The Grip - THURS 10.11.18

An Optimist’s Guide to the 2018 Season, Cont.

October 11, 2018

An NBA-obsessed newsletter for the info-craved basketball mind.

10.11.18

  Written while listening to Gnarles Barkley’s Crazy

We interrupt this program to alert you to the fact that Jimmy Butler has lost his mind. He crashed the Wolves’ practice yesterday and terrified the players, the coach and the general manager, much in the way a rabid squirrel who gnawed his way into a municipal building would terrify unsuspecting people.

And the best part is, he’ll be on ESPN’s The Jump today at 3 p.m. to explain himself.  Here’s an extended clip of that interview. So far his excuses are: He’s “just emotional and honest.” Oh okay, so we’ll be honest. Jimmy Butler, have you lost your mind? Because we’ll help you find it.

NBA drama, you can’t beat it.

Twelve of thirty NBA teams finished under .500 last season. But hey, with a new year comes new hope. Our guide will encourage such optimism while also reminding you of the bad parts. Let’s dive into the Eastern Conference’s Central Division.

 

What’s bad: Nobody told Tristan Thompson that LeBron James left. J.R. Smith has inspired an entire generation of white social media creators to freely use the term ‘henny.’ LeBron James is gone, of course, and so are all of the beat writers. Kyrie Irving continues his anti-Cleveland victory lap a year after leaving. What’s depressing: Now that LeBron’s gone, Kevin Love is kind of, sort of, probably, definitely ready to blow the lid on his four years with LeBron in Cleveland.Windhorst, paraphrased: “Is it hard to play with LeBron?”Love, not paraphrased: "You have to follow. You have to learn a lot about that.”So, yes?What’s good: MINNESOTA KEVIN LOVE. Get ready for a whole bunch of 25-21-6 stat lines during 30-point losses from the NBA’s preeminent white boy, who was always destined to be an all-offense maverick anyways, whose rhythmic nights in Minneapolis in the early-2010s probably fooled some Twin City old-timers into thinking George Mikan was still lumbering around for the Minneapolis Lakers.  A Cleveland Cavaliers haiku: Did you hear who left?LeBron James to La La LandNo, economy

What’s bad: There will be nights in December, January, February, and so on, when the Bulls are several games under .500, drunk, unmotivated, or sedated, and in the middle of a five-game road trip, where they’ll let up a near-unfathomable amount of points to one of the league’s elite players.In fact…let’s nail down a date.The Bulls play in Houston on Dec. 1, the second night of a back-to-back in which they’ll catch a red eye from Detroit.James Harden is dropping 55 that night. Book it.What’s depressing: During a preseason game on ESPN last night, the show’s producers flashed a graphic comparing what they had presumably ascertained to be the Bulls’ and the Pacers’ best players, respectively. Indiana’s was Victor Oladipo. Chicago’s was Jabari Parker, who came off the bench and was very moody after the game.You know what’s really, really depressing? Five years ago, a Bulls fan would have thought that was a good thing.What’s good: This team is going to be a trainwreck defensively. They threw a max contract at Zach LaVine, who levitates on offense and plays a matador on defense, then gave Parker, who has a suspect attitude towards defense, a $40 million pay day in a dried-up market. They may give up 120 points a night.BUT. Just look at these names: Parker, LaVine, Kris Dunn, Lauri Markkanen, Bobby Portis, Wendell Carter.This team is nothing if not a slightly inspiring pop song you listen to when no one’s around. In a world where highlight dunks matter, where child prodigies avoid ACL tears, and where comparisons to Dirk are legitimate, this team is very good.  In the real world, they may go 35-47, but they’ll be the most interesting 35-47 team around.What needs to happen: Markkanen, who is expected to miss the first month or so of the season with an elbow injury, needs to get his touches once he gets back. He threw up a 15 and 7 last year as a rookie. He’s the most promising piece to this roster, and can’t lose shots to dribble-heavy wings like Parker.

What’s bad: If and when (when) Giannis leaves Milwaukee, the ghost of BelAir -- the restaurant that kept him waiting after a playoff victory last season -- will haunt the city to its core. But, hey, a global star in Milwaukee of all places: it was fun while it lasted.(Sorry, we’ll try and type in present tense until he actually leaves.)What’s depressing: Giannis still believes he will be in Milwaukee long term. The sneaker gods, Lew Alcindor, and 50 years of evidence suggest otherwise. Also, the Bucks got picked for only 18 ESPN and TNT games this season, while Lebron and the Lakers will get 32.What’s good: The franchise has a sexy new arena and sold a franchise record 10,000 season tickets. The Bucks hired the best available used car on the market in coach Mike Budenholzer, who, at the very least, doesn’t kind of look like a Beavis and Butthead character. Giannis is still somehow only 23 and has gotten significantly better every year, Khris Middleton is the best kept secret in the league, Eric Bledsoe doesn’t have to play Terry Rozier every game, and the Bucks have a clear path, should they take it, towards homecourt in the first round and winning a playoff series for the first time since the Ray Allen years.   The ceiling: Giannis did the whole train-with-Kobe thing during the summer, and opens the season with 5-1 odds to win the MVP. It isn’t out of the realm of possibility that he’d be considered the best player in the league by this time next year.He is beyond superlative, but the clock is ticking. Three years remain on his extension. The Bucks are a frisky playoff threat this season; a plausible longshot to win two rounds and an improbable longshot to make the finals. If they aren’t a title contender by his contract year in 2020-21, then Milwaukee hasn’t done its job with its best player since Alcindor.In short: If they can’t win a title with Giannis, what is the point of all this?

