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critrateup · 6 years ago

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Run It Back: Kingdom Hearts 1.5 -- The Introduction and Destiny Islands

The title screen of Kingdom Hearts remains to be my favorite intros in all of games. Dearly Beloved is a theme which by now has been arranged, reprised, and remixed into about a dozen official versions. It’s a theme so iconic that rather than start fresh with an entirely new track for each new series entry, it’s been repurposed as an overture of sorts -- every reimagining of the track can tell you something about tone, beats, and themes present in the game ahead. In this instance, the theme has a somewhat melancholy bass line married to a flittering melody. The rhythm goes in an unhurried circle arriving back unto itself, accompanied by the sounds of waves gently crashing onto the shore. Sora stands in a beautiful watercolor illustration, alone and looking out at the sea. Like most of the other parts of the game that I remember fondly, the elements come together in a way that just feels right. Sora is alone, and though his expression is relaxed you get the feeling that he isn’t quite happy either. There’s a touch of mourning to the scene, which stands as a somewhat abrupt contrast to the expectations one would bring to a licensed Disney game in the early 2000’s -- something was different this time, and it was exciting!

The menu options are unfussy. You can start a new game or load a save (and in the case of the ReMIX versions, back out to the game select screen), and upon starting a new file you’re greeted with an intro cinematic. The cinematic starts with a beautifully rendered cloudscape that flashes the title in an unstylized, spartan, and serif’d font, and fades into a scene with Sora voiced by Haley Joel Osmant narrating his thoughts. It feels a little surreal, with him floating in space eyes half closed, wondering aloud to himself if he can trust his grasp of reality anymore. It sets the tone for the series, and places its production values front and center with a flashy cinematic delivering visuals well beyond what the hardware could deliver and professional Hollywood voice acting on par with what we’d expect from a Disney production yet surpassing performances we’d heard from up to that point. It also captures a certain angst that just resonated really well with 14 year old me. My stresses were piled high though I wouldn’t know to call them that at the time. I was just beginning to process some intense personal trauma that had occured very recently; national tragedy had struck the year before, with 9/11 and the G.W Bush Administration altering the course of American politics; and of course I was just entering high school, and all the baggage that brings along. Something about the way Sora saw himself falling from the sky, eyes closed and unable or unwilling to take control of his descent, resonated close and hard with me.

This is also the first time we hear the iconic Simple and Clean track, here as the -PlanitB Mix- with clubby vibe that marks the dramatic sweeps of the chorus have just a little more flair. The soundtrack to Kingdom Hearts was so good that it led to me hunting down a copy of the soundtrack at Tower Records. The craziest thing to me was that it had a domestic release (!) complete with the english (!!) versions of the Utada tracks and an unabridged, two-disc version of the soundtrack. Yoko Shimomura has since become a favorite composer of mine, to the point where I’d instantly recognized her work when I saw the first Final Fantasy XV trailer.

As a somewhat technical aside, The PS4 remaster runs at 60 frames per second, while the original ran at about 30. While the gameplay with look and act much smoother as a result, it is worth noting that the animation in the cutscenes has been keyed to 30fps resulting in a visual discontinuity when moving to and from cutscenes to live gameplay. It’s understandable, but it also shows the beginnings of what will be a recurring question with the remastered version of the game running on modern hardware: should the game be presented as the original was in 2002, and what should be modernized to make the game more akin to something of a remaster (or ReMIX in KH parlance) in 2013 then again in 2017. Although I recognize the sheer amount of work hours it would have taken to go back and essentially reanimate every cutscene in the game would border on absurd, it does give the impression that there was some work the developers and management at Square Enix were seemingly willing and unwilling to do in a re-presentation of the game -- this is not a no-holds-barred recreation of the original, nor is it quick and dirty supplanting of the original. Rather, it’s something that lands in the world between, and I’ll be noting such seems as they occur to me.

The opening with the stained glass figures is still striking as ever, and the constant moody, cryptic narration sets the mysterious vibe well. There’s a short sequence of actual gameplay that gives a brief tutorial of basic movement and attacking controls, then asks you with somewhat cryptic messages to essentially choose a build for your playthrough. I chose defense as my boosted stat in my original playthrough because of the way it’s worded. “The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all.” Of course these were values that I was All About™ but to be frank in later years when I discovered speedrunners and disgustingly destructive magic builds I became all about them, and would probably have never chosen Defense as a buffed stat in any of my playthroughs to begin with. It’s telling how effective the copy is when I still feel a pang of shame in sacrificing the shield as my default stat nerf.

