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h-worksrambles · 2 years

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What your favourite Xeno series game says about you

Xenogears: The elder statespeople of the fandom, you’ve been around since the franchise’s inception. You first played Xenogears as an impressionable teen in the 90′s and thought it was the greatest story you’d ever experienced despite not knowing what in god’s name was going on for most of the runtime (I’ll bet Evangelion is favourite anime too, huh?). Now that you’re an adult with the frame of reference and critical analysis skills to find the substance behind all the weirdness, you love it even more. Disc Two was really not that bad, guys. Part of you wants a remake, but you’re also terrified of how it could get screwed up. You have a visceral hatred of modern day Square-Enix.

Xenosaga Episode One: As far as you’re concerned, the writing took a step down since Soraya Saga stopped being involved in the series. You’ve dug deep into the behind the scenes history of the franchise and so you know that this was the entry in the trilogy that Tetsuya Takahashi and Soraya Saga had the most input on. As such, this game represents to you more than anything what Xenosaga could have been. You have likely read Perfect Works cover to cover multiple times and have written novel length fanfics in your head about what sort of things would have happened in the full six-part story. You’re always very meticulous about checking your email. Xenosaga Episode Two: You tend to avoid internet discourse because you’re so tired of people in the fandom dunking on your fave. You like the battle system more than Episode One because at least the attack animations aren’t thirty seconds long this time. You never fail to remind Xenoblade players that this game did the break system first. THE SECOND MILTIA THEME SLAPS, YOU TROGLODYTES! Jr. is probably your favourite party member and you loved watching him take centre stage and digging into his backstory. You maintain that Albedo is the greatest villain in this entire franchise and you’re probably right. Xenosaga Episode Three: You know this trilogy was cut short, but you were still super impressed with how well this game wrapped it up. You maintain that Yuki Kajiura deserves to be brought up more when discussing the franchise’s music. Godsibb is straight up a better version of Zanza the Divine and you will die on that hill. You either love Shion or absolutely despise her, there’s no middle ground here. But those of you split on Shion can put your differences aside to give a much deserved ‘screw you’ to Kevin Winnicott. You will probably keel over in joy if KOS-MOS gets into Smash, so you make do with sobbbing into your copy of Project X Zone. Xenoblade Chronicles: The zoomer equivalent to the Xenogears fans. Whether you were around for Operation Rainfall, or hopped on later, this was your first Xeno game, and while you certainly like or even love the rest of the series, none of them quite hit for you like this does. The sense of scope never fails to impress you, even on replays and you can’t help but spin the camera all around as you play. You appreciate the ways the sequels have built on this game, but think this entry’s gameplay is still a blast. You still find using the vision system to turn the tables on a tough fight super satisfying. You love the world and story of this game and frequently watch streams or reactions because you can’t get enough of people losing their minds over the plot twists. People assume that you think Melia is best girl but you laugh because you know the greatness of the Heropon transcends all petty waifu or husbando wars. You’re also probably the most meme-y sector on the fandom and have binge watched Theaggyu’s videos god knows how many times. Xenoblade Chronicles X: switchportswitchportswitchportswitchport.... You are one of the poor saps who still owns a Wii U in 2022, and given how the Switch has pretty much lifted its library whole sale, this game is probably the sole reason why at this point. Well that and the eShop. It kills you that this game so rarely comes up alongside the likes of Breath of the Wild or Witcher 3 in discussions of the best open worlds in video games. You’re something of a power gamer and you love to push the class system to its absolute limit to decimate bosses. You watch 1 minute solo videos of Telethia the Endbringer and have to resist the urge to drool. Truthfully, you don’t really try to defend the story from its criticism by the rest of the fans, because the writing in the side quests is where it’s at! You have an instant violent reaction to potatoes. You feel for the Xenosaga fans but you also kind of resent them because at least they got two sequels to their unfinished story. Xenoblade Chronicles 2: The Xeno series has ALWAYS BEEN ANIME so SHUT UP! Unlike the X fans who have just been kind of doing their thing in the corner, you’ve been caught in the crossfire of the 1 vs 2 wars for a while now and you’re frankly sick of it. This is your favourite combat of the series by far, and you have put a shedload of time into the DLC challenges. You adore the characters and wish people didn’t get so hung up on some of the goofier designs. When one of your friends tries the game for the first tile, you always send them Chuggaaconroy’s guide video. Still, for all the fandom debacle, one thing you share with the Xenoblade 1 fans is your love of memes. You might even say you...don’t forget them. When Pyra and Mythra came to Smash, you were there in the battlegrounds of Twitter to maintain that they were a great addition. You can never watch the ending without crying. The most likely fans to read/write fanfiction. Torna the Golden Country: You may not have entirely loved Xenoblade 2, or at least had some major gripes with it. But this prequel fixed pretty much any issue you have with that game while retaining what you liked. You’ve always felt the past Xeno games were kind of bloated and love that this can give you a substantial experience in 20 hours, instead of having to wait 20 hours for the game to fully open up for you. When people say X or 2 have the best combat, you laugh in Vanguard Switching. Lora is a treasure and did nothing wrong in her whole life. Jin and Mythra are some of the best characters in the series and so help you, you will call down Siren on whoever says otherwise. Whenever you hear the word ‘community’, you freeze up on the spot. I said that 2 fans always cry at the ending, but honestly this ending reduces you fits of sobbing that put them to shame. Xenoblade Chronicles 3: You need to let me into your house and use your time machine RIGHT NOW.

#xenogears #xenosaga #xenoblade chronicles #xenoblade x #xenoblade 2 #xenoblade 3 #xeno series

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mariaiscrafting · 3 years

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ahhhh ty ty ty <3

ok, so I think that what makes Dream act this way (iykyk) is how dreamwastaken became so big so quickly. and by quick I mean fucking lightning speed.

he didn't have enough time to learn enough about cc etiquette, especially in these three aspects: influence, boundaries and fanbase/stans/whatever you call it. I'll try to explain it:

• Influence: Does he know the influence he has? Like, when he hears that he is the myct with the largest fanbase, does he really process that? I remember he talked about not being able to control all of his fanbase and there's bad apples everywhere -- which is true, and that only like 1% of his fanbase breaks his boundaries (that include sending hate for him, harassing, doxing, etc. yk, basic twitter culture lol) but, honey, with your big ass fanbase, 1% is still a lot of people. As a content creator you *have* to be aware of that.

let's take the hbomb situation. First off, as a streamer, it's you that set the mood of the stream. Even if he was only messing around with his pals, even if they did say to do not send hate to hbomb, dt dunking on him created a toxic environment, which caused his fans being toxic towards hbomb and you know what happens next. Hell, when this happened, I was watching Tapl and he was watching them and he was crying laughing over them screaming bc they were just. so loud and so aggressive that it was kinda ??? Sirs, this is literally a Minecraft Stream lmaooo

my point is, that was not the road that dreamwastaken, 21M fans, should've taken. he don't condone his fans actions but he knows his fans are diehard and will always be on his side, he should be more careful before stating negative opinions, especially if its towards another person.

