Betrayer

We're probably talking about Bobi Klintman's spot here, so it's not like it's a high bar.

Hand is part of the ball so that's a great target for teams swiping down on him. He'll probably aggravate it enough to have surgery by April to find a way to leave another team hanging in the playoffs.

His 3pt shooting has really fallen off compared to his time in MIL, but I'm not sure what kind of looks he's getting these days compared to back then. Probably worth a roster spot for a 6' 7" guy with championship experience that will at least have gravity whether he hits shots or not.

The good news is that the Knicks and Cavs are now tied. Hopefully the Cavs can pass them up and duke it out with Boston in round 2 while we get our revenge on the Knicks who I think are a much better matchup for us than either of those other teams.

They primarily lost this game because they shot 19% from 3. Pistons are a poor shooting team, but this was far worse than normal. Credit to Spurs defense, but they also missed a ton of wide open looks. On the other end, the Spurs were hitting their open 3s. That said, this was a 1 point game with 8 minutes to go in the third when JB and Ausar got into it over a missed defensive assignment and JB benched him for the remainder of the game (as reported by Ku). JB covered it by saying that it was because Ron was playing well, but that was obvious B.S. Never mind that the team was better on offense when Ausar was in the game, and obviously better on defense. Never mind that the 4 times they tried to put Wemby on Ausar and have him roam, we scored on three of those possessions. Never mind that Duncan Robinson gets cooked every time they go after him or that Careless Lavert dribbles it off his foot or that Daniss was having an off night. None of that matters, but let's make an example of the best perimeter defender in the league and our second most impactful player on the team. JB is an absolute terrorist when it comes to Ausar. It cost us the first round series last year and it has cost us (or nearly cost us) numerous times already this year. It has to stop. I'm not saying they would've won with him on the court, but it certainly would've been a much closer game with a few extra stops, a few extra possessions, and some easy transition buckets.

Because we were struggling to guard the Wemby pick and roll. He would dive to the paint and we had 2 guys collapsing on him to body him up so he couldn't just dunk it. That left dudes wide open on the perimeter and the recovery wasn't fast enough.

Damn. Another $5 to Sling for a 24 hour pass.

All-Star games were pretty fun. Maybe I just feel that way because the Pistons won, but it definitely felt more competitive and exciting. A lot less highlight plays and a lot more actual basketball, which is a positive change.

Sure, but the point is that on any given night nobody cares about half or more of the games because one team is going to get wrecked and everyone knows it. There's an occasional upset, but so many games are trash because only about half the league has the talent to compete. Yet, they're going to expand, thin it out more, and then wonder why nobody cares to watch most of the games or why teams are tanking when that's their only way to break the cycle. A system where teams just outside the playoffs get the highest lottery picks only makes it worse. That's what a tournament would do. Maybe just going back to straight seeding is better and easier than all of this. Sure, those bottom 4 teams will tank hard for who's getting that top pick, but at least you won't have potential play-in teams tanking in the hopes that they have a chance to jump up and land the next Cooper Flagg.

All of this talk about how many bad teams and bad games there are every night, and yet they're about to expand, thin out the talent, and create more teams. That just means even more bottom feeders. I keep hearing people say it's time for expansion because there's "so much talent in the league" yet we have 14 teams below .500 right now. What they need is a consolidation. Of course, it's not about the product it's about the dollar. More teams = more ad money, even if they're terrible.

No matter what system is in place, teams will find a way to "game" it. The whole point of the draft is to create parity in the league. A chance for the worst teams to get better.. If you have a tournament that gives the higher picks to the teams that win then you're just condemning bad teams to the cellar where they can never recover. Seems to be the opposite of the point.

Clearly they think the shot will take time. Instead they were putting the ball in hands a lot early on so he can use his athleticism and passing IQ. The results have been up and down because his handle can be shaky, but he does make some great reads and passes. The bigger problem with this strategy is simply that you prefer the ball in Cade's hands most of the time. The other answer for now is to make him the screener more often, put him in the Draymond role for DHO's, and get him into the primary action where his man is forced to defend. Ausar can use his passing IQ in the short roll, athleticism on lobs, or simply to attack a shifting defense. They did some of this against the rockets, but they really don't do it enough. The main reason they don't do it seems to be because they use Duren in that role instead. That leaves Ausar in the corner (worst spot possible for him) or in the dunker spot where it clogs things up.

Unlike with Duren and Ivey where I was all for waiting until RFA, I'd consider trying to get Ausar at a decent extension price this summer if possible. If his offense comes around at all next year he's going to get paid big time. Might be best to treat it like Stew and lock him up at a reasonable amount while you can.

I think the key is to wait and let the market determine his value since he's a restricted free agent. They won't do that because NBA teams are worried about hurting guy's feelings these days, but it's the right move.

Glad it wasn't more games for Stew, but 7 still hurts the team a ton. This is the toughest part of their schedule down the stretch where you want to keep your lead in the East. But, I guess it's fitting for the team that likes to give up leads and win tough games down the stretch. Looks like they'll be trying to do the same thing with their playoff standings. I would've given Bridges 6 games. One less than Stew who gets the extra one for coming off the bench. This fight doesn't get escalated without Bridges. He immediately jumped into a 2 man fight and shoved Duren. Then he ran around the crowd after Diabate was restrained and it could have been over in order to take a closed fist swing at Duren who was walking away, which is what set Stew off. Maybe I'm biased because a guy who beats his wife into the hospital should no longer have the privilege to play in the NBA, but I also feel like he was the one who took this thing from a 3 to a 10. I thought Duren should've been just 1 game, but the league needs the Knicks to win a national TV game against us, so why not toss an extra one in there.