The opening moments of gameplay on the Destiny Islands are totally unremarkable, and serve to highlight a coming weakness in the game -- namely, the clunky as hell platforming, with something of an identity crisis to come. It attempts to make stages interesting and fun by including varied elements of traversal and platforming, but the game’s unforgiving movement and jumping mechanics make it a difficult sell. With small ledges, an obtuse camera, finicky movement and facing requirements, a seeming lack of jump buffering and ledge forgiveness (more on that here https://www.patreon.com/posts/gamemaker-tips-14531948), getting precise movement out of Sora takes a whole lot of patience. Some of this will later be alleviated with Metroidvania-esque upgrades like a glide and a high jump, but running through the game’s platforming challenges with a vanilla Sora is tedious. Punishment for missing jumps can be harsh, reminiscent of Ratchet and Clank’s Planet Novalis Waterworks where a single misstep would send you to the back of the line to redo an entire sequence.

There’s something kind of cool and again telling in the way the tides are rendered on the beach. They’re GIF-y, cycling between a few frames of canned sea foam animation. Out of place as they may look running natively on a Playstation 4 in 2018, the way the gentle ebb and flow are rendered serve as a quaint reminder of the hardware that served the original entry -- it’s something of a momento mori for the videogame age.

The cave/secluded room on Destiny Islands has a bunch of really cool chalk drawings that I recommend you check out. Some of them seem to be of elements to come in the series, like the royal castle, starry adventures, and what even appears to be a Donald and Goofy. Weather intentional markers of the series’ now apparent time traveling and mysticism shenanigans or just fun little easter eggs for attentive players using the first person view function, it’s still a nice touch.

After some tedious gathering missions meant to familiarize you with the controls, Sora’s weighty movement, and some minor characters, the meat of the story begins to reveal itself. The introduction of the trio of Kairi, Sora, and Riku is mostly to the point -- Sora is excitable, smiley, and kind of a bag of rocks; Riku is intent on accompishing his goal of leaving the islands, seemingly in spite of the costs; and Kairi is kind if somewhat mischievous. There’s something of a love triangle painted between the three which serves to further drive their division in the coming cataclysm.

This is (to my knowledge) the only time the parents of Sora, Kairi, and Riku are even briefly acknowledged in the series. There’s a quick and disembodied line about dinner being ready at Sora’s house, and Kairi only briefly mentions family as the island is being torn apart from within. It’s kind of weird and maybe telling that Nomura and company weren’t sure how the game was going to do and what kind of future it may or may not have had coming. It’s a weird appendage to the series that seems impossible not to acknowledge.

And with that, the trio are sucked into the abyss, we get a glimpse of King Mickey’s castle, Riku in what we’ll later discover is Hollow Bastion, and Donald and Goofy are introduced. The story is told from and omniscient, cross-cutting point of view and I think it works for the most part. There are a lot of threads to keep track of, with characters we’re given lots of reasons to care about. In a game where the player character is one of a group of protagonists, each thematically and literally lost and in search of something, it creates a bigger payoff in dramatic tension to see them criss cross and near miss in pursuit of one another.

Next time, we’ll visit Traverse Town and discuss it’s soothing, soft-porn sax track at the crossroads of every world.

#CritRateUP++#kingdom hearts #game crit #ReRuns #Runitback #Run It Back

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haroldgross · 6 years ago

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New Post has been published on Harold Gross: The 5a.m. Critic

New Post has been published on http://literaryends.com/hgblog/oscars-2019-the-nominations/

Oscars 2019 - The Nominations

Below is a recap of the nominations. Generally I fared pretty well at predicting them. I’m afraid I didn’t have time to go on record before they were announced, but I promise I’m being honest in my commentary as to what I had thought.

I will say it is one heck of an open field in a lot of categories, which is exciting. It speaks to a volume of talent. Of course, this also means a lot of people who are really good at what they do will not be going home with statuettes. But that’s the biz.

So here are my preliminary write-ups. I’ll update as I see some of the missing films and, as usual, I’ll post a final call before the awards night. The show itself may not be great this year, but the choices are certainly going to keep me interested.

THE MAJOR AWARDS

Actress in a Leading Role

Yalitza Aparicio, Roma Glenn Close, The Wife Olivia Colman, The Favourite Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

This is one of those rare times where I wouldn’t be upset by any one of these people winning. They were all great performances, and all very different. To my mind, it is between Colman and Close. But McCarthy was also excellent and Aparaicio may have some momentum (and was a wild card for me in terms of getting on the list). And, of course, Gaga. Close has yet to win, so that may get her votes, but Colman’s performance is just so funny and powerful, it may win the day…and her movie was much better received.