• Boundaries and Fanbase: He posted a list of his boundaries a while ago, idk if you know or seen it (btw please george copy your bestie for the love of god <3) but I'm not talking about those boundaries, I'm talking about the basic boundaries between cc and viewer. boundaries that, in my opinion, should exist between cc and viewer. I get that Dream is an open person, an oversharing type of open person if I may add, but I think he should take a step back regardless. When I heard that he was taking a time from twitter, I genuinely got so glad, not because he couldn't start any drama then, but because it would do so so good for his mental health. I'm not even that fond of him, it's just that for me, any cc taking a break or outright leaving twitter is a win for me. I know how RSD is hard to deal and honestly letting shit out it's better but dream you have dt you have bbh so please don't make things worse online 😭 I know how good can be to feel validation from millions of people but. it's not a good idea, especially in the state that his fanbase is on rn (this topic is kinda sensitive to talk abt for me bc people be outright ableist and hide it as criticism like. say that shit's not helping his reputation and whatever without acting like he's fucking. manipulating his fanbase for being affected by his rsd💀 or, on the other hand, don't say that hes just being adhd🤪 when he's just being an asshole like damn that's a Him thing bro lol)

(omg it's so big I'm so sorry and theres a part two I'm so sorry tumblr user messed-up-gal ToT) - morango 1/2

pt. 2:

Dream is the proof that the people who loves you can be your downfall. istg. Have you noticed that every drama that Dream enters, people usually get more mad abt how his fanbase reacts (85% they'll react in a bad way) than Dream himself? it's not always, but its definitely more likely. I'm not saying Dream is saint, he Is petty and his ego does him dirty and made him choke multiple times before,, But! i dont think hes a bad guy. he's literally just a dude. ok, he's a 21yr old white gamer man that has a trumpie past (maybe?? idk. I think hes cured now ig lol) so he's bound to do some shitty things but he still tries to get better and hopefully he'll mature. 21 is old enough but it's still so young, yk? I kind of lost my mind during the end and my eyes are literally begging to be closed so tl;dr: Its gonna be hard for him to become a better cc bc his fans don't let him be criticized (by infantilizing his adhd symptoms or the mob mentality as soon as someone says anything abt him), the honest criticism get lost between lies from antis that don't know shit, he still has a lot of growing up to do and overall he became famous too fast and he needs to learn things even faster bc as soon as there's not a single one dream hater on sight they'll turn their back and attack him instead lmao I hate twitter i definitely have more to say but I'm tired and my memory is shit. just-- hate dream if you want, love dream if you want, nobody is obligated to have an opinion but I wanted to express mine. have a lovely day! -morango 2/2

Aight, there's a lot to unpack here, so Imma try to only go into the points I have something to add to (here's what I talk about in each paragraph, if you want to jump to a specific point):

Speed of Dream's rise to fame

The "bad apples" in the Dream fanbase

Post-MCC HBomb stream

Not condoning versus actually condemning his fans

Manipulation & RSD

Criticism of Dream, his fanbase, and his brand

The “just a dude” argument, flipped

First, I agree that one of the many factors that has resulted in the current image Dream has set up for himself, the way his fanbase functions, the ways people hate on him, and the way the Dream brand functions, is the speed of his rise to fame. It's unique, and there are probably a hundred social/psychological angles that could be used to examine the exact effects of that speed upon all of these facets of the Dream Name; did rapid fame beget the rapid rise of unrighteous hatred, did those waves of hatred then instigate the rise of a surprisingly overdefensive fanbase, did that rapid fame get to his head and/or result in an inability to appropriately handle all the after-effects of rapid fame, etc.? That point you bring up, about how the speed of his rise to fame requires him to learn even more quickly, is so interesting to me. I think that maybe Dream expected to get pretty famous pretty quickly, hence the preparedness in regards to some mechanics of influencer fame- merchandise, business-building, networking, knowing how to manage his fanbase to best benefit him. But I don't think he expected to get this famous this quickly. This is all speculation of course, as are this entire post and your ask, but I think that he just couldn't anticipate having to learn how to handle enmasse controversy, waves of antis, or every Youtuber speculating/knowing about him; and yeah, that results in him having to learn all of these things very quickly, lest he allow his whole brand and fandom to fall apart.

Second, I disagree with the frequent argument that Dream's fanbase is only marginally toxic. Personally, I think that the circumstances of Dream's fame, his personality and management of his fanbase, and his brand of content have resulted in the very specific kind of stan that Dream stans are. I don't think this is simply a case of "all fandoms have a small percentage of assholes who take it too far;" rather, the nature of the community itself breeds the kind of mentality of "an asshole who takes it too far." I only even know this because I was a Dream fan (kinda a stan, I'm ngl). At one time, I watched every single Dreamwastaken & Dream Team video multiple times; I listened to the Manhunts on repeat, as though they were podcasts; I followed mostly smiletwt and dttwt accounts on mcyttwt; I had upwards of 10 tabs for AO3 DNF fics open on my phone at a time; I watched DNF and Dream Team Being A Family-esque compilations on repeat; I watched every George and Sapnap alt stream I possibly could; I went out of my way to defend Dream against Redditors and Twitter antis regarding the cheating scandal. For the latter half of 2020, and a couple months of 2021, I lived and breathed this part of the fandom; so when I say that Dream stans are a whole other breed than any other kind of mcyttwt stan, I say that because I used to be like that, too. I usually use parasocial very loosely or ironically, but Dream stans are genuinely one of the most parasocial fanbases I have ever seen or been a part of. The level of investment Dream stans have in this man's life, the lengths they will go to to defend him, the amount of psychonalysis and digging they do on his life and character, the amount of emotion he can evoke in them- it's taken to another level, man. This isn't just characteristic of a fraction of his fanbase; this is what the fanbase is like as a whole.

Third, I partially disagree with your take on the HBomb thing, but not in the way one might think? I actually empathize with the way they reacted much more than I thought I would, simply because I suspect I have RSD (also suspect I have ADHD, have for several months now) and I can see myself getting insanely frustrated because of something like that. Like yeah, it was "just a MC stream" or "just an MC game," but that's kinda disregarding the fact that something that might seem like "just a [insert inconsequential thing]" to a rational mind might have a major emotional consequence/take a major emotional toll on someone with RSD, or really anyone who gets easily impatient/angry about video games (Sapnap reminds me of many of my friends, in that way). The issues I, personally, had with the way they handled the HBomb situation is that these are simply explanations and reasons for my empathy; they are not excuses. I have no excuse when I get irrationally angry about something inconsequential in my own life, for a couple of reasons. One, because I am an adult and I need to learn how to handle my reactions and manage my own anger. Two, because as someone with many mental problems, it is my responsibility to learn coping mechanisms to ensure my own emotional stability and livelihood; this includes learning whatever I need to handle RSD- whether that be isolating myself from others when I know I will become violently/passionately angry about something, creating and sustaining a support system that can get me through bouts of extreme emotion, finding healthy emotional outlets for my negative emotions that won't harm myself or others, or a combination thereof. I don't think what they said about HBomb post-MCC was an irreversibly horrible thing, or anything. I think there were errors committed by two men who should be fully capable of foreseeing and preventing those errors, but I don't unconditionally hate Dream or Sapnap for the post-MCC stream or comments. I just wish they had made amends quickly, publicly, and sufficiently, because the greatest consequences from the whole thing weren't even from those two criticizing HBomb themselves; they were from the waves of backlash because of their immense influence on the MCYT fandom, which could've been prevented, if they had acted maturedly and responsibly after the stream.

