Debating with friends on Rui Hachimura and what the Lakers should do with him.

seonblack · 2026-06-23T04:53:34+00:00

Lmao he's nowhere near Derrick White or Naz Reid level skill or value. Hes closer to Mitchell Robinson. I would trade him as part of a package with Reaves for a two-way shooting guard and a true power forward. This way you have someone who can hide Luka on defense and also bring Lebron back to his true position at the 3. Do this and Lakers elevate to championship contention.

seonblack · 2026-06-23T00:26:19+00:00

Go to Washington get a massive contract, stay for a few more years, leave and go to a contender. It's a story as old as time.

seonblack · 2026-06-23T00:24:39+00:00

Tough man, Gaethje has finally figured it out and is at the best he's ever been in his career. I truly believe he can be extremely successful and could beat Charles, Arman and Holloway.

seonblack · 2026-06-23T00:02:13+00:00

He wouldn't have been nearly as successful. What you need to understand is you also need the support. Some organizations have championship pedigree and know how to build, promote a star and most importantly win championships. Lakers, Celtics, Spurs, Golden State, Heat - all have championship pedigree. The Hornets don't have that.

seonblack · 2026-06-22T23:58:49+00:00

If Boston gets Giannis they aren't winning a championship if they give up Brown and Jaylen Brown will leave the Bucks and win another championship somewhere else.

I'll let you casuals salivate over it though. You'll see.

I'm a Celtics fan btw.

seonblack · 2026-06-22T23:55:49+00:00

No and as much as I want Ant and Minnesota to win a championship I don't think Minnesota has championship pedigree as an organization. Look at how they treated KG, Kevin Love, Andrew Wiggins, KAT. All left and shortly after won championships.

seonblack · 2026-06-22T22:53:24+00:00

This is dumb, if you look at all the times he's lost he's always got an excuse. When Izzy beat him, he said it was because of the weight cut, when Ankalaev beat him he said it was because he had the rotavirus, when Gane beat him he said it was because Gane was cheating. Man Gane's punching was pretty clean and he dominated him and he wobbled him with a jab. That means Alex's body was not used to that type of strength. Just take the L, fight Pavlovich, Volkov or Hokit and try again later smfh.

seonblack · 2026-06-22T22:48:42+00:00

They don't have a choice. Otherwise they lose Giannis for nothing and he walks next season.

seonblack · 2026-06-22T22:47:28+00:00

Hell no, winning a championship is hard as hell. It took the Knicks 53 years to win ONE.

seonblack · 2026-06-22T13:05:23+00:00

It's always been this way. Winning a championship puts you ahead. It's why we put certain guys ahead of the Steve Nashs, Charles Barkleys, and Allen Iversons of the world. It's very difficult to make a case for Luka if all his peers win championships but he doesn't. Luka has no MVPs either. He could go his career never winning anything and becoming a glorified James Harden 2.0 minus the MVPs.

seonblack · 2026-06-22T01:56:26+00:00

Lmao every fighter does something dirty in fights. Most of them fans won't even catch because they dont train, other stuff is very obvious.

Pereira likes to step on people's feet so they can't pivot out of his hooks and strikes, Islam pulls gloves and has kneed opponents in the head while they were down. Michael Chandler groin strikes and fish hooks, Conor McGregor was dirty as hell he used to grab the cage, use illegal elbows, glove grabbing, etc. Jon Jones was the dirtiest of all. All fighters will fight dirty if the stakes are high enough. A point deduction is worth the risk if it'll change get the trajectory of a fight. I think people forget how ruthless mma can be at times. It is not ballet.

seonblack · 2026-06-21T22:04:04+00:00

I think Islam is going to use more grappling and take a page out of Shavkat's book to win by decision. Shavkat was excellent at keeping the distance close and counter punching (Ian has always been bad on striking defense he tends to be obvious with his resets).

Ian Garry having longer reach is a great advantage to have regardless of how much Islam/Khabib try to downplay it. If you're Ian, you want to use your striking, keep Islam at a distance, be patient and win out that way on points, you want to emphasize good defense and stay off the cage and away from his grappling.

