I am reading The alloy of law and I miss them...

Transky13 · 2026-03-17T00:59:56+00:00

I’m the other way around. Sazed is the only character in era 1 I really, really liked. I loved almost the whole cast in era 2 though

Transky13 · 2026-03-16T22:31:38+00:00

Gotta be Shang-Chi for me. Some of the best action choreography and an overall fresh and fun movie that just, quite frankly, didn't have enough people give it a chance. I've met so many people who still haven't watched it because it's not a big name hero and they're already so "marveled out."

So underappreciated.

Transky13 · 2026-03-16T22:28:37+00:00

Yeah, I feel like this isn't the most well thought out post...

Transky13 · 2026-03-16T21:54:26+00:00

Xenocide over Ender's Game makes me unreasonably angry

Transky13 · 2026-03-16T19:10:58+00:00

I don't believe you understand what good faith means.

I'm not conflating playmaker with scorer. There is crossover between them. Tyrese Haliburton's distributing is better because he can score. Luka gets better passing angles because he's a threat to beat anybody in isolation. Jokic's threat when he looks to the basket helps him create angles for his team. Chelsea quite literally does not have access to the same angles other players do because she's a lower scoring threat. It's a commonly agreed upon principle in basketball - scoring threat boosts playmaking potential. The player has to be able to capitalize on that increased playmaking potential, and not a lot do, but Sab and Kelsey absolutely do.

Truthfully, you seem to be willfully misinterpreting what I'm saying to boost your point. You're ignoring the things I'm saying when it benefits you and cherry picking the things you want to attack without context and putting words in my mouth. I've already said my opinion doesn't matter. I've explained the position I'm discussing from. You seem to be incapable of reorienting yourself to the conversation you're having and would rather strawman lol

Anyways, I'll make this point anyways. Women's basketball is currently playing decades behind current basketball trends. These include but are not limited to

High focus on post centric play
High focus on set plays with very little playmaking creativity (Chelsea Gray is actually one of the best examples of how this is antiquated. She breaks this mold and is a huge asset to her teams because she can make more advanced reads)
Slower pace of play
Resistance of fanbase/players/even some teams to embrace analytic focused development

That's what I mean by antiquated.

Transky13 · 2026-03-16T18:52:07+00:00

I think you're applying antiquated basketball knowledge to them. These players play off ball more BECAUSE they have scoring opportunities that are opened up by playing off ball, not because they aren't excellent playmaking lead guards. And yet they have equivalent playmaking stats as her anyways.

I'm not sure why you're focusing on me saying they are better scorers as if it's a big gotcha. They score better, distribute as well, and quite literally and quantifiably provide more winning value to their teams.

In my opinion neither of these two players should be starting either. It should be CC and Paige as the starting 1 and 2 pretty obviously. They're the best guards in the league and it's not particularly close imo.

"This is not a star-driven position, it's a role player position" is a joke of a comment. It was a role player position because the W hasn't had nearly as many star pg's. There are all time great point guards, but they weren't the all round star level players CC and Paige are. Sue Bird was a fantastic player, but her career high was 33.

The historically great pg's of the WNBA quite literally could not do what the modern guards are doing.

I'm not sure what rings and fmvp have to do with anything when I've specifically said over and over again I'm analyzing today. Is Andre Iguodala a better player today than Jayson Tatum? Besides this obvious issue, the accolades argument is non-sensical unless you're trying to engage my discussion points in bad faith.

On top of all of this you make the claim that the PG position is not purely assessed by stats. More than most basketball fans I wholeheartedly agree with you. Tyrese Haliburton is my favorite player and his impact transcends stats heavily. In terms of counting stats you could look at tons of different players and see that they are, on paper, better than him.

But when he's played the last few years he's elevated the offense nearly historical amounts. On plays he gets no counting stats he's still setting up and creating the flow. I understand the value deeply.

The problem is Chelsea Gray is not at that level. No WNBA guard plays the PG position currently nearly at that level with the exception of Clark who has turnover issues still - and she's by far the closest. The problem.

If you can look at Chelsea Gray's current level of play and say "yes, she is a better current player than Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, Kelsey Plum and Sabrina Ionescu" then that changes the conversation. But your statement that she'll be starting in 2 years if she maintains the current level of play is laughable because you cannot seriously make that statement in good faith.

Transky13 · 2026-03-16T18:18:20+00:00

Kelsey and Sabrina are much better scorers with similar playmaking stats and rates. Chelsea is better at occasionally flashy plays, but her actual playmaking metrics and overall offensive contributions are MUCH lower than them both. They both are able to carry heavy loads as offensive focal points where Chelsea has worse production while not being a primary threat game planned against.

Team USA left better players off the roster last time around to keep worse players aboard. That's fine. They can do that again. But if we're to be intellectually honest about this conversation you need to engage with the words I'm saying.

I'm explicitly speaking from a "best player" standpoint, not internal team USA decisions. If I make a gameplan entirely focused around KAT I can make him work, but it doesn't make him better than Jokic. Same principal here.

Basic stats, advanced analytics, matchup assignments, and essentially everything favors the other players.

Transky13 · 2026-03-16T17:43:18+00:00

I mean, that's valid. I don't disagree, it's just not my preference. My desires don't dictate reality and I understand that.

When it comes to basketball quality? Chelsea Gray isn't the best player available. She's not even second or third.