My choice: Glen Close Likely win: Olivia Colman

Actor in a Leading Role

Christian Bale, Vice Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody Viggo Mortensen, Green Book

This is by no means a lock for Bale, but he so disappears into his role that it is astonishing. I am not a huge Bale fan, but he had me utterly mesmerized and not even able to see him under all that makeup. In terms of the field, only Dafoe’s name surprised me, though that last slot was somewhat open.

My choice: Christian Bale Likely win: Christian Bale

Actor in a Supporting Role

Mahershala Ali, Green Book Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman Sam Elliott, A Star Is Born Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me? Sam Rockwell, Vice

Supporting roles are hard to pin some times. These were all good performances, though I think Elliott isn’t necessarily to the same level (and I didn’t expect him on the list over Chalamet), nor was Rockwell’s performance that brilliant, though it did win me over as it went on. But Mahershala Ali was incredibly affecting and Richard Grant, equally so, but with much less screen time. That said, Green Book is hitting headwinds due to aspects unrelated to the movie…but which are likely to affect its chances in any category. And while Driver is excellent, the character just never really got to fully develop for me.

My choice: Mahershala Ali Likely win: Richard E. Grant

Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams, Vice Marina de Tavira, Roma Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk Emma Stone, The Favourite Rachel Weisz, The Favourite

This is a brutal field. Stone and Weisz should have to mud wrestle for the win here and that is likely going to split the vote. Tavira was solid, but it wasn’t break-through and I was surprised to see her here rather than Clare Foy. Adams was also really good, but felt in the background most of the time…even though she really wasn’t.

My choice: Rachel Weisz (but only because I had to pick one) Likely win: Regina King

Adapted Screenplay

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Joel Coen & Ethan Coen BlacKkKlansman, Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty If Beale Street Could Talk, Barry Jenkins A Star Is Born, Eric Roth and Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters

Again, so much to consider here. BlacKkKlansman was a great movie, but, like Green Book, it remade the facts freely. Which is fine, but that is being used as a wedge against Green Book, so not sure how to parse that effect. Star is Born is a great reinvention of the story, but it isn’t brilliant, however entertaining. I am surprised that Black Panther didn’t make it on, even though I didn’t think it should. I’m still behind on the other two at present, but hope to close that gap…but in the meantime I can make some guesses.

My choice: Can You Ever Forgive Me? Likely win: If Beale Street Could Talk

Original Screenplay

The Favourite, Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara First Reformed, Paul Schrader Green Book, Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly Roma, Alfonso Cuarón Vice, Adam McKay

Another interesting field. Green Book was one of the best films I saw this year. It was unexpected and complete. Favourite is hugely popular and darkly funny, but I think flawed. Was expecting Stan & Ollie and Eight Grade over Roma and First Reformed, but that was a tight race. However, of the remaining choices, Roma’s script is just too spare in comparison and Vice a bit too political and nauseating, while First Reformed is just too dark. So…

My choice: Green Book Likely win: The Favourite

Cinematography

Cold War, Lukasz Zal The Favourite, Robbie Ryan Never Look Away, Caleb Deschanel Roma, Alfonso Cuarón A Star Is Born, Matthew Libatique

Roma for me. Hands down just a beautifully shot film. The others are nice as well, but Cuarón’s use of the camera was just brilliant and the result gorgeous.

My choice: Roma Likely win: Roma

Directing

Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman Pawel Pawlikowski, Cold War Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite Alfonso Cuarón, Roma Adam McKay, Vice

I’d have said this was Lanthimos’s to lose if it weren’t for the ending of his latest film. It is a brilliant bit of satire; just not a perfect one for me and some of the movie just doesn’t fit well together. Roma is brilliant on so many levels, but a bit self-indulgent in its direction. Vice is great, but mostly about the editing and script (and some performances). BlacKkKlansman, however, is really all about the performances, keeping you engaged without making you turn away. Lee had the hardest task and executed it well…and it’s been years since he’s had a shot.

My choice: Spike Lee Likely win: Spike Lee (though it may well go to Lanthimos)

Best Picture

Black Panther BlacKkKlansman Bohemian Rhapsody The Favourite Green Book Roma A Star Is Born Vice

I don’t even know what this category means anymore. Is it by what’s popular, what’s fun, what’s brave, what took the most skills? So, crap shoot.