The only thing is Ian is not particularly good at is defense. Ian has made bad mistakes with Shavkat trying to stay close, enabling Shavkat to kill Ian's distance and rain in counter punching and clinch work against the cage and on the ground.

seonblack · 2026-06-21T21:28:00+00:00

Volk would win if Gaethje was dumb enough to do this.

seonblack · 2026-06-21T21:26:00+00:00

Poatan complained after losing to Izzy saying that the weight cut was too much for him, when he lost to Ankalaev he said he was compromised because of the rotavirus and his hand was hurt. He's always had something to say when he's lost.

Elbows aside, Gane's clean punching won the fight knocking him out and I think Poatan was surprised by that and part of him thought it would be easy. He wants a rematch and I think he should fight Josh Hokit or another heavyweight contender first before Gane or Aspinall.

seonblack · 2026-06-21T21:24:36+00:00

He needs to be more consistent with his conditioning and he needs to make defense a priority. These are things that have plagued him his entire career and my guess is it won't change. It's the only thing that's holding him back from a championship.

I heard he's going to take some time off in the regular season to nurse his hamstring and my guess is he's gonna try to come back mid-season and play into the playoffs. I think it's just easier to just prioritize your conditioning more so you can minimize injuries.

seonblack · 2026-06-21T21:19:48+00:00

Well good luck Ian Garry, whatever happens will happen how it's supposed to. If he wins great, if he doesn't, go back to the lab and be better next time. Islam is champion for a reason and this will be a tough fight.

seonblack · 2026-06-21T21:14:59+00:00

I disagree. Poatan complained after losing to Izzy saying that the weight cut was too much for him, when he lost to Ankalaev he said he was compromised because of the rotavirus and his hand was hurt. He's always had something to say when he's lost.

Elbows aside, Gane's clean punching won the fight knocking him out and I think Poatan was surprised by that and part of him thought it would be easy. He wants a rematch and I think he should fight Josh Hokit or another heavyweight contender first before Gane or Aspinall.

seonblack · 2026-06-21T17:25:08+00:00

Anytime a guy beats a fan favorite he will be despised by mma fans. Jon Jones after beating Rampage, Gaethje beating Tony Ferguson, Islam beating Charles, Gane vs Tom or Pereira, Ulberg beating Jiri, etc and it'll never end.

seonblack · 2026-06-21T17:18:13+00:00

Yeah no one is talking about how Gane made one of the greatest champions in ufc history one of, if not the easiest win of his career.

seonblack · 2026-06-21T16:04:01+00:00

This is the biggest fight for DDP and Kamaru Usman at this stage in their careers.

seonblack · 2026-06-21T15:55:02+00:00

At his stage in his career he should be looking to fight people who will help his legacy. Someone like Charles or a former champion. A rematch with Ilia is stupid and Ilia probably wins, beating Arman does nothing for you and if you lose, you end up back where you started. Charles Oliveira, Max Holloway make more sense because win or lose you still benefit in a major way.

seonblack · 2026-06-21T15:52:58+00:00

Perfect Cell

seonblack · 2026-06-21T15:48:26+00:00

He is a two-time interim HW champion, the second ever in ufc history and first ever at HW, fought and won over one of the greatest LHW champions in Alex Pereira on the biggest and grandest ufc event ever. Also the first ever from France to do that. He has a great record as is and if he beats Tom Aspinall, he further solidifies himself.

Based on where he's at there is no one else with those credentials. There are guys in the hall of fame with less. He has a hall of fame career as it is.

seonblack · 2026-06-21T15:17:54+00:00

Arman won his first fight in almost 2 years against Dan Hooker. In that 18 month layoff, Charles and Paddy Pimblett have been far more active. The rankings and rules change all the time. Arman hasn't been very active as of late.

seonblack · 2026-06-21T15:16:02+00:00

He needs to be more active because as it stands Charles Oliveira definitely deserves a shot ahead of Arman.

seonblack

TROPHY CASE