Fourth, you’re right, that he doesn’t seem to condone his fans’ behavior. I detest the frequent anti argument that one of the reasons Dream should be criticized is because he explicitly uses his fanbase to attack others, or something of the sort. Personally, I think he created his fanbase in a very specific way and interacts with them in such a way so as to benefit him as much as possible, yes, but he never actually tells his fanbase to go and yell at or harrass anyone. Still, there is a significant difference between not condoning something and condemning something. It might seem unfair, and it might be annoying of me to say this, but I truly think that someone with this large a fanbase, especially one as overzealous as Dream’s, needs to be condemned every single time it goes on some kind of rampage/harrassment campaign. Either that, or Dream needs to make a definitive, permanent statement against any kind of harrassment of others on his behalf. I know he’ll occassionally make the odd tweet or serious stream addressing something his fanbase did, but one of the many reasons his fanbase keeps doing the same damn thing is because he’s so lukewarm and spotty about this condemnation. A fanbase like his needs to be given explicit guidance and boundaries for the numerous things they do in his defense- harrassing/doxing antis, harrassing people who criticize him who aren’t antis (respectful criticism, other CCs, other MCYT stans, etc.), harrassing the people he critcizes (i.e., HBomb), speculating about his personal life (his relationship with his gf, his mental health/ADHD, his romantic life, his childhood, etc.), and speculating about his relationships with his friends and colleagues. My personal ideology is that, if you have significant influence over someone or a group of people, you are at least somewhat responsible for the things those people do or don’t do, if it at all relates back to you. I’m so fucking tired of the argument that CCs aren’t responsible for what their fans do. Obviously they aren’t responsible for every single one of their fans, and obviously they can’t fully control their fans at the end of the day. But I think there are certain things that reach such a level of extremity that does make those CCs responsible. This can be measured by either scale or intensity; that is to say, if a CC’s fanbase does things on an extremely large scale, or one person from/a fraction of the fanbase does something really extreme, then the CC is made all the more responsible. Another CC I’ve always had trouble discussing with other people on this subject is Pewdiepie, in particular, about the extremists in his fanbase. Because the things a small handful of his fans have done in reference to him and/or in his name were so fucking extreme, I thought Pewdiepie had to take at least some responsibilty. Along a similar vein, because the things Dream’s general fanbase does are so widespread and on such a massive scale, Dream has to take at least some responsibility.

Fifth, okay. Hmmm. I want to tackle this point you made about the ableism he faces in some criticism of him carefully and with empathy, but not coddling. One, I do think a lot of the criticism he receives for the ways he handles criticism (post-cheating Tweets, reactions to John Swan, post-MCC HBomb stream, etc.), disregard his RSD and can be oftentimes ableist. I’ve actually encountered people irl who criticize this aspect of Dream’s character, and have had to explain to them their disregard for how ADHD/RSD affect neurodivergent people’s reactions to criticism. But - and this is a big, and very controversial but - I think mentally ill/disordered people can 100% leverage their mental illness/disorders for the sake of manipulation. This is actually something I’ve learned from a psychiatrist, regarding the ways people I know and I handle our anxiety and depression. This manipulation can be unwitting or intentional, but it is entirely possible, and the possibility shouldn’t be entirely dismissed as ableist. Living with a mental illness or disorder that others know about/that you are very public about puts you in an interesting position to receive frequent sympathy, empathy, and/or pity. I’m not saying that empathy for Dream having ADHD/RSD is entirely unjustified; on the contrary, I have frequently expressed how I can relate to his ADHD symptoms and have defended him for expressing those symptoms, both on mcytblr and in real life. I am saying that Dream fans tend to use his ADHD as a kind of shield for a lot of criticism levied against him, including the supposition that he could be manipulating his fanbase to defend him because of his public expressions of RSD. So yes, my theory is that Dream knows how to levy every aspect of his life for his personal gain and for the growth of his brand, and that includes his ADHD. I think he has courage for his openess about his ADHD, I think his openness has contributed to the rise in awareness of mental health and empathy for neurodivergent people within Gen Z, and I think at least some of his expressions of RSD publicly/online weren’t intentionally made public. All that being said, I also think he has to know just how much his fanbase cares about defending him for his ADHD, and I think he has to know that some of the things he does related to his neurodivergence endear him to his audience, in a coddling, baby-ing, mildly ableist sorta way. Maybe this is all incredibly presumptuous of me. Of course, I can never know the real intentions behind any Dream video, Tweet, or stream. Maybe I’m just projecting, because I can see myself doing just this, if I had the maturity I had circa 2018-2019. Idfk know, man.

Sixth, I actually agree with you here, people probably do get more mad at his fanbase than him. Dream puts out content pretty seldomly, considering the frequency of content output for other Youtubers/streamers in his field/at his brand size. And yet, he has received masses of criticism. Considering that the things Dream himself does/says do not entirely correlate with the amount of criticism he receives, I think it’s a logical assumption that a lot of that criticism actually goes back to the size of his presence online, rather than the man himself. That is to say, because of the massive community he’s amassed, the exponential growth of his fanbase, their presence on every single social media site and in virtually every single Internet space/fandom, and the size of his metaphysical presence in his fields, Dream is much bigger than the man himself, so the criticism he receives will, at least in part, be a direct or indirect result of all these other aspects of the Dream brand. Something I don’t think many Dream fans/stans, or even most MCYT fans in general, understand, is that Dream isn’t just “one guy” in the eyes of the Internet- at least, not anymore. He hasn’t been for nearly a year. Like Pewdiepie, Mr. Beast, and other CCs who have amassed similar levels of fame and wealth via Internet content creation, Dream is a brand now, and most people will treat him as such. He isn’t just some uwu soft boy playing Minecraft anymore. He is on a whole other level from any other MCYT in his friend circle or colleague interaction bubble. His words will never again live in a vaccum or private bubble, his friend circle will never again be under anything less than intense scrutiny, his past actions will never again be simple mistakes or silly errors, his words will never again be casual tweets or streams for laughs among a couple thousand followers. Dream’s name represents something much bigger than just the one man. As such, all aspects of his brand, including his fanbase, will tie back to him and, ultimately, to any general criticism of him.

I’m not saying I like any of this, and I actually think the evolution of influencers from people to a marketable brand with similar mechanisms, responsibilities, and liabilities as a corporation is some kind of late capitalism nightmare fuel; I’m just stating my own observations and theories as to why so much anti-Dream criticism seems to be directed at his fanbase, rather than him.

Seventh, he’s just a guy, you’re right, but I think a lot of the antis on Tumblr understand this more than you know. As I’ve seen it, the sentiment among much of the “DSMP stans DNI” crowd seems to be that of “Dream/other MCYTs are such ‘bad’ people, so why do their fans stick to these mediocre, racist men, when there are so many better people to watch/better content to consume?” We know this argument is flawed for many of the obvious reasons - the conflation of all MCYTs’ actions regardless of individual identity, the equating of a CC’s fanbase’s morality to that of the CC they enjoy watching, the exxageration of any error MCYT CCs have committed as bigotry/racism, the fundamental misunderstanding and misinformation that led antis to believe this exxageration of the facts, etc. But I want to focus on the general, underlying sentiment of, “why not watch someone better, when your creator is problematic?” Sometimes, I ask this of Dream stans. Yes, being mildly ignorant, getting involved in the scandals Dream has, and being a right-leaning/libertarian centrist in the recent past all seem like harmless things, all things considered. One could say Dream isn’t nearly as bad as many antis who are misinformed seem to believe, and that there are much worse CCs Dream stans could be watching and creating fan content for. But I think what Tumblr antis wonder is, aren’t there also much better MCYTs/CCs people could be watching and stanning? Because he’s just some guy, right? Is his content truly so exceptional or is he really so exceptional a person, that people have to stick by him, despite the things that spike up regarding his current or past actions? I think that’s what made me finally decide to stop watching Dream. I realized he was just Some Guy. The Dream Team was a comforting dynamic to indulge in, DNF was a cute ship to read and speculate about, and Manhunts were fun videos to watch; however, once the Reddit posts came out and I read them in-depth, the cost-benefit analysis tipped over to the “not worth it” side for me. I realized Dream’s content, while fun and comforting, was not entirely unique, and wasn’t worth sticking around for, given what I then knew about his past political leanings. If he is just Some Guy, then there are a hundred more like him out there. There a hundred more ships, a hundred more found family dynamics, a hundred more entertaining and skilled Minecraft players. So while I agree with you on the point of people being allowed to love him regardless because he is just a guy, at the end of the day, I think that, if we are to believe that sentiment or use that argument in such a manner, we should also understand the flip side- that, if he is just some guy, why is it worth sticking around? To that I say, maybe because people just enjoy the simple things they enjoy.

