SCOUTWITHBRYAN

I think the in-NBA perception of Luka Doncic is closer to Trae Young than ppl realize Obviously insanely talented. Video game #’s. But how much does his play translate to winning? Esp when it comes to the playoffs - Harrison’s quote about defense pretty telling to me… Couple that with some very glaring red flags (size/D in Trae’s case, weight/D/etc in Luka’s case), the thought of paying that guy $69M a yr can be a little scary My guess is JKidd must’ve really not thought he had championship DNA, and the lack of discipline to his craft scared him/the FO/new ownership So you flip him for a guy who, if healthy, can certainly pair with Kyrie & help you compete for the title for the next 3-5yrs. And if not or if it goes sideways, you reset in a couple yrs & have clear books & build from scratch Why you don’t have a big public bidding war is the part I don’t really get, but we don’t know what goes on behind the scenes. And I’m guessing privately they put feelers out w a few teams & must not have liked the potential return at all. For the Lakers, it’s a home run swing & obv has the potential to go down as one of the biggest heists in NBA history. Like Babe Ruth being sold. They obv hope that this trade will be a wake up call for Luka, & in a bigger spotlight, mentored by Bron, that franchise’s history etc that he will “get it” now, get in shape, & have a top 10 all-time career. But he needs to recognize that his current trajectory is closer to being remembered like Embiid - likely decimated by injuries and lack of discipline. LA is also painfully small now & Pelinka will have to be extremely aggressive to go get some bigs at the deadline if they want any hope of winning now. But more likely their sights are set on setting Luka up for future success there & Bron “passing the torch” to him in a way he couldn’t AD. So yea…I guess that’s all a long way of saying I do kind of get it from both team’s perspectives. I don’t think it’s as much of a trainwreck for DAL as ppl think. But just about ALL of it will hinge on Luka’s motivation & mindset. IF this is a wake-up call for him & he turns it around, Lakers just changed the course of history. If it isn’t? DAL dodged a huge bullet of paying that guy $350M & also gave themselves a potentially better shot at a title the next couple years. Time will tell!

Feels like Saint Louis was under-seeded as a 9. WELL-COACHED team. Gonna be a TOUGH 2nd round matchup for Michigan.

You’re missing quite a lot lol Only reason they were in that game to begin with is b/c of McNamara and the toughness he gets guys to play with

Fred Hoiberg ran this a lot with the Bulls & Jimmy Butler. Called “L.” Shooter can use the screen to the corner or the other to the top.

@haasmc What if they inbounded the ball? What if nc state was out of timeouts? Materially changes any chance of making a heave. Should be a tech then…right?

I agree with everything you are saying, but the people in the comments who are saying "that's a technical" don't know what they are talking about & are DEAD WRONG! It's a warning on the Texas bench since it was the first time it happened in the game. "IF/WHEN" it happens again THEN it's a technical foul. Had Coach Miller &/or the Texas bench been warned earlier in the game THEN yes it would have been a technical foul.

We’ve got freakin assistant coaches running on the court w time on the clock. Coaches: TALK TO YOUR TEAM/STAFF about this. Have a staff member in charge of keeping everyone on the bench. College has an epidemic of this!

@alch3my101 Dawg, it should’ve been a technical and lost them the game. I don’t give a fuck if he thought it was the buzzer, it wasn’t. Inexcusably stupid mistake for an assistant.

@ScoutWithBryan So then no reason to talk to him or staff. Completely honest mistake. You've never played ball competitively, have you?

@Madisox43 He’s literally on the court before the ball has even hit the floor lol

@ScoutWithBryan He ran on the court when time was called. Should the coach talk to himself about being out of the coaching box and stepping onto the court to call plays during the game. That’s a technical, too. If not, why not?

@alch3my101 No shit Sherlock

@ScoutWithBryan He thought it was at the buzzer

This is March

That 70 foot heave was SO CLOSE

Does college just not care about 50 dudes running on the court when there’s time left anymore? This should be a tech.

This is a pretty fair, measured take

Do. Not. Go. To. Help. When. You. Are. Up. 3. And. A. Two. Does. Not. Hurt. You. My god.

A cardinal sin…oh this is tough to watch. Muscle memory is real

Honestly? Mostly. Couple ticky-tac. Couple on the floor but in bonus. Last one or two, refs might’ve given a little push over the top. Bam deserves credit tho for driving hard as hell. Posting up hard as hell. Physical ass player. Explosive night. Kobe would’ve loved the motor.

Two things can be true at once: Bam scoring 83 is unreal, he was on an absolute HEATER, played the game of his career, great dude, etc AND The Wizards should be relegated, the game became a mockery, some of the ways he scored at the end were not real 🏀, etc Still hella dope!

Basketball isn’t black & white, it’s gray. The Bulls didn’t “call” much, but they ran a highly structured Triangle offense emphasizing spacing & getting their best scorers the ball in highly deadly spots. The Jazz had a bigger playbook out of Jerry Sloan’s flex. Main differences: • Yes, pace was much slower But ppl also forget this is Game 6 of the Finals. Compared to a reg season NBA game now? It looks like a snail’s pace. Compare it to Game 6/7 of recent NBA Finals when teams are exhausted, banged up, etc? It probably doesn’t look as unrecognizable. • Long 2’s were less taboo The Bulls got MJ & Pip a ton of shots out of the pinch post/elbow. Melo, Dirk, KD played in a very similar fashion not long ago. Stockton and Malone ran lots of side PNR that resulted in elbow pull-ups or short corner pick & pops. The long 2 pick & pop has gone extinct (RIP @ThisIsUD), but you see plenty of pull-up long 2’s against drop coverage still, particularly in the playoffs. Not unrecognizable. • Post-Ups & Bully Ball were more prevalent You see when Stockton or Hornacek got switched onto Pippen, he was getting the goddamn ball. The Jazz would run 2-3 guys at him to get it out of his hands. If they didn’t do that, Pip would break those guys in half. The triangle was designed to get a ton of post-ups & MJ/Pip both played a ton with their back to the basket. Utah similarly ran a lot of different sets to get Malone deep post position. Simple things, but things you had to execute well and guard the right way or Malone would destroy you. Still, anyone who says “post ups are dead” or anything doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Jokic, Embiid, Kawhi, KAT, plenty of those guys today still play back to basket. End of the day? It’s physical, elite basketball. An unbelievable game from start to finish. Punches and counter-punches and Herculean efforts. Doesn’t have the crazed pace of today’s game. But yes, I’d argue it had more structure, more variety, more beauty even than today’s homogeneity of everyone playing pace & space, few long 2’s, rare post-ups, etc etc. If it isn’t your cup of tea? That’s fine, but watching MJ & Pip battle Stockton & Malone in the finals was a spiritual experience. Which was more beautiful? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess. But I would argue that most games late in the NBA Finals are pretty beautiful 😊. More than one way to skin a cat.

Somebody is going to break Wilt’s record. I firmly believe that now.

@jhatem Organizationally yes. But player development(ally? lol) no. As in, these are important minutes for Alex Sarr’s development. And his defense being ass is not a good thing.

@ScoutWithBryan We are trying to lose bro

The Wizards let Bam Adebayo score 31 in the 1st QUARTER?!!!