Lurker > transience

Thunder is very on again, off again. they have an incredible game and then just drop it hard.

makes me think they're going to be totally fine once they figure it out.
---

xyzzy

that said, Kyrie is a playoff god and he'll be judged almost exclusively by that. if he can do what he's done the last two years in the playoffs, Celtics fans will be very happy.
---

xyzzy

I think he's been helped out tremendously by Lebron covering up those holes. he's an awesome one on one scorer when he's got it going and he's got the best safety valve in NBA history. we'll see with this team. he's had his strong points, like the last couple games, and also some games when he's just so-so.
---

xyzzy

I don't believe in Kyrie either. I think he can hit shots and get hot but I don't think he thrives as a #1.
---

xyzzy

man the kings are real bad
---

xyzzy

i was just thinking, i feel like i don't actually hear about those anymore

could be my radius
---

xyzzy

my take: any site that isn't judging pubg for its early access-ness is a site that's out of date and not with the times. that game is the most popular game in the world with the possible exception of league. it's certainly a 2017 game. it won't be winning awards in 2018 if it hits 1.0 on 1/1/18.

pubg 1.0 vs. destiny 2 1.0 will be night and day
---

xyzzy

chrono cross is a good soundtrack and an okay game

it's not a great soundtrack and it's not a great game, but it's likable all around
---

xyzzy

oh and the lakers are bad too
---

xyzzy

yeah kings, mavs, bulls and hawks are bad. the knicks might be okay if KP is as legit as he seems and the suns are bad but at least playing hard. we'll see teams start to tank in a month or two but for now, most everyone seems like they have a shot at the playoffs.
---

xyzzy

Orlando, Detroit and Hayward-less Boston are tied for the best record in the East. Memphis and the Clippers are tops in the West. Cleveland's in 10th place despite one of the softest schedules in the league. the conensus 4 best west teams all have 3 losses and have looked kinda bad at various points. they've also looked really good sometimes, like Golden State's destruction of the Clippers last night which has to be the most impressive game played so far this season.

basketball is crazy early on, and that's good!
---

xyzzy

you woulda gotten tractor traylor!
---

xyzzy

this is a weird thing to get on someone's case about when there's so much more
---

xyzzy

yeah he's up there with Andre Iguodala who basically won the award because they couldn't give it to Lebron

Pierce scored 21.8 points on 43% shooting. he had 4 rebounds and 6 assists but also almost 4 turnovers a game. MVP
---

xyzzy

as for fox news

https://www.avclub.com/fox-news-brands-radiohead-the-poor-mans-coldplay-1819850439

okay you've gone too god damn far
---

xyzzy

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/upstairs-at-home/2017/10/30/fd0d0b16-bd87-11e7-8444-a0d4f04b89eb_story.html

man, the faucet is always running in the trump white house. wapo has done really good work with this insider stuff. feels like they just live in the white house.
---

xyzzy

the sixers need time to learn how to win. they've been losing for so long and have no identity yet. I think they're doing pretty okay considering how many different pieces they have to integrate. so far, only Fultz has been a failure and it's been like five injury plagued games.
---

xyzzy

I hear some people talk about Paul Pierce as a top 50 all-time guy and it's like.. was he even in the top 5 at his position while he played? I'm not sure. a quick check tells me he finished in the top 10 of mvp voting once and had one all-nba second team. eh. lucking into a super team really did wonders for his legacy.
---

xyzzy

I hate the Paul Pierce hagiography

dude was never top ten in any year. maaaaybe 08? thanks KG
---

xyzzy

I watched a good video on Frank's defense. he looks like he'll be real good for that if nothing else
---

xyzzy

here's what I think. we didn't have a full training camp and teams are kinda just playing their way into game shape. we usually start basketball around 10/29 so tonight is like opening night. I think it'll start to stabilize.

the cavs, though, they had major question marks coming into the season with the roster they put together. they're also missing their #2 guy which I think goes under the radar compared to, like, Boston being without Hayward. I'm pretty worried about them but they'll be okay if IT is healthy.

Orlando is cute but they have like 3 or 4 guys in the top 10 3pt% in the league. they're going to cool off.

Detroit I can't come up with a way to write them off so maybe they're legit. I'm doubtful, but I'm a bit of a hater when it comes to that team. they're playing hard though and that's great.