Anyways, I wholly agree with your tl;dr. Thanks for that insanely long ask, this was a fun thing to keep me occupied while I’ve been at work, facilitating Zoom sessions this whole morning.

#ive been writing this on and off since 830 am est SHEESH #dreamwastaken #dream critical #eh i think im relatively lenient of him here given my past posts ab him #but still just in case the blacklist tags for yalls convenience:#discourse #/neg #asks #long post #long posts #this a LONG one bois #morango

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theamazingsallyhogan · 6 years

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Let’s talk about ReBoot: The Guardian Code. I had this big plan to write up a long essay about whether an audience can separate behind the scenes drama from a piece of art. After all, we as the audience aren’t supposed to know about any of that stuff. It was going to be awesome. I’d keep calling the show “Guardian Code” and then at the end say “Guardian Code” was perfectly average Canadian kids TV but it wasn’t ReBoot.

I was going to talk about why that was the case and what it means about remakes in general. Some nostalgia talk was going to be thrown in there. Probably would have made an easy Ready Player One joke. I’d delve deep into ReBoot’s place in pop culture and that a Robot Chicken sketch is really the only proof anyone outside hardcore fans remember it.

...

These days though I try not to just drag shows. It’s way too easy to write 800 words why a given episode of say, Power Rangers Ninja Steel, is terrible. Although once you’ve been writing reviews like that for four years it gets old. So instead I try to break down what a “bad episode” means for the franchise or just TV as a whole. It’s less me dunking on a show and more trying to figure out why it ended up the way it did. After all, no one sets out to make a bad episode of TV… right?

Season 1: Episode 10 of ReBoot: The Guardian Code, “Mainframe Mayhem” purports to be a tribute to classic ReBoot. Several voice actors return, they recreate the old sets, and even toss in a few catchphrases. In the lead up to this episode I had a pretty good idea what it would be like.

They wouldn’t resolve “The Hunt” cliffhanger of season four. The characters would make a few pandering references. There would be an attempt to make it seem like The Guardian Code is somehow in the continuity of the original ReBoot (which it would bungle.) The whole “Users as Gods” thing would be forgotten or glossed over.

All of that happened. Was it awful? I mean, yeah. Bob delivering his monologue from the old intro is incredibly ham-fisted. The lines about Hexadecimal not seeing Megabyte in a long time try to acknowledge season four maybe happened at one point but don’t fit. The intriguing idea of Bob, Dot, and Enzo basically meeting their gods is treated as just another wacky day at the diner. But that was expected.

It was a way to try and placate the hardcore fans so The Guardian Codeproducers could have a talking point in interviews about how “this isn’t just a reboot of ReBoot.”

I was prepared for that.

What the summaries and leaks didn’t reveal was that The Guardian Codecharacters and Bob would go inside a game. Okay, cool. Nice little throwback. The problem is that we see the User who’s playing this game and it’s… a thirty year old neckbeard living in his mother’s basement surrounded by classic ReBoot merchandise. There’s a poster for ReBoot: The Ride. The first art book. He even has a giant statue of Mike the TV.

This guy has been waiting for the old Mainframe to come back online. Yeah, somehow the Mainframe from the old series is locked in a cabinet in the new Guardians lair. I won’t even bother talking about the implications that has for the original series and how it doesn’t jive with what we saw in the third season. There’s something bigger to tackle here.

“And mom said all this time in the basement was wasted.”

That’s an actual line from the episode as the "User" gains the upper hand in the game. His whole life revolves around ReBoot, so much so he still lives in his moms basement. This is where the original idea for my essay fell apart. How do you defend something that so blatantly mocks not just fans of ReBoot but fan culture in general?

I can see where this came from. Ever since the summary for The Guardian Code was released fans were in an uproar. Many went to extreme lengths to make their displeasure known. A lot of it went too far.

No matter how much you don’t like how your favorite franchise is handled, endlessly posting on social media about it and publicly insulting the people making the show is a waste of time. I can imagine discussions in The Guardian Code creative team offices now.

“Why can’t they understand TV is a complex business and we couldn’t sell the show they wanted? Why can’t they just leave us alone? This show isn’t for them.”

That’s a very generous reading of it but hey, not trying to dunk on anyone here. They had an IP and wanted to make a show. I get that. Getting anything made in this business is incredibly difficult. Slapping the name ReBoot on it meant it was more likely to get sold. Sure, fine, it’s understandable.

“And mom said all this time in the basement was wasted.”

This is where any sympathy fades away from the creative team. If this User character hadn’t been included I could have understood (but still not been a fan of) why ReBoot: The Guardian Code ended up the way it did.

A fat nerd living in his mom’s basement is an old stereotype that’s long been played out. By utilizing it the creative team seems to speak directly to its loyal audience and say,

“This is what we think of you.”

It wasn’t necessary. They didn’t have to stoop to the level of making fun of fans, even the ones who take their passion for the franchise too far. A good series shouldn’t engage in that kind of petty dialogue with its audience. It should rise above it.

If ReBoot: The Guardian Code did have something to say about fans that are too devoted to media? If it had been a meta commentary on reboots in general and fan reactions to them? That could have had some merit, especially if it had the clever writing of the old series. Instead we got…

“And mom said all this time in the basement was wasted.”

That doesn’t even sound like something a human being would say. It’s a caricature the creators of this show painted to disregard any negative feedback of The Guardian Code. When fans would rightly point out, “this sounds nothing like the ReBoot I love”, “it looks like a bad Code Lyokoknockoff”, or “hey, you guys endlessly promised us the original show would return. What gives?” this is the image they went for.

A fat guy who has no life.

The User character in “Mainframe Mayhem” slaps the audience in the face at the same moment it’s trying to bestow them a gift from on high with the return of the old characters and voice cast. It makes even the genuinely delightful moment of Enzo tackling Bob feel tainted.

“Here’s your references, nerds. Now get back to your basement,” it says. That’s not only a horrible message for its older fans but also for its new younger ones.

This is why ReBoot: The Guardian Code doesn’t work as a reboot of ReBootor even as perfectly average Canadian kids TV. It could have been a series that, while saddled with the name of a known IP, strived to be more than what zealous hardcore fans portrayed it as. It could have been fun on its own, divorced from its roots.

That’s the show I would have been fine with. I wouldn’t have been a fan but it could have led to an interesting discussion.

“And mom said all this time in the basement was wasted.”

