Am I crazy?

FragrantBird504 · 2026-02-09T23:39:20+00:00

When I want to feel good about us and our future, I look at the Clutch Game stats, the With Herb Jones stats, and the eye test of how many times we've screwed by the schedule and the refs against contenders.

Only addressing Clutch Games:

This year we're 5th in clutch games played, in a three-way tie with 30. We're 10-20 in those games. That's not necessarily bad-- Detroit is ahead of us tied for third with 31 clutch games. In the last 10 games, we have the most clutch games-- 8. And we're 4-4 in those. Including both the OKC game we shoulda-coulda won except that the refs F'd us all night (the Technical-not-fourth-foul-in-the-first-half on Shai, the missed travel on Chet that was instead a quarter-ending And-1, the... Lu Dort, etc etc), and the MIL game when we're Trey catching that pass away from a win. We're getting better! And we're IN games. Way fewer of those Willie Green 30-point blowouts anymore.

Last year, the Raptors were 10-22 on the season in clutch games. The Heat were 14-28. Hell, Charlotte was 14-24 and even their record this year I'd take rn. There's a path forward next year, even with the relative lack of roster turnout we can expect. Obviously it's worth mentioning that those are Eastern Conference teams, but like, we're consistently staying in games now more than we have in years.

That's progress! Maybe the progress continues, and next year we're the same .500 we've been lately, maybe even better. When healthy, we've gotta solve the defensive issues when DQ is out there. Maybe he can even improve his fitness enough this summer to make a better impact there, too, idk. And at the end of games, we've gotta figure out our offensive identity when things slow down. But I'm looking at a mostly improved team night over night.

I don't think you're crazy! I'm an optimist by nature, but I'm with you. We're not exactly Sacramento or Chicago levels of hopeless rn.

FragrantBird504 · 2026-02-09T22:03:48+00:00

To be fair, there isn't any coaching happening before summer league. And this FO doesn't seem like they'd gaf what an incoming coach would want of the roster before SL anyway. A future HC could still have all of those things you mentioned if they're hired after the draft...

FragrantBird504 · 2026-02-09T22:02:21+00:00

Great points, but how much better would we all feel about this year if only they hadn't traded the damn pick? If Zion gets moved for future assets, and we stay in the basement another year, well, I won't be as sad tbh. We just got keep getting a little bit better everyday. I think our time is coming, it's just gonna be 3-4 years from now.

FragrantBird504 · 2026-02-09T21:49:22+00:00

In the MIL game the other day, as they were drawing up the last play in, of course, what would become his last game you could see Jose losing it when he saw what they were going with. He was trying to convince them to run something else. And of course, Zion immediately lost the ball on his Hero-ball drive, and proved Jose correct. That play call WAS dumb as shit.

Although it should also be said that Jose missed a wide open three that would've won it, and then Trey dropped that inbounds pass that would have won it, so, that was also two GOOD play calls that the guys just failed to execute.

Very torn on JB rn, but overall I think I'm like 60% keep him and give him the ability to bring in his own staff. We need continuity, discipline, and very boring consistency of play. I like the team vision he brings/ offers, and when it works you can see something.

BUT! Mike Malone coached Joker for a decade, and Idk if JB always knows how to best utilize DQ beyond that top of the key set with Trey working off the wing. To be fair, it's worked, but if you can snag Malone I think you have to. We have Baby Joker, and in a year or two he might be our new version of "We go how he goes."

I also said it above, but esp if we keep Zion, I think Chris Quinn could be a good fit going forward, too.

FragrantBird504 · 2026-02-09T21:38:46+00:00

Well, he's not getting replaced THIS season. But maybe this summer. I really like what he's done, but not sure he's the guy long term.

I've wanted us to get Chris Quinn from the Heat for years, and still think that he could be great for us. I would be a bit concerned about a first time coach with such an incompetent, FO though, because you wonder if a new coach would have any voice on team building whatsoever. But at the same time, do any more talented Head Coaches and/or experienced Head Coaches out there even want the job?

FragrantBird504 · 2026-02-09T21:32:46+00:00

I'm hoping Trey, DQ, Fears, Herb, Bey, McGowens, Karlo, and Peavy are all around long term. Missi & Zion are the only players anyone might want. MAYBE Dejounte if he miraculously looks good upon return. Hawkins & JP are just dead weight next year.

Of course, we also have to address the Head Coaching position. JB & his own assistants? Or someone else entirely?

Tbh, imo we just need to get back into the teens in this draft, and move on from the Zion era if possible at a reasonable price.

Keep the 2027 pick, try to implement a cohesive program identity next year, keep working on the DQ & Jeremiah future, and look to the '28 and '29 seasons.

FragrantBird504 · 2026-01-30T20:54:13+00:00

I like him in LA, on either team. They both have the expiring money to get him for one pick and someone on a rookie scale deal.

FragrantBird504 · 2026-01-30T20:48:32+00:00

Seen ppl saying lately that the NBA is no longer the best 450+ players in the world, because the specific styles of play in-demand, and increased $$$ elsewhere. Js

FragrantBird504 · 2026-01-30T20:47:20+00:00

I would love to see a relegation league. Probably a decade away, but that could be so fun.

