Cole Miner

Howard is pretty underwhelming defending the rim this year. Trailing Kanter and Hawes. Number one is on the next page. Bogut at -14 Full list

So much better with Okafor at the 4 and Noel at the 5. Better late than never. Okafor has dropped like 20 lbs. since being drafted. Moves a lot better. One impressive thing is how fast he is attacking the basket now. He was getting his shot blocked a lot at the start of the season. November he had his shot blocked 37 times, 16 times in December, 6 times in January. Since acquiring Ish Smith Noel and Okafor are 1st and 3rd in the league in FG%. Stauskas had a decent January too. Shot 40% from 3.

He learned well from his 5 years here as a linebacker coach.

I hope you got tickets up top. I went to a TNA show there and the ring is on a stage. Not a good view from ground level. The atmosphere was great though even for a TNA show. It was like a mix of a house show and show time at the apollo.

They are a top 10 market. It is San Francisco as well. Top 10 are the 2 NY teams, the 2 LA teams, Chicago, Boston, Golden State, Philadelphia, Dallas and Houston.

I figured he would be gone after reading about him calling James into his office while naked. Made it 2 weeks after that happened.

Give It To Me Baby By Rick James When I came home last night You wouldn't make love to me You went fast to sleep You wouldn't even talk to me You said I'm so crazy For coming home intoxicated I just want to love you (I just want to love you baby) That is why I'm so elated C'mon girl, give it to me baby Give it to me baby Make you hot till you've had enough Give it to me baby Just give it to me baby Give it to me baby Make you hot till you've had enough Give it to me (repeat 7 times) Give me the sex When I was high in the sky I would imagine us dancin' You'd say let's go home That's the time I start romancin' You say how can I love you When your body keeps on movin' I said wait till I squeeze you Make me think you'll stop the groovin' Give it to me baby, give it to me baby A million men would like to have you in bed Give it to me baby, give it to me baby Give it to me baby I betcha you can never have enough Give it to me [Repeat x7] Hey girl, give it to me what you say Give it to me what you say Give it to me what you say Give it to me what you say Give it to me, give it to me

What he leaves behind in his locker

Just watched Coughlin's exit press conference and can see why he is being interviewed. Lurie gave a press conference after firing Kelly. Lurie said all the things he is looking for in a coach. Coughlin's press conference hit on every point that Lurie made. I suspect though that if the Eagles want him they will have to sell Coughlin on taking the job. Not vice versa. I know after watching it I became hopeful that he gets hired here. I'm far from qualified to judge who is going to make a good coach though. At least in his case he has a track record. Don't know what to think about all the assistants that get interviewed.

Him and Charley Patton are neck and neck for being my favorite musician. When we did the 70s album project I was high voter on all of his albums except for Ziggy Stardust. I had that high too though. I made good money playing guitar professionally until I woke up one day with tinnitus eventually was forced to retire. Started playing because as a kid because I wanted to learn his songs. One of the main driving forces of my life. Nicest guy you could ever meet as well. I feel so guilty right now that I am more sad about this than when my own father passed. Which is just making me sadder. That is just initial reaction I mean. I did finally react appropriately to my father's passing at his funeral. Devastated by this but grateful that I cared this much. Not a lot of things I can say that about. I'm glad I bit my tongue every time someone said they got upset when a wrestler passed. Couldn't understand it. I was a fool. 10 favorite songs of his: 1. Life on Mars 2. Breaking Glass 3. Warzawa 4. Slip Away 5. Station to Station 6. Suffragette City 7. Art Decade 8. New Career in a New Town 9. Oh! You Pretty Things 10. Soul Love There are like 50 songs in contention for the top 10. Just so much quality.

Ranallo made the show for me. I don't usually care about the announcing. Just tune them out. He absolutely elevated things and I stayed interested at times I usually would have faded out of a match.

I'd be ok with this type of card. Mania card Lesnar vs Reigns Wyatts vs. Balor, Anderson, Gallows Kevin Owens vs Undertaker Aj Styles vs Jericho Rusev vs Nakamura Del Rio vs Ambrose Texas Death Match Sasha Banks vs Charlotte Triple H vs Zayn New Day vs Golddust and Ziggler Battle Royal no one cares about

That will make their Rooney Rule interview awkward. Irsay would probably try to use Lovie for the interview.

The way owners are dealing with coaches reminds me of fans with quarterbacks. 2 years in and not an all-pro? He sucks. Get rid of him. Won't get better.

Will Barton made a strong claim last month. Played at a near all star level. 20.8 pts/6.8 rbs /3.1. asts. If he can sustain it I would be ok voting for him. Even on the weaker team. I would vote for Iguodala at the moment though. Shooting efficiency is up, having the highest eFG% in career this year. You see his name in a lot of the Warriors better lineups as far as net rating goes.

As they say, two can play But keep that song away from me In my time, too much love Has made me sad for so long I was blind, can't you see? Through the long, lonely night Heaven knows I believe Won't you take a chance with me? Sometimes I get so blue People say I'm just a fool All the world, even you Should learn to love the way I do I was blind, can't you see? Through the long, lonely night Heaven knows, I believe Won't you take a chance with me?

