Betrayer

I'm as cynical as the next person, but I'll be the devil's advocate here and remind everyone that this is SGA's 5th year in the league and he's 24. Ivey and Cade have each played one year and they're 21 and 20. Oh, and Duren is 19. What will the Pistons look like when those guys are in their 5th year? Can we say they won't be a play-in team? Because that's all OKC is right now. Certainly Presti has made some nice moves but he's also had way more capital to work with and I'm not sure the story has been written on this Pistons rebuild yet.

Really sucks that all SVG left Weaver to start the rebuild was Drummond and a broken Griffin that nobody wanted. Would've been nice to have a Superstar or two to build some draft capital. The basketball Gods should grant us the #1 this year to make up for it.

1) This is the postseason. These stats should count as playoff stats 2) Teams in the play-in shouldn’t get lottery balls. Again, this is the postseason, this opportunity to get to the next step is what you won.

These have been some good, close play-in games.

Being a better coach than Casey doesn’t necessarily make you a good coach.

Could be worse. I clicked on ESPN2 for a few minutes and they’ve got Stephen A talking the whole time in a second window. I thought that was the main broadcast for a few minutes and I was about to lose my mind.

Totally agree on KAT. But also look at the shot clock on those plays they highlighted on TNT - there was no time left to post up anyway because they kept pounding the ball for 15 seconds on every possession like they were trying to get the last play of the quarter. Mind boggling offense.

Epic collapse by MIN. I can’t even comprehend why they spent the entire 4th and overtime pounding the ball and not even getting into an offensive set until 7 seconds left in the shot clock every single time down the court. Some absolutely terrible coaching.

Don't underestimate the value of that #31 pick. Great spot to pick up a player that has dropped out of the first round without taking on a guaranteed contract. Valuable pick whether you keep it or trade it.

Teams I want to see lose: Lakers, Suns, Sixers, Clippers WEST: I was ok with the Suns before they got KD, but he's in my top 5 most hated list. Also not a huge fan of GS winning another ring, but I enjoy watching them play and I'm ok with them getting to the finals. However, I'd really love to see someone new come out of the West like Denver, Memphis, or Sac although I don't have a ton of belief in those teams in a playoff setting. EAST: I'd like to see Boston or Milwaukee come out of the East. I like the way they built their star(s) mostly through the draft. It won't happen, but it would be awesome if the Nets beat the 76ers. Cavs/Knicks could be a really good, hard-nosed series and I can't wait to see it.

From JEIII's podcast: -The organization wants to give the opportunity to a young black man. -He believes the coach will be one of Charles Lee, Jerry Stackhouse, Kevin Ollie, or Ime Udoka.

I don't think Casey was *the* issue, but he was definitely *an* issue. It's possible to have both a bad team and a bad coach. I've never seen a Casey team perform above the sum of their parts, they've always underperformed. That's just who he is as a coach. If they want to take a really big leap next year, moving on from Casey is a step that had to be taken, but it's just the first one. Roster construction, overall youth, and injuries were also big issues. Youth is simply what it is - it'll take time. Injuries (and sitting players with "injuries") will hopefully not be an issue next year. I guess we'll see what happens with roster construction - this team needs wings who can defend and shoot, so let's see what Weaver has up his sleeve.

Ugh, I needed MIN to play their best game of the year and take down the Lakers. Guess I have to hope for the Grizz to do it.

Casey kept a tight locker room, so we can give him credit for that, but I couldn't be happier that he's moving on from coaching, which he was just not good at. The names in that list I'm excited about would Ime Udoka, Charles Lee, and Chris Quinn. Obviously, Atkinson is one we've all been talking about but it sounds like he's not going anywhere since nobody is mentioning him as a candidate for open coaching jobs. Stackhouse is intriguing, but I don't know about college coaches coming to the NBA. Seems like the most successful NBA coaches in recent years have been former assistants who've learned from successful NBA coaching trees.

Writing was on the wall after that meeting with Gores. Glad it happened quickly. Now let’s go get Udoka.

I have definitely noticed improvement in his defense over the course of the year. Not saying it's good, or even neutral yet, but it's been getting better. During last night's broadcast they highlighted a play where Ivey cut off his man's dribble drive twice on that play. So, there are flashes. They interviewed his mom in the pregame and she mentioned his improvement on defense as well. So, it's clearly something he's working on, but he's got a long way to go. This team desperately needs to add some strong defenders at the Forward positions along with continued improvement from Duren.

Without a doubt. Ivey has improved a ton this season. His 3-ball, free throws, mid-range game & decision making, screen navigation, and passing. He's shooting 34% from three on the year and 37% since the All-Star break. He's averaging 5.3 assists per game on the year and 7.3 since the All-Star break. He's averaging 15.2 points per game, 19.4 since the All-Star break. Even his FT% has gone up significantly into the 80% range over the past two months. I know a lot of people checked out on watching games after February, but much like Cade did last year, Ivey has shown huge growth. Can't wait to see those two together next year.