My choice: Green Book Likely win: Roma

THE NEXT TIER AWARDS

Animated Feature Film

Incredibles 2 Isle of Dogs Mirai Ralph Breaks the Internet Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

I’m a sucker for stop-action animation and Isle of Dogs was a hoot. But it wasn’t a great story, for all its fun. Spider-Man truly surprised me, however. It is pretty to look at, solid in story and script and acting. Overall a great and fun film, beating out its competition by a mile on many levels.

My choice: Spider-Man Likely win: Spider-Man

Foreign Language Film

Capernaum (Lebanon) Cold War (Poland) Never Look Away (Germany) Roma (Mexico) Shoplifters (Japan)

Shoplifters would have been my early bet here, but Roma is truly a great film and has huge momentum and a ton of noms. Those who have no interest in voting for it for Best Pic are likely to balance that by voting for it here. It may well cost Roma as Best Pic ultimately that the safety valve exists.

Likely Win: Roma

Documentary Feature

Free Solo Hale County This Morning, This Evening Minding the Gap Of Fathers and Sons RBG

Likely Win: RBG

Documentary Short Subject

Black Sheep (The Guardian) End Game (Netflix) Lifeboat A Night at the Garden (Field of Vision) Period. End Of Sentence

Likely Win: no clue yet

Animated Short Film

Animal Behaviour Bao (Disney) Late Afternoon One Small Step Weekends

Likely Win: no clue yet

Live Action Short Film

Detainment Fauve (H264 Distribution) Marguerite (H264 Distribution) Mother Skin

Likely Win: no clue yet

THE TECHNICAL AWARDS

Production Design (production; set)

Black Panther, Hannah Beachler; Jay Hart The Favourite, Fiona Crombie; Alice Felton First Man, Nathan Crowley; Kathy Lucas Mary Poppins Returns, John Myhre; Gordon Sim Roma, Eugenio Caballero; Bárbara Enríquez

My choice: Black Panther Likely win: Mary Poppins Returns

Costume Design

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Mary Zophres Black Panther, Ruth Carter The Favourite, Sandy Powell Mary Poppins Returns, Sandy Powell Mary Queen of Scots, Alexandra Byrne

Period pieces abound in this list, but so do some inventive futures.

My choice: Black Panther Likely win: The Favourite (though Mary Poppins could sweep in)

Film Editing

BlacKkKlansman, Barry Alexander Brown Bohemian Rhapsody, John Ottman The Favourite, Yorgos Mavropsaridis Green Book, Patrick J. Don Vito Vice, Hank Corwin

All of these films have excellent editing, but only one lives and dies by its edits.

Likely win: Vice

Original Score

Black Panther, Ludwig Goransson BlacKkKlansman, Terence Blanchard If Beale Street Could Talk, Nicholas Britell Isle of Dogs, Alexandre Desplat Mary Poppins Returns, Marc Shaiman

If old-school Hollywood wins out, Mary Poppins will be a runaway. It is certainly one of the more classic and evident scores in the field, and complex while trying to maintain and reflect on the original. Music certainly pushed along the tale in Isle of Dogs in an engaging, if repetitive, way, and the others were more subtly supported.

Likely win: Mary Poppins Returns

Original Song

“All The Stars” — Black Panther “I’ll Fight” — RBG “The Place Where Lost Things Go” — Mary Poppins Returns “Shallow” — A Star Is Born “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” — The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

There is only one song here that has any traction to my mind. It isn’t perfect (and story-wise it shouldn’t be) but just try to get it out of your head.

Likely Win: Shallow

Visual Effects

Avengers: Infinity War Christopher Robin First Man Ready Player One Solo: A Star Wars Story

Despite the wealth of blockbusters here, one is infinitely better than the rest in scope and seamlessness…

Likely win: Avengers: Infinity War

Makeup and Hairstyling

Border, Göran Lundström and Pamela Goldammer Mary Queen of Scots, Jenny Shircore, Marc Pilcher and Jessica Brooks Vice, Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia DeHaney

Typically, I’d stay the period piece would get this hands-down, but Vice has magic in its blood with its makeup and hair, completely remaking its actors and capturing the period perfectly.

Likely win: Vice

Sound Editing

Black Panther Bohemian Rhapsody First Man A Quiet Place Roma

My choice: A Quiet Place Likely win: Bohemian Rhapsody

Sound Mixing

Black Panther Bohemian Rhapsody First Man Roma A Star Is Born

My choice: Bohemian Rhapsody Likely win: Bohemian Rhapsody

#craft #General #General Life #Movie Review

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flauntpage · 6 years ago

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“They Always Kick Our Ass” – Observations from Celtics 105, Sixers 87

I shut off my computer immediately after the final buzzer last night because I knew social media was going to be a wretched hive of bullshit hot takes and overreaction.