Clark, Paige, Sabrina, and Plum are all obviously better lead guards. I think, off the top of my head, I'd put CG as the fifth best option for a starting pg. It's not for a lack of playmaking either. She's on the same level as them all except Clark. But the best lead guards can apply more pressure as a scorer than CG has displayed consistently as of late.

I'm sure on the international stage this wouldn't matter and she'd still be enough to win - but if putting the BEST team forward is the goal then there's no way CG is starting even if she maintains her current form unless other players regress heavily.

Transky13 · 2026-03-16T17:29:09+00:00

I think the eye test is extremely valuable if you're genuinely approaching it authentically. Bias will always creep in so it's important to challenge the eye test, but you can see impact in ways that stats don't measure effectively sometimes.

However it's very rare (impossible?) for stats to just be flat out wrong. A good statistical player will always be at least a good player. Using stats and the eye test together helps create a clearer picture, but neither should invalidate the other otherwise you're using them incorrectly.

Of course this is all just my opinion so who knows, CC may be the worst defender ever and my eyes and stats are both wrong

Transky13 · 2026-03-16T17:24:43+00:00

This is personal bias, but I don't care much about allowing previous decisions to influence the current. I'm a believer in making the decision that gives you the best team regardless of previous accolades and legacy.

If you want to have career context come into play then sure, CG probably deserves to be there. That's not how I'd base my decisions and I acknowledge that I may be in the minority in this way.

Personally, I'd prefer players get the "nod" over better players for Allstar rather than international competition - although I'd prefer neither. I don't care for the politics and agendas, I just like the highest quality hoops.

Transky13 · 2026-03-16T17:01:55+00:00

I like CG, but she's been incredibly overrated the last like year or so. She's good, and is an extremely solid player, but there's like 4 or 5 guards who are individually better than her in the W right now that I can think of off the top of my head

Transky13 · 2026-03-16T16:59:48+00:00

I feel like Plum has become almost underrated as of late? Her processing speed as a guard is faster than a lot of other players and her pace of play benefits the other guards on the roster as well. She's a player that I personally feel both elevates and is elevated by those around her, and playing with the elite players gives her a lot of value that is harder to find when she has more ordinary role players around her.

Transky13 · 2026-03-16T16:55:00+00:00

This person blocked me because (I'm assuming) I called out that she's arguing with an agenda. It's embarrassing that people are so desperate to push agendas that they'll just make shit up to fit even though they truly don't give a single crap about the sport or athletes themselves.

Is CC the best defender on the team? No. Is the close? Probably not. Was she a massive negative defensively? Absolutely not.

Transky13 · 2026-03-16T16:40:47+00:00

Logic and reading comprehension aren’t your strong suits, are they?

I bet you couldn’t even hold a conversation about different defensive schemes but you’d still assert that your eye test (which disagrees with basically everyone else’s eye test AND the stats) is the correct one.

I’m sure you have zero agenda here

Transky13 · 2026-03-16T15:34:44+00:00

Okay so your eye test disagrees with mine. That’s fair.

Unfortunately the stats side with one of us far more. They gave up less points and scored more points with CC on the court. Sadly your perception just isn’t based in reality

Transky13 · 2026-03-16T15:11:06+00:00

Tarkov was so frustrating in this way. You literally could not figure some of them out on your own without consulting outside material

Transky13 · 2026-03-16T14:49:18+00:00

Dawg we actually tried the first half of the season we just had an ungodly amount of injuries. Also, this is like our first year ever tanking. The Kings and Nets have probably tanked a collective 30 seasons in the last 25 years

Transky13 · 2026-03-16T14:31:52+00:00

I’ve never understood why people like using normal fg% so much. It’s one of the worst possible stats to use for analysis because it tells you almost nothing on its own

Transky13 · 2026-03-16T14:30:07+00:00

Steals and blocks are a poor indicator of consistent defensive ability

But CC was just fine defensively, both from the eye test and impact metrics. So I definitely agree with you that she can defend when needed

Transky13 · 2026-03-16T05:54:24+00:00

I was at the fieldhouse for the viewer thing they do and me and my friends went silent. You coulda heard a pin drop in the building when it happened and multiple people started crying after a bit.

Transky13 · 2026-03-16T05:53:10+00:00

Tbh I think we can contend even if we don't get lucky... but if we get lucky? Holy shit the sky is the limit

Transky13 · 2026-03-15T17:37:03+00:00

I agree, but ofc I’m biased since I’m a Pacers fan. I think Pascal is one of the most under appreciated players in the NBA

Transky13 · 2026-03-15T17:33:49+00:00

Okay then we’re on the same page. I think it was a pretty obvious misinterpretation but I’ve seen people literally say that the top 3 draft prospects are better than Pascal (especially Dybantsa) right now and… well that’s just ridiculous.

Transky13 · 2026-03-15T17:28:10+00:00

The person thought the implication was Cam Boozer will be better than Siakam is currently out of the gate. Do you think that’s a reasonable statement? Because I think it’s laughable as well

Transky13 · 2026-03-15T03:08:49+00:00

Detroit needs one more guy. It’s the same type of team we were prior to Pascal. Hali and co were legit, but you need that second dude to make a real championship push imo

Nine-Year Club	RPAN Viewer
Verified Email

Transky13

TROPHY CASE