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readyforsomeslapstick · 4 years

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what do you think about the baby's ( gaetano ) death ?

*TAKES A VERY DEEP BREATH, FOR A VERY LONG REPLY*

Okay, so I’ve had a week to think about this, and I have thought about this in phases. With that in mind, let’s start from the beginning, shall we?

REACTION #1: I was grief stricken--and I also felt like an idiot.

The episode had some extremely Gaetano-centric moments, which I of course ADORED. This episode really humanized Gaetano for us. Sure he’s a sociopath, sure he’s violent and cruel, but he’s also still human. This episode gave us that.

And I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN that this meant he would die; it’s a typical Fargo trick. And yet, when Gaetano shot Odis I let out this huge sigh of relief. I even remember saying out loud to the TV, “Oh, thank God.”

And I was already formulating the future in my head. “So, Gaetano makes it to the final episode, I’m sure he’ll die then though, so I wonder how--”

THEN BAM. He trips, and falls, and he shoots himself. And the sound I made--a mix of a groan, and a gasp, and a squeal all at the same time. I scared my dogs. I will admit, I had tears in my eyes. My reaction was Josto’s reaction.

And I remember sitting back in my seat and thinking to myself, “Well. Guess I don’t care what happens to anyone in this show now.” But, of course, I didn’t change the channel because...it’s Fargo. Gotta see how it ends!!

(Also, during the 4x11 promo I remembered I’m emotionally invested in Violante, too, and seems like he gets some major screen time so...yay!)

REACTION #2: Monday or Tuesday, I started to find it a little funny.

I mean, there is undoubtedly humor in how he goes. Haven’t we all been joking on this very blog about his adorable, pool noodle brain?

The man is not a genius by any stretch of the imagination. He’s clumsy, and goofy, and at times clownish.

How fitting is it that Gaetano trips over his own feet, or the curb, and tries to break his fall with his gun and then shoots himself.

I can’t think of the last time there was a more Fargo-ish death. And if I didn’t like Gaetano so friggin’ much, I might have even laughed.

(All of that said, I would argue that in 4x10 we actually see some of the shadows of what a thoughtful Gaetano might be. As Josto’s confidante, he advises the boss--maybe even more than Violante at this point. Josto may be the one coming up with the plans, but Gaetano is steering him on which plans to follow and which plans are dumb.

(And that scene with Gaetano, Josto, Violante and the New York goon? Gaetano is constantly watching our New York man. He knows the criticality of what’s going on. He’s trying to make Josto look good in front of the man reporting back to the real bosses.

(And I STILL wonder how much of this Gaetano and Violante already discussed, because they were pretty chummy in 4x08 just before Gaetano wiped the floor with Josto...)

REACTION #3: Wednesday, I started to get a little sad again.

I know one person IRL who watches Fargo, and that person detests Gaetano. And of course their reaction was, “I’m glad he’s dead. That death was great.”

Additionally, what little commentary I saw online (outside of this blog and you lovely people) was different flavors of this same reaction. People were glad Gaetano was dead, and they thought his death was hilarious.

I wasn’t hearing any chatter about the revelations we saw in his character, about what Gaetano’s death means for the rest of the plot and characters, or anything. People just seemed glad my son had accidentally killed himself.

If you all can’t tell by now, I am a sucker for analysis and discussion in media. And for a person like me, when you don’t get that analysis and discussion and instead you just feel inundated by a single opinion (specifically negative)?

Well, that gets tiring after a while, and it brings my/your mood down.

(For the record, people are entitled to their own opinion and I’m glad they say, think, feel whatever they want. It’s not hurting anyone. I was just sad.)

REACTION #4: Friday (yesterday), I found Salvatore Esposito’s interview, and it healed me. If you haven’t read this yet, read it now.

From the headline (“‘Fargo’ star Salvatore Esposito dishes on Gaetano’s ‘poetic’ reckoning”), I expected it to be another version of what I was hearing in REACTION #3 above. Essentially, “Haha, he’s a clown and it’s funny.”

But Salvatore’s commentary about what we learn about Gaetano in 4x10, about why Gaetano’s death is fitting, about the poetry of it...this is what I needed.

There are so many gems in this article, but this was my favorite: “I think there’s something poetic in the fact that only Gaetano can kill Gaetano.”

He is spot on. In the land of Taking & Killing, isn’t Gaetano king? So who could possibly kill Gaetano? Only himself. This alone puts me at peace.

And it got me reflecting on past moments in the season with Gaetano, and how we see Gaetano attempting to project this graceful and cultured facade...and I remembered the moment when he slips on the ice? I call that foreshadowing.

And while I’m still so sad Gaetano died, I knew it was inevitable. And I’m just glad that we got some really hilarious and insightful and borderline beautiful moments with Gaetano before he went. I’m glad Gaetano was a character at all!

IN SUMMARY: His death put me on a roller coaster of emotions, but I am now prepared to go into 4x11 a free-spirited person.

Not only that, but I’m just grateful for Salvatore Esposito. For his depiction of Gaetano and what he brought to the role, but also for his insight into the portrayal of Gaetano and what he sees in the character that is terrible and horrible and all of those other ugly things--but is also human, and has human qualities, and deserves that serious and human representation.

