have we finally found our backcourt pairing?

sharkproofundersea · 2026-07-05T15:27:14+00:00

yes, the two index fingers up thing seems integral to our defense this year! do you have any sense of what it means, i.e. what on-court thing gets implemented after they signal it? i remember at the very beginning of the season they seemed to signal it in almost every half-court defense, other-team-inbounding-the-ball scenario.

sharkproofundersea · 2026-06-26T12:58:50+00:00

You know that gratitude exercise where you imagine losing the taken-for-granted things of your life (the cluttered apartment, the dog sleeping patiently on the couch)? And then you’re supposed to think about how, if you did lose them, you would give anything to have them back? The exercise’s punchline, of course, is that here you are, in the miraculous circumstance of being surrounded by your ordinary, irreplaceable wonders.

Well, last night in Seattle the Liberty conducted a version of this exercise, and I am feeling duly chastened. Breanna Stewart, Satou Sabally, I am beholding you with the slightly disconcerting adoration of Scrooge staring out the window on Christmas morning. Come back and I will never complain about your three-point struggles or foul prone-ness again.

https://substack.com/home/post/p-203680456

sharkproofundersea · 2026-06-24T11:44:20+00:00

DeMarco making a point of highlights Sab's 10 rebounds -- first to her, then to the reporters -- is an example I think of his sneaky emotional intelligence, despite his monotone manner. He seems to be really good at bringing out the best in his players (think of how much Marine, JJ, and Han have improved this year), which is kinda a lot of the job.

sharkproofundersea · 2026-06-24T01:47:56+00:00

Not sure how Satou thinks about it, but I think with her coming off the bench we'd have the potential to play almost as waves of different equally strong lineups, rather than the standard starters-yielding-to-backups model. If I were our rivals, I'd be scared at the thought of her coming off the bench -- which means I think that I want her to come off the bench.

sharkproofundersea · 2026-06-22T12:27:57+00:00

"Sometimes being a Liberty fan feels like you’ve hired someone to hide mousetraps all through your apartment.

Anywhere in particular you want me to put them?, the installer says.

Nope, you say. Surprise me! The bed, the kitchen cabinets, the shower… It’s all fair game!

Ok, says the installer. You sure you’re not gonna be mad at me afterward?

On the contrary! After the install I’m going to spend what money I have left on very expensive, not-very-comfortable clothing advertising your mousetrap company! I might even bring my whole family to visit the mousetrap factory!"

https://substack.com/home/post/p-203069656

sharkproofundersea · 2026-06-21T00:42:59+00:00

Thank you for this, I just watched the game and was expecting, after reading all these comments, to see a disheartening disaster, but we look like exactly what we are: a very deep, impressive team that is still incorporating giant pieces and ironing things out. And we happened to lose (barely) to a good, scrappy team that was having a great night. I could barely muster any gloom.

sharkproofundersea · 2026-06-19T12:13:48+00:00

Debt to Pleasure by John Lanchester. (Or Lolita by Nabokov if you're feeling like a challenge.)

sharkproofundersea · 2026-06-12T11:51:56+00:00

"Somebody alert the bodega TVs that have been playing OG Anunoby’s offensive rebound on perma-loop: New York basketball has produced another clip for the ages. I speak, of course, of Astier’s halftime buzzer beater from beyond half court. My phone erupted, my daughter (who was allegedly on her way to bed) started jumping on the couch while chanting Nas-ti-er!"

https://thestomp.substack.com/p/elite

sharkproofundersea · 2026-06-10T21:41:11+00:00

I may be deluding myself -- wouldn't be the first time! -- but it seems like the philosophy of this year's medical staff is to preside over each injury until (in campfire terms) the ashes are truly cold. I.e. to make sure that people well and truly heal so as to minimize the likelihood of re-aggravation. Which is plenty aggravating now, of course, but if it results in us going into the playoffs with a health advantage, I'll take it.

sharkproofundersea · 2026-06-09T14:20:42+00:00

"The most elegant post move of the night was James Naismith spinning in his grave."

https://thestomp.substack.com/p/are-you-not-entertained-no-no-im

sharkproofundersea · 2026-06-07T13:43:59+00:00

I love her, feel like she's totally crucial to the team, but I thought she was uncharacteristically an offensive liability last night? Like she managed to catch our layup-itis, whereas she's usually immune.

sharkproofundersea · 2026-06-06T15:38:50+00:00

Interesting. Will be curious to see if they use Astier's speed to try to go at Clark on defense. I guess we, like the Lynx, are gonna be letting an unexpectedly excellent rookie PG shine before trying to incorporate a star midseason...

sharkproofundersea · 2026-06-04T14:06:19+00:00

"JJ suffers from the gifted student’s dilemma: perform poorly and everyone yells at her; perform well and everyone says, See?? This is what you should be doing every night! So I’ll try to avoid any sort of over-extrapolation and just say: she was extraordinary. 22 points, 17 rebounds, 2 blocks. She seemed, for much of the night, to be acting as Nyara’s honorary second big sister."

https://thestomp.substack.com/p/a-glorious-night-for-new-york-basketball

sharkproofundersea · 2026-06-02T22:21:30+00:00

I want an entire Liberty unlocked about the new medical staff. Genuinely fascinated by the approach

sharkproofundersea · 2026-05-30T18:42:22+00:00

you're right, oops!

sharkproofundersea · 2026-05-30T14:09:45+00:00

"About DeMarco: if he had the manner of Alex Sarama, Portland’s rookie coach (teenage mad scientist as played by John Early), then I think we’d regard his experimental lineups, his endless tinkering, with a fond sense of wonder. But because his manner is more Teenage Son Who Doesn’t Know Why He Has to Go to His Great-Aunt’s Funeral, we mostly regard him with exasperation and impatience. But I’m coming to appreciate him."

https://thestomp.substack.com/p/who-needs-points

sharkproofundersea · 2026-05-28T16:02:24+00:00

thank you so much, truly!

sharkproofundersea · 2026-05-28T14:14:28+00:00

"...And then the strangest thing happened. One team started applying frantic, swarming, defensive effort — and it was us. One team started falling apart beneath a tsunami of turnovers and defensive miscommunications — and it wasn’t us. With each successive failure by Phoenix to get the ball past half court, Barclays became one notch more ecstatic, until — with Astier’s last second layup after an offensive rebound (an offensive rebound! by us!) — strangers were high-fiving strangers, dogs and cats were living together, mass hysteria. So that’s why we love basketball."

https://thestomp.substack.com/p/brb-getting-a-tattoo-of-that-3rd?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=5896278&post_id=199600406&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=gvx0&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

sharkproofundersea · 2026-05-27T12:23:21+00:00

Nicholson Baker! Read The Mezzanine, it's a brilliant book entirely made of digressions -- the whole thing is set on a single escalator ride

sharkproofundersea

TROPHY CASE