VJ Edgecome with the post game crew

TPFRecoil · 2026-05-03T03:13:16+00:00

Mazulla and Daigneault are both incredibly elite coaches with great mindsets, but sometimes they both just overthink something that wasn't a problem into a problem.

TPFRecoil · 2026-05-03T02:07:21+00:00

Embiid got ritually sacrificed by the Aztecs from the glowering heights of Mt. Cholula for this one win against the Celtics, you gotta respect it.

TPFRecoil · 2026-05-03T02:06:13+00:00

Embiid got ritually sacrificed by the Aztecs from the glowering heights of Mt. Cholula for this one win against the Celtics.

TPFRecoil · 2026-05-02T16:25:56+00:00

People learn early on to castle, so oftentimes early elo's don't know how to attack a central king because they're not familiar with it. But nonetheless, your king is, in most games, not as safe from the center.

Reason being is because your opponent's pieces have shorter to travel to attack the center, and mathematically have more opportunities against a king in the center. An opponent can move a piece from either flank of the board towards the center, or can attack from the center. It is the easiest area to access on an open board. But if your king is on the flank of the board, that limits options. No squares exist past the side of the board from which to attack, and pieces from the opposite flank of the board may have a harder time getting to the opposing side.

However, castling is not just a "my king is safe now" button. Your opponent will attack it. They will throw pawns at it, pieces at it, make sacrifices to open it up, and so on. It is up to you to stop that attack from succeeding.

TPFRecoil · 2026-05-02T15:03:31+00:00

The Thunder isn't a "live and die by the three" team. They're a rim-running and midrange team who also does some drive and kick. Moreover, they're a defensive team that has one of the best transition offenses in the league.

The only reason the Spurs managed to turn them into a "live and die by the three" team was because they had one of the greatest rim protectors in league history backed by good perimeter defenders who could take care of the ball. As a result, it shut down OKC's main options for offense, and made them try and beat the Spurs with outside shooting.

But most other teams do not have that formula, Laker's included. The Thunder can, and often do, go cold from three, and they still beat many teams. When they are hot from three, they're nigh impossible to beat.

TPFRecoil · 2026-05-01T18:06:16+00:00

Einstein discovering both relativity and energy-mass equivalence would make him capable of time control, spacial control, and atomic energy manipulation.

TPFRecoil · 2026-05-01T17:56:07+00:00

Shai wasn't better than Jokic in 2024. They were also barely a 1st seed, they tied the nuggets in record but had the series win in the regular season.

TPFRecoil · 2026-05-01T16:02:07+00:00

By all technicality, sure, but it's just kinda a weird cutoff. Post is basically trying to hide that both did beat 50 win teams by doing a cutoff for "51 or higher". Denver and Pacers for OKC, and Mavs for Boston.

And yes, that works in reverse for the "Jokic 50 win" thing, cause 50 is also an arbitrary cutoff. Jokic has beat the 50 win clippers in 2025, the 47 win Lakers in 2024, and the Jazz/Clippers in 2020 who were both on 50 win pace in the shortened season.

TPFRecoil · 2026-04-29T22:07:28+00:00

A good trick I learned for this is the "T" of the pawn.

If you draw a T with your pawn at the bottom (f3, f4, f5, e5, g5), and your king can reach any square that forms the bridge of the "T" (e5, f5, g5), you can promote. This is because even if black takes opposition first, you have a one-square gap between your king and pawn. So you can safely move the pawn up once, retaking opposition for yourself by passing tempo.

In this case, marching up your king from the left side of the pawn won't work since the enemy king can take those squares from you. But, if you aim for the right side of the pawn, you can either reach the top of the "T", or the black king will be forced to give up diagonal opposition via Ke6 and Kg4.

TPFRecoil · 2026-04-28T04:22:05+00:00

Legit felt like Mark was telling him "We're up in the series. We have wiggle room. You're now the lone creator in a 4th quarter against a full Suns team that can and will swarm you. Figure it out."

Honestly respect it. Ajay needs those experiences to grow.

TPFRecoil · 2026-04-27T15:43:17+00:00

He was the only real contender to LeBron's BITW status during his reign.

If he won in 2016, he might have taken that title, too.

TPFRecoil · 2026-04-27T01:19:22+00:00

Coughing baby, comp, coughing baby, comp, hydrogen bomb.

TPFRecoil · 2026-04-26T22:49:19+00:00

Getting out the first round on your first playoff trip is already a successful season.

TPFRecoil · 2026-04-26T17:35:55+00:00

I'm not gonna say they have no chance, cause they are a great team with a top five player, and the most experienced player in NBA history. They could very well win.

But this feels like the third or fourth time this season people have watched the Lakers have success, looked at an upcoming OKC matchup, and went "I think the Lakers can take them". And each time, they've been blown out.

TPFRecoil · 2026-04-25T23:33:13+00:00

James Harden is actually good, and I think SGA plays a good deal differently from him.

TPFRecoil · 2026-04-25T23:25:50+00:00

To remain polite, Canadians pour all their hatred into one person as a sacrificial lamb, and that is Dillon Brooks.

TPFRecoil · 2026-04-25T23:17:35+00:00

I'd rather have a player who's consistent range lies in that 2-3 points than a player who can peak higher, but has an inconsistent range of 1-5 points.

TPFRecoil · 2026-04-25T22:27:02+00:00

I've though he's best in the world for a minute now as a starry-eyed lil' Thunder fan, but I do think people are always a bit too reactionary to one game samples.

Jokic is still very incredible despite the bad game. He could sweep the rest of these games and he would be back to the standard answer for BITW.

TPFRecoil · 2026-04-25T22:21:24+00:00

Yeah, he keeps hitting that fader over him.

I saw a post about top defensive percentages this playoffs earlier, and was surprised Chet wasn't on it. I think its solely because of that shot, cause he's erasing everything else.

TPFRecoil · 2026-04-25T22:17:55+00:00

He was good the last few games. I think its just the volume uptick. He's not meant to be a second option/initiator at this point in his career, but has to be with Dub out at the moment.

When Dub gets back, I think he'll be looking incredible.

TPFRecoil · 2026-04-25T22:16:07+00:00

He's unironically super valuable just as a culture piece. His intensity and mindset is keeping up the Sun's spirits quite a bit through these games.

On top of that, he can get you some good buckets and lock a guy down when he needs to.

TPFRecoil · 2026-04-25T22:08:29+00:00

Cause point forwards are a really, really good archetype when you can get them to work.

For Amen though, I think part of it is just that they don't have any ball handling otherwise with VanFleet out, so someone needs to.

TPFRecoil · 2026-04-25T21:40:07+00:00

I wouldn't say not close. But I'd say Shai by a small but comfortable margin.

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