This Lakers Suns game has been unbelievably bad. Lakers up 43-22 after the first half.

Dexter Manley as the Washington version of the Iron Sheik makes a lot of sense.

I was caught off guard by this play early in the first quarter. Was like what the hell, oh yeah, we have D'Antoni now and are actually running plays. http://on.nba.com/1UhBeWg

Awesome the one game we needed to win and they pull it off. Lakers winning as well the cherry on top. This is the kind of game that can make the Kings implode. Which we need.

My guess is he goes to Minnesota. Him and Towns can be a championship level 1-2 punch. The only thing we may have in our favor is we can swap picks with the Kings. It fits the story of the Kings to finally win the lottery when they lose the pick.

I thought about mentioning them. I didn't because, even though I had them 5th in the West, I also said I think they are one of the teams that can win the title. Which isn't really selling them all that short. Regardless of playoff seeding. Especially since I would have ranked them higher had I known Leonard was taking the next step as an MVP caliber player. Figured resting the older players would hurt them a bit in the regular season. Leonard taking that next step plus the addition of Aldridge has negated that potential issue. Can afford to sit guys here and there and not miss a beat. Expectations might have been too low but that is cool by me. Love having expectations shattered in a positive direction. Scary thing is there is still room to get better. Since Danny Green hasn't found his shot yet. Watching this Spurs team on league pass has been very helpful with my sanity this season. Since I watch every Sixers game twice. Watching the Rockets struggle has been a lot of fun too. Since I just don't like watching Harden very much. Someone on another board pointed out something that sums it up. For his career Harden has made more free throws than field goals. Might as well throw this one out for the hell of it as well. Maurice Cheeks and Mookie Blaylock finished their careers with more steals than turnovers. Which is crazy for point guards.

Things I need to eat crow on for this season thus far. 1. Dallas- Underestimated them the most far and away. Even just recently saying I wouldn't be surprised if they fall off still due to schedule. With the West down in quality and Dallas' having experienced players and a great coach it should be a surprise at this point. 2. Milwaukee- This team doesn't surprise me as much. I noted in the past the one thing that worries me about them is how they have so many 1 way players. So the right lineup rotations would be vital. They have the 2nd worst bench in the league behind only Detroit. 3. Charlotte- I actually had this team as the 8th seed at one point. Thought they had an underrated off-season. When MKG went down I dropped them a lot. Had them going neck and neck with Brooklyn near the bottom. 4. Washington- The thinking was that Beal would be an all-star level player. He performed as expected. Problem is they had a top 5 defense last year and that has switched to bottom five. Partly aging from Gortat and Nene. Though Gortat did just have a great week. It isn't over for them yet. The good news is that Oubre is looking pretty solid. 5. Indiana- Indiana shows me that I have to reevaluate the impact of bigs in the modern game. Figured losing their front line would negate some of what they were getting from a returning George. I also want to give a shout out to Tristan Thompson. At first I didn't like the amount of money they were going to give him. I ended up being swayed by supremebve's case for the move. I was still cynical about him living up to the money though. He has sustained the momentum from the playoffs. Yes he allegedly improved his max vertical by 4 inches and improved his lateral movement speed. Yes to the reach and wingspan as well. 7'5" wingspan 9'2.5" standing reach. Very good numbers for a C and elite for a PF. Doesn't look like there was a big benefit to increasing his vertical since it is rare for him to jump at all. Here is the article covering the work he put in on his athleticism: Okafor has taken the criticism to heart and has been working since May to address the biggest critique made against him: that he lacks the athleticism to dominate the NBA. He has been working for two months with the folks at P3 (the Peak Performance Project) to change his body and his game. His body is leaner than it's ever been. His stomach is toned. And his athleticism has improved significantly. I profiled P3 a few years ago. It provides complete biomechanical and neuromuscular assessments to athletes and then helps them improve on weaknesses. This is a place on the cutting edge of where sports training is going in the next decade. Now that the NBA has contracted them to do pre-draft testing, P3 has hundreds of NBA players in its database to compare to Okafor. "On Day 1, we were able to see exactly how he stacked up to our NBA center database from a vertical, lateral, agility, and biomechanical perspective," P3 assistant GM Adam Hewitt said. "While there were some clear targets -- we knew that Jah could get a lot better and that he wasn't close to reaching his athletic potential." Two months after starting with P3, Okafor has made major strides. "He was able to really improve his lateral acceleration and agility while at P3," Hewitt said. "The one-off skater test (a lateral acceleration test) is a test we have been doing with NBA athletes for a long time now and what we have found through in-house research is that there is a strong correlation between being able to put up a lot of horizontal force and having a fast lateral agility time." In his first assessment, Okafor's left slide agility was measured at 2.88 seconds. His right at 2.81 seconds. Two months later, he posted better times on his left (2.66 seconds) and right (2.58), ranking him in the 87th percentile compared to other NBA centers in P3's database. Okafor also improved his standing vertical jump by 2.5 inches and his maximum vertical by 4 inches. And Hewitt thinks he'll continue to get better. These sorts of issues aren't fixed in a couple of months. On the court, though, Okafor has been sticking to the script. While scouts want to see improvements in his perimeter game, Okafor, in the light workout I saw on June 20, spent all of his time refining his moves in the paint. "My main focus, my pride is right there on the block," Okafor said after the workout. "That's where I've always played and my focus has always been. That's my bread and butter, and I don't want to go away from that." Even when the league now wants big men to step out and shoot? "He's not afraid to be a true big man," Lewis said. "He has to be the stretch-the-floor big man. He understands that. He is mentally prepared to do that. With the scouting report the way it is, people are going to leave him. They are going to back up off of him. In order for him to get open again, he has to make that 15-to-17-foot jump shot." But maybe Okafor won't have to adjust. The way the lottery balls fell on draft night may have played into Okafor's hands. The analytics revolution that has captured the NBA hasn't quite landed in Minnesota and Los Angeles. While both teams use the numbers, Flip Saunders and Mitch Kupchak are both old-school executives. Both teams are seriously considering Okafor with the No. 1. pick. Saunders has been a huge Okafor fan all year. He'd love to have a dominant low-post scorer to pair with Andrew Wiggins. He's getting push-back from his staff, which prefers Towns, and that has raised some question about what the Wolves will do at No. 1. If Towns goes No. 1, the Lakers have been debating between Okafor and Russell. While Russell is a sexier pick and fits the mold of a Steph Curry or James Harden, the Lakers have traditionally been built on the back of elite centers. With a gaping hole in the middle, will they really pass on Okafor for a wing such as Russell? If the Lakers take Russell, things get a little messier for Okafor. The Sixers, at No. 3, don't seem to have Okafor heavily in the mix at all. The Knicks do like Okafor and would likely take him at No. 4. But with Phil Jackson pressing to improve defensively, and with the Knicks entertaining trades as well, it's not a slam dunk. For the first time in his life, Okafor may have to wait to hear his name called. And for once, being first doesn't seem to matter so much to him. Because being first in the draft has nothing to do with winning. Nothing to do with basketball. Okafor's focus remains on those two things. "This is my sanctuary," Okafor said, pointing to the court. "It's where I go to clear my mind from things. Now I potentially will get paid to do it. This is what I love to do. I just want to win. Doesn't matter where I go. Just know wherever I go, I'm coming to win." According to the Scriptures, the last shall be first, and the first last. For Okafor, wherever he goes on draft night, whether he goes No. 1 or No. 4, the end goal will be the same. He's coming for first -- the sort of first that's decided in the Finals, not on draft night.