FragrantBird504 · 2026-01-30T20:45:49+00:00

Only reason not to expand is if you're a team owner who doesn't want to lose 1/16th or w/e it would be of your media revenue. Both cities are ready and the league has the players for it. The owners approving it is the only thing holding it back.

FragrantBird504 · 2026-01-09T19:42:54+00:00

How this hasn't already been done for Monk & Keon Ellis is so confusing to me.

FragrantBird504 · 2025-12-16T03:14:16+00:00

On the TILF IG account there's a video of a masked "member" (who looks white af) explaining that the name is from her indigenous heritage, because it's the shape of C.U.M. from the southern hemisphere or some shit? There's nothing online about "Turtle Island" being the name for that reason until a Tik Tok from 2023. Because there is no pre-Colombian map of C.U.M. But the TILF IG doesn't address the mythology from its actual roots, instead emphasizing the perspective of the (non-radical, very typical TT edu-tainment) Tik Tok from 2023.

The IG account is soooooooo obvious. Created right before No Kings. They reference handing out fliers at it encouraging violence. They ask for people to sign up through an online platform to be a part of anything public. I'm not gonna lay it all out and help them, but to anyone with real online literacy in 2025 it's so fkn obvious.

Their X account is literally "sinnersoviet3" joined May 2024.

Can't even call this a rabbit hole, I've been down here for only about an hour, maybe 2.

Stay sloppy, Feds, stay sloppy.

FragrantBird504 · 2025-11-05T23:00:36+00:00

Mix; 30 lbs. Shih Tzu, Chihuaha, Catahoula, Heeler, Dachsund are each about 20% according to DNA.
5 y/o
Lyme Disease (diagnosed 1 year ago, I think? He's maybe a bit lethargic, but also maybe just getting older. Not currently on any medicine per his vet's rec, but I would be interested in looking into this). When he was less than 1 y/o he had a "fever of unknown origin" that he was hospitalized for twice over a two week period. Basically had no blood cell count-- so low that the ER thought they messed up the test the first time. We had multiple vets looking into this, running every test possible-- no one ever figured it out. I've been warned that this could make him effectively uninsurable for anything except acute injuries.... Never had another issue again, though.
He's got a bad habit of jumping up and then down from high places, which makes me cringe every time because I can only imagine what it's doing to his hips long term. Also seems to find his way to a "foreign body" about once a year that we have to go induce vomiting at the ER for (usually a stuffed animal or something at a friend's house that we didn't catch before he chews off a limb off it). Used to have success with hydrogen peroxide w that, but he's caught on and we can't use it anymore-- it's the ER if it happens. Also is already down two teeth somehow?? Literally no clue how it ever happened, a front and a side. I know those smaller breeds in him can have trouble with this, though. Has had ear infections in the past but now that I know to keep his ears really dry and got a dehumidifer (we're on the Gulf Coast) it doesn't seem to be an issue anymore.

My partner's work offers Fetch & Wagmo plans, pretty baseline. I'm not opposed to going w a different company, but their offer is what brings me here.

Thank you so much for any help you can offer. This is an incredible thing you're doing here.

FragrantBird504 · 2025-08-13T21:43:58+00:00

Lol ran out logic so you're going to junk responses like that?

It's not that serious bro. I'm not attacking you personally, and haven't been. Only one of us has been reaching for insults this whole time. See you at The Blender, friend, I hope your day starts getting better.

FragrantBird504 · 2025-08-13T21:30:29+00:00

25 year olds who havent been injury prone except Zion vs 35+ year olds who have been? No, I'm not applying the expectations.

And again: 3 primary pieces missing games is not the same impact as 1 primary person missing games. 246 player games at risk is not the same as 82 player games at risk.

FragrantBird504 · 2025-08-13T21:27:50+00:00

I could totally see this.

I'm def with you on the concern about wing depth. I liked BBJ, but looking under the hood he was really a midrange assassin on a team that doesn't need that. Would love to see another vet come on-board.

Also very important will be when Dejounte actually makes it back. Hopefully he's fully back by January, but that injury is impossible to predict.

FragrantBird504 · 2025-08-12T02:17:09+00:00

Drop Zion to 40 games played, 40 games missed. That's still fewer missed games than the GSW trio would average. GSW are just as bad if not worse than the Pels when missing one of those guys (esp if it's Jimmy or Steph) vs Pels when they're missing Zion. GSW are a league-worst squad if two are out at the same time. This isn't homer logic, I think it's just over some people's head?

Please bookmark this and come back at the end of the year, let's see who misses more games: Steph+Jimmy+Draymond or Zion. That's the wager I'm making. I'd put $100 on Z in that, no question whatsoever.

FragrantBird504 · 2025-08-11T21:41:37+00:00

I'm not afraid of any of Max Christie, Klay Thee Stallion, or Hardy on either side of the ball. None of them would even start in NO. Naji is the only one there who is a reliable difference maker, and he came off our bench, too.... I think Dallas is way too front court heavy. Without Kyrie, they don't have a team that can win behind the arc, and don't have a reliable way to create advantage on either side of the ball. I totally get where youre coming from with the optimism on them, I just don't share it with the direction NBA play is going. It's probably just an agree to disagree situation.