Let’s keep it simple:

The Boston Celtics are an excellent team. Brad Stevens’ squad is incredibly athletic on the perimeter and stacked with multiple guys who can create their own shot and do a lot of dynamic things on the offensive end. Some of their bench players really should be starters on other teams (Terry Rozier) and they continue to play a defensive brand of basketball that just stifles the Sixers (and pretty much everybody else in the Eastern Conference).

So Joel Embiid is accurate when he says post-game, “This is not a rivalry. I don’t know our record against them, but it’s pretty bad. They always kick our ass. This is not a rivalry.”

Correct.

You need to beat a team before it comes a rivalry, and the Sixers are not there yet. Right now the Sixers are Pittsburgh and the Celtics are Penn State. There’s history there, sure, but the last few meetings have been pretty lopsided.

That’s the storyline moving forward. You lost to the best team in the conference on opening night. The rest of the season is about bringing yourself level with Boston and you’ve got 81 remaining games to figure it out.

Shortcomings

It’s hard to win a basketball game when:

you turn the ball over 16 times

you shoot 5-26 from three (19.2%)

your starting power forward gets himself into early foul trouble

your backup power forward is injured and unavailable

your backup small forward is injured and unavailable

you get 8-25 shooting (32%) from Dario Saric, Robert Covington, and Markelle Fultz

you shoot 14-24 from the foul line (58.3%)

Boston grabs twice as many offensive rebounds (12 to 6)

Regarding the turnovers –

The Sixers won a ton of games while coughing up the ball last year. Same with Golden State, who won it all. Turnovers don’t always equate to losses if you’re an up-tempo team that swings the ball around and flies up and down the court and averages more total possessions per game.

That was not the case last night, and there was a lot of forced stuff and some miscommunication that resulted in plays like this:

Just a bread and butter dribble hand-off right there, and Embiid leaves the ball for Redick, who makes a counter cut instead to beat the overplay. Joel will normally hold that and wait to see what develops instead of just dumping the ball out of bounds.

He was also annoyed with this play, when he threw a low post bounce pass entry off Dario Saric and out of play:

Sorry for the crap quality there, had to rip it off the TV.

You see Boston meeting Ben Simmons with two defenders at the foul line, which is the same exact thing they did last year. Ben drops it for the trailing big, and instead of Embiid trying a wide-open three pointer, he puts the ball on the floor and dribbles towards Saric before the pair fumble the exchange.

Look at the space here:

Joel shoots that more often than not. He’s not at his best when putting the ball on the floor 23 feet from the basket, but you already knew that.

I also thought he got hung out to dry defensively with too many tough matchups on the perimeter. It’s not to say he can’t defend on the perimeter, but it was very interesting to see him matched up with Jayson Tatum to start the game while Markelle Fultz took Kyrie Irving. Maybe the Sixers figure that Al Horford is going to try to stretch out Embiid anyway, and that he’s going to inevitably be pulled away from the basket no matter who he ends up guarding. Good job by Boston to space the floor and keep the Sixers moving defensively last night. You can switch two through four or fight through screens, but the trio of Irving, Tatum, and Jaylen Brown are capable of attacking really anybody you throw at them. Throw Rozier and Horford and Gordon Hayward into the mix, and it gets even more dicey.

Ben Simmons

Honestly, his performance probably kept things from getting out of control early on.

He finished with 19, 15, and 8 on 50% shooting and turned the ball over three times while going 5-9 from the stripe.

A lot of good, not much bad, a couple of amazing passes, and two attempted elbow jumpers that I counted. He actually missed twice from the left elbow but hit a ridiculous turnaround one-handed hook shot, if you want to call it that.

Ben’s chart from last night:

I’d be perfectly happy with him trying a couple of elbow jumpers per game as the season progresses. Those will start to go down.

Otherwise, he was the best Sixer on the court last night. Even in situations where Boston would try to sag to prevent drives to the rim, he’d still find ways to get that head of steam and bulldoze his way through. Ben is a rare physical specimen and if his game continues to grow and evolve he will be a top five NBA player at some time in the near future.

The biggest issue moving forward is finding a rhythm and sharing ball-handling duties with….

Markelle Fultz

Didn’t seem like he was finding the game at all early. It looked like he was just sort of floating around the floor and not getting involved. A little later, he hit his first shot on a nice pull-up at the foul line with a couple guys close to him, and he looked confident doing it. That was probably the highlight of the night, though I obviously loved the off-ball cut to the rim on the ridiculous Simmons no-look behind-the-head pass.