Glad you mentioned that. I've thought a few times while watching Noel and Okafor that they remind me of young Curry and Chandler. I should give Okafor credit for something. His free throw percentage is 73% after being 51% last year. What is weird is that he is shooting 54% of his free throws at home and 87% on the road. I've been a proponent of looking at how someone performs on the road when trying to gauge their potential. That number is very interesting. The road sample is larger too. 17 games on the road 12 at home.

You don't have to sell me. I would be pleasantly surprised if he became a game changing talent. Don't think there is any chance of it at the center position. Unless he has a growth spurt. His best value would likely come as a trade piece. Liking getting into a 3 team deal if the Kings decided to move Cousins. Since Okafor is the kind of guy Divac would like. Embiid is still the most talented guy by far. I'd say Saric is above him as well. Saric just needed to get better shooting when drafted. That has happened. He's been 50/50/90 in Euroleague so far and 49/40/77 overall. This is what it would look like if you ranked the players and picks power ranking style. 1. Joel Embiid- Not sure what the odds of him reaching his potential is at this point. Not high. 2. Sixers 2016 first round pick and right to swap with the Kings for their first.- Simmons is a game changing franchise talent. 3. Dario Saric- Odom type 4. Nerlens Noel- If only we could combine him and Okafor. Like Tuvix from Star Trek 5. Jahlil Okafor- See above 6. Sixers 2017 draft pick 7. Richaun Holmes- Needs to improve his rebounding but great pick. Above Okafor in rookie PER. Helps that he can jump unlike Okafor. 8. Lakers 2016 draft pick top 3 protected. Top 3 protected 2017, unprotected 2018- top 3 protected in a 2 player draft. Not good. 9. Jerami Grant- Probably better at the 4 which figures on this team 10. Robert Covington- Inconsistent 11. 2016 Miami Heat first top 10 protected- Who knows where this will land. They are the 4th seed right now 1 1/2 games above the 9th seed. They've played 20 home games and 10 road games. So anything could happen. 12. 2016 OKC first top 10 protected- Not a great pick but can usually get good value later in the first when looking for guards. We basically only need guards. I have no issue with anyone that would put the pick over Embiid due to the health concerns. The pick is only that high for the chance of Simmons. The Lakers pick has had a big drop in value due to being top 3 protected in a 2 player draft. The 2017 pick could arguably go higher. It is loaded. Just seems early for that. Everyone else on the roster is end of the bench at best. Believe me I realize that there is a very real threat that the last 2 seasons could have been a complete waste if we fall in the lottery to like 4th.