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flauntpage · 6 years

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The Outlet Pass: The All-Star Game Deserves Some Fresh Blood

First-Time All-Stars!

For a few reasons, both of this year’s All-Star teams could be littered with more than a few new faces. In each conference, several household names (Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, Klay Thompson, Kyle Lowry, Al Horford, Victor Oladipo, and Draymond Green) are either hurt, enduring down years, or both. Some of them will coast off name recognition and fundamental respect to make it over more deserving players, but some won’t. Here are a few candidates that could/should break through for the first time in their career.

Bet-Your-Life Locks: Nikola Jokic

Denver’s lack of playoff experience in key areas has me skeptical about their legitimate chops as a contender, but that’s not what this is about! Jokic is an MVP candidate on a team that has the best record in the Western Conference. He’s a starving hippopotamus on the block and probably the smartest, boldest passer his position has seen in 30 years. Congratulations, Joker! You’re one of the most obvious All-Stars in the entire league!

If they don’t qualify it’s OK to say they got robbed: Tobias Harris, Nikola Vucevic, Ben Simmons, Khris Middleton

Harris is on a quality playoff team, averaging 21.1 points and 8.0 boards with near 50/40/90 shooting splits. Duh.

Vucevic is (still) a hipster’s MVP candidate. I’d take him over every center in the East, except Embiid.

Simmons is a bullet train whose size, speed, and vision couple with a non-existent jump shot to make him the most polarizing and unique player in the league. He isn’t better than Jimmy Butler, but has more responsibility in Philly’s offense and was built to collect triple-doubles. It’ll be fascinating to see if he makes it or not.

Middleton is the second-best player on the NBA’s best team, but that’s less impressive than it sounds. Milwaukee reminds me of the 2011 Dallas Mavericks, with Giannis as Dirk and then everyone else existing as a perfect supplementary fit. Middleton is one of the league’s unsung tough-shot-makers, but he also has a lower True Shooting percentage than last year despite jacking up way more threes. It’s also really hard to only choose one All-Star from a team that’s been so impressive.

Crucial pieces on good teams who deserve recognition: Pascal Siakam, Marcus Morris, JJ Redick, Domas Sabonis

Siakam is the third-best player on a title contender but on some nights that feels like an insult. The way he races up the floor throws the entire sport into a different frontier. Spicy P forever.

Morris has the ninth-highest True Shooting percentage in the league and helped save Boston’s season. In 19 games as a starter he’s comfortably in the 50/40/90 club and probably deserves an invite (at the very least) to the three-point shootout. What a ridiculous contract year for Morris.

Here are far too many words about Redick’s case.

Sabonis might low-low-low-key be Indiana’s best player. He’s shooting 74 percent at the rim, is one of the five best passers at his position, and in big minutes holds his own on the defensive end.

Too soon?: Luka Doncic, De’Aaron Fox

These are two of the most enjoyable spectacles in the NBA who’re virtually guaranteed to play in at least half a dozen All-Star games before they retire. Their numbers are terrific and they play for OK teams that have overachieved primarily because nobody expected either Doncic or Fox to be this good. Coming up with a case against them isn’t particularly fun, but unless Sacramento or Dallas goes on a winning streak that stabilizes their playoff status, actually playing in the All-Star game this soon won’t be easy.

(An honorable mention goes to Devin Booker, who’s 22 years old, has the third-highest usage rate in the league, and is averaging 25 points per game. Sadly, injuries and his team’s terrible record have kept him from serious consideration.)

An unofficial albeit acceptable lifetime achievement award: Mike Conley

Memphis’s recent slide has been a painful kidney punch to Conley’s All-Star campaign. But I’d still like to pretend he can be Martin Scorsese, with his value to the Grizzlies standing in as The Departed. The team is wet trash when he sits and 17.7 points per 100 possessions better when he plays; his partnership with Marc Gasol is still roughing up everyone else for the 276th season in a row, and Conley is fifth in Real Plus-Minus among all point guards. But Memphis’s offense isn’t particularly great when he’s on the floor and some of that’s because he isn’t finishing at the rim or drilling pull-up threes like he used to. He isn’t a six-foot roman candle like so many others at his position. I don’t really care. The man deserves this.

Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid’s Awkward Fit, Summed Up in One Play

Fair or not, the on and off-court chemistry between Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid is one of those relentlessly fascinating storylines that won’t disappear until A) the Philadelphia 76ers make the Finals, or B) one of them—most likely Simmons—gets traded.

The good news for Philly is they outscore opponents by nearly six points per 100 possessions when Embiid and Simmons share the floor. The bad news is that number was almost three times as high last year, and the Sixers have been better this season when Embiid is on the court without Simmons, which wasn’t the case during the 2017-18 season.

What’s most glaring when you watch them co-exist is how unusual it feels whenever one directly complements the other. Sure, Simmons will push in transition, cause panic, and create advantageous mismatches that everyone enjoys. And Embiid can consistently draw two defenders on the block then find Simmons on a duck in, or launch him towards the rim by screening his man around half-court. But they also get in each other’s way with a higher frequency than any two franchise players should, and that’s before Jimmy Butler even enters the equation. Simmons can’t space the floor and Embiid sort of can but asking him to do so on a regular basis is like buying a new iPad because you need a nightlight in your bathroom.

What’s most concerning, though, is how the evolution of their two-man game has truly become an escalator to nowhere, particularly when they run a snug pick-and-roll. This action is a disaster almost every time they run it. It’s predictable (opponents switch every single time) and unnecessarily congests the floor.