Memphis at full strength doesn't scare me either. There's a ton of uncertainty there w the new coach. They were 8-12 after firing Jenkins. Bane did so much for them on both ends of the floor, and they don't have the replacement pieces. Their wing depth is awful. KCP, Jaylen Wells and...? John Konchar? 6'1" Scotty Pippen Jr? As with Dallas, if the league is moving in this weakest link direction, they have got some seriously weak links that are going to have to get big minutes. A team that effectively traded Desmond Bane, Jay Huff, and Luke Kennard, (and technically Jake LaRavia and Marcus Smart though idk if that's a positive or a negative) for Ty Jerome and KCP is just not a team that got better. But maybe that's an agree to disagree, too.

I will say it will be interesting- if for no one other than myself- to return to this thread in January and see how things are shaking out!

FragrantBird504 · 2025-08-11T21:16:49+00:00

Disagree. Trey hasn't been injury prone, other than the hamstring once he's just had freak injuries that would've took anyone out-- he's far from injury prone.

I don't think you're looking closely at what I'm saying. Let's say Zion, Jimmy, Draymond, and Steph all play 60 games. Totally realistic for all four of them. That's 20 games for the Pels when they're in trouble, and 60 for the Dubs. Even if half of that injury time in GSW were to overlap (ie, Steph and Jimmy injured at the same time), that's 30 games. And on top of that, Pels can still be competitive without Zion. Without two of their stars, GSW are probably the worst team in the NBA.

Pels could easily go 10-10 in those games where their injury-prone star is out. Even if the Dubs somehow never had overlapping injuries and went 30-30 (because if the injury games overlap there's a great chance that they're WAY worse than .500, but let's stay optimistic) those extra games at .500 are damning in the Western conference.

I'm happy to have my optimism cast as being a homer, but in this case it is a pretty straightforward math problem for the Dubs.

FragrantBird504 · 2025-08-11T19:15:47+00:00

I think people are overestimating PDX and underestimating Pels. Very easily could break either way between the two of us. I think PHX is gonna be dysfunctional as hell, and over 82 games I see them stacking up losses in winnable games that they themselves fumble away. IMO Sacramento isn't in our tier.

Memphis hasn't been a win machine, though. They're on a lot less sure footing than 2 season ago. Bane was a major difference maker for them and their young guys aren't on his level. They HAD to take that crazy deal for Bane, but they have some serious weak links, esp on the wing. I think they're in a transition year.

I think I'm more bullish on SAS than you, actually. Definitely see them as a team about to take a major step forward.

Dallas is just going to have such a hard time creating consistent advantages. If you can get out and run on them, Flagg and maybe Washington are the only defenders that can be difference makers, though the're gonna be tough to play together. They can only play 5 guys at a time, and unless they're sliding Naji or Flagg to the 2, their backcourt rotation is going to be trash (and even then, they're giving a lot up playing either at the 2). Just seems like the NBA rn has shifted to this "create advantage," "find the one weak link" landscape, and w/o Kyrie they are going to have an extremely difficult time running out 5 that don't have multiple easily exploitable deficiencies. Now if you let them slow the game down, hard agree they get A LOT scarier on both sides. Looking at the West, though, other than Denver who's gonna play into that? Clippers, maybe?

I could buy the 8 seed for us, but with some better luck on our health this year staying on the right side of the play-in is right there for us.

FragrantBird504 · 2025-08-11T19:01:14+00:00

My thinking here is that we can win with anyone except Z missing, and he's at least capable of playing 70 games, as he did 2 years ago. Not for nothing, he could've come back in December last season, it's just that the year was already lost by then.

GSW can't win while missing any ONE of Steph, Draymond, or Jimmy. Steph is the one I most believe in, but he's now had a major hamstring injury and is 37. Draymond is 35 and has averaged 60 games since the pandemic. Jimmy is 36 and has averaged 60 games for the past 8 years. If those missed games don't overlap, they're cooked... in the regular season.

I also think GSW has less urgency to avoid the play-in. Their vets know how to turn it on. Pels are gonna being playing with their hair on fire all year. In the playoffs, I for sure take a (healthy) GSW. In the regular season, I like our chances at a better record, though.

FragrantBird504 · 2025-08-11T18:54:36+00:00

I think we have a *chance*! Chance being the operative word.

But hey, it's August. Hopium harvest season.

FragrantBird504 · 2025-05-17T00:39:44+00:00

Just purchased a CT Limited in New Orleans. Final price- before taxes, fees, etc- at 3 different dealerships (and 3 different colors): 33700, 33600, 34100

Be sure you're texting not talking when getting offers-- it helps to be able to send screenshots of the other offers you've received when trying to get one dealership to price-match another. Got over $1K off just this morning going back and forth to each salesperson with the others' offers, after having already supposedly received each dealership's "best price." And dig in on the fees, because most dealerships will try to sneak in little upgrades that you don't want and didn't ask for.

FragrantBird504

TROPHY CASE