In the second half, Markelle again looked hesitant for the small amount of minutes he played. He passed on a layup attempt and traveled under the rim.

He did not attempt a three pointer last night and only took one of his seven shots outside the key. He failed to take a pair of open jumpers from deeper range and instead brought the ball closer to the basket, which sounded alarm bells in my head.

Kyle Neubeck over at PhillyVoice put two of those clips into a Tweet this morning:

First two plays in this clip: Fultz with space to take longer jumpers vs. BOS tonight, conceding it to shoot around the paint

Final two plays in this clip: How Fultz used to attack *any* semblance of space he had to shoot, vs. BOS in Summer League pic.twitter.com/lbo83wDmNt

— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) October 17, 2018

That’s concerning.

It’s one thing for Markelle to take those and miss, but he didn’t take ’em. In that first clip, he has to let that three pointer rip. The second is one of the weirdest pick and rolls I’ve ever seen.

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, as Nick Young once said. Or was it Wayne Gretzky? Either way, someone needs to drill that into Markelle’s head. I want to see him take at least 10 shots in the home opener tomorrow night.

Rotational things

Saric picking up three fouls early was a killer.

He started 3-4 from the field and the injury absence of Wilson Chandler and Mike Muscala really limited Brett Brown’s options off the bench. Picking up a fourth foul at the 9:14 mark in the third on a bad charge also did not help. And Dario’s 5th foul was a bad call with an out of control Hayward running right into him, full steam.

I have a theory that Dario doesn’t get a lot of respect from the officials because he’s still a relative newcomer (and a foreigner), but I can’t prove that theory without accusing people of xenophobia, so I’ll just leave it hanging and end the paragraph.

As expected, JJ Redick and Amir Johnson were first off the bench, spelling Saric and Embiid with Robert Covington moving down to power forward sans Chandler and Muscala. T.J. McConnell was next off the bench, leaving three ball handlers on the floor with Redick and Johnson.

Landry Shamet came off the bench around 10:00 in the second half. He took two early shots, which was good to see, even though he missed both. I’m fine with that. He’s like the anti-Fultz in that regard. Maybe we can find a way to insert Landry’s brain into Markelle’s body. Maybe a combo guard lobotomy is what we need.

As I mentioned above, Fultz barely played in the second half. He did not start in the second half. Brown rolled out last year’s starting five to begin the third quarter and went with a mostly different rotation from what we saw in the first half. Markelle didn’t come back in until 3:13 in the period and finished with 24 minutes last night.

This HAS TO BE priority number one, figuring out what Markelle is. To that end, I do agree with the decision to start him, but it gets funky when multiple ball handlers are on the floor. If Fultz is “the guy” moving forward, he’s gonna have to learn how to play with Simmons in some way, shape, or form. If not, you play him as the second unit point guard and roll another season with Redick as the starting two-guard while looking for upgrades next summer.

They have to figure it out ASAP, and I think that includes Brett giving him significant second-half minutes. If you get 10-15 games into the season and you don’t see anything from Markelle, might be time to just pull the plug. I know this sounds ridiculous after ONE game, but it’s really not one game, it’s 80+ now, as a continuation of his lost rookie season.

Other notes:

After a preseason in which the refs blew the whistle every five seconds, they really let both teams play for the majority of the game.

Ben Simmons twice used the snatch dribble in the first half on plays that resulted in a basket. He tried another in the third quarter and couldn’t get a contested lay-in to fall.

Robert Covington had a nice patch in the 3rd quarter where he hit a pair of three pointers. He made some nice defensive plays as well, including a couple of clutch steals and deflections at the basket. Beyond that, he was front-rimming a lot of his shots and doing little to influence the game. It was a very Covington type of game, inconsistent with peaks and valleys throughout.

Kevin Harlan didn’t seem to know how to pronounce “Dario.” Duh-REE-oh? What was that? Harlan tried to blame it on the Sixers press corps, so I don’t know what that’s all about. We’ll have to investigate.

I HATE the in-game interview with the coaches. Brett Brown literally spoke twice before the game and is required to speak after the game. He does not need to speak again DURING the game. Coaches should not be required to speak to the media four times in one day, PERIOD. I will die on this hill.

Aron Baynes has the ugliest three-point shot I’ve ever seen, yet it goes in

Nastiest dunk of the night = Amir Johnson

The post “They Always Kick Our Ass” – Observations from Celtics 105, Sixers 87 appeared first on Crossing Broad.