P.S. 10 points to your house for calling him baby. RIP our son. 😭

#Fargo #Fargo FX #Fargo Season 4 #Fargo S4 #Gaetano Fadda #Salvatore Esposito #Including a 'read more' cut because I got out of hand #But I also had a very fun time writing this #You anons spoil me so~#Slapstick Answers

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gwssfargo · 4 years

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Episode 5: “The Six Ungraspables”

By Gracie Margretto

The episode begins with a flashback of how Martin Freeman’s character, Lester Nygaard, acquires the 12-gauge shotgun that was used during the night he killed his wife. By chance (and rather easily), while buying socks, the shop owner decides to throw in the firearm as something like a combo deal. Lester has already been established as a meek, timid and submissive man, but he doesn’t turn away at the offer and brings the gun home, trying to figure out its mechanics at home. His wife walks in and the viewers are reminded of her habit of constantly emasculating and degrading her husband as she notes “if anyone could shoot theirselves in the face with an unloaded firearm, it’s you.” Lester lets the comment slide and clumsily finds a place to leave the gun- obviously putting it out of sight and out of mind unaware how important this gun will be to his story. It must be acknowledged that the series is set in a small, rural, white town in Minnesota in what would’ve been a Bush-administrative era. Politics aren’t explicitly discussed but the implications of such a conservative town are obvious with how Lester was able to purchase a shotgun just as easily as a pair of socks. He mentions later that the gun was for “protection” though the viewers know it ends up causing nothing but violence and destruction. We can see the consequences of this as the fragmented shell from the shots that killed Vern creates an infected wound in Lester’s hand, festering as does Lester’s guilt and complications covering up his crimes.

At this point in the series, Lester has only been seriously investigated by Deputy Molly Solverson, the (only) female cop who has had trouble proving herself and her place in the police force. Since the beginning of the show, we see how determined and resourceful she is, albeit a bit amateur, she quickly developing her investigative abilities while dodging pressure and stereotype-based critiques from older men that feel the need to urge her back in “place” and out of the way of the dangers of law enforcement. She is incredibly patient despite being put down so much and still is never discouraged in taking personal time (and occasionally disobeying her superiors) to uncover the truth about the multiple crimes going on. Additionally, unlike most of the other female characters in the show she has virtually no interest in romantic affairs and is defiant to authorities in her own way. Finally, after organizing her evidence she took much toil in gathering on her own, she convinces her chief that Lester may not be the weakling, high-school friend the chief remembers him as. On the other hand, in episode five we see another eager cop, Gus Grimly, who feels rather inadequate and unsure of himself especially as a provider for his daughter, Greta, which is most of his motivation for doing the right thing and how he behaves at work. He is somewhat of a breath of fresh air from the suffocating efforts of toxic masculinity that permeates the show as a single father who really just wants to be a good person and a good, caring father. He and Molly bond over their determination to get to the bottom of the crimes and Gus’ pure admiration for Molly’s detective skills are refreshing, allowing Molly to simply be a good cop, without having to overtly prove her abilities or theories.

Every main character presents as heterosexual, white, cisgendered and mostly male with the exception of Molly Solverson and the occasional side character housewife. There is no room for racial conflicts in the show as the only people of color ever even seen on camera are Asian background characters, few and far between at that. This lack of diversity is may be passed off as appropriate considering the rural Minnesota setting but it is disappointing nonetheless even in a fictitious world. One overarching theme that is ever present is the coddling of the police force to white suspects very much as “innocent until proven guilty,” particularly in cases where the policemen are familiar with suspected individuals. Lester takes advantage of this, playing the victim at every turn and saying Deputy Solverson is “harassing” him for asking follow-up questions. His timid disposition and his past of being bullied were originally his greatest downfall, in this episode and throughout the show as law enforcement narrows in on him, Lester uses his white privilege (whether he consciously acknowledges this or not) and previous emasculated characterization to his benefit to avoid punishment. While sexuality is mainly covertly expressed in the show, in terms of males being dominant and “breadwinners” for their wives and families, most of the problems in the show stem from toxic masculinity. Some of which we see in this particular episode, from Lester’s purchase of the gun to Molly’s need for extensive efforts to be heard. The need to be a “man” and prove their worth as such and be protectors and providers is what spurs many bad decisions and acts of violence throughout the series.

References: Hawley, Noah. “Fargo ‘The Six Ungraspables.’” Season 1, Episode 5, FX, 2014.

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pupthepupper-blog · 6 years

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The First Chapter Of Bullets

WARNING! THIS COULD BE SENSITIVE FOR SOME VIEWERS! A CHILD DIES IN THIS SCENE BY GUN SHOT. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Chapter 1.

The alarms went off in Wells Fargo at 10 am in Seattle Washington. A regular sized man with a scruffy beard held up a gun. “If anyone moves, I’s gonna shoot ya.”

“The boss said no killing!” A small teenager piped up from behind the man. He was very, very short. Almost too short.

“Shut it, midget.” The man grunted. A lady winced at the word ‘midget’. She obviously had a painful experience with the word.