Golden State just doesn't really care. Kerr has even come out and said that he doesn't want his team to be playing like it's the finals. they're going to coast to 55 wins or something and blast everyone in the postseason.

I do like Memphis and the Clippers, though. I think they're real.
---

xyzzy

here's how weird basketball is right now.

(1) Detroit vs. (8) Indiana
(2) Orlando vs. (7) Charlotte
(3) Washington vs. (6) Toronto
(4) Boston vs. (5) Milwaukee

(1) Memphis vs. (8) New Orleans
(2) LA Clippers vs. (7) Oklahoma City
(3) Houston vs. (6) Golden State
(4) Portland vs. (5) San Antonio

Denver and Utah are tied with OKC and NO so you could take any of those. I went with highest point differential to seed teams.
---

xyzzy

howlongtobeat says 11.5 hours for the main quest. that's still a lot for two days!
---

xyzzy

is odyssey short? you're all talking about it in the past tense and it's been out two days
---

xyzzy

nah Orlando already has that honor (for now)
---

xyzzy

nice with by Det
---

xyzzy

https://twitter.com/KevinOConnorNBA/status/924436728408141824

pfft
---

xyzzy

Cleveland looks like a real mess right now
---

xyzzy

Spurs won in 03, 05, 07 and 14

...yeah
---

xyzzy

I think 3 was the most maddening. unity is probably the worst, but it's post-3.
---

xyzzy

but yes I think the biggest concern for OKC isn't chemistry, but their trademark rebounding
---

xyzzy

Minnesota actually played hard tonight!
---

xyzzy

yeah, they might make the playoffs. I don't think any team has surpassed expectations quite like the magic. Vucevic and Gordon turning into deep threats has really helped them.
---

xyzzy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSR1sNRD71U&feature=youtu.be

this is great

I saw a stat somewhere that Minnesota has the worst defensive rating in history. http://www.espn.com/nba/hollinger/teamstats/_/sort/defensiveEff/order/false - jeeze
---

xyzzy

I have to believe it's how they think Fox should develop. it's like they created this whole team for him to run with, especially Carter.
---

xyzzy

the thing that's weirder is their rotations. their second unit is about as good as their first. Skal, Fox and Temple are better than Randolph, Jackson and Hill.
---

xyzzy

I'm cool with it, it's not like it matters if they win
---

xyzzy

I dunno. I watched George and Anthony get traded for arguably less!
---

xyzzy

yeah, I think people have cooled on it by now. it's more of a push. at the time, though, everyone mocked the Kings hard for it.
---

xyzzy

KINGS

man I should have archived everything everyone said about the Cousins trade
---

xyzzy

might be kyrie's first good game this year!
---

xyzzy

what's going on?
---

xyzzy

is kawhi even that good? I can't even tell
---

xyzzy

16 - Brooklyn - they're not this good but I just don't like any other teams here. Russell's been a good stats/bad team kind of guy except they're also winning? they play really fast and are scoring a ton of points. I'm impressed with their win vs. Cleveland tonight. that's enough to be middle of the pack.

17 - Detroit - they're pretty decent. you could put them 5 spots higher but their schedule has been pretty soft. they play the Clippers soon which will be a good barometer.

18 - Minnesota - this team is *terrible* defensively. they'll probably put it together but I really don't like them going that far this year. they need to figure something out defensively because wow. I want to put them around 25 just because of how bad it is, but they have a few special offensive players that gives them the benefit of the doubt.

19 - Miami - they ended last season on a tear but have been thoroughly mediocre so far this year. nothing really to say about them so far.

20 - Denver - disappointing! Jokic hasn't been great and Millsap, while fine, hasn't taken them up a level. I think they miss Gallinari. I had these guys #5 in the west so I'm disappointed to put them this low.

21 - Charlotte - eh. on the bright side, Howard's been pretty good. on the other hand, he's Dwight Howard in 2017.

22 - Philadelphia - the good news is that Simmons looks like a keeper. the Fultz thing is just weird. it feels like they've spent too long focusing on losing and their organization doesn't seem ready to take the next step. Philly fans will get frustrated very soon if they can't find a way to put a winning product on the court. keep Fultz out until he's straight and get some vets in there.

