Me, I ain’t so much touched a burner for a year now. From Dave Singleton:
I think it is safe to say that Brian Colangelo is one of the least likely executives I can think of to be caught (allegedly) using burner Twitter accounts.
My question for you, though, is this: Who WOULD have been the most likely player/executive to get caught using burner Twitter accounts from a pre-Twitter NBA?
Oh, man: what a great (and dangerous) question for me to try and answer! It’s hard to project the behaviors and self-indulgence of today’s social media consumers (of which I’m one, unfortunately) with the more genteel time in which pre-Twitter NBA lived. And … you said “get caught.” This would assume incompetence/sloppiness, and that could only get me in trouble. A guy like the late Jerry Krause, the architect of the Bulls’ championship teams in the ‘90s, who craved secrecy and information, might well use any means to get info. But he wouldn’t have been caught, IMHO. I don’t know … maybe Dennis Rodman? Yes, definitely Rodman.
I blame you each and every day/It’s your fault that I’m completely blown away. From Yitshak Merin:
Was it not Tyronn Lue’s fault? Before the second free throw he should have shouted 20 times “If we get the rebound, take a timeout right away”.
Shout it, make all your assistants shout it, make every player repeat it. Get it into their head.
No matter the score, if you got the rebound, take a timeout.
Again: No matter the score, if you got the rebound, take a timeout.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Even JR would have figured it out…
In that situation — tie score, with your guy on the foul line — I don’t think a coach would say ‘in case our guy misses, and we get the rebound, call timeout.’
First, you wouldn’t want to put a negative thought like that in your team’s head — ‘if our guy misses the free throw.’ Second, you wouldn’t normally want to call timeout in that situation, because it would allow the opposing team’s defense to get set up out of the timeout. If the other team was shooting a free throw in a tie game, you would give that instruction, because if you get the now defensive rebound, and call timeout, you can advance the ball to midcourt.
But in Lue’s/Cleveland’s situation, I’d rather not call time. I’d try to get as good a shot as possible in those 4.7 seconds. The play Smith obviously should have made was to just get the ball back to LeBron, who was wide open about 25-27 feet from the basket just right of the top of the key, with no defender within 4-5 feet of him. He could have easily taken a couple of dribbles and pulled up from somewhere just inside or outside of the 3-point line with an unencumbered look at the basket.
Or, Smith could have gotten a shot off himself with plenty of time to spare. It would have likely been contested, but Smith is one of the best bad-shot makers in the game. It was his mental lapse, and I can’t/don’t blame Lue on that one.
Billy, Don’t Be a Hero/Don’t be a Fool with Your Life. From Frank Forster:
What’s the biggest issue in OKC?
Frustrating, no other word to sum up the season. So what to do moving forward? We can talk Carmelo Anthony, we can hope for Paul George to stay or blame Andre Roberson’s injury. My take: Whatever roster you assemble, this team is not getting close to a championship with Billy Donovan as a coach. Sam Presti will go down with him one day when Russell Westbrook’s prime is already wasted. What made me think like that:
Donovan didn’t change/adjust like Dwayne Casey before the season for example. Modern offense nowhere to be found. All stats and the eye test scream they should sit ‘Melo and play him less minutes. Nothing more than a half-hearted reaction in Game 5 of the first round vs. the Utah Jazz. Adams got in foul trouble in Game 2 (on some bad calls) – Billy nowhere to be found taking a technical to send a message. Instead, he watched like he did all season. Utah was consequently killing OKC on the glass on both ends. Billy watched. Game 6 was a must-win. Donovan Mitchell getting hot, every fan saw it coming I guess, no Paul George on him, no Alex Abrines. Corey Brewer was having a bad defensive day. No hard fouls, no Westbrook taking on the challenge (who was exhausted as consequence of Donovan’s archaic offense?)
Not saying players aren’t to blame as well, just saying every player’s performance is in part a result of coaching/lack thereof and keeping Donovan is far and away the biggest mistake the Thunder made.
How wrong am I? And, if this team keeps the same coach does it have any chance to become a contender before Westbrook hits age 33 or 34?
Some of your points are fair ones, Frank. But I don’t blame Donovan for everything that went wrong for them this season. It’s hard to coach OKC. Westbrook is so good and so willful, it’s tempting to just give him the ball and clear a side every possession. And until Roberson got hurt, the Thunder was really rolling and looked like a threat in the West.
Send your questions, comments and better deterrents for that friend who, no matter how strongly you object, just won’t stop helping themselves to your plate to daldridgetnt@gmail.com. If your e-mail is funny, thought-provoking or snarky, we just might publish it!
MVP WATCH
(Last week’s averages in parenthesis)
1) James Harden (32 ppg, 6 rpg, 6 apg, .414 FG, .750 FT): Season complete. I have little doubt he’ll win league MVP at the end of the month. I have equally little doubt he’ll enjoy it much.