“Bill, don’t use that word. It hurts people.” The teenager tried standing up for the lady, but was quickly kicked in the shin by the man, Bill.

“You’s can’t tell me what’s to say!” Bill fired a shot in the air. A tiny girl, at least age 8, screamed and backed into her mom. Bill whirred his head towards the two. “Which one of ya’s moved!?”

“Bill please don’t… just because boss sent us to kill, doesn’t mean you can kill a child…”

Bill didn’t listen. “I SAID; Which one of ya’s moved?!” The mother raised her hand shakily.

Bang.

She was shot. The daughter cried. “Mama, mama! No! You’re a bad man!”

Bill cackled, as the small teenager shook. “Bill please…” He tugged at Bill’s, old, worn out, dark blue, vest.

“SHUT UP STUPID! I’S JUST DOIN’ OUR JOB!” He yelled as he looked at him. While doing this he shot the girl. “Come on now. We’s done our job.”

They took pictures of the bodies, and left before the cops could come to get them.

#Bullets #oc #my story #Pupthepupper

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livehealthynewsusa · 3 years

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What’s behind ben Simmons epic playoff meltdown?

It’s a defining moment in a close Game 7, but instead of throwing it off, Simmons fits in with teammate Matisse Thybulle in traffic.

Thybulle is fouled and goes to the line, taking only one free throw instead of the almost certain two points and one that would have come if Simmons had been fouled.

A collective moan echoes through the Wells Fargo Center. Sixers’ center Joel Embiid lowers his shoulders in frustration. The moment becomes an instant meme. The Sixers lose momentum and ultimately the game and the series. Simmons becomes a persona non grata in Philadelphia. His name is now directly on the trading block. There are reports that he won’t play for the Boomers in the Olympics.

The moment provides a snapshot of Simmons’ four year run in Philly where his failure to develop his offensive play and lack of chemistry on the court with teammate Embiid have been a constant source of frustration for fans and led to constant speculation that one the two ‘trial’ stars have to get away. After the meltdown on Monday, the calls for the dispatch of Simmons have reached fever. The problem for the Sixers is that from his chaotic performance on this series, his value may have fallen so far that they will find it difficult to make a decent return.

After the game it got ugly. Embiid tossed his teammate under the bus and found that Simmons had given up the open dunk the moment the game was lost, despite having made eight turnovers himself – to be fair, Embiid was playing on a partially torn meniscus. Coach Doc Rivers, who had defended Simmons all season, joined in, saying he didn’t know if Simmons had what it takes to be point guard on a championship team. Experts like Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley and Magic Johnson piled up, all stressing the fact that the Sixers are paralyzed because they have a star with a $ 217 million contract who is out of the game due to his lack of shooting skills Can play crunch time. O’Neal even went so far as to say that if he were Simmons’ teammate he would have “knocked out his butt”.

Yes, it could be called a rough week for Australia’s biggest basketball star.

I interviewed Simmons for a cover story in Philadelphia in 2018 and have followed his career closely ever since. As a fan, Simmons’ mental breakdown and the subsequent media and internet gathering was brutal. But I have to say I share the frustrations. Simmons is the kind of enigmatic star who teases you with glimpses of his otherworldly talent in one game, only to vanish completely the next. It’s annoying, which only makes Simmons’ cool demeanor and disapproval of criticism worse.

When we showed Simmons on our cover from May 2018, he was very popular. As the next LeBron touted James, his rookie stats were gaudy – 16, 8, and 8. The problem is, Simmons has been offensive since then. That season, he logged 14, 7, and 7. To his credit, he has made himself an elite defender, joining the All-NBA Defensive First Team for the second year in a row, and second this year to Utah’s Rudy Gobert took place in the choice of Defensive Player of the Year.

I have a theory that Simmons deliberately worked on this side of his game to divert attention from his offensive stagnation. He remains an electrifying force in flux, with an amazing court vision that enables him to find teammates for open looks. It works well enough in the regular season, but in play-off time when the game slows down to a half-field chess game decided by “knights” like Devin Booker, Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant who take their own shot can create, Simmons becomes a burden, giving up the ball like a hot potato and lurking aimlessly in the spot of the dark. It forces Embiid to come off the post and play an open game if he should dominate on the block. It basically means the Sixers are a man on the offensive.

Simmons’ refusal to take outside shots was now compounded by his refusal to go into the basket for fear of being fouled. First the Wizards and then the Hawks employed a successful “hack-a-Simmons” strategy that took him to a record low of 34 percent in this year’s play-offs – even worse than Shaq!

Theories about Simmons’ struggles are online all over the place right now, and I’ve developed a few myself. Back when Simmons headed our cover, everyone expected his offensive play to develop, assuming he eventually started shooting threesomes. At the time, Simmons told me he was working on his jump shot and if it got better, watch out. “The thing about the shooting is that once I get it where I want it, nobody can stop me,” he said. And so we waited. Every year during the off-season, Simmons posted videos filming from the outside in training, which raised the hopes of Sixers fans only to be dashed once the season started and he was stuck. Teammates talked about how he shot the ball free in practice, hoping it would start shooting in games, but it never happened. Instead, it may have created a dichotomy between exercise and play that has become a gaping mental chasm that Simmons cannot cross.