23 - New Orleans - this team needs some perimeter players so bad. they feel like a team constructed for 1995's NBA.

24 - Lakers - Lonzo seems pretty good. he also seems like he isn't ready to be the face of the franchise and his dad has put him in that unfortunate position. good luck in December when some random team comes at you hard, bud.

25 - Phoenix - should be last, but they seem rejuvenated by kicking Bledsoe and Watson off the team? what is this team?

26 - Sacramento - Fox looks good, real good. they have a few decent old vets. the rest of the team is lacking talent bigtime.

27 - Atlanta - Schroder's legit but that's about it.

28 - Dallas - Dennis Smith is also legit. I wonder if Dirk's legacy holds them back? Barnes/Noel/Smith feel like a good core but I haven't been impressed, especially defensively.

29 - Chicago - after a summer of being a pinata, Markannen is... actually he looks good? he has Klay's quick release. obviously he's not Klay after four games, but the fact that we can say positive things about a guy whose team is trying to tank so hard is really something.

30 - Knicks - Porzingis is putting up big numbers and it just does not matter. even Chicago makes them look good offensively.
---

xyzzy

here's some power rankings! I don't look too closely at record, so some of this will be preconceptions of teams.

1 - Golden State - pretty clearly the best team, even though they're still in preseason mode

2 - San Antonio - 4-0 without their best player. I think we should have an honest conversation about if San Antonio has been successful for the last 20 years because of their system and culture and not their players. I feel like you could give them any selection of 12 players and they'd win 50.

3 - LA Clippers - I really like this team, and did coming into the season too. they're sixth in offensive efficiency thanks to Blake, but they're also first in defensive efficiency by a very wide margin. some of that is their competition but they looked great vs. Utah last night.

4 - Houston - they have a good record but they've been really lucky. they could easily be 1-4 and their second best player is hurt. Paul + Houston is a huge question mark still but Harden looks to be in midseason form.

5 - Cleveland - they're kinda coasting, much like GS, but I have many more questions about their awkward lineup. they have a lot of non-shooters in the guard positions which won't mesh with Lebron well. they're also old. that said, Lebron looks great this year. more on this later.

6 - Toronto - they've sneakily become a 3 point bombing team after being the most boring and static offense over the last 5 years. on 2017 performances alone they're probably the best east team by a good bit.

7 - Oklahoma City - they've got work to do, especially rebounding the basketball which was always a strength of this team, but I like them when they click. I think they'll be good in April but they're certainly not there yet. Russ is buying in to the team thing. I expect a lot of 15p/15a/12r games from him as he tries to get Paul and Carmelo going.

8 - Portland - this team looks really good! CJ's having a great year and Dame is lying in wait. they're defending well this year which has been their achilles heel. might be a small sample size thing.

9 - Memphis - Memphis is like Spurs lite. they don't have great personnel but they're professional as heck and keep winning. weird loss to Dallas tonight but they've played a lot of tough games in a row. a letdown seems natural.

10 - Washington - they're undefeated (for now) but not winning all that convincingly. if Oubre can bring it, I think they'll be good. I worry about their depth over a whole season.

11 - Milwaukee - GIANNIS. their team is hitting 3s, too. I think Giannis is doing too much for them to be much better than this - he's playing unreal and they're still just squeaking out wins. if they were really legit, they'd be crushing teams with how Giannis is playing.

12 - Utah - they play hard. another good culture team. they have good, but not great, players at every position. they feel like they'll be in the 7-8 spot in the west all year.

13 - Orlando - Gordon and Vucevic have both had 40 point games and they're the third rated offense in the league. that seems like a fluke but also good for them? you can argue that Vucevic is the best center in the league through 4 games.

14 - Boston - hard to gauge. Hayward going down hurts but Jaylen looks good and Tatum shows promise a couple of times every game. I'm almost doubting Kyrie but he's given me good reason so far this year.

15 - Indiana - I don't get it.
---

xyzzy

the lebron one!

I don't disagree but they dude had a pretty big game outside of the TOs
---

xyzzy

spoken like a true celtics fan!
---

xyzzy

okay, I dug around some more. man, having what is essentially two gafs is going to be real bad
---

xyzzy

so, I haven't followed this. what's the deal here? I don't see a place to make an account
---

xyzzy

this is mega maker

sine how are ya
---

xyzzy