully making the playoffs, after most experts had them at the bottom of the league fighting for a chance to get a top draft pick. Part of Oladipo’s success has to do with the great coaching of Nate McMillan, and maybe even those very sharp new uniforms they’re rocking this year.   

Derrick Rose no more

One of the saddest stories this season is the same story we’ve heard many times and not really a surprising one, either. Cleveland seemed like the ideal situation for D-Rose to have a limited role and contribute to a winning team along the best player in the NBA right now and a loaded bench. But very early on, Rose got injured yet again and has really taken a toll psychologically to the point his future in the NBA has been questioned not only by everybody in the league but by himself as well. It’s still not over, but it certainly feels that way. Even if he gets healthy Isaiah Thomas should return relatively soon and with a team as deep as the Cavs, many wonder what D-Rose role would be. So if in fact this is the last we’ve seen of Derrick Rose, it was an absolute pleasure watching this one of a kind superstar that was forced to leave the game way too early.

Free Throws Matter

Fundamentals are boring, but they win games as good free throw shooting teams seem to prove again and again. Bad free throw shooters are liabilities at the end of games, going back to the Shaquille O’Neal days. Nowadays DeAndre Jordan, Andre Roberson, Dwight Howard and others have become historically bad at shooting free throws.

One of the most uplifting stories this season is the fact that the Pistons have become a pretty good team again (good job SVG) and that Andre Drummond, playing a key role in his team’s success, has become a much improved free throw shooter. The secret is a good shooting form and practice, practice, practice. So if Drummond was able to improve from being an embarrassing 38% shooter to a not that terrible 61% shooter, anyone can get better.