That’s when he actually does the work. Simmons’ lack of progress on the offensive has led many to speculate (and point to his Instagram account as evidence) that he cares more about his flashy cars, dogs, and game than going to the gym and busting his Repair sweater.

ESPN’s Stephen A Smith said this week he received a text message through Simmons from someone close to the Philadelphia situation:Quote, he doesn’t work, he doesn’t listen, and everyone around him is a family and he is becoming babies all the time. “

Smith then added on SportsCenter: “They asked him for four years to improve his jump shot. He ignored coaches, he ignored assistant coaches, he ignored teammates, he ignored his agent, he ignored family members because he loved being in LA, in South Beach likes to say he went to the gym to play instead of the gym to go to work on my game. And it came back to bite him – because the only thing you can say about Ben Simmons is that he can’t shoot. “

Who knows if that’s true, but it seems likely that it was always a little too easy for Simmons. He grew up a supernaturally gifted player with absurd abilities for someone six feet tall and is the best player on any team he has ever played on. He never really had to fight, which resulted in complacency about his game and possibly a shaky work ethic. Compare him to Hawks’ point guard Trae Young, who is similarly gifted but only 6’1 inches tall. Young was told he was too small since he was a child. He had to fight every step of the way. As a result, as he showed first against the Knicks, then against the Sixers and now in Game 1 of the European Championship final against the Bucks, he is an ice-cold killer on the pitch.

Sometimes Simmons seemed a little too pleased with his game. During our interview he was defensive about his shooting and cited his stats as evidence that his game was in good shape. He seemed to be saying there was no need for improvement. “I don’t worry that much because my average is 17, 8 and 8,” he said at the time. “Boys haven’t done this in their entire careers, so if I do that in 50 games I think I’ll play well.”

But while the mental side of Simmons’ game seems to be in free fall at the moment, it’s possible that the ultimate source of his struggles lies in a mechanical problem that has evolved into a psychological problem over time. One theory popularized by The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor is that Simmons shoots with the wrong hand. The statistics prove it: Simmons dropped the ball 67 shots with his right hand this postseason, compared to just nine shots with his left hand. That rate coincides with his career rate using his right hand, which dates back to his time at LSU, writes O’Connor.

Simmons told The New York Daily News in 2016 that his father encouraged him to photograph left-handed as an adult. “I think I should be right. But now everything is natural ”. I asked Simmons about it right away. He scoffed, then sighed in annoyance as if I’d asked him if the world was flat. “People like to make up shit,” he said. “Maybe I’m writing with the wrong hand?” There are reports that the Sixers are finally trying to address this and get Simmons to shoot with his right hand. They can do that too, because it can hardly get worse.

It is also reported there that he will use the off-season to work on “skill development” instead of representing the Boomers at the Olympics. It reminded me of what Simmons told me in 2018 when I asked him about his goals. He replied that you should win a championship, win a gold medal in the Olympics and be “the greatest player of all time”. “You have to set the bar high,” he said. Back then, those goals seemed lofty; today, they seem like pipe dreams.

The problem is, when it comes to his offensive play, I think Simmons may have set the bar too high. So high that he was afraid he would fail. Whatever your sport, once that particular seed takes root in your head, you are in mental quicksand. Simmons fired a total of four shots in Game 7 against the Hawks. You have to shoot to score. You have to take risks to progress and sometimes you have to fail to build the chip on your shoulder and the mental resilience you need to succeed. Now that he has failed on the biggest stage of all, we hope that Simmons is finally ready to overcome his physical and mental blockages. He may be in a bad position right now, but the chances are that after falling this deep, Simmons is right where he needs to be: a player with nothing to lose.

source https://livehealthynews.com/whats-behind-ben-simmons-epic-playoff-meltdown/

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dailyhealthynews · 3 years

Text

What’s behind ben Simmons epic playoff meltdown?

It’s a defining moment in a close Game 7, but instead of throwing it off, Simmons fits in with teammate Matisse Thybulle in traffic.

Thybulle is fouled and goes to the line, taking only one free throw instead of the almost certain two points and one that would have come if Simmons had been fouled.

Yes, it could be called a rough week for Australia’s biggest basketball star.

source https://dailyhealthynews.ca/whats-behind-ben-simmons-epic-playoff-meltdown/

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newstfionline · 7 years

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School Officer: A Job With Many Roles and One Big Responsibility

By Stephanie Saul, Timothy Williams And Anemona Hartocollis, NY Times, March 4, 2018

Maple syrup gumming up the gun belt isn’t normally a hazard of police work. But it is a common problem for Cpl. Pamela Revels when students have been eating pancakes at the school breakfast.

“Kids like to come up and give you a little bit of a hug,” Corporal Revels said. “They don’t wipe their hands that well.”

Ms. Revels freely dispenses hugs and smiles at the schools where she works around Auburn, Ala. But she is also a sheriff’s deputy who wears a sidearm and a bulletproof vest, drives an official S.U.V. and has an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle stored nearby.