2) LeBron James (40 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 10.5 apg, .558 FG, .850 FT): Never seen him as down as he was after Game 1 Thursday, and I’ve seen him after Finals-clinching losses.
3) Anthony Davis: Season complete.
4) Kevin Durant (28.7 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 6 apg, .509 FG, .833 FT): Looked better Sunday in Game 2 of The Finals than he had since early in the New Orleans series.
5) Russell Westbrook: Season complete.
BY THE NUMBERS
89 — Consecutive playoff games with at least one 3-pointer by Stephen Curry, an NBA record.
100 — Early entry candidates for this month’s Draft that withdrew by last week’s deadline for college underclassmen. Among those who are going back to school next season are twins Caleb and Cody Martin from Nevada, who led the Wolfpack to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament; Syracuse guard Tyus Battle; Missouri freshman big Jontay Porter; North Carolina forward Luke Maye; Wisconsin junior forward Ethan Happ; Kentucky freshman P.J. Washington and Maryland big man Bruno Fernando.
100 — Postseason games, per the Warriors, for Klay Thompson, making him the first player in franchise history to reach the century mark in playoff appearances.
I’M FEELIN’ …
1) You have to be able to laugh at yourself.
2) Good to see the Players’ Association officially announcing a Director of Mental Health and Wellness, Dr. William Parham, who will work with the NBA as the league and union continue to develop their joint mental wellness program. The program will allow players to seek help for mental health issues outside the purview of their individual teams, and will work alongside Keyon Dooling, who has been working with players seeking help as a Player Wellness Counselor, and who will report to Parham. Parham, currently a professor at Loyola Marymount University, started his career working extensively with student-athletes at UCLA before becoming a consulting psychologist for the Lakers. He’s also worked in the NBA’s and NFL’s respective Rookie Transition Programs.
3) Exactly.
4) I think Steve Clifford will get the Magic to play better defense. But, I thought Frank Vogel would get the Magic to play better defense. And I thought Scott Skiles would get the Magic to play better defense. So maybe I’m not the person to ask about who can get the Magic to play better defense.
NOT FEELIN’ …
1) We all want to use replay to get the call right. I get that. But block/charge is so difficult to get right, such a subjective call, so explosively divisive depending on your point of view/team for which you’re rooting, that using replay to adjudicate it does nothing but inflame passions further. We saw this exemplified in Game 1 of the Finals, when the refs and the Replay Center ultimately got the call right, it says here, on LeBron James’s blocking foul against Kevin Durant. But even though everyone did the right thing according to the rule book, the dissatisfaction with using replay to reverse the initial call at such a critical juncture is real. In this one instance — block/charge — I think it’s best to just live with whatever the refs call on the floor in real time.
2) Some day, someone will explain a suit jacket and shorts. I will not listen to the explanation.
3) I have no opinion on this. It’s just incredibly sad.
TWEET OF THE WEEK
If the Cleveland Cavaliers win the 2018 NBA finals I’ll buy everyone who retweet’s this a jersey…
— Randalltime (@RandallTime) May 29, 2018
— Cleveland Browns defensive back Damarious Randall (@RandallTime), Monday, 11:58 p.m., soon after the Warriors advanced to the NBA Finals with their Game 7 Western Conference finals win over Houston. As of midnight Sunday, Randall’s Tweet had been retweeted 1,162,827 times. A Randall Browns jersey on nflshop.com retails for $99.99; if we don’t round up, that would put Randall out a cool $116,271,071.13 if he bought everyone who asked a new jersey.
THEY SAID IT
“He stresses the same thing to me as he stresses to (the media). There is no news. He says he wants to be a Spur and retire there. He said that to you. He’s expressed that. When I talked to him, he says he’s been with us, he’s always on board with us and (wanted) to be a part of what we did, and he’s trying to get right. But things may change.”
— Danny Green, to the San Antonio Express-News, elaborating on his statement after the Spurs’ season ended that Kawhi Leonard told him he wanted to return to the Spurs next season.
“I definitely know this is ending. I don’t need any reminders. The narrative is, ‘this will go on forever.’ On the record, it can’t. Nothing does, especially in a sport where the competition is so great.”
— Warriors General Manager Bob Myers, on the challenge of keeping his team at the top of the heap as teams like Houston and Boston build formidable challengers.
“It’s a gift and a curse. You play on his team, you’re playing with the best player in the world and you get to witness some great, historic things, be a part of it. And then the other side, if you don’t help that person win, they’re looking at you, too. It’s a lot of pressure, depending on how you look at it. But I get to, I tell him all the time — he gets an opportunity to play with me as well.”
— J.R. Smith, on Saturday, as only J.R. Smith can, describing to reporters what the pressure of playing with LeBron James is like.
* * *
Longtime NBA reporter, columnist and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer David Aldridge is an analyst for TNT. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting.