It’s not like the Sixers run this action a ton (by my count it didn’t occur once in their recent back-to-back against the Wizards), but it’s a micro issue that speaks to their macro dilemma. The best way to mitigate Simmons’s greatest flaw (one that matters a lot more in the playoffs than the regular season) is to play him as a point center, which is difficult on a team that also employs Embiid. Let Simmons push the ball in transition and post up, but also utilize his size, physicality, and speed by making him an unstoppable roll man, someone who can live above the rim and pick you apart as a playmaker on the move. Again, that’s hard to do with Embiid on the floor:

One radical solution may be to make Embiid the ball-handler. It won’t work against every team, but with the floor spaced it could be an opportunity to attack switches in an unorthodox way. I’m not sure if Embiid can/should assume this type of responsibility, but it’s better to try every option than concede too soon and do something rash (for what it’s worth, I wouldn’t be shocked if the Sixers sold high on Simmons before his next contract kicks in).

Philadelphia is very good as is, but “very good” isn’t what you punt four years away for. Most teams would be thrilled to have talents like Embiid and Simmons on their roster. Fit be damned, the rest will figure itself out, yada yada yada. But we’ve yet to see these two lift each other in a way that should make anyone think they can claw through two playoff rounds, let alone win a championship. Simmons doesn’t need a jumper to be an All-Star-caliber force, but to compete at the highest level, in a half-court setting, on the same team as a high-usage, low-post big? Of course he does. Brett Brown has the hardest job in the business.

Should Orlando Have Buyer’s Remorse With Aaron Gordon?

Let me preface this section by saying my expectations for Aaron Gordon are borderline irrational, and have been that way ever since he entered the league. A 23-year-old who should harness his multiple position-less powers to become Shawn Marion 3.0 crossed with an entire Cirque du Soleil troupe, Gordon has not been that. And the first year of his $84 million contract has been somewhat of a dud. His points, rebounds, usage, free-throw rate, and True Shooting percentage are all down from a year ago, and the Orlando Magic have to be wondering if the leap his physical advantages promise will ever come.

The buffet of options Gordon’s athleticism provides tend to have a negative effect. There’s decision fatigue. He’ll hijack entire possessions behaving like the star he’s convinced himself he already is, then jack up a terrible shot. (Put another way, Gordon will expend too much energy figuring out what he should be doing instead of doing it.)

The volume isn’t high, but on shots where he holds the ball for at least six seconds Gordon is only shooting 31 percent. That’s atrocious. And on plays where he’s the first option, Gordon will often force the issue before he reads the defense. Assists are slightly up, but many come off swing passes in the flow of Orlando’s offense; it’s too early to claim he’s grown in this area.

Now, all that said, Gordon is perfectly fine when functioning in a structured environment. Be it careening into the paint off a dribble handoff or bullying a switch in the post, then surveying the court for cutters and shooters. He isn’t a dumb player and not everything is his fault; Orlando’s point guard situation has been puke his entire career, he plays a lot of minutes beside guys who’re shooting below 30 percent from deep, and is now on his fifth head coach.

Those are obstacles, but don’t totally absolve Gordon from his failure (thus far) to build on the jump he made last year. The Magic probably won’t make the playoffs again, and some of that has to fall on Gordon. (Vucevic’s All-Star-caliber season isn’t enough!) Again, I’m irrationally high on Gordon and still feel he can be a net-positive player on a good team. But he needs boundaries, a tighter shot selection, and more talent around him to be the best version of whatever it is he can be. It’s increasingly doubtful that ever happens in Orlando.

The Adaptability of the Brooklyn Nets

Who would’ve thought after Caris LeVert’s gruesome injury that the Brooklyn Nets would become the most unflappable team in the entire league? They’re 15-14 since then, with an offense and defense that are about league average. That doesn’t sound impressive but in case you skipped over the first sentence in this section we’re talking about the Brooklyn Nets! It’s ridiculously impressive!

Their net rating in the past month (15 games!) is higher than Philadelphia, Denver, and Toronto. Their depth is startling. Their talent is dramatically overlooked. Their coaching is beyond respectable. Instead of excuses, whenever there’s an injury (be it to Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, DeMarre Carroll, Allen Crabbe, LeVert, whoever) Kenny Atkinson simply adjusts his rotation in a way that brainwashes you into thinking the team just got better.

D’Angelo Russell looks like an All-Star. Spencer Dinwiddie is quietly a step-back devil. Jarrett Allen has emerged as a critical offensive weapon and projects to contend for Defensive Player of the Year at some point in his career. Rodions Kurucs has a 7’7” wingspan, size 20 shoe, and is often asked to defend the other team’s primary ball-handler, which he does without withering.

The Russell, Dinwiddie, Shabazz Napier lineups we’ve recently seen are a tornado, and Kenneth Faried (who’s completely out of rhythm but also shooting corner threes) is an overqualified 15th man. Also, veterans like Jared Dudley and Steady Ed Davis are here doing positive things, while Joe Harris just drilled nine threes since you clicked on this column.

Brooklyn’s upcoming schedule is a rollercoaster, with the Raptors, Celtics, and Rockets followed by Magic, Kings, Magic, and Knicks, right before another game against...the Celtics. But this team appears to have found itself on both ends. It’s resilient, poised, intelligent, and really hard to guard. What happens when LeVert returns should be interesting, and if he looks like the All-Star he was before the injury none of the Eastern Conference’s top-four teams will particularly enjoy going up against them in the first round.