What’s bad: Austin Rivers, not quite happy with jinxing his own team, told reporters earlier this week that his Wizards, along with the Pacers, were just as good as the Celtics.What’s depressing: We just found out there is a Pacers blog called 8points9seconds.com, which is a cool name and a reference to one of the great sequences in NBA playoff history. Then, we found out the blog is owned by Fansided, which is free labor under the guise of experience.What’s good: The ‘What’s depressing’ segment of this section had nothing to do with the actual Pacers, which means there genuinely isn’t too much to be depressed about in Indianapolis. Last year, a nucleus generated out of thin air. Victor Oladipo is a pleasure, Myles Turner is a lurking potential star, Tyreke Evans was a very reasonable offseason addition, they have a deep bench, and they are the logical fourth seed behind Boston, Toronto and Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference. Not bad for a .500 team with an exiting superstar this time last year.The question, as always, for overachieving teams, is whether they were benefactors of surprise negligence, or whether they have staying power. Are they actually good? Or are they the 2015-16 Hornets?What’s awesome: In Russell Westbrook’s younger days, his most enjoyable basketball move, to us, was when he would barrel toward the paint with a defender on his hip, then stop and pull up on a dime around the free throw line to cash an unblockable jumper.Oladipo has taken over that joy.

What’s bad: Rather than they play their hand at finding the next exciting new head coach -- the type of risk that’s paid off for the Celtics and the Jazz over the last few years --  the Pistons’ brass entered into the Fired Coaches Wheel of Fortune and pulled out Dwane Casey, the man who rationalized that 2018’s sweep was much better than 2017’s sweep.Casey is a man of humility; the safe bet. But what’s better: A home run swing that might fall short, or a two-out single with the bottom of the order coming up?The next great coach is out there, and it isn’t Casey, David Fizdale, J. B. Bickerstaff, Tom Thibodeau, Dave Joerger, Scott Brooks, or any of the other 2012 Honda Civics.  What’s depressing: Last year, the Detroit Pistons moved into a new arena in downtown Detroit, and nobody went. The pictures people would post on Twitter of the thousands of empty red seats in the middle of games were cringy, sad, and emblematic of a team and a town stuck in slow motion.So what did your Detroit Pistons do? Recently, they started the process of making every seat black, so an empty stadium would be slightly less overt. Hell yeah!*points at head like man in famous meme*Can’t have a cavernous new stadium if no one can see the empty seats.What’s good: Reggie Jackson was finally healthy, then he left last night’s game with a groin injury. Any funky success the frontcourt of Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond can sort out will not have anything to with the man S.I.’s Open Floor calls Route Canal Reggie.What’s true: The Lions suck. The Tigers are leaving a decade of prosperity for the deepest depths of MLB. The Red Wings have missed the playoffs for three straight years. The sporting scene over there is a mess.So, can these damn Pistons please make a push for the playoffs? The city of Detroit needs a nice distraction from the smell of burnt tires and Justin Verlander’s integration back into normal society.

So long...

Last year, Phoenix fired its coach three games into the season. This year, nine days before the season, the team fired general manager Ryan McDonough. Want to further understand the dumpster fire in Arizona? S.I. explains:

This year, the plan involved casting Booker and Ayton as a pair of rising stars and surrounding that duo with veterans like Trevor Ariza and Ryan Anderson who could provide some badly-needed structure. New coach Igor Kokoskov was tapped for some offensive ingenuity, and the Suns might edge a little closer to respectability while being significantly more watchable. Yet Sarver bailed on the plan’s architect just one week before the season started.

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 Quick Hits

 Concrete Reads

  • The art of the sidle: The slickest move in NBA media [The Ringer]

  • How social media turned the NBA into a made-for-tv drama [SB Nation]

  • The Jimmy Butler guide to finding a new job [Slate]

  • It’s not what Kyrie Irving sees, it’s how he sees it [Bleacher Report]

  Podcast Pick

  • Zach Lowe and Kevin Arnovitz’s five most confusing teams [ESPN]