On Thursday afternoon, when a report came in about a man in camouflage carrying a gun near school, she sprang into action. As worried students and teachers locked themselves in classrooms and closets, she bolted outdoors, hurriedly walked around the sprawling campus and scanned the nearby woods until she was satisfied that it was safe for everyone to emerge.

“I can turn into a mama bear really quick,” she said. “And I’ve made that decision that nobody is going to hurt my babies if I can help it.”

For millions of students, the first adult they see every day at school is not a teacher, or principal. It is a “school resource officer” like Corporal Revels, an often-overlooked role in law enforcement that is under the national glare like never before.

Their duties range from perking up sullen students to directing bus traffic to settling disputes to keeping an eye out for threats. It is that responsibility as the first line of defense that is getting the most attention, as questions swirl over whether the school resource officer at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., failed to do his job when he remained outside the school on Feb. 14 while a former student, Nikolas Cruz, shot 17 people to death inside.

The position, with its genial-sounding name, is an unusual hybrid of counselor, educator and cop, and perhaps no other job better personifies America’s shifting ideas about schools, policing and safety.

Their numbers exploded during the community-oriented policing wave of the 1990s and even more after the Columbine High School shooting in 1999.

As the memory of that shooting faded and local budgets tightened, their ranks thinned in many places. Now there are calls for installing more of them in schools across the country, with new positions announced in a number of districts just this past week, even as the president wants to arm more teachers.

In interviews, school officers around the country spoke of performing multiple adult roles, having to alternate between nurturing and authoritative, with a guiding philosophy known in the field as “the triad”--counselor, teacher, law enforcement officer.

“They have to be a mentor--a kind, caring, trusting adult, the nice police officer who will give you a high-five and ask you how your day is going,” said John McDonald, the security chief for the Jefferson County, Colo., school district, which includes Columbine High. “And very quickly they have to become a tactical cop. That switch is not for everybody. The ability to do that is very difficult.”

Mostly, though, their job is to keep order on campus and among adolescents whose fuses are not yet fully grown. Officer Kingzett, 38, was in the cafeteria of a Fargo middle school last week when a fight broke out between a girl and a boy. It started with name-calling, but Officer Kingzett could sense it escalating. As the bell rang and students streamed to their classes, she pulled aside the antagonists and just let them vent, using the listening skills she had learned as a negotiator on the police department’s SWAT team.

Crisis over. “It was one of those small victories you could tuck into your back pocket,” she said.

Nationally, there are no specific training requirements for the job, although the National Association of School Resource Officers recommends that officers complete a 40-hour course that includes emergency plans for schools, de-escalation techniques and academic work, including studying the adolescent brain. Since most officers are members of their local forces, they also receive the same shooting training their colleagues do.

Every school in New York City has at least one school safety officer, who are employed by the New York Police Department and can make arrests, but are unarmed. The department also assigns armed officers to certain schools.

The most recent calculations of the number of school resource officers, from 2013, showed that about 30 percent of schools had one, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. In 1975, just 1 percent had.

In some cases, it is not an easy job to fill, according to Mr. McDonald of Jefferson County. “Most cops don’t get into law enforcement to be in school,” he said. “They want to be on the street catching bad guys.”

That problem has helped feed a stereotype that school officers are not the cream of their departments.

Mac Hardy, director of operations for the national organization, said bad school resource officers fall into three categories--“hostages,” those who are ordered to work in schools; “retirees,” older officers who are nursing their pensions; and “vacationers” who like having school holidays off, though many work as regular patrol officers during the summer.

“You’ve been on the job 20 years and we’ve got to park you someplace. We’re going to put you in a school,” Mr. McDonald said, describing the attitude he said some departments have. “That’s much less of an effective model. We want go-getters.”

As the first line of defense, school resource officers are often hailed as heroes when school incidents are defused, or, as in the case of Deputy Peterson, criticized for failing to avert disaster. Mr. Peterson, who resigned from the department, has disputed accusations that he did not fulfill his job, saying through his lawyer that he believed the shots were coming from outdoors and so he waited for the gunman there.

One of the heroes was Deputy Carolyn Gudger, who faced off an armed school intruder in 2010, becoming the toast of her eastern Tennessee community, which named her grand marshal of the Food City 250 Nascar race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The man had arrived at the school and asked to meet with the principal, then drew a semiautomatic handgun. Deputy Gudger pushed the principal out of harm’s way, drew her gun and held the intruder at bay, negotiating with him for 10 minutes even as he still had his gun drawn.

Other officers arrived and killed him when he refused to drop the weapon. Officer Gudger said she heard criticism that she should have shot the man right away. “I can’t give you a concrete answer on that,” she said last week. “It just wasn’t the time to do it.”

Asked whether she had ever averted an attack, Corporal Revels, the Alabama officer, said that several years ago, she began monitoring a student who had a habit of pushing, kicking and bullying other students. “I went deeper and found writings and drawings that were concerning,” she said, and saw to it that the student began mental health treatment.