But this feel-good surge impacts the long-term. Last month, Atkinson was on the block and a top-10 draft pick felt certain. That's no longer the case. Dinwiddie has already been locked into a team-friendly deal, but so many of the veterans are set to hit unrestricted free agency, and Russell will want a massive pay raise. It’s possible they dip out of the playoff picture and land a lottery pick—they’re only 2.0 games up on the ninth place Detroit Pistons—but that feels unlikely.

Will the momentum behind a reputable playoff showing be enough to convince a marquee free agent that Brooklyn is right for him? If not, do they hope Russell receives no outlandish offer sheets and roll it back with everyone onboard as a tradable asset? The Nets were bad for so long that the joy they’re currently going through overshadows those important questions. Until then, who cares. This team has been super fun.

The Outlet Pass: The All-Star Game Deserves Some Fresh Blood published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

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leehaws · 6 years

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The Outlet Pass: The All-Star Game Deserves Some Fresh Blood

First-Time All-Stars!

Bet-Your-Life Locks: Nikola Jokic

If they don’t qualify it’s OK to say they got robbed: Tobias Harris, Nikola Vucevic, Ben Simmons, Khris Middleton

Harris is on a quality playoff team, averaging 21.1 points and 8.0 boards with near 50/40/90 shooting splits. Duh.

Vucevic is (still) a hipster’s MVP candidate. I’d take him over every center in the East, except Embiid.

Crucial pieces on good teams who deserve recognition: Pascal Siakam, Marcus Morris, JJ Redick, Domas Sabonis

Siakam is the third-best player on a title contender but on some nights that feels like an insult. The way he races up the floor throws the entire sport into a different frontier. Spicy P forever.

https://sports.vice.com/en_us/embed/article/pa5ndk/jj-redick-philadelphia-76ers-all-star-candidate?utm_source=stylizedembed_sports.vice.com&utm_campaign=mby8jb&site=sports

Here are far too many words about Redick’s case.

Too soon?: Luka Doncic, De’Aaron Fox

An unofficial albeit acceptable lifetime achievement award: Mike Conley

Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid’s Awkward Fit, Summed Up in One Play

Should Orlando Have Buyer’s Remorse With Aaron Gordon?

The Adaptability of the Brooklyn Nets

Brooklyn’s upcoming schedule is a rollercoaster, with the Raptors, Celtics, and Rockets followed by Magic, Kings, Magic, and Knicks, right before another game against…the Celtics. But this team appears to have found itself on both ends. It’s resilient, poised, intelligent, and really hard to guard. What happens when LeVert returns should be interesting, and if he looks like the All-Star he was before the injury none of the Eastern Conference’s top-four teams will particularly enjoy going up against them in the first round.

But this feel-good surge impacts the long-term. Last month, Atkinson was on the block and a top-10 draft pick felt certain. That’s no longer the case. Dinwiddie has already been locked into a team-friendly deal, but so many of the veterans are set to hit unrestricted free agency, and Russell will want a massive pay raise. It’s possible they dip out of the playoff picture and land a lottery pick—they’re only 2.0 games up on the ninth place Detroit Pistons—but that feels unlikely.

The Outlet Pass: The All-Star Game Deserves Some Fresh Blood syndicated from https://justinbetreviews.wordpress.com/

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stagesofabreakup · 7 years

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Stages of a Breakup: Week 48

1. Whoops you did Monday on the end of last week

2. It’s Tuesday now!

3. Who cares

4. Wake up earlyish

5. See a text from the girl moving back into your/her room about when you’re moving out

6. It triggers some stress in you

7. You ask her if she wants the window treatments you bought

8. She doesn’t

9. This is more stress

10. Check social media

11. This turns out to be a horrible mistake because while you are casually scrolling through Instagrams, clicking away, you go to a very RANDOM and private Insta you thought only you followed, it’s a stripper in Miami who likes astrology and also designs clothes so her posts are all over the place but you love it

12. She did these memes of Horoscope Starter Packs

13. You click the Aries one bc you gotta see

14. YOUR EX-BOYFRIEND HAS COMMENTED ON IT

15. ??????????

16. HIS NEW GIRLFRIEND REPLIED TO HIS COMMENT???????

17. It’s honestly too much for you

18. Because this is a safe space

19. How did he even find it

20. Does she follow and showed it to him????

21. Were they gramming together??????

22. The thought of that bursts your heart

23. Bring 1,173 dollars in cash to a Chase bank

24. Deposit it, get checks-your roommate asked for 2 rents worth now

25. Something is wrong about the rent but you’ve decided it doesn’t matter

26. Go to the gym

27. Work out but sadly

28. Your phone freaks out and won’t respond to touch

29. You get VERY nervous

30. It fixes itself? But is probably still dying

31. Go to a beauty supply store

32. Buy a bedazzled baseball hat that says, “Boss” in fake jewels, purple mirror nail polish and nail gems—for Mardi Gras

33. Go to work

34. Eat 2 halves of leftover doughnuts

35. Still good

36. Listen in disgust while two people bond over Rick & Morty

37. Get two groups that don’t tip but are loud and boisterous and annoying

38. Get one group that does tip

39. Feel blahhhhhhhhhhh all damn DAY

40. Get annoyed at one manager who does not understand how to communicate thoughts

41. Stay an hour past when you were supposed to leave, mopping

42. Almost choke on some seasoned French fries

43. Walk to the train

44. Get a text from the guy (you were talking to a while ago then realized he was seeing someone else) asking if you’re mad at him

45. You reply no

46. But really-it’s not that you’re mad at him you just realized you were putting an unfair emphasis on his interactions with you and you don’t want to be texting him at 3:00am anymore

