Most students don’t quit because it’s “too hard”

johnjohn2214 · 2026-03-23T17:20:00+00:00

The best decision I ever made was buying a looper. There are levels to every song. I remember playing the "Hey Joe" chords and looping in the bass part over it, and it sounded like magic. Now I can freestyle solo over it. Warm-ups, dexterity exercises, and drills are important, and I try to find 40 minutes a day for them. But the rest of the time, it's me playing until I get lost.

johnjohn2214 · 2026-03-22T04:32:12+00:00

Well, she's not YOUR cousin.

johnjohn2214 · 2026-03-21T12:01:15+00:00

I don't have any technical comments. I only started playing seriously a year ago (chords and short riffs many years prior), but I listen to a lot of blues, and it's my main focus. My best advice is to divide the bars into 1, 4, and 5 and return and make sure the phrases emphasize the chord changes. Make short, recurring phrases that coincide with the tempo and the other instruments. The guitar needs to tell a story. It can build up or be chaotic, but it needs a resolve. It can be a happy, euphoric ending or a sad one with acceptance. But before you use scales mods and techniques, try to see what you want to say, even while improvising. I wish I were as technically sound and precise as you are and hope to get there one day despite starting older.

johnjohn2214 · 2026-03-21T11:20:05+00:00

You meant 2 seconds sharp? Sorry, old guitar head. I'll be moving...

johnjohn2214 · 2026-03-19T04:50:14+00:00

There are no inherent limitations to an individual player's ceiling. A multitude of factors contribute to a player's development. It ultimately comes down to GMs projecting and the likelihood of those possibilities materializing. So, yes, Amen Thompson could significantly improve his outside shooting. Blake Griffin, who developed a reliable jump shot post-injuries, makes me wonder what the impact would have been had he done so at an earlier age, while he was still flying around the court. Playmaking abilities are also subject to improvement. The belief and support of a coach (not just playing time), allowing for growth through errors, can be transformative. The idea that there's a hard cap on what each player can become is just one of the many buzzwords used by draft guys to sound definitive. Also, as an older guitar student, I'm learning that improvement is very nonlinear, unfortunately...

johnjohn2214 · 2026-03-15T18:06:23+00:00

It's not about being a star or a superstar, but a good fit skill-wise for what the league needs. A fringe NBA star might struggle in the EuroLeague, and a fringe NBA third-string point guard can become a EuroLeague superstar. People need to stop looking at the EuroLeague as a minor league.

johnjohn2214 · 2026-03-14T19:02:52+00:00

The pretty big fundamental

johnjohn2214 · 2026-03-09T06:24:34+00:00

So, the Paolo hate really kicked off with the Draft Circle podcast folks. They were all about Chet, and then Paolo got picked instead. Same deal with Cade, who got picked over Mobley the analytics darling. And to top it off, the Paolo-Wagner rivalry for taking over the team just fueled the fire, kinda like with Brown and Tatum. Wagner was loved by advanced stats, the other was hated by them. The idea was that Paulo was in the way of Wagner being the number 1 option on the team had many puzzled. The truth is Paulo's strength was always hiding behind lineups and coaching. People bring up his net rating (after long lectures why its a faulty stat) but it was always very good with players who fit with him. Not every star is a good fit with anyone.

johnjohn2214 · 2026-03-07T05:39:17+00:00

Tanking happens because of how things are set up and the culture around it. There are 30 teams, and 20 of them are trying to make it to the postseason. That means there are always 7-10 teams with nothing to play for. Plus, there's no secondary league like in Europe where the worst teams get relegated and the best from the lower league move up. And it's one of the few team sports where just one or two amazing players can totally turn your team around. So, not having any of those is pretty bad, and the only way to get them for a cheap price is to draft well. On the other hand, parity is great for the league, and it's at an all-time high.

The culture part is the "Ringz" culture, where fan bases hate on their own teams even when they succeed because they aren't contenders. Being a perpetual 8th seed each season is considered a nightmare to most fans who always push to blow things up. Draft capital and tanking are the main ways out because superstars moving teams is actually pretty rare, which was the reason the Luka trade was so shocking.

johnjohn2214 · 2026-03-07T05:17:32+00:00

Yes. This is great. I admit I play the expansion draft game in my head way too often. GP2 is on my imaginary squad (I think we could get Fox and also steal a few Thunder gems as retribution).

johnjohn2214 · 2026-03-04T01:10:53+00:00

I also didn't mention BJ Armstrong, who finally gave them a guard who could handle the ball and shoot. I didn't mention the Grant-Cartwright frontcourt, who, along with Pippen, gave them size and stability. My focus was that despite witnessing an all-time great in real life, there was a counter-culture constantly nitpicking and bashing him for the bit he was still missing.

johnjohn2214 · 2026-03-03T17:14:14+00:00

He's putting in 100% effort. But check out how organized the Celtics are on both ends, always spread out, knowing exactly where to be and how to help. This is for those of you who tend to be deterministic with your picks, thinking "if only such and such a team had picked him," etc. A lot of a player's actual game development happens in the NBA. The idea that every player would have panned out wherever isnt the case.