On the day of the lockdown--it was unclear if the gun-toting man was real, or perhaps a wandering hunter--Corporal Revels also helped a kindergartner who had dropped his breakfast get new helpings of sausage and apple juice; saw a teenager storm out of Spanish class, talked with him briefly, and had him back in class in five minutes; complimented students on their choice of pajamas for the school’s Pajama Day; and then drove home to her farm an hour away, where she would respond to three phone calls regarding bullying or other misbehavior at school.

Takaya Dupree, a 12th-grader, said Corporal Revels knew almost every student well, since she had been around the school for years. “So I feel like she’ll protect us,” Takaya said.

Even if a gunman burst into the school?

“It wouldn’t get to that point,” she said. “She’ll probably talk him out of it, before he came to the school.”

#school resource officer #school shootings #Pamela Revels

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womenofcolor15 · 4 years

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Tory Lanez Foolery – Dedicates ‘Daystar’ Album To Mother After Catching Backlash For His F***Boi Ways + Meg Links Up With Mary J. Blige

Tory Lanez reached a new level of “f*** boi” when he released his new album, Daystar, that features lyrics of him telling his side of the shooting scandal involving his former friend/rapper Megan Thee Stallion. Get into his foolery – including his album dedication - Meg's response, her link up with Mary J. Blige and more inside…

Just when you thought the peak level of f***boi-ism had been reached…in comes Tory Lanez.

As you know, Megan Thee Stallion confirmed her former friend Tory Lanez (real name Daystar Peterson) was the person who shot her in both feet during an argument on July 12th in Los Angeles. The “Say It” rapper was arrested for a felony count of carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle.

View this post on Instagram

real friends @theestallion @winnieharlow @corona beer for getting me lit like this lmaooo ...

A post shared by LONE $TONE FARGO (@torylanez) on Apr 1, 2020 at 4:55pm PDT

Over the last two months, the Canadian rapper/singer remained mum about the shooting scandal. Now, he’s talking. Well, kinda.

Last week, Tory broke his silence on social media with a tweet announcing he would address the shooting allegations made against him.

To my fans ... I’m sorry for my silence .... but respectfully .. I got time today ...... 9 PM PST .

— Tory Lanez (@torylanez) September 24, 2020

“To my fans … I’m sorry for my silence …. but respectfully .. I got time today …… 9 p.m. PST,” he tweeted.

In another tweet he wrote:

There is a time to stay silent . And a time to speak ..... I said all I could say on this ... ALL PLATFORMS ... ..... #DAYSTAR ... I’ll be back to y’all soon .... respectfully .... pic.twitter.com/rC7oAotwfR

— Tory Lanez (@torylanez) September 25, 2020

”There is a time to stay silent . And a time to speak ..... I said all I could say on this ... ALL PLATFORMS ... ..... #DAYSTAR ... I’ll be back to y’all soon .... respectfully ....," he continued.

On the album, he said he didn’t shoot the SUGA rapper and that her people are trying to frame him.

“Megan people trying to frame me for a shooting / But them boys ain’t clean enough / I see how they teaming up, watching / And I’m calculating / Gotta keep it quiet, I can’t jeopardize the outcome waiting,” he rapped.

He also said, “Girl, you had the nerve to write that statement on that affidavit / Knowing I ain’t do it but I’m coming at my truest.”

On another track, he talked about being in a romantic relationship, seemingly with Megan, and said he’s still not over her.

“Don’t forget you was my b*tch / I held it down and kept it real / I would never paint no fake picture of you just for some mills / And I thought you was solid too, but look at how you doin’ me / People trying to ruin me / And what’s even worse is I’m still thinking about you and me,” he rapped.

Tory also popped back at artists Kehlani, Kaash Paige, JoJo, and NBA baller J.R. Smith, who spoke out about the shooting.

After releasing this foolishness, he then dedicated the album to his late mother:

View this post on Instagram

9/25 my mothers birthday , the day she passed away , the day the album dropped #daystar

A post shared by LONE $TONE FARGO (@torylanez) on Sep 27, 2020 at 11:33am PDT

"9/25 my mothers birthday , the day she passed away , the day the album dropped #daystar," he wrote. Oh.

After Tory released his project, Meg – who recently covered TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People cover – posted up what appears to be a response while promoting her new denim line with Fashion Nova:

View this post on Instagram

Nothing REAL can be threatened oh yeah and remember when I said I was collaborating with @fashionnova to make jeans for tall women These are the first samples coming soon

A post shared by Hot Girl Meg (@theestallion) on Sep 26, 2020 at 1:46pm PDT

The Houston Hottie also shared some bomb pictures of herself wearing “F U C K Y O U” rings:

View this post on Instagram

Mood

A post shared by Hot Girl Meg (@theestallion) on Sep 27, 2020 at 12:55pm PDT

Oh, and she also has a new song featuring Young Thug titled, “Don’t Stop” set to drop:

View this post on Instagram

“DONT STOP” 10/2 @thuggerthugger1 PRE SAVE IT NOW HOTTIES link in bio

A post shared by Hot Girl Meg (@theestallion) on Sep 28, 2020 at 12:00pm PDT

A Tory Lanez diss, perhaps? Possibly.

Last night…

View this post on Instagram

Mary and Megan with thee good knees @therealmaryjblige

A post shared by Hot Girl Meg (@theestallion) on Sep 27, 2020 at 7:30pm PDT

Meg and her “good knees” linked up with “Power II” star Mary J. Blige.