47. Wonder if you should tell him this

48. Wonder if you should message your ex-boyfriend and tell him it’s rude he didn’t tell you he was dating someone when he knew you would see it and have to deal

49. Drink a beer

50. Pay your roommate two months rent which is the most money you’ve ever written a check for

51. Accidentally break a plate

52. Eat the world’s worst quesadilla

53. FIND WORSE THINGS ON INSTAGRAM

54. Your ex-bf and his new gf went on a date to Applebee’s and they both uploaded matching instagrams and he captioned his “Applebae’s”

55. Which is objectively terrible and disgusting

56. You remember/realize that in the two years of dating neither of you ever posted a ‘couples’ photo, that’s just the two of you together

57. She already is saying “I love you” online and he’s “loving” (the love react on fb) the comments

58. It’s too much

59. How do you stop caring??? How do people stop that?

60. Talk with a friend on the phone a little about it

61. Laugh

62. Feel kinda better

63. A girl you met a few nights ago messaged you her fire ritual so maybe you’ll do one of those

64. To cleanse

65. Send a friend 2 dollars online for a sick button

66. Keep looking at the instagrams over and over again like visual self-flagellation

67. Wish that you had a “I’m happy and loved!” picture to post

68. Remember that he unfollowed you on Instagram anyway so it wouldn’t matter

69. Feel sad & out of control

70. Put on The Patriot

71. Decide you need to take a shower

72. Want to masturbate

73. Cum!!!!!

74. Knock over some bleach and stain the carpet whoops

75. Who leaves a jug of bleach unopened anywhere???

76. Stay up too late

77. Finally turn off The Patriot and try to sleep

78. Wake up at 10:00am

79. Wake up at 3:00pm

80. Stress about stuff more

81. Eat a doughnut and half of a steak sandwich that isn’t yours but is about to go bad and one pack of fruit snacks

82. Start trying to write an email to HR giving feedback they asked for

83. Get a call from your friend Molly!!!!!

84. It’s perfect and she’s perfect

85. Three way call your other friend Gabe!!!!!

86. This is better than Facetime!!!!!

87. Gabe, your least superficial friend in the world, tells you you are objectively prettier than your ex-boyfriend’s new gf and that she is a “step down”

88. Which, whether or not it’s true is sweet and kind thing to say and you love him for saying it and it makes you feel better

89. But still feminism though!!!!!!

90. Watch some more of The Patriot

91. Email the HR email

92. Email about an editing job you’re doing for a friend

93. Maybe connect with 2 new roommates?

94. Try to get ready to go to the gym

95. Post 2 pictures to Instagram your friend Rashida took in your sports bra

96. YOUR EX-BOYFRIEND HAS ALREADY POSTED ANOTHER INSTAGRAM THIS TIME OF HIS DOG THAT YOU MISS SO MUCH and wow Instagram is an emotional battlefield

97. But you feel fortified from talking with one of your best friends who you love

98. Look forward to the gym

99. OMG talk to your friend Charlie on the phone

100. While on the phone with him, sign up for Moviepass AND unfollow your ex-boyfriend on Instagram!!!!!!!!!

101. Two huge things

102. Feel like you have a piece of glass in your foot

103. Because you definitely do

104. Talk to your friend Molly on the phone

105. Start editing your friend Randy’s story

106. The only time you leave the house today it is to go to the gym and immediately come back home

107. Talk to your friend Jade on the phone

108. Finish Moshe Kasher’s book “Kasher in the Rye,” which was incredible

109. Take pictures of all the outfits you have for Mardi Gras, send them to her

110. Buy two items from Torrid for 62 dollars and get them shipped to her house so they’ll be there for Mardi Gras

111. Make an Instagram story starring your jeweled hat that says “BOSS”

112. Watch the first 35 min of Get Him To The Greek

113. Masturbate

114. Shower

115. Sleep

116. Wake up weirdly early for going to bed at 6:00am

117. Feeling rested and alert!!!

118. Ignore the shooting invisible pain in your foot and get dressed to go to the gym!!!

119. Eat a sandwich with cheese that only had a little bit of mold on it

120. Send two emails you’ve been meaning to-one to your old gym in New Orleans asking if you can work out while you’re there and one to a group you’re in about a room for March!

121. Get booked on a show 2 months from now by writing a semi-snarky fb comment!

122. Go to the gym

123. Get annoyed by a weird man who moved your ipod and reminds you “you can’t trust people”

124. But like, the only person you can’t trust is people who try to remind you you can’t trust people

125. Work out

126. Listen to Britney Spear’s first album

127. It has aged well

128. Go into a sneaker store on the way home because you need new sneakers and part of you wants to get rid of all remnants of things your ex-boyfriend was involved in acquiring before you go back so you seem more changed/new/different

129. Try on like 4 pairs of shoes

130. They are ok but too expensive

131. You need a DSW in this bitch

132. Go home

133. Start a new book that’s written by the guy who wrote Election and Little Children (both great movies/you didn’t know one person did both of those)

134. Come home

135. Eat 2 packs of fruit snacks because you don’t want to encounter anyone by going in the kitchen and you hear them in there

136. Look at your phone for a while

137. Your ex-bf’s new gf is truly doing the most and has posted 2 instagrams of them and made a picture of the two of them her profile picture

138. This washes off you like water because you are an evolved being

139. You have also gone through the cleansing ritual of looking through her Instagram with a few choice friends and feeling emotionally safe & superior because you have all concluded that she overdraws her eyebrows which should be a crime

