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10.24.17

S.E.: The evil empire lost and the standoff is done. Good luck to the two teams in the World Series, Not The Yankees and Not The Yankees.

J.S.: Yeah, yeah, yeah. GFY. At least the Red Sox have three titles in the last 99 years. Congrats! Did you see that insane buzzer-beater yesterday?

S.E.: Roll the film!

Earl Watson is gone. Who's next?

Have you watched the Phoenix Suns lately?

No, you probably haven’t watched the Suns in the last three games because why would you and because it’s October and the season started way too early this year. It’s ok. We understand. 

But, in our best Haray Caray voice, let-us-tell-you that, Ho-Lee Cow, this team is bad, bad, bad!

And that’s why head coach Earl Watson was fired on Sunday after an 0-3 start. Interim coach Jay Triano took over last night.

He is the first to go, but probably not the last.

Looking at you, Alvin Gentry, who oversees two of the best big men in the game in New Orleans but has also overseen mediocrity for the last two-plus seasons. He’s off to a 1-2 start, but a 6-14 start, for example, would likely mean change.

Here are some stats associated with the Suns first three games this season under Watson, who went 33-85 since getting the job in 2015.

• An average of 128.6 points allowed per game.

• One emphatic declaration of independence by it’s best player.

• One denial of a gun gesture to a fan by Josh Jackson, it’s prized rookie.

• Two 40-plus point losses.

Hey, look! The Warriors lost two games!

*picture credit: basketballstuff.org

When an infant does not get what he or she wants, he or she gets very mad and begins to cry.

When Steph Curry, a large adult who has somehow adopted an aww-shucks persona despite being generally whiny, does not get what he wants, he throws his mouth guard at people.

Anyways, thank you, Warriors for not being perfect straight out of the gates. Thank you for having a worse record through three games than the Brooklyn Nets.

Call it a championship hangover, call it the Nick Young effect, call it whatever you want. Let’s just all take a moment to enjoy this stutter step before they win anywhere from 35-50 straight games. 

But can we all agree on this? Anyone besides the Warriors, right?

The real shoutout goes to the Grizzlies, who beat them 111-101 on Saturday. They always seems to be the Warriors kryptonite, in the same way that common sense is Donald Trump’s kryptonite; both are occasional nuisances, but the Grizzlies, nor common sense, rarely actually prevails.  

Historically, the Grizzlies are a bad team. They are 739-1019; a win percentage of .420 since their inception in 1995, when they were the Vancouver Grizzlies. But head to head with the Warriors they are a respectable 41-42.

With Good Guy Mike Conley shooting just 3-for-14 from the floor, Marc Gasol carried the team with 34 points on 50 percent shooting and the Warriors couldn't keep up. Here’s some highlights.

You just can’t hate the Grizzlies.

 Jeremy Lin deserves a good, healthy cry  

*picture credit: SI (Steak n' Shake got some good PR from this, huh? Too soon?)

Jeremy Lin, once a sideshow commodity after a surreal one month stretch in 2012, has transitioned well into a solid NBA player. But the poor guy just cannot stay healthy.

He suffered a ruptured patella tendon in his right knee in his first game back from an injury-riddled 2016-17 season. We are not doctors, but we know a ruptured patella must hurt like hell.  

Jeremy Lin has had quite a difficult ride into the NBA

. But since his arrival, his fickle body has been his own worst nightmare, which sucks, because he’s a great story. Then again, he’s making eight figures doing nothing. Where do we sign up?

Quick Hits

• Wade is starting to accept his age and apparently requested to come off the bench for the Cavs. This seems like a marketing spin to protect Wade, but the spacing for the Cavs early in the season was a damn nightmare. J.R. Smith as a starter is the right move.

• Kyrie Irving had quite the response when a 76ers fan asked where LeBron was.

• Demarcus Cousins is already getting fined. He got mad and yelled at a mean Memphis fan. He’s averaging 28.3 points through three dysfunctional games.

• Lonzo Ball is really good. He had a bad first game but in his second game he almost messed around and got a triple-double. Some highlights.

• Through three games, Giannis Fill-In-Last-Name-Here is dropping 38.3 a game and shooting .721 percent on two-point shots. What?

• INSPIRING: Andre Drummond has made his first six free-throws of the year.

• DeAndre Jordan casually has 37 rebounds through two games.

Concrete Reads

• The Athletic, a subscription based sports site similar to a newspaper’s sport section, has been successful since its launch in 2016, but they won’t win fans with this New York Times deep-dive, headlined Why The Athletic Wants To Pillage Newspapers. [Tap Here]

• How good are the Wizards? Good, probably, but the same problems from last year have plagued them this year, writes the Washington Post. [Tap Here]

• No. 1 overall Markelle Fultz has not been very good. Panic time? The Ringer examines. [Tap Here]

Video Rewind: World B. Free was smooooooooth.

#throwbackeveryday

October 24, 1975: Top contender for best name in NBA history World B. Free made is debut for the 76ers. He was an All-Star and a prolific scorer who peaked in the 1979/80 season when he averaged 30 PPG.

*picture credit: Pinterest