I can’t separate the series from the behind the scenes drama because it actively parades it for everyone to see. It stoops to the level of the hardcore overzealous fans it attempts to make fun of. In that, “Mainframe Mayhem” is one of the worst episodes of television I’ve ever seen.

#reboot #reboot: the guardian code #the guardian code #den of geek #Shamus Kelley #I expected something bad #just not this bad

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junker-town · 5 years

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All the ways Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul are different

Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, and the different methods to their superstardom.

Russell Westbrook returned to Oklahoma City for the first time as a visiting player on Thursday night when the Thunder hosted the Houston Rockets. Westbrook received a hero’s welcome from the OKC crowd, with a terrific tribute video played before he was announced in the starting lineup, ‘MVP’ chants throughout the night, and an outpouring of support from the fans who watched him grow up in front of their eyes for 11 seasons.

Westbrook brought his A-game for the TNT showcase, finishing with 34 points on 14-of-26 shooting on the night. Unfortunately, he was the only member of the Rockets to do so. Playing on the second night of a back-to-back after facing the Atlanta Hawks a day earlier, the Rockets mostly resembled a team that was going through the motions. Even the great James Harden failed to score 20 points for only the second time all season.

The Thunder pulled away from the very beginning of the night to grab a 113-92 victory. Chris Paul, the point guard they received in the Westbrook trade, also had a great night in a more understated way. Paul put up 18 points, six rebounds, five assists, and four steals in the win, and absolutely humiliated Houston’s Isaiah Hartenstein in the process.

With the win, the Thunder are only 3.5 games behind the Rockets in the standings and are firmly in the playoff mix as the current No. 7 seed at 22-16 overall.

Westbrook-for-Paul was the most fascinating trade of the summer for many reasons. Part of it was because of just how different they are. Despite both playing the same position and dominating the league over the last decade, Paul and Westbrook have distinctly opposite skill sets. While both can considered petty and stubborn and vindictive, their perception among teammates seems considerably different, too.

This is all the ways Westbrook and Paul are polar opposites of each other.

Westbrook is beloved. Paul has left teams on bad terms.

Westbrook’s return to Oklahoma City underscored just how much the franchise and its fans love him. Check out the tribute video they played for him during starting lineup introductions:

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That Westbrook’s return to OKC happened on the same day Kevin Durant and Kendrick Perkins got into pointless Twitter fight only made the positive perception of Westbrook more apparent. While OKC fans were notoriously cold and crude to Durant in a malicious way when he returned for the first time as a visiting player, the Thunder embraced Westbrook with open arms.

Paul has rarely felt as beloved as Westbrook. Paul first demanded a trade from the Hornets in 2010. After he was dealt to the Clippers, he had a tense relationship with co-star Blake Griffin. DeAndre Jordan reportedly grew tired of him, too. When he arrived in Houston, Paul and Harden’s relationship reportedly soured after two seasons, leading to the trade for Westbrook with the Thunder.

Westbrook’s style of play is certainly polarizing, to put it mildly. But off the court, he clearly has strong support from those who have spent time around him.

Paul is surgical. Westbrook is a bulldozer.

Westbrook and Paul play the point guard position in totally opposite ways.

Paul has always been one of the smaller players in the NBA. He is an all-time great player because of his mind, not his body. In addition to being one of the highest-IQ players ever, Paul is also ridiculously skilled. His nutmeg of Hartenstein illuminated that:

Chris Paul embarrasses Hartenstein with the nutmeg and finish pic.twitter.com/ms0z0vPxAu

— Heart of NBA (@HeartofNBA) January 10, 2020

If Paul does everything he can to go around you, Westbrook is hellbent on going through you. One of the strongest and most explosive players in league history regardless of position, Westbrook rose to prominence because of his raw power. Fans will remember all the poster dunks, but he also used his athleticism to become a great rebounder, a terror in transition, and to get into the teeth of the defense before dishing to a teammate.

Paul is slow and surgical. Westbrook is fast and powerful. It’s as simple as that.

Paul will sell his soul for a win. Westbrook is competitive in a different way.

This season has been one long showcase for just how ruthless Paul is as a competitor. Take this incident against the Trail Blazers, when Paul called for his long-time friend Carmelo Anthony to be whistled for a technical foul after yelling (swearing?) at the ref.

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Paul had another iconic moment this season when he essentially won the Thunder a game by snitching on the Timberwolves for an untucked jersey. Yes, it required a miracle finish to send the game to overtime, but OKC only had the opportunity to do it because Paul knows the rule book like the back of his hand.

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Westbrook is also one of the most competitive players in the league, a reputation he earned with every successful 3-on-1 drive. In general, though, the love Westbrook gets from former teammates and home fans makes it seem like he’s someone that can be trusted.

Westbrook famously re-signed with the Thunder as a free agent when there was speculation he could leave for Los Angeles. Yes, the Thunder offered him the most money, but that hasn’t stopped other players from this generation from leaving their original teams. Westbrook also threw a party for Paul George when he announced he was re-signing with the Thunder. Westbrook’s move to the Rockets was also largely due to his friendship with Harden, the same player Paul had trouble getting along with. We’ll see how this chapter of the story eventually ends for Harden and Westbrook.

Paul and Harden are each all-time great point guards who played the position in totally different ways. While Westbrook has long had a cult of personality that followed him, Paul’s biggest fans are typically people who view the game through a more analytical prism. The fans that love Paul do so because they feel like he has a strong statistical case as one of the greatest players of the last few decades. The fans who love Westbrook find his personality endearing.

The differences between the two players just makes the trade that exchanged them for each other even more fascinating. When choosing your personal favorite between Westbrook and Paul, there are no wrong answers.

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flauntpage · 6 years

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Still Not Good Enough – Observations from Celtics 112, Sixers 109

Talk about blowing an opportunity.

The Sixers had a nice little run going, with big moves at the trade deadline followed by a quality win against Denver and a national television drubbing of Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon. They were 7-4 through their last 11 games, a gauntlet that included Golden State, Toronto, and multiple playoff teams over multiple weeks.

But instead of finishing on a high note, they stumbled again to Boston, this time at home. They blew another opportunity against another top Eastern Conference team, falling to 1-7 this season against the Celtics, Bucks, and Raptors. Most importantly, they took all of the goodwill built up over the last few days and deposited it right into the trash can.

We’re right back at square one, which is this:

“The Sixers can’t beat the Celtics.”

Truly, it’s opening night and Christmas evening all over again. It’s like Groundhog Day without the overgrown rat from Western Pennsylvania.

As Metallica once said, “Nothing Else Matters,” and you know what? James Hetfield was right. Lars Ulrich was right. Nothing else matters besides beating the Celtics. That’s all anybody is talking about, and they’re justified in doing so. You can go out and beat the Knicks by 40 tonight and fans would not and should not care, because it’s not about beating the Knicks or Hornets or Hawks by 40, it’s about beating Boston by any amount of points at all.

The Sixers were not horrible last night. We are, after all, talking about a three-point loss. But the myriad issues throughout the game were similar to what we’ve seen before. They cobbled together too many mistakes to really get into a shooting or defensive rhythm throughout.

They only shot 71% from the foul line, which is way down from a 77% season average. The turnovers, 14, were manageable, but Boston only coughed it up six times, so that’s another loss. The three-point shooting was below average, the shot selection was junky and poor in the first half, and they just looked tight to start. Boston looked loose and played within themselves. The Sixers played like they knew they’ve only beaten this team twice in the last two years.