140. Peek out of your apartment to find there are a lot of firefighters in the apt next door and a lot of smoke

141. Worry

142. Breathe in some smoke

143. It’s ok someone just burned some food

144. Get an email from a girl about a place for April—decide you could put your stuff in storage and stay with friends if you needed to for a month

145. Send 3 booking emails to try to get more shows around a date you’re doing in Philly

146. Feel like a real comic/consummate professional

147. Drink a whiskey ginger you made with the shittiest whiskey the world has to offer

148. Your friend Charlie is coming over!

149. Plan to take a shower in the hour it will take him to get to your apartment

150. Sit in one spot until 5 min before he’s supposed to come

151. Text him you’re hopping in

152. He says he’s at your stop

153. You turn off the shower & put clothes back on

154. Wait 20 minutes

155. He got a roast beef sandwich before coming

156. Drink with Charlie!

157. Learn about the Rohingya and the genocide they are facing in Myanmar

158. Talk about more stuff

159. Show him your ex-bf’s new gf

160. He looks her up on some journalist database

161. No arrests

162. You look yourself up

163. It finds this YouTube video from like 8 years ago you forgot you made!!!!

164. You were so pretty????!!

165. Watch many episodes of The Office while Charlie nods in and out

166. He says he’s lonely

167. You tell him he can hold you if he wants for contact

168. You secretly hope he will

169. He says it’s ok

170. Watch more of The Office

171. Take a shower at 3:00am

172. Go to sleep

173. Wake up at 12:00pm

174. Charlie didn’t set an alarm

175. He missed an important Skype call

176. Whoops

177. He leaves

178. Go to the gym

179. Go to work for a short period of time

180. Have some down time, do trick shots with other people you work with

181. Throw (successfully) two axes at a time, two axes in one hand, underhand, and backwards

182. Sweat profusely and turn really red but don’t care because the sense of strength and accomplishment you got is more than worth it

183. Have a really annoying group

184. They don’t tip

185. Buy a 6 pack of Milk Stout and tortilla chips (for the salsa you found unopened on the ground 2 months ago) on your way home

186. Home

187. Get a check for your writing that’s 380.00

188. Freak out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

189. Also get a copy of the magazine it was published in

190. It was so long ago you forgot what you wrote kind of

191. Read it

192. You’re so funny!!!!

193. Call your mom for the first time in more than a month

194. She has company but says she’ll call you back but she’s happy you called

195. Feverishly drink beers and eat chips & salsa

196. Write a fb status about how people in love never make good art

197. She calls back

198. Talk on the phone with her for 4 hours

199. Cry a lot

200. Get past it

201. Have a really good conversation

202. Process some shit

203. Find out that she and your dad are divorced now, it finalized December 1st

204. Cry cry cry

205. She tells you you’re being judgmental about your ex-boyfriend

206. “You’re not in that position anymore”

207. This is interesting and something you haven’t considered

208. Marinate

209. See an apartment listing for 525/month

210. Send out an inquiry about it

211. Your eyes hurt from being open and crying

212. Take a shower

213. Find out Venmo charged you an overdraft fee twice, try to remember to call and get one taken off

214. Try to cut the piece of glass out of your foot with dull scissors

215. It doesn’t really work

216. You’re hungry but you’re doing this not eating after midnight thing

217. Realize your gym closes so fucking early tomorrow you have to get up super early if you wanna go before work

218. Ugh

219. You still haven’t done any more work on editing your friend’s story

220. You know you’re setting a bad impression and he’ll probably never hire you again or recommend you for others

221. You just can’t make yourself focus on it for some reason

222. Feel bad about it

223. You go to New Orleans so soon

224. This 52 week project is almost over

225. What then

226. YOU GOT THE PIECE OF GLASS OUT OF YOUR FOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

227. You’re gonna be fine

228. Find a message from someone who read all the weekly entries of this book you put on a secret tumblr every week in case something happened to the Word doc

229. They said they read it all in one night after looking for things to help with their breakup and that it was very inspirational and relatable

230. You want to cry because that’s so encouraging, you have no idea if anyone will care about any of this it’s just something you needed to do and lots of people have made you feel kind of bad like you’re obsessing or thinking about it too much or prolonging hurt

231. It was nice

232. Stay awake accidentally til 4:00am

233. Get up at 8:30

234. Eat a doughnut

235. Go back to sleep for 25 minutes

236. Go to work looking like shit because you cried for 4 hours on the phone with your mom

237. Work

238. Your friend from college picked the date for her wedding!!!!!! It’s September 29th!!!!

239. Get like 100 bucks in tips

240. Be incredibly frustrated because two different managers snapped at you and one apologized but the other one was right before you left and it was so fucking annoying and you wanted to cry and hit something

241. Leave

242. Rush to the gym

243. Work out for 25 minutes

244. Your butt/back leg muscles are sore/tight today for some reason

245. Wait in line for 20 minutes at the bank to deposit a check

246. Sing softly to oldies with another man for like 10 of those minutes

247. Come home

248. Make a stir fry on the stove like a real person

249. Eat pizza crusts out of the trash, just to remind you where you came from

250. Find the song “Pretty Girl” by Clairo

251. Listen to it multiple times

252. Watch many many episodes of The Office

253. Do NO work on the story you should be editing

254. Drink 1 beer

255. Feel sooooo full

256. Eat the LAST fruit snack package! Out of 80!!!!

257. Find out that Kate Spade made a line of “bridal sneakers”

258. No no no no absolutely not

259. Make an Instagram story about how pimples are really just gifts from the Lord

260. Text your friend Gabe for a min

261. Eat some nutella

262. Want to masturbate and take a shower and also already be asleep

263. Drink water

264. Continue watching The Office & drawing

265. Find a video of a TINY little sweet angel girl covering “Creep” by Radiohead with her dad that is HEARTMELTING

266. Stay up toooo late

267. Wake up two different times from nightmares with abusive people

268. Get up for good

269. Eat a warm doughnut

270. Masturbate

271. Start getting dressed for the gym

272. Do some stuff online

273. Listen to lots of pump up songs

274. Stretch

275. Be sad you can’t go to a Superbowl party because you really need to finish editing this story today, but you also didn’t get invited to any sooooooo