View this post on Instagram

You kno how I’m coming bitch stop playin

A post shared by Hot Girl Meg (@theestallion) on Sep 27, 2020 at 6:14pm PDT

Looking GOODT, Meg!

Also...

youtube

After Tory dropped his new album, Rick Ross called him out for using Breonna Taylor's name in vain. Peep the clip above. Then, Tory responded:

I respect u 2 much as a black man to disrespect you in these times,however I went out and marched 9 DAYS STRAIT for Breonna Taylor ..IN YOUR CITY ...I didn’t see the “boss” out there once ?...also stop tagging your endorsements in post about her . It’s a poor decision @RickRoss

— Tory Lanez (@torylanez) September 25, 2020

Rozay caught wind of Tory's tweet and responded:

youtube

Tory has all the energy for all the wrong things it seems.

View this post on Instagram

#MeganTheeStallion will make her #SNL debut on October 3rd! The 46th season premiere will be hosted by #ChrisRock. Sounds lit!

A post shared by TheYBF (@theybf_daily) on Sep 24, 2020 at 11:49am PDT

By the way, Meg will perform on "SNL" this Saturday! Tory's timing is transparent as ever.

Photo: Michael A Walker Jr/Shutterstock.com

[Read More ...] source http://theybf.com/2020/09/28/tory-lanez-foolery-%E2%80%93-dedicates-%E2%80%98daystar%E2%80%99-album-to-mother-after-catching-backlash-for-his-

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Fargo Season 4 Episode 1 Review: Welcome to the Alternate Economy

https://ift.tt/2S4F6Bf

This Fargo review contains spoilers.

Fargo Season 4 Episode 1

It’s been a long wait for Fargo’s fourth season. Noah Hawley’s improbably good Coen Brothers adaptation arrived on the scene as an idiosyncratic, darkly funny crime story, but in its third season, its Midwest charm and stylish execution couldn’t quite hide the fact that the story was lacking and the schtick was wearing thin. Hawley decided to go back to the drawing board for Season 4, then was forced to delay his return to the anthology series a bit longer due to coronavirus shutting down production. Thankfully, the FX series is back with a new approach, in a new setting, but will the many interesting threads in this new installment coalesce into something worthwhile?

A nearly 25-minute prologue kicks off “Welcome to the Alternate Economy,” simultaneously setting the stage for the 1950 Kansas City gang war between the Fadda Family and Canon Limited and introducing us to this season’s true innocent, Ethelrida Smutny. Ethelrida is an upstanding student and clearly a precocious teen, but that also makes her a target as a black girl in segregated America. Taking cues from Frances McDormand’s role in the original Fargo film, each season of the series always features a morally sound centrical character, but so far, all of those characters have been police officers.

It’s quite the change to have our voice of reason coming from a marginalized character who struggles to have a voice in her own home versus an authoritative lawman. I’m hoping Ethelrida will be given the chance to anchor the story in the way that the Solversons and Gloria Burgle did in the past. It looks like her family is getting into some dangerous waters, borrowing money from the Cannon Limited gang, so we’ll see if Ethelrida can keep her strength of character after drifting into the orbit of some unsavory characters.

In a history report, Ethelrida introduces us to the main concepts and conflict of the season. In the pursuit of the American Dream and equality, several groups considered to be “Others” in the United States fight and kill each other over whatever power that they can grab. A great microcosm of the entire saga can be found in Rabbi Milligan’s story. The youngest son of the Irish Milligan Concern, Rabbi earned his nickname after his father sent him to live with the rival Moskowitz crime family. The families believed that exchanging sons would help them keep the peace, but the Milligan’s taught their boy well, and he helps them infiltrate the Moskowitz compound and wipe them out.

Fargo Season 4 Review (Spoiler-Free)

By Nick Harley

Fargo Season 4: A History of Kansas City Gangsters

By Tony Sokol

When the Fadda Family become the next immigrants on the block, the Milligan’s offer teenage Rabbi up again in a similar agreement, but this time, the teenager grows jaded about his ruthless family’s willingness to just use him as a sacrifice, and he helps the Fadda Family gain the upperhand. Family head Donatello even goes as far as having Rabbi kill his own father. In the Milligan patriarch’s dying breath, he puts a curse on the Fadda’s and their children, which certainly bodes well for the season, doesn’t it? It’s a brutal origin story for Ben Whishaw’s character and instantly makes him a character to watch.

Now years later, Loy Cannon follows tradition and sends his young son across the aisle to live with the Faddas and vice versa. The leaders of the two organizations are somewhat cordial, but it’s obvious that there’s a lack of respect on both sides despite the African Americans and the Italians being “in the gutter together.” Donatello’s son Justo seems to be the most oblivious to the similarities between the two groups, and just as his father is trying to impart that wisdom on his hot-headed son, a classic Fargo mishap changes the power structure of the Fadda Family forever.