Defensive miscues

Late in the fourth quarter, Boston was just seeking out mismatches over and over again. There was a chunk of plays around the five minute mark, I believe, where they just went after JJ Redick on every single play and the Sixers did a really lackluster job of addressing it. There were other situations where Redick and T.J. McConnell were on the floor together and having trouble on the defensive end.

Said Brett Brown post game:

There’s a physicality that you have to play with to beat them and you’re reminded of that. They do a really good job of going at mismatches, we could all see the difficulty at times that we had guarding some of the physicality of them trying to post us with different mismatches, those types of things I think are. There’s a physicality that you learn from… To Rich’s [Hofmann’s] point, they go at mismatches hard, they duck in, they’re physical with that philosophy.

They seek out mismatches pretty much every time down the floor in crunch time situations.

Case in point:

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Those plays are killers, because when Marcus Smart can post up JJ Redick and drive the lane, the rest of the defense collapses, the Celtics swing the ball around the perimeter while the Sixers scramble to recover, and Jayson Tatum eventually knocks down a wide open three.

More Brown:

I think you have to find some level of better ball pressure; you have to find some level of better resistance, sort of staggered steps, there’s some technique things that we can do better and I think most importantly that at times you can’t overreact. If tough twos for a while are the palatable shot and, admittedly, you can’t live like that, but periods of the game you can, then we have to be disciplined to do that. To start running around the gym and getting into scramble mode, isn’t in my interest, our interest either.

Yes, if you’re going to leave JJ on the floor, make it harder for them to pick on him. Deny that entry pass into the post. Re-evaluate how you switch if they put him in a pick and roll. Maybe you have to blitz or throw a second guy into the equation, or maybe Redick just cannotbe on the floor in these situations. Maybe you play Jimmy Butler as a two-guard and bring in James Ennis or Jonathon Simmons to close out games instead.

Joel Embiid on this:

We need to do a better job of denying the ball and pressuring the ball. At the end of the day, it comes down to guarding your own man and that’s what we have to do. These guys, they take advantage of when we do help, and they move the ball pretty well. So, we just need to do a better job of guarding our own man.

Boston just kept hunting all throughout the 4th quarter, and the Sixers weren’t able to get enough stops to build any kind of respectable lead or keep pace when it really mattered.

Joel’s night

He struggles against Al Horford, who defends him better than anybody in the league.

Embiid was asked what the veteran center is doing to frustrate him:

He’s not doing anything, it’s just on me. I was sleepwalking for three quarters and that’s on me. Like I said, that’s on me. It has nothing to do with anybody.

I’m not a big fan of that answer. Sure, you can put it on you and take responsibility for your performance, but Horford is not “not doing anything.” His resistance points are sound, he does a good job of keeping his arms down, and he stands Joel up right on the low block in a position where Embiid is too far to power through him for a layup but too far for a comfortable turn around or floater. It’s a weird middle area between Embiid’s catch point and the rim, and for whatever reason, Joel just comes up short when he’s 1v1 with Horford. The Celtics are doing anything special. They’re not doubling or digging, they’re just letting Horford use low leverage and solid technique to defend a bigger guy.

I think Gordon Hayward actually did a decent job of explaining it after the game:

Al’s a smart defender, so I think he’s able to use spacing and angles and really kind of knows when to gap him, when to get up to him. He’s also just a tough defender, like taking bumps, able to not get backed all the way down and then still being long enough to contest his jump shots. Embiid’s a monster, so for Al to play like that is really encouraging. We’ve seen him do it in the past too. That was a good job by Al.

It was a really nice job, and in these cases Joel just has to keep going at Horford until he wears him down. He’s a bigger guy, he’s younger, and he’s always going to win a four-quarter war of attrition. Horford finished with five fouls last night, and if Joel is down there working him throughout the game instead of taking an inexplicable eight three-point tries, then maybe the result is different.

There’s just no reason your 7’2″ center should ever take eight three-pointers in a game. Redick and Tobias Harris are the only players who should be taking that many three-pointers.

Joel was also complaining about the no-call vs. Horford at the end of the game, and he’ll get fined for saying “the refs fucking sucked” at his press conference. Here’s the play:

Embiid No Call pic.twitter.com/YuYaDrTpZV

— The Render (@TheRenderNBA) February 13, 2019

Yes, it’s probably a foul, but Joel is playing for contact there. He’s not using his body to drive Horford back and he’s leaning into him. Joel is going to get cheap rip-through contact fouls against JaVale McGee and Jarrett Allen in the first quarter of meaningless games, but he’s not getting them against Al Horford in the fourth quarter, not after Horford does a solid job against him for the first three quarters. Either way, that no-call isn’t why they lost the game. It was just one play.

Embiid came out tight, he played another lackluster game against the Celtics before finally showing up in the fourth quarter, and then came across as fairly petty and maybe just outright immature in his press conference.

Ben Simmons

Same thing as always.

Boston does a nice job sealing off his transition movement by sliding a second guy to the elbow and meeting him right at the top of the foul line. Ben picks up his dribble, kicks the ball back out, and the Sixers are then playing half court offense.

Sure, there were some blown assignments by Boston, and Ben got free a couple of times. That huge dunk was one play, and he did finish 7 of his 9 looks last night, so he was really efficient when he did get to his spots. The two misses were actually ugly jump shots, so if you take those away, he had an excellent 7-7 night from his preferable range:

More important than his individual shooting, it felt like he just couldn’t get the rest of the offense into a rhythm throughout. He only finished with five assists vs. three turnovers, and said this after the game:

I don’t think we were putting the ball to the rim. I think we slowed down a lot in transition and tried to call a few too many sets, which we got a little bit of a flow. But that’s just how the game went.

They slowed down in transition because Boston did the slowing, which is one of their strengths. The Sixers scored only 12 fast break points last night against a season average of 15.7, and those first quarter baskets, the ones where Ben is pushing and everybody is running the floor, those get them loosened up as much as anything.

When Boston sits back and plays for the transition denial, you’re running your half-court base and whatever other sets, which is not what the Sixers would prefer to do coming out of the gates. They did turn that into some successful isolation and pick and roll for Jimmy Butler late in the game, and Butler is a huge help in those situations, when the rest of the team is stuck and they need somebody to create in other ways. If these teams meet again in the playoffs, Butler really could have a big series. He scored 22 points on 12 shots last night, it was just those missed free throws at the end that were a killer.

One more note about Ben – his defense on Jayson Tatum was good. Tatum was at his best when Boston was getting switches and moving the ball around, but in 1v1 situations with Ben, he wasn’t great, shooting just 3-9 against him:

Good job right there.

Tobias Harris

Bad shooting night. If he’s even slightly better than 4-14 and 0-6 from three, then the Sixers probably win by 4-5 points.

Tobias post game:

I thought that in the first half we really never got to our pace of how we kind of wanted to play. Usually that comes from being able to take the ball out, a majority of the time. So we weren’t really able to get out in transition as we wanted. They got on the glass, got a lot of second-chance points. But I just thought overall in the game, it was tough for us to get to our type of flow and our type of rhythm out there, which is going to happen. But I think it’s something that we have to identify early on and try to get some things ready for us. Overall, I still thought that we gave ourselves a legitimate chance to win that game, but it just went the other way.

11 second chance points for the Celtics last night on the strength of four Horford offensive rebounds.

That’s not a ton, but it’s disappointing when you think about the fact they’re getting second chance opportunities while also getting enough bodies back to defend in transition. A lot of teams will simply punt the offensive board to drop multiple players into defense, so in the course of a game you’re usually limiting fast break points at the expense of hitting the offensive glass. Boston was able to wriggle in there and get some offensive boards they had no business getting last night.