276. Decide you’ll eat chips and salsa while you edit

277. Put 20$ on a Metrocard instead of getting an Unlimited because you’re going to New Orleans in 2 days!!!

278. Gym finally

279. Walk for 80 minutes while watching a HILARIOUS episode of Real Housewives of Atlanta

280. Two grown women get in a fight because one saw the other one park in a handicapped parking spot at the mall which was, “shady”

281. The other one yelled back, “I was hanging out with someone who is handicapped, bitch!”

282. They also did a mediation/séance to “clear the elephants in the room” which was…interesting

283. Text with your friend Gabe and he says some WONDERFUL things that are helpful to you

284. He says (gently) that you need to let go of your ego in all this, and it doesn’t matter what your ex-boyfriend is doing/who he is dating/if he still; has feelings for you because it doesn’t matter in your life anymore, you have moved on without him on your own and have grown so much

285. He also listens while you talk about editing your friends story and you realize why you have been putting it off—you’re worried about offending him by doing too many rewrites/how to address ADDING when editing vs. just rearranging/subtracting

286. Home

287. Get annoyed that one of your roommates & her bf is in the living room, this is the third night in a row someone has been dominating that space with their love and you wanted to write in there!

288. Eat chips & salsa and chicken nuggets in the kitchen with your computer

289. Finally start editing!!!

290. Whew it’s hard and you are tired

291. Wish you could just watch The Office and turn off your brain

292. Do the edits!!!

293. It takes a long time and you decide you won’t charge him for all of them because you made him wait so long

294. Email your rewrite with notes

295. Hope he likes it

296. Watch The Office

297. Paint your nails with this new mirror nail polish you got for Mardi Gras that isn’t what you thought but is still cool

298. It smells terrible though

299. Think about packing?

300. Decide to do it tomorrow

301. You have to work from 3:45-10 and work out at some point though

302. Look up how long it will take you to get to Newark

303. Like an hour and a half

304. Feel free from your conversation with Gabe and really feel like you have turned a corner

305. More Office

306. New Orleans so soon! ! ! !

307. !

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flauntpage · 6 years

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The Outlet Pass: The All-Star Game Deserves Some Fresh Blood

First-Time All-Stars!

Bet-Your-Life Locks: Nikola Jokic

If they don’t qualify it’s OK to say they got robbed: Tobias Harris, Nikola Vucevic, Ben Simmons, Khris Middleton

Harris is on a quality playoff team, averaging 21.1 points and 8.0 boards with near 50/40/90 shooting splits. Duh.

Vucevic is (still) a hipster’s MVP candidate. I’d take him over every center in the East, except Embiid.

Crucial pieces on good teams who deserve recognition: Pascal Siakam, Marcus Morris, JJ Redick, Domas Sabonis

Siakam is the third-best player on a title contender but on some nights that feels like an insult. The way he races up the floor throws the entire sport into a different frontier. Spicy P forever.

Here are far too many words about Redick’s case.

Too soon?: Luka Doncic, De’Aaron Fox

An unofficial albeit acceptable lifetime achievement award: Mike Conley

Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid’s Awkward Fit, Summed Up in One Play

Should Orlando Have Buyer’s Remorse With Aaron Gordon?

The Adaptability of the Brooklyn Nets

The Outlet Pass: The All-Star Game Deserves Some Fresh Blood published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

0 notes

flauntpage · 6 years

Text

The Outlet Pass: The All-Star Game Deserves Some Fresh Blood

First-Time All-Stars!

Bet-Your-Life Locks: Nikola Jokic

If they don’t qualify it’s OK to say they got robbed: Tobias Harris, Nikola Vucevic, Ben Simmons, Khris Middleton

Harris is on a quality playoff team, averaging 21.1 points and 8.0 boards with near 50/40/90 shooting splits. Duh.

Vucevic is (still) a hipster’s MVP candidate. I’d take him over every center in the East, except Embiid.

Crucial pieces on good teams who deserve recognition: Pascal Siakam, Marcus Morris, JJ Redick, Domas Sabonis

Siakam is the third-best player on a title contender but on some nights that feels like an insult. The way he races up the floor throws the entire sport into a different frontier. Spicy P forever.

Here are far too many words about Redick’s case.

Too soon?: Luka Doncic, De’Aaron Fox

An unofficial albeit acceptable lifetime achievement award: Mike Conley

Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid’s Awkward Fit, Summed Up in One Play

Should Orlando Have Buyer’s Remorse With Aaron Gordon?

The Adaptability of the Brooklyn Nets

The Outlet Pass: The All-Star Game Deserves Some Fresh Blood published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

0 notes

flauntpage · 6 years

Text

The Outlet Pass: The All-Star Game Deserves Some Fresh Blood

First-Time All-Stars!