His efficiency overall was was an issue. But young players take time. I don't mind him looking to get everyone else involved first. Chauncey did that too and so does Chris Paul. That's a good floor general. He just needed some better players around him that could take advantage of it. Looking forward to him and Ivey together next year - and hopefully a coach who knows how to run a simple rotation that keeps one of them on the court at all times.

That is definitely the big "IF" when it comes to Ivey because, as you said, offensively he looks like he could become a star. The defense is really rough though.

"One source with knowledge of the situation insisted Casey will have the choice of remaining on the bench or stepping into a different role within the team’s basketball operations. The Pistons, too, have clear designs on competing for a postseason position next year." Sorry, but those two things are mutually exclusive. Don't let him choose. It's time for a fresh face. I'd be good with Charles Lee.

These awards are so subjective and narrative driven. There's a strong case to be made for Giannis as MVP as well and he's probably the guy I'd vote for - top three player on the team with the best record. But, one year they care more about team record, another year they don't. Either way, all three are deserving and although it's a regular season award Giannis is probably the only one with a real chance at leading his team to a title because it's not the 90s.

Apparently Casey had a chat with Gores after the game that made him 1 hour late for his post-game media session. From JEIII: I could be mistaken, but having been around corporate heads for a long time, when you hear something like this it's just a nice way of saying Casey is out. You don't leave it up in the air if you're bringing him back, you only do that if you're waiting for the PR team to write up a nice story about how "we've mutually decided to part ways." Could just be wishful thinking on my part, but that's been my experience.

I'm hoping we get an update about Casey moving to the front office next week.

They weren't just Drummond stat stuffing performances either, they both played really well. Those two are the primary reason I'm still enjoying some of these games. Couple of truly bright spots in the abysmal season. When you think about how young these kids are, what they're doing already, and how far they've come in just their rookie seasons it gives you some hope. There's more to the NBA than the "counting stats", but let's have some fun with this... I heard Wade and Mitchell as some ceiling comparisons for Ivey when he was drafted. Let's compare rookie seasons: Rookie Wade vs Rookie Ivey (per 100 Possessions): eFG: 47.8% vs 47.5% 3pt: 30.2% vs 34.3% FT: 74.7% vs 74.3% REB: 6.3 vs 6.1 AST 7.1 vs 8.1 TOV 5 vs 4.9 PTS: 25.4 vs 25.2 Surprisingly comparable stats with Wade being better from 2 and Ivey better from 3. People knock on Ivey's turnovers, but his assists are higher and turnovers (a tiny bit) lower than Wade's were. Wade was also 2 years older, which makes a big difference as well. Rookie Mitchell vs Rookie Ivey (per 100): eFG: 50.6% vs 47.5% 3pt: 34.0% vs 34.3% FT: 80.5% vs 74.3% REB: 5.6 vs 6.1 AST 5.5 vs 8.1 TOV 4.1 vs 4.9 PTS: 30.7 vs 25.2 Mitchell has some really good offensive numbers here, but Ivey's 3 is comparable and he has him beat on rebounds and he's crushed him in playmaking. Also, Mitchell was 21 while Ivey was 20. ------ OK, now let's do Duren. I've heard a lot of Howard and Adebayo comparisons. Let's see those rookie season comparisons: Rookie Howard vs Rookie Duren (per 100): eFG: 52.0% vs 64.4% FT: 67.1% vs 61.1% REB: 15.6 vs 17.2 AST: 1.4 vs 2.2 STL: 1.5 vs 1.3 BLK: 2.6 vs 1.7 TOV: 3.1 vs 2.5 PTS: 18.6 vs 17.8 I had to triple check that eFG to make sure it was right. Wow. Duren's also looking like a better passer. His blocks aren't where Howards were, but everything else is right there or better. This kid has some serious potential. Both were 19 years old. Rookie Bam vs Rookie Duren (per 100): eFG: 51.2% vs 64.4% FT: 72.1% vs 61.1% REB: 14 vs 17.2 AST: 3.7 vs 2.2 STL: 1.2 vs 1.3 BLK: 1.5 vs 1.7 TOV: 2.4 vs 2.5 PTS: 17.5 vs 17.8 Again, this is showing pretty well in Duren's favor. He's not the assist guy that Bam is and his FT% needs some work, but every other counting stat is right there or better for Duren in his rookie season.

I was sad when they got Kyrie because they went from a team I was rooting for to a team I was rooting against. As much as I love watching Luka play (even though I hate their Harden-esque offense), I can't root for a team with Kyrie on it. Just like I can't root for a team with KD on it. Things were a lot simpler when those two were on the same team.