Rotation stuff

Jonathon Simmons was first off the bench while James Ennis and Jonah Bolden were DNPs, and I have no idea why. Brown again linked Simmons and Harris’ minutes together with Boban Marjanovic, giving us a grouping that looked like this:

B. Simmons

J. Simmons

Furkan Korkmaz

Harris

Boban

And then we saw a little bit of the same unit beyond that: Joel Embiid, Mike Scott, Jimmy Butler, JJ Redick, and T.J. McConnell. So the splits from the Laker game were more or less similar last night. There was also a point in the game where we got a Ben/JJ/Simmons/Mike Scott/Boban lineup, which played a pretty ineffective chunk of minutes.

But this was a Jonah Bolden game. When you have bigs like Al Horford and Daniel Theis who can space the floor and shoot from the perimeter, then Bolden as the first five off the bench makes more sense than Boban, in my mind. Boban is gonna have to be a situational guy moving into the playoffs.

Other notes:

The early Horford foul leading to the technical… I dunno. He played pretty good D there but might have been a little handsy right before the whistle was blown.

I swear I saw a Spain pick and roll at the beginning of the second half. I forgot to DVR the game, so I’m gonna have to go look back and see if I can find it.

Boban’s size results in some totally bizarre and usually hilarious on-court optics. There was a point in the 1st quarter, around the 5:00 mark, where he reached up and snagged a weakside rebound without even leaving his feet. In the 3rd quarter, he had a post up on Horford where he didn’t even move his feet or back him down, he simply just turned and flicked the ball over his head for a bucket.

It felt like Hayward was wide open on every single shot he took last night.

When Embiid got the and-1 bucket against Horford late in the 4th quarter, it was the loudest I’d heard the WFC this season.

Butler has been doing a great job lately of getting to the line. He was fouled twice last night on three point attempts.

The Celtics are probably better without Kyrie Irving. Same thing as last season. When he’s on the floor, they need to hide his defensive shortcomings, but last night, as you’ve seen before, Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart are defensive upgrades that present more matchup issues for the Sixers, more than if Kyrie was out there.

People will complain and say I didn’t criticize Brett Brown enough, but obviously the head coach plays a role in addressing all of the things I just wrote about, does he not?

The post Still Not Good Enough – Observations from Celtics 112, Sixers 109 appeared first on Crossing Broad.

Still Not Good Enough – Observations from Celtics 112, Sixers 109 published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

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auburnfamilynews · 6 years

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Auburn fans were mystified by what happened last week when the Tigers opened SEC play in The Pavilion against Ole Miss. Sitting at No. 11 in the country, the Tigers held a 65 percent chance to beat Ole Miss, according to the ESPN BPI. However, Auburn came out flat after an 11-day layover and never led the Rebels.

Coach Bruce Pearl isn’t one to make excuses and typically puts the onus exactly where it belongs. Despite usually holding his team accountable, he spoke about the effects of such a long layover between Auburn’s last nonconference game and the SEC opener. There’s no doubt that being the last team in the SEC to start conference play hurt and that it is nearly impossible to replicate game situations. Still, Auburn didn’t just look like a team needing to get back in the swing of things, the team looked lost.

That was most evident in the front court where Auburn should be one of the best teams in the country. This conversation should start and end with Austin Wiley, supposedly a legitimate NBA first rounder. Pearl, understandably, brought Wiley along slowly at the beginning of the year, but when it was time for the big man to shine, he didn’t just look out of place for a potential NBA player, he looked lost as an SEC center.

Sure, Auburn wasn’t good from beyond the arc as the Tigers went a combined 36 percent. They were even worse from inside the arc and in the paint, where Wiley and Anfernee McLemore were a combined 0–8 and Horace Spencer was 2–4 off the bench. Auburn had just six points in the paint all game. The Tigers desperately needed to recover from a combined 9–28 three-point stat from guards Bryce Brown and Jared Harper. Brown sank seven long balls, but he was essentially chunking up prayers late in the game.

There were other struggles, namely the Tigers 9–17 stat from the charity stripe. Still, even if Auburn hit those other eight free throws, they still wouldn’t have won. Credit the Ole Miss staff for implementing a fantastic game plan that kept Auburn’s guards from never having the ability to get a clean look from the outside. The Rebels put tremendous pressure on Auburn’s guards as they crossed in to their half-court offense.

Going into this game, the average fan would say that Auburn’s front court, with its talent and depth, should be good enough to take care of that kind of pressure. Yet the big men, Wiley in particular, have had tremendous trouble in handling the basketball and being out-timed on the boards. Without the big men able to control the paint, Auburn fell by 15.

The SEC is off to a strange start as Ole Miss took down No. 15 Mississippi State, and Bama took down Kentucky. There were upsets throughout the NCAA this weekend, and Auburn’s bounce back against UGA likely will help keep the Tigers from dropping too far in the rankings.

Welcoming Georgia for the home SEC opener inside Auburn Arena, the Tigers put on a show for fans as they laid a 93–78 second half beatdown on the ‘Dogs.

Auburn cleaned up almost all of the issues that plagued it against Ole Miss, starting with a 12–25 three-point stat, good enough for 47 percent. The Tigers shot a 76 percent mark from the line on a 14–17 performance. Inside the arc, the Tigers were a much improved 34–68. The trio of Wiley, McLemore and Spencer were 12–20.

More on Tiger beatdown of UGA after the jump.

Auburn led UGA in offensive rebounds, 17–12. The Auburn guard duo of Harper and Brown led the way with Harper’s 22 being tops. Brown’s 15 was a typical effort, but he was matched by McLemore, who led Auburn with 9 rebounds and 2 blocks.

While he didn’t start for the Tigers, he out played Wiley once again. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see McLemore earn a start.

Up next is Texas A&M as it welcomes Auburn to Reed Arena on Wednesday.

Billy Kennedy’s 2018-2019 squad is struggling as it has posted a 1–2 record in conference and a 7–7 overall mark. Sophomore TJ Starks leads the Aggies. The struggles of the Aggies are obvious as a quick look at Stark’s stats shows a fairly mediocre player leading TAMU. He is a high-volume shooter, having taken no less than 12 shots in his last five contests, but averages about 15. He shoots just 25 percent from beyond the arc and just 37 percent from inside the arc. However, he is a decent free throw shooter. But Auburn will be fine as long as Bryce Brown can make him take contested shots from the outside and Auburn’s big men can cleanly protect the rim.

Of course, Auburn has a way of bringing out the best in its opponents, and it isn’t usually the lead man for the club. Bryce Brown has typically done a fantastic job of shutting down hot-shooting guards, but opponents have managed to have a secondary player have a phenomenal day.

In its buzzer-beater win against Alabama on Saturday, TAMU’s junior forward Josh Nebo hit 21 points. Nebo couldn’t miss with 10–12 shooting and four blocks. It was an amazing performance for a guy who had just 12 points in his last three games, although he has been an effective rim protector.

TAMU let Alabama’s John Petty come off the bench and do what he has done to Auburn: knock down three after three. Petty was 6–11 and paced a poor outside performance by the Tide. Will Bryce Brown and Jared Harper be able to exploit the Aggies from the outside? Probably. But that isn’t the player that Auburn really needs to catch fire.