Bet-Your-Life Locks: Nikola Jokic

If they don’t qualify it’s OK to say they got robbed: Tobias Harris, Nikola Vucevic, Ben Simmons, Khris Middleton

Harris is on a quality playoff team, averaging 21.1 points and 8.0 boards with near 50/40/90 shooting splits. Duh.

Vucevic is (still) a hipster’s MVP candidate. I’d take him over every center in the East, except Embiid.

Crucial pieces on good teams who deserve recognition: Pascal Siakam, Marcus Morris, JJ Redick, Domas Sabonis

Siakam is the third-best player on a title contender but on some nights that feels like an insult. The way he races up the floor throws the entire sport into a different frontier. Spicy P forever.

Here are far too many words about Redick’s case.

Too soon?: Luka Doncic, De’Aaron Fox

An unofficial albeit acceptable lifetime achievement award: Mike Conley

Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid’s Awkward Fit, Summed Up in One Play

Should Orlando Have Buyer’s Remorse With Aaron Gordon?

The Adaptability of the Brooklyn Nets

The Outlet Pass: The All-Star Game Deserves Some Fresh Blood published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

0 notes

flauntpage · 7 years

Text

Another Philly Team Besides the Eagles is Playing Really Well: Five Takeaways from Flyers 3, Red Wings 2

Something is happening in the Philadelphia sports landscape and there’s a good chance you aren’t even aware of it.

While you spent your weekend cheering the Eagles on to the Super Bowl and watching repeated videos of fans climbing Crisco-lathered poles, or driving a dune buggy up the Art Museum steps, or watching the fan in the subway run into a pole while chasing a train, something else has been quietly happening in town.

The Flyers have kept winning and have gone from last place in the Metropolitan Division to tied for second place in pretty much a blink of an eye.

And they have done it by winning four in a row, 16-of-22, and playing their best hockey of the season.

Now, I still remain a skeptic. I still think this level of play is unsustainable for the rest of the season, but there are starting to be signs that I could, in fact, be wrong.

And when you look at those signs – some which I, along with many of you fans, have been yelling about for months – the chances of me being wrong about this Flyers team grow more and more with each passing game.

Yes, the Flyers are two consecutive losses away from falling right back into a chase position in the topsy-turvy Metro, which frankly has eight teams of equal ability – all with identifiable strengths and glaring weaknesses. And yes, there’s a lot of hockey left to be played, and the cream will certainly rise to the top as it does every year (in other words, Pittsburgh isn’t going to miss the playoffs after winning consecutive Cups) but when the team is playing this well, there has to be a reason – well, several reasons – and after last night’s 3-2 overtime victory in Detroit, the Flyers third overtime win in the last four games – it’s time to start identifying them and to look at where the Flyers really are at this point.

1. Travis Konecny

This is the obvious jumping off point. After netting his first career overtime winner in Washington Sunday, Konecny provided an encore performance in Detroit Tuesday.

Travis Konecny wins the game in OT once again! pic.twitter.com/T1JT575BpT

— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) January 24, 2018

Consider this; Konecny, who should have been promoted to this top line role much sooner, had 10 points in his first 35 games this season. It looked like he was destined for another lost season playing under Dave Hakstol.

But then something happened. It was just before Christmas, the team was playing Columbus and Hakstol, finally, after hearing the screams from Flyers Twitter and this very blog, put Konecny on the top line with Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier.

In the 13 games since, Konecny has 11 points – including back-to-back game-winners.

The Flyers are proving lethal in 3-on-3 overtime thanks to Konecny’s speed and skill.

The Flyers can attack you with two really good unit’s 3-on-3 that can rival any group in the NHL – There’s Giroux-Jake Voracek and Shayne Gostisbehere – two top five scorers in the NHL and a top-five scoring defenseman.

Then there’s Couturier-Konecny and Ivan Provorov – a top-five goal scorer, a 21-year-old forward with elite speed and the best 20-year-old defenseman in the NHL in a long, long time.

They are a matchup nightmare.

And it’s one of the main reasons the Flyers have vaulted into a tie for second (OK… OK… they’re in third. The NHL tiebreakers are hilariously bad – they are based on potential future outcomes and not events that have already happened – so forget the fact that the Flyers are 2-0-0 against the New Jersey Devils this year. Forget that they have more regulation wins than the Devils. New Jersey has more point-earning potential because of a game-in-hand… so they are ahead of the Flyers… asinine).

As for Konecny, he’s scoring more because he’s playing with better players, rather than on the fourth line, but he’s also learning. He’s learning not to try to do too much. Not to make mistakes with the puck or mistakes of aggressive play that lead to odd man chances the other way.

He’s still got room to grow there for sure, but you are seeing the growth of a young, talented, scoring winger who has potential to be a difference-maker for this team in the future.

2. Agressive penalty kill

There’s no question, the Flyers penalty kill has been the bane of their existence this season. They’ve been ranked at or near the bottom of the league pretty much all year.

But prior to the Rangers game last Tuesday, the Flyers had allowed 10 power play goals in 29 attempts over a span of 10 games, a horrific penalty kill percentage of 65.6 percent.

But in the last five games, the Flyers have allowed just three power play goals on 14 attempts, for a better percentage of 78.6.

It’s still a little too low. You want your penalty kill to really operate in the mid-80s as far as a kill rate is concerned, but the improvement in the past five games can directly be attributed to the team pressuring the puck more when the opposition power play gets set up.

They are chasing the puck carrier. Skating right at him actually. By doing that, they are taking away a shooting lane while simultaneously cutting down on the puck carrier’s time and space to find an open man. It’s pressuring him into a decision he doesn’t want to make.

