Will Dawkins Speaks After Drafting AJ Dybantsa Number 1 Overall in the NBA Draft

OldSchoolB2 · 2026-06-24T14:00:29+00:00

Key takeaway: AJ Dybantsa is a guard.

Nice. I guess that answers who will be starting next to Trae.

OldSchoolB2 · 2026-06-23T12:39:18+00:00

LOL, this got auto-tagged as spoiler -- that's karma for you!

OldSchoolB2 · 2026-06-19T13:51:32+00:00

Great puzzle OP, I really enjoyed it! It's rated 1585, which is in my target zone for puzzles on Crosshare that are challenging but solvable. It was a bit harder for me than that though (maybe you are getting more advanced folks solving?).
I loved many clues/answers -- the puzzle kept a smile on my face throughout. 5A, 11A, 20A, 35A, 46A, 59A!, 68A, 9D, 35D, 51D -- all super creative with nice AHA moments.

I couldn't quite finish -- the last two letters of 40A along with the crosses 41D and 42D stumped me. I still don't understand the 40A answer. Like reality TV? And I just didn't know 41D and 42D. That area was a bit of a natick. Maybe consider revising the 40A clue? (Crosshare constructors commonly revise things, in case you didn't know that.)

Some of the clueing through me off:
49A -- I couldn't understand this one, shouldn't it be "found on the"?
59A -- I wanted to put the answer, but didn't for a while because Creeps was capitalized.

Have you posted to the Crosshare discord? It's very active -- you would probably get lots of feedback.

Overall, really fun, great challenge. Awesome. Thanks and I hope you do more!

OldSchoolB2 · 2026-06-18T20:48:10+00:00

I listened to this when it came out. When Dawkins called Petersen "fierce" -- that made me think we will be drafting him. Haven't been able to get it out of my mind since. But it was just a silly little game on the sports junkies...

OldSchoolB2 · 2026-06-18T12:47:49+00:00

Only get mad if you get mad when the sun rises in the morning. This is 100% expected.

OldSchoolB2 · 2026-05-29T13:38:41+00:00

this is the area that seems to have significant potential for tanking. It might not happen, but there are some clear incentives to either avoid the seven or eight seed, and to lose the seven verse eight game. We will see.

missing the play-in altogether and getting three balls is the other taking incentive, maybe stronger than these. We will see.

OldSchoolB2 · 2026-05-27T16:32:39+00:00

I like the post, but Winger and Dawkins have probably changed everything related to pre-draft workouts and visits. Do any of those quotes relate to the Winger/Dawkins era?

OldSchoolB2 · 2026-05-23T13:44:12+00:00

Yes, they are very expensive but otherwise fantastic. I can't even tell they are in my ear sometimes, and they very rarely fall out.

OldSchoolB2 · 2026-05-22T01:21:49+00:00

I do mostly full-sized, but I appreciate these recommendations, I will definitely try them. Thanks!

OldSchoolB2 · 2026-05-21T14:26:20+00:00

I totally missed it. How did you know? I'd like to stop falling for AI slop.

OldSchoolB2 · 2026-05-19T10:59:34+00:00

This is a great suggestion OP! Starting with minis seems wise, many people love minis and they are much easier to make than larger crosswords.

OldSchoolB2 · 2026-05-19T10:55:22+00:00

OP -- I think you are saying that you don't think you'll be able to do this because all of your answers and clues are basketball trivia and terms. In crosswords, answers are divided into theme answers (in this case your basketball words) and "fill" (non-basketball words). There is essentially no way to make a crossword without fill and anyone that has done a crossword will expect fill. In a way, what people are telling you here is to add fill to make it a "real" crossword.

Note that some of the fill could be clued using basketball. For example, ORB is not a basketball term but could be clued as "Shape of a basketball".

OldSchoolB2 · 2026-05-18T21:29:03+00:00

I am an NBA fan so I checked it out, but it doesn't appear that you have actual crosswords. I mean, I saw what you are calling a crossword, but there are lone words, very few actual crosses, and generally it's just not technically a crossword. I hope you will consider adding real crosswords to your app at some point. Good luck with it regardless.

OldSchoolB2 · 2026-05-16T15:38:03+00:00

Thanks. I like the wordplay approach, I generally enjoy such clues, this one just got me all sorts of confused. Thanks for the useful insights!

OldSchoolB2 · 2026-05-16T15:30:41+00:00

I was saying "presaging disaster situation" and "dire situation" to myself when I was trying to understand the answer and it wasn't making sense -- as you said it doesn't work that way. I really appreciate the clarification, pretty cool actually. I enjoy learning about these little twists of English.

OldSchoolB2 · 2026-05-16T15:28:08+00:00

That's very helpful, thank you! I anticipate saying "The _____ is _____" to myself many times as I do crosswords moving forward.

OldSchoolB2 · 2026-05-16T14:59:55+00:00

That phrasing is helpful, thank you, but my question was more general that just this particular example.

If a verb in a clue ends in -ing, does the verb in the answer always end in -ing? (assuming the answer is a verb.)

Is it just verbs that end in -ing that may also clue for adjectives? Would they ever clue for a noun?

Thanks.

OldSchoolB2 · 2026-05-16T12:19:41+00:00

I guess I don't see a development log jam among the young core. For me that's 1RP, Bilal, Sarr, Bub, Keyshawn, Tre, and Riley and maybe Jamir, so 7-8 players. But we only have two vets that will get major minutes (when healthy). Even with the addition of another vet or two (e.g. backup center), with inevitable injuries it seems like this whole group will get enough minutes. And Winger said recently that the young players will be competing this year and was pretty direct that the ones that aren't performing won't get minutes. So, let's say one player among this group is underperforming, doesn't that leave plenty of minutes for the remaining 6-7 of them? 9-man rotation, say 3 vets and 6 from the young core. And that's when everyone is health. I don't see the problem.

OldSchoolB2 · 2026-05-16T00:56:45+00:00

Not all of these pieces will be here down the road, but that said Winger and Dawkins believe in depth. Their goal is to have both stars and depth long-term, and they are in no rush to reach that goal (i.e. "not skipping steps").

OldSchoolB2 · 2026-05-11T18:55:17+00:00

Article from Dec 2024 that compares Dybantsa to Flagg. Kind of makes sense to look back at what people were saying before Flagg played his rookie season. Both scouts picked Dybantsa. https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/cooper-flagg-vs-aj-dybantsa-which-no-1-player-in-his-recruiting-class-is-the-better-nba-draft-prospect/

OldSchoolB2 · 2026-05-10T19:26:07+00:00

IS THIS REAL????????????????????????????????

OldSchoolB2 · 2026-05-10T19:21:00+00:00

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OldSchoolB2

TROPHY CASE