Chuma Okeke is a stretch player that can do it all, but he has just nine points in the two conference games thus far. He has a nine-game streak with at least one block. However, he is averaging almost as many fouls than points the last two games and needs to have a break-out performance.

Obviously, the super athletic McLemore is a key to an Auburn win as he is able to play multiple positions and do so with style.

The Tiger player to watch is Malik Dunbar, who has quietly had three straight 11-point performances and scored in double digits in four out of the last five games. Sure, Malik had some bone-headed moments, such as an air-ball free throw or three-point attempt (or two). But no player tries to make a positive impact quite like Dunbar. He has an almost LeBron James physicality to him at 6′ 6″, 230 pounds. He gets to the rim. He gets to the line. He can hit the long ball. And, he is doing it in under 20 minutes of game time. If Auburn can get into a position with a decent lead late, Dunbar can shut the game down and frequently does it with a rim-rocking dunk.

The Tigers and Aggies tip off at 6:00 PM on ESPNU.

The post Upon Further Review: Tigers Bounced Back Against UGA appeared first on Rumpalla: Rummaging Through Albania .

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miketellszagz-blog · 8 years

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NBA All-Star Voting Recommendations

Every year, the NBA allows fans to vote on which players they want to see play in the NBA All-Star game. Every year, I write the commissioner a strongly worded letter saying that this is a bad idea, because I am the only one with enough NBA expertise and basketball know-how to determine which players are the best & which players are the rest. Here is a copy of that letter & Adam Silver’s reply: TO: [email protected]: Voting Concerns Dear Adam, It has come to my attention that u are allowing fans to vote on which players get to start in the all-star game. This is a bad idea, as I am the only person with the NBA expertise & basketball know-how to determine which players are the best & which players are the rest. I urge u to see the error of ur ways & close the NBA voting portal & agree with me that I am the only person with the NBA expertise & basketball know-how to determine which players are the best & which players are the rest. I met Boogie Cousins once & he was very tall. Love, MikeNBA Insider/Blog OwnerMTZAWHITNBA&HWFAI His reply:FROM: [email protected]: Message Failure Delivery to the following domains has failed permanently: <[email protected]>. DNS Error. Address domain invalid. Could not complete delivery. We know u never met Boogie u liar. Domain name not found. So, it seems that the fan vote will continue despite my best effort. There have been 2 changes to all-star voting this year. 1. Players can now vote on the All-Star game, and the player vote will count for 25% of the ballot. FEELS: I fully expect players to attempt to sabotage the opposing conference’s team in hilarious ways. Suppose (as I do every night before I go to bed) that you are a player for the Detroit Pistons who’s getting some all-star votes. You don’t want the Western Conference All-Stars to be good, because then you’ll look dumb getting dunked on in the all-star game. So, instead of voting for the best Western Conference Players, you just vote for all the Phoenix Suns, because the Phoenix Suns are terrible. Too many conflicts of interests imo. 2. You can just vote for any ten players you want, instead of having the vote broken down by position and conference. FEELS: Great! I historically only voted for 4 Eastern Conference players (because the Eastern Conference is bad) & wrote in Barry Bonds as the last spot. Now, I can vote for the 10 players I love the most, regardless of position or team or even active NBA status.

So, here are the 10 players you should be voting to the 2017 NBA All-Star Game. 1. Boogie Cousins: Boogie Cousins has promised to drop an R&B album if he starts the all-star game this year. There is nothing you or I or anyone has wanted more in this world than a Boogie Cousins R&B album. Vote Boogie.

2 & 3. Vince Carter& Demarre Carroll: my favorite players & therefore your favorite players. Vote Vince Carter because Vince Carter is the man. He’s 39 and still dunking like the Air Canada sponsorship never expired. Vote Demarre Carroll because Demarre Carroll is a long time MTZ fan favorite. The dude doesn’t have an Achilles!

4. Michael Gbinije: Clearly deserves some sort of recognition for knocking Dayton out of March Madness last year. He’s only averaging a half-point a game this year, but I expect that to go up next year when Scoochie, Charles Cooke & Kendall Pollard take the league by storm.

5. Giannis Antetokounmpo: Giannis is doing wonderful basketball things, but people are ignoring this because his name is hard to pronounce & impossible to remember how to spell. Well, no more. Today is the day you learn how to pronounce “Giannis Antetokounmpo,” Zagz. To start, “Giannis” is pronounced “Yawn-iss.” You will remember this because Giannis is a Greek form of the name John, and John is a boring name. Thus, Yawnis. Second, Antetokounmpo. The easy way to remember this is that all of it of it is spelled wrong. Let’s break it down by syllables, starting with Ant. Nt is pronounced as a D, but there’s no D in Greek, so they cheated, and used nt, which does not sound like D at all, but, whatever. So the first syllable is Ad. Then, the E is in the wrong spot. The “eto” is pronounced “toe.” So, Ah-deh-toe. Anteto is Ah det toe. The M is silent. I don’t know why. Ignore the M. Ah-deh-toe-koun. Ah-deh-toe-koon. Then, lastly, the p is pronounced as a b. I’m assuming it was a typo. “Ah-deh-toe-koon-bo.” Easy. Yawniss Ahdehtoekoonbo. Impress your friends and family with this newfound knowledge. And vote for Yawniss. I’m not teaching you how to spell it tho bc even I don’t know.

6. Chris Bosh: you gotta feel sad for him because he’s never going to play basketball again, and he loves to play basketball. (Secret NBA insider tip: Bosh may play basketball in a limited capacity next year, even though he will die if he tries too hard. You see, the NBA has very specific rules relating to player injury & health status. If Bosh doesn’t play at all this year (he won’t), the Heat can release him & his current salary won’t count against the cap ever again. [They still have to pay him, it just doesn’t count as player salary.] This would not only help the Heat be able to sign more players moving forward, but also keeps the Heat from paying the repeatedly-over-the-cap luxury tax. BUT, once released, any other team can pick him up. AND, if he plays at least 20 more games for another team, his entire salary counts again towards the Heat’s cap. He’s signed for 22 million a year through 2020, which is a huge chunk of cash to pay someone not on your team. The Heat would also have to pay a big-ass fine for this, because the rule assumes, if Bosh can play 20 games for someone else so soon, the original team is cutting Bosh jut to circumvent the cap. The kicker is, the rule doesn’t specify minutes, just that Bosh must play 20 games. So, if you’re Chris Bosh, and you’re mad at the Heat for ending your career against your will, there’s nothing to stop you from signing with another team that hates the Heat (Mavs, Magic, Hornets), running around for 1 minute in the garbage time of 20 games, and dicking the Heat over for 3 years. Which would be super petty & immediately make Chris Bosh an all-time MTZ Fan Favorite)

7. Paul Millsap: why not

8, 9, 10: Russy Westbrook, James Harden, Kevin Durant: Yes, yes, yes. I know. James & Kevin are not MTZ fan favorites & I’ve told you to root against them many, many times. But. How funny would it be if the three former Oklahoma Thunder teammates were all starting All-Stars together. I’d never stop laughing. Plus, it’ll make a very great ending for the 30 for 30 on these three that’s gonna come out in twenty years. It’ll probably be called “Thunder University,” the name Durant coined for them (& poor Serge Ibaka) back in 2012 when they were all young & fun & together still. The documentary will end with a shot of them all on the court at the same time during the All-Star game, with the Sam Presti voiceover, “we just never could have predicted he would get so good, so fast.” Then credits would roll. So vote Russy/Harden/Durant to allow this to happen.