This is another thing that was blatantly obvious with the Flyers for more than just that 10-game stretch of ineptitude. It doesn’t make sense that it took this long to fix it, but at least they have – and maybe they’ve done so in the nick of time.

3. The Big Three aren’t slowing down

Don’t look now, but the Flyers are the only team in the NHL with three players in the top 20 in the league in scoring.

They were at it again last night. Voracek had a goal and his league-leading 46th assist. Couturier had two assists. Giroux had another assist.

All of them scored a point on this power play goal:

Goal stands! Voracek makes it 2-1! pic.twitter.com/QGjHJUkfTE

— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) January 24, 2018

They are proving that they can continue to score at a torrid pace over a lengthy period of time. Giroux is on pace for 96 points. Voracek is on pace for 94. Couturier is on pace for 84. All three would be career-highs and the best trio of offensive scorers in Philadelphia in 22 years.

4. The Defense

These guys aren’t getting the credit they deserve for the way they are playing. Especially in their own end.

In the last 22 games, the Flyers have allowed, on average, 2.46 goals per game. That’s not eye-popping by any stretch of the imagination, but when you are scoring 3.18 goals per game in that same stretch, it’s a pretty noticeable difference.

The thing is, if you look at the advanced stats, you wouldn’t know how good they’ve been.

With the exception of Radko Gudas and Gostisbehere, the regular six Flyers defensemen are all below 50% with their Corsi For percentage. (Actually, Travis Sanheim was the best of the bunch based on this metric, but he was sent down, finally, to get playing time – but he should be on the ice rather than either Gudas or Brandon Manning).

It’s no secret that Gudas and Gostisbehere like to shoot the puck, so that’s partly a reason why they are above 50%, but overall, the Flyers are just below 50% mostly because they are a little too unselfish at times and don’t shoot the puck enough.

But this group – specifically the top four, have been playing very well. Provorov and Gostisbehere really are a dynamic that most teams don’t match up well with – two guys who are good to excellent offensively who can see the ice well, pass the puck superbly and can get into the areas where they can shoot the puck with authority.

Andrew MacDonald and Robert Hagg have lower possession numbers, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t successful. Neither is much of a puck mover, nor are either offensive-minded, so shots are fewer when they are on the ice, but then again, they are the best shot blockers on the team, bar none. They don’t get rattled, and Hagg is a physical presence and gaining a reputation of being hard to play against.

Gudas and Manning do nothing for me. Although they aren’t dreadful, they do tend to make more mistakes than you would like.

Manning is what he is – in my estimation a No. 7 defenseman. A serviceable guy who can fill in when needed, but who shouldn’t be relied on to carry a workload.

Gudas is something else entirely. I have had complete mood swings about Gudas. Two years ago I thought he was a guy who crossed the line too often and was detrimental.

Last season I thought he toed the line really well and was an effective, consistent, reliable, physical defenseman for an entire season.

Then this season happened.

In his first 17 games, Gudas wracked up 57 penalty minutes – including a 10-game suspension – but at least played with an edge.

Since coming back from his suspension, Gudas has played 19 games… and not taken a penalty.

That’s good from one perspective – it means he’s more disciplined for sure, and staying out of the penalty box always helps the team.

But, the negative is, he seems more passive. His average hits per game is down from 2.25 pre-suspension to two per game post-suspension. That’s not a huge drop off, but it’s definitely noticeable. He also doesn’t seem as aggressive when it comes to taking away time and space. He’s just kind of floating out there – which is why I think his blocked shot average is up post suspension, going form 1.35 per game to 1.63 per game.

Ultimately, I wouldn’t be surprised if Ron Hextall looks for an upgrade for the third pairing on the blue line at an affordable price at the trade deadline if the Flyers are still in contention, which they should be.

As for Sanheim – it’s about damn time they got him back on the ice playing – even if it’s in the NHL. I don’t know what they were thinking by making him sit in the press box basically for a month. That’s not how you develop players, sorry.

I still stand by the notion that I ‘d rather see him work through his issues while playing rather than seeing a less ballsy Gudas or having Manning thrown at me night after night. But, this, at least, gets him back playing hockey and not drinking too much hot cocoa in the press box every night.

5. The Conference isn’t very good

Tampa Bay is the class of the East. Boston is a really good second-best team. After that, numbers 3-11 are all the same. From Washington to Carolina there is an 11-point gap between spots 3 and 11, but it’s even closer than that.

Nobody is going to run away and hide with the Metropolitan Division, so the opportunity is there for the Flyers to hang in the chase, even though I didn’t think they would.

I don’t think they’re going to go 16-5-1 in the next 22 games, but then again, I don’t think anyone else in the division is going to do that either.

As such, the Flyers are going to be in the thick of it, but every divisional matchup will be tight, physical, emotional and intense – and that’s when they have to be ready for it – unlike the Rangers game eight days ago or the Pittsburgh game two weeks before that.

But, they’ve been impressive – finally doing the things they should have been doing all along. And for now, at least, that’s a good thing. But we’ll see if it lasts.

They have two weeks until after the Super Bowl (and maybe an extra week or so if the Eagles win and there is a lengthy sports hangover in Philly).

But then the city’s eyes will be on them. And as it is with hockey, if it’s a good product, the city will stay with them. If not, we’ll be talking about pitchers and catchers, trusting the process, March Madness and NFL free agency before you can even bat an eyelash.

Another Philly Team Besides the Eagles is Playing Really Well: Five Takeaways from Flyers 3, Red Wings 2 published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

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