- The Grip
- Posts
- The Grip - MON 4.2
The Grip - MON 4.2
Deciphering the Patrick McCaw-Vince Carter thing
4.2.18
J.S.: Happy National Title Monday! Villanova vs. Michigan, tonight at 9:20 p.m.
S.E.: Thanks. I was excited for it until Sister Jean said the NCAA is better than the NBA because NCAA players don’t get paid.
J.S.: Sounds like you’re mad that you picked Loyola to make the Final Four in a money-less bracket.
S.E.: Yep.
Written while listening to Goldlink's The God Complex [YouTube] [Spotify] [Apple Music]
IMPORTANT SCORES FROM LAST NIGHT
Spurs 100,
Houston 83
[
] [
]
---
LaMarcus Aldridge
23 PTS | 14 RBD
Thunder 109,
Pelicans 104
[
] [
]
---
Russell Westbrook
26 PTS | 15 RBD | 13 AST
A strange moment in Sacramento
(Goods news: Patrick McCaw, as ESPN’s Chris B. Haynes reported, is going to be fine after that scary fall and reaction during Saturday’s game in Sacramento. It happened on a backdoor cut from the left baseline; McCaw jumped and tried to lay the ball in, while Vince Carter appeared to sort of side-swipe him in mid air. McCaw landed right on his back and started writhing. He was taken off on a stretcher, and apparently lost feeling in the lower half of his body right after falling. All senses are back, though, and he left the hospital Sunday.)
At this point in his career, Vince Carter probably just wants to play some drama-free ball and make a little bit of money doing so. That’s been virtually his entire season (the 41-year-old is scoring five points a game in 17 minutes this year), but on Saturday, in his 1,400th game played, all that briefly went out the window when the future HOFer did the thing in the gif above.
To us, it looked possibly irresponsible (he got a flagrant one), but Steve Kerr’s immediate reaction added some fuel to the fire, like Moises Alou yelling at Steve Bartman in the 2004 ALCS. It also didn’t help anything that Carter was whining to the ref while McCaw was doing some serious writhing.
“God damnit. I’m not mad at you,” you can hear Kerr yelling in this video, pointing to an unidentified person. “I’m mad at Vince. He knows better.”
(Knows better than what, exactly? Sorry, but he has no problem trotting out Zaza Pachulia.)
Carter realized something was wrong at this moment, whispering to a teammate, “What he do?” while looking at McCaw on the ground.
McCaw was there for about 10 minutes, mostly motionless. Kerr calmed down and shared this moment with Carter, putting his arm around him while the two former contemporaries stood over McCaw.
Kevin Durant later said this: “Nobody in our locker room thinks Vince did that on purpose.”
This San Jose Mercury News columnist called it “a dirty play. Plain and simple.”
Not sure we’re buying that, or that a 41-year-old ambassador who checked his ego about five years ago has a dirty bone in his body.
The most important thing is that McCaw gon’ be alright, and will likely only miss three-to-four games.
Also, Vince Carter made $8 million to play basketball this year. The Kings, ladies and gentlemen.
Who's been going off?
LaMarcus Aldridge, that’s who. He’s averaging the most points in the league from 10-14 feet, and in the last five games has put up 28 a game, including 23 and 14 rebounds in a win last night over Houston.Eric Bledsoe, that’s who. He put up 39 points (11 of Milwaukee’s 12 in overtime) against the Lakers on Friday night, then followed it up with a 31-point effort in yesterday’s loss to the Nuggets.Ben Simmons, that’s who. Philadelphia is currently on a 10-game win streak, and Ben Simmons is averaging a triple-double over the last six. He put up 20-15-8 last night against Charlotte.
The Wizards (remember when they said they were the best team in the conference, or that Cleveland is afraid of them?) lost to the Bulls last night, though some losing might be good. They’re currently slotted in the No. 6 vs No. 3 matchup with Cleveland.
The Warriors ended up beating the NCAA Suns last night, but an anonymous player named Danuel House did this to Swaggy P.
Notre Dame’s womens basketball team won the NCAA title last night on this buzzer beater by Arike Ogunbowale. She also hit a shot to beat UConn in the Final Four at the buzzer.
Anthony Davis did a (kind of lame) April Fool’s Day joke about shaving his unibrow. It’s still there. He also got jammed on by Steven Adams in a loss to the Thunder on Sunday.
Brandon Jennings somehow finagled a multi-year contract out of the Milwaukee Bucks after starting the year in China. He signed a 10-day contract earlier in the year.
Last night, Jabari Parker had a much-needed offensive outburst. Off the bench, he put up 35 points in 39 minutes of play.
Jeff Van Gundy continues to ramble on national television about anything besides the game he’s watching. This time he wondered out loud what a second cousin means and what you’re allowed to do with them…
Giannis’ brother, Kostas, recently declared for the NBA draft after one underwhelming season at Dayton.
A spotlight on Kickstradomis, a sneaker designer who’s been making a killing off of NBA athletes [Tap Here]
How Somerville’s Kevin Mackey went from a cinderella coaching Cleveland State to a win over Bob Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers in the NCAA tournament, to a crackhead in the slums of Cleveland:At Sixth District headquarters, Mackey fakes two puffs into the Breathalyzer, reaches into his pocket and fires a hit of Binaca into his mouth, ruining any accurate breath analysis. Perfect. The defining moment, the sum and essence of Kevin Mackey, distilled into one Homeric act—Mackey the Gamin from Boston’s Somerville, Mackey the Spewer of Blarney, the Comber of Projects and Savior of Ghetto Youth, Mackey the bottom-line, ninety-four-foot, balls-out, how-many-fucking-games-have-YOU-won motherfucker.To keep reading, tap here.
The Bucks have some soul-searching to do [Tap Here]
Listen: Part two of Bill Simmons’ podcast with Kevin Durant, which only makes us further think Kevin Durant doesn’t really know who Kevin Durant is [Tap Here]
A LOOK AHEAD
Here are Tuesday's high-importance games with playoff implications.
Tuesday, 4/3
Toronto Raptors (55-21)vsCleveland Cavaliers (47-30)7:00 PM EST
Golden State Warriors (56-21)vsOklahoma City Thunder (45-33)8:00 PM EST - TNT