“They Always Kick Our Ass” – Observations from Celtics 105, Sixers 87 published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

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flauntpage · 6 years ago

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“They Always Kick Our Ass” – Observations from Celtics 105, Sixers 87

I shut off my computer immediately after the final buzzer last night because I knew social media was going to be a wretched hive of bullshit hot takes and overreaction.

Let’s keep it simple:

So Joel Embiid is accurate when he says post-game, “This is not a rivalry. I don’t know our record against them, but it’s pretty bad. They always kick our ass. This is not a rivalry.”

Correct.

Shortcomings

It’s hard to win a basketball game when:

you turn the ball over 16 times

you shoot 5-26 from three (19.2%)

your starting power forward gets himself into early foul trouble

your backup power forward is injured and unavailable

your backup small forward is injured and unavailable

you get 8-25 shooting (32%) from Dario Saric, Robert Covington, and Markelle Fultz

you shoot 14-24 from the foul line (58.3%)

Boston grabs twice as many offensive rebounds (12 to 6)

Regarding the turnovers –

That was not the case last night, and there was a lot of forced stuff and some miscommunication that resulted in plays like this:

He was also annoyed with this play, when he threw a low post bounce pass entry off Dario Saric and out of play:

Sorry for the crap quality there, had to rip it off the TV.

Look at the space here:

Joel shoots that more often than not. He’s not at his best when putting the ball on the floor 23 feet from the basket, but you already knew that.

Ben Simmons

Honestly, his performance probably kept things from getting out of control early on.

He finished with 19, 15, and 8 on 50% shooting and turned the ball over three times while going 5-9 from the stripe.

Ben’s chart from last night:

I’d be perfectly happy with him trying a couple of elbow jumpers per game as the season progresses. Those will start to go down.

The biggest issue moving forward is finding a rhythm and sharing ball-handling duties with….

Markelle Fultz

In the second half, Markelle again looked hesitant for the small amount of minutes he played. He passed on a layup attempt and traveled under the rim.

Kyle Neubeck over at PhillyVoice put two of those clips into a Tweet this morning:

First two plays in this clip: Fultz with space to take longer jumpers vs. BOS tonight, conceding it to shoot around the paint

Final two plays in this clip: How Fultz used to attack *any* semblance of space he had to shoot, vs. BOS in Summer League pic.twitter.com/lbo83wDmNt

— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) October 17, 2018

That’s concerning.

Rotational things

Saric picking up three fouls early was a killer.

Other notes:

After a preseason in which the refs blew the whistle every five seconds, they really let both teams play for the majority of the game.

Ben Simmons twice used the snatch dribble in the first half on plays that resulted in a basket. He tried another in the third quarter and couldn’t get a contested lay-in to fall.

Aron Baynes has the ugliest three-point shot I’ve ever seen, yet it goes in

Nastiest dunk of the night = Amir Johnson

The post “They Always Kick Our Ass” – Observations from Celtics 105, Sixers 87 appeared first on Crossing Broad.

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flauntpage · 7 years ago

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The Joel Embiid Game: Five Observations from Sixers 115, Lakers 109

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Turns out Joel Embiid was right when he described his minutes restriction as “fucking bullshit.”

And myriad fans and media were also right when pointing out that early-season Joel just didn’t seem to be 100% fit.

So now you see what a healthy and focused Embiid can do, which is 46, 15, 7, and 7.

46, 15, 7, and 7…

The last person to do that was.. nobody! There’s no stat line on basketball reference that matches those parameters.

Now, they didn’t record blocks back in Wilt Chamberlain’s day, so I’m sure that Wilt hit those numbers at some point. And you do find lines of 46/15/7 for guys like Hakeem Olajuwon and Rick Barry, but the point stands – Joel was outrageous last night.

I always like to look for a number that nobody is really talking about, and the one that jumps out from this game is “2,” just two turnovers for Joel last night. That ties a season low, which he matched in a win against Atlanta, when he went for 21, 12, 6, and 3.

That tells me that he was locked in mentally. No forced passes, no wasted possessions at the rim, no settling for 15-foot jumpers. He just seemed so much more composed in this game, and that also improves with physical conditioning. When your body lags, your mind lags, but Jojo was dialed in entirely.

If we’re looking for a his best play from last night, take your pick. I think the two looks that he had down low, late in the fourth quarter, are the obvious choices:

I feel like I abuse the word “assertive,” but I don’t know how else to describe this play. Embiid knows exactly what he wants to do to Julius Randle when he receives the ball, getting the Lakers’ power forward to leave his feet before sliding back to the basket. That bucket gave the Sixers a lead that wouldn’t be relinquished.