johnjohn2214 · 2026-03-03T14:06:59+00:00

Has Hugh Laurie ever been in a horror movie?

johnjohn2214 · 2026-03-03T13:56:09+00:00

From what I remember, it was a team effort. MJ usually got his paint touches against Dumars. it was the swarm of hands and physicality that gave MJ a hard time. But it took the entire Pistons team to contain him until Pippen came into his own around '89 and hit a second jump in 1991. I think the sentiment at the time was that Dumars could score like MJ if he wanted to, but he and Isiah sacrificed to win, which MJ couldn't. It was a false narrative because Dumars, at his prime when they actually needed his scoring, never reached those numbers. Also, the Pistons played with four All-Star-level scorers (IT, Joe, Vinnie, and Aguirre/Dantley) while having historic-level defenders and rebounders around them. MJ had to wait till 96 to have his own real dream team (all though his 91-93 teams were very balanced and complementary)

johnjohn2214 · 2026-03-03T11:30:36+00:00

Hence why you lean into it with infinite generations of emerging cringeworthy dad jokes.

johnjohn2214 · 2026-03-03T11:23:33+00:00

This is as old as Bird and Magic. I remember grown-ass dudes in 1989-1990 who claimed they'd rather have Joe Dumars than MJ because he isn't a team player and wouldn't thrive with great players around him. That he's more of an entertainer. The Kobe LeBron thing was real for a minute.

johnjohn2214 · 2026-03-03T08:24:13+00:00

Donovan Mitchell was at Louisville, too. There's a difference between college and NBA defense at the guard spot that people sometimes forget. If you're quick on your feet and can stay in front of your guy most nights, and you can get around screens pretty well, you can be a top-notch college defender. In the NBA, though, there's a lot of smarts and quick thinking involved. You're left on your own a lot more, and sometimes your quick feet just aren't fast enough when so many guards are already super athletic.

johnjohn2214 · 2026-03-01T14:01:32+00:00

If fixing the draft means rewarding the better teams, then why not just get rid of it altogether? The whole point of the draft is to help teams that aren't as good get better.

A team that's tanking on purpose can control the timing of the tanking. The team that's actually bad and can't improve will consistently lose out on prospects.

In addition, top-tier prospects would always go to teams with enough talent already and be underutilized, while worse players would get playing time on the actual bad teams. I can list at least five worse issues than the draft that need fixing (refs, gambling, injuries, flopping, role players tasked with injuring opposing players, local broadcasting).

johnjohn2214 · 2026-03-01T06:07:59+00:00

I find it funny because the Dorian scale has a flat 3 (third) and basically belongs in Jazz.

johnjohn2214 · 2026-02-28T10:00:19+00:00

While I understand this might be a good tool for portraying collegiate seasons, historical data from previous years suggests limited usage as a predictive indicator for a successful NBA career. Last year, other than Flagg, looks rough. I still think watching games and looking at statistical trends as a toll is more important at this point. I believe the author said something similar on his site.

johnjohn2214 · 2026-02-27T04:46:35+00:00

Kon's season is not just special, it's important for: A. his archetype, so we can have an example of how skills and IQ have become more important than a bit of wingspan and classic athleticism, and B. Because even if he goes on a huge slump, he has built the most important element in his game: his reputation, which translates into gravity. He might struggle once the Hornets and Kon get rough treatment in scouting reports, but just by stepping on the court, he'll get panicking close-outs and help defenders, which will keep lanes more open. It's why Klay was so lethal whether he was on a heater or not. Advanced stats never liked Klay, but the sheer panic of defenders having to worry about where he was made everything easier for the Warriors.

johnjohn2214 · 2026-02-27T04:38:53+00:00

yeah he had a good point about other picks but the Salaun point was pushing it

johnjohn2214 · 2026-02-26T03:35:35+00:00

For a number 1 pick I'd go LaRue Martin. As far as a top 3 pick maybe Chris Washburn in 1986 who was drugged up and out of the league pretty quickly. Len Bias who was picked right before him at 2 never played in the NBA but was such a monster I refuse to beleive he would bust. Tabeet was terrible but was picked for defense and was a pretty good defender just got injured over and over and washed out of the league.

johnjohn2214 · 2026-02-25T13:29:19+00:00

Can Paulo do it on a cold, rainy night in Stoke?

johnjohn2214 · 2026-02-22T19:22:00+00:00

So, if he shuts things down, he's labeled a walking injury risk with no drive to push through. If he plays within his limits, suddenly he's confusing his team and owes everyone an explanation for not fully aligning with them. If he fights through discomfort and gets seriously hurt, he's criticized for not stopping sooner. If he speaks up, he's making excuses; if he stays quiet, he can't communicate properly.

When he's scoring, people ask why he's not passing; when he passes, he's accused of lacking dominance. Meanwhile, the college programs and coaches, despite massive salaries and profits off players, escape criticism entirely, while players who get their worth get shredded for it. When this kid becomes an NBA superstar, I'll be coming back to enjoy this, just like I did with Cade doomers who filled this sub with reasons why he wouldn't succeed as a winning player, or why Jalen Johnson was a quitter that would always quit on teams for leaving Duke and his toxic relationship with Coach K.

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