He did the same thing about two minutes later, posting up Randle further from the basket but recognizing the overplay and immediately swinging through to the rim:

It’s just elite footwork and recognition there.

Pure numbers aside, I just think Joel showed total concentration last night. He wants the ball down low in clutch situations and he’s been getting it done when those opportunities present themselves.

1) JJ Redick

11 points on 4-15 shooting and 0-8 from three.

I feel like Redick is becoming the Sixers’ Alshon Jeffery, the big-name free agent on a short-term deal who was brought in to fix a glaring offensive problem. He’s shown some flashes but isn’t putting up huge numbers despite helping his team in other ways.

Brett Brown keeps Redick on the floor in the fourth quarter because he’s always a threat to shoot, and that spaces out other teams and keeps them honest. It’s like Jeffery being guarded by the defense’s best cornerback. Nelson Agholor gets a chance to snag more catches. Dario Saric and Robert Covington get more open looks.

Redick had a rollercoaster fourth last night, hitting a finger roll to make it a 112-104 ballgame. Later, he had a blocked three-point attempt that lead to a Laker run out to cut the lead to four. With 0:24 remaining, he hit 1 of 2 free throws to extend the lead to six.

So he hasn’t been lighting the world on fire, and I don’t know what his Sixer future is considering the new Covington contract, but expect him to be on the court in those situations, no matter what kind of game he’s having.

2) Give that man a raise

Speaking of Cov, he’s reportedly about to get a four-year, $65 million dollar deal.

Let’s just take a moment to appreciate the story. Here’s a guy who was claimed off the scrap heap and developed into a high-level NBA player. In a world where guys like Kent Bazemore and Allen Crabbe are worth $18m per year, it’s just refreshing to know that a guy like Covington earned every single dollar that he’s about to be given.

I thought last night might be a statement game for him, considering the news, but RoCo was quietly effective, going for 12 and 6 on 5-9 shooting and hitting 2-5 from three.

One of those was a monstrous late game swish to put the Sixers up 110-104:

That’s off a broken play.

Best part is JJ Redick knowing that the shot is good when the ball isn’t even close to the rim:

3) Richaun Holmes and the bench

Amir Johnson was the first big off the bench for the second game running. He finished with 0 points and a block in 9 minutes. Richaun Holmes made a cameo and added 0 points and 1 rebound.

The rest of the bench combined for 21 points, with a nice third quarter burst from Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, who ultimately shot 4-10 and 1-6 from three-point range. Justin Anderson went 1-4 overall.

They still need much, much more in this department. Legitimate bench contribution, or a few made shots from Redick, would have put this game away early.

4) Guilty by association

I don’t understand the hate for Lonzo Ball.

Why, because his dad is an asshole?

Because his brother got caught shoplifting?

Do those things have something to do with Lonzo directly, or do we just want to see the collective failure of his family and the Big Baller Brand?

I get the on-court scrutiny. Ball was a high draft pick. Ben Simmons blowing past him for a dunk tells Sixers fans, “hey our rookie is better than yours.” T.J. McConnell doing it says, “hey, our undrafted point guard is better than your #2 overall pick.” That’s player vs. player, team vs. team, the NBA obsession with making comparisons of any sort.

Going down that road, yeah, Sixers fans should want Lonzo to fail because they don’t want the Lakers to be good. But to rag the kid for shit he didn’t do or didn’t say is a little weak to me. Lonzo has been mostly quiet and respectful while his dad runs around like an idiot.

That said, he’s got a long way to go:

Lonzo wasn’t ready for the TJ McConnell spin cycle http://pic.twitter.com/Hk2uuoq1Zl

— #Mickstape (@MickstapeShow) November 16, 2017

5) Laker throwback uniforms

They killed my eyes. Not sure why.

I think it was the clash of the light blue against the dark blue on the Lakers’ floor. If you’re partially colorblind, like I am, you know that certain shades are a pain in the ass to differentiate. The Lakers’ throwbacks had two shades of blue and yellow, juxtaposed against two different shades of blue and yellow on the floor.

Speaking of bad juxtapositions, how did Bryan Colangelo end up sitting next Jimmy Goldstein?

Collar and the hat http://pic.twitter.com/tRlnaUX6iL

— Kyle Scott (@CrossingBroad) November 16, 2017

The Joel Embiid Game: Five Observations from Sixers 115, Lakers 109 published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

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