Donatello’s “shooting” is a great sequence. Hawley creates tension by misdirecting you to believe that some black young men passing by pose a threat to the Faddas. He then cuts the tension with Donatello passing some extreme gas, and just when it seems like the coast is clear, a botched BB gun shot pierces Donatello’s neck and sends blood spurting everywhere. The Fadda’s try to get their boss admitted to a nearby, reputable hospital, but a snooty doctor turns them away for being Italian. When they finally get Donatello checked in elsewhere, Justo discriminates against an Asian doctor, not realizing the irony.

The Faddas aren’t the only ones discriminated against. Loy and his righthand man, Doctor Senator, take their ingenious idea for the credit card to Kansas City’s most prestigious bank. Clearly they have a million dollar idea, and Doctor Senator establishes his bonafides by mentioning his degree in Economics from Howard, but the old man sitting across from them immediately dismisses his accomplishments by saying “the Negro school.” He then tells the men that their idea is illogical. It’s a shortsighted observation made with little thought primarily because it’s coming from Loy.

Meanwhile, at the hospital with his father, Justo comes across nurse Oretta Mayflower. Mayflower makes quite the introduction earlier in the episode at the Smutny funeral home, delivering casually racist and offensive observations with a five-point vocabulary while also appearing to ingest drugs. Later, her drug habit is confirmed when she does some lines with Justo. That evening, she heads into Donatello’s room and creepily injects him with a mysterious substance that kills him. It doesn’t appear that Mayflower has any motive for the killing, but it’s obvious this isn’t her first time doing something like this. A Fargo season can’t go by without a malevolent, pure evil character, and with her Minnesota accent and cheery demeanor, Mayflower appears to be that presence.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

This is a jam-packed premiere episode that has pacing problems. The crisp, deftly edited intro makes the rest of the runtime lag a bit. Fargo’s signature three-panel split screen appears, but it doesn’t really serve any purpose or demonstrate any real style. I also have concerns about their being too many characters. Key figures like Satchel Cannon, Zero Fadda, and Loy’s wife Buel could hypothetically anchor this season, but they already appear to be being pushed to the margins. I’m glad Fargo has returned, but I sure hope it stays focused.

The post Fargo Season 4 Episode 1 Review: Welcome to the Alternate Economy appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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alexcaldownapier · 4 years

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Week 1 - Film Narrative 1

My first introduction to the course has already got me thinking.

We were told about one project we will complete this trimester - a single shot tableau. I watched the examples given with interest. The scene from Buffalo ‘66 (1998) stuck in my head. It shows a moment of connection between two people and the shot shows both of them equally.

While the male character (I haven’t seen the full film) performs a monologue, the camera offers him no extra importance. Had Vincent Gallo chosen to cut to different angles I feel the scene would lose meaning. If the focus was on the man talking or the woman listening, then we lose the connection between the two. Keeping them together in the frame mirrors the purpose of the scene, a coming together of two individuals.

In watching this scene it made me think of how I choose to shoot scenes and how much of it is superfluous. A single shot like this allows the actors room to give an uninterrupted performance and the longer the shot goes on the more we are drawn into the characters and the story.

I am currently watching the third season of Fargo on Netflix. After seeing this scene from Buffalo ‘66, I watched an episode and I found myself paying a lot of attention to each individual shot. One moment of a woman (who has mercenaries on her tail) walking down a hallway and getting some ice from a freezer chest had three separate shots.

I don’t think they added anything more than the first angle. The audience also know that the woman may be attacked at any moment so holding on one shot would ramp up the tension and cause us to search the frame for any threat.

As each camera set up takes up a lot of time, I think I should be more economic with shot choices. Each shot must focus on the purpose of the scene. If the crew have time, getting extra shots would be helpful in the edit, however they must be true to the emotion of the moment.

#filmnarrative1

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viraljournalist · 5 years

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76ers coach Brett Brown wants Ben Simmons taking one 3 a game

New Post has been published on https://viraljournalist.com/76ers-coach-brett-brown-wants-ben-simmons-taking-one-3-a-game/

76ers coach Brett Brown wants Ben Simmons taking one 3 a game

11:22 PM ET

Tim BontempsESPN

PHILADELPHIA — What would Brett Brown like for Christmas? One 3-point shot per game from his All-Star point guard.

After his Philadelphia 76ers routed the hapless Cleveland Cavaliers 141-94 at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night, Brown was asked about Ben Simmons taking — and making — his second 3-pointer of both the season and his career.

And, in response, Brown said he’d like to see Simmons take at least one of them a game — every game — moving forward.

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“This is what I want,” Brown said, ”and you can pass it along to his agent, his family and friends. I want a 3-point shot a game, minimum. The pull-up 2s … I’m fine with whatever is open. But I’m interested in the 3-point shot. The mentality that he has where he’s turning corners and taking that long step, that gather step, and bringing his shoulders to the rim and trying to dunk or finish tight, will equal higher efficiency, or getting fouled. That’s the world that interests me the most. Those two things.”

When Simmons made his second career 3-pointer in the second quarter, the game was already well out of reach, with the Sixers going up by 40 points in the first half and over 50 at times in the second while spending the final 24 minutes on cruise control. Philadelphia’s win, along with Dallas’ 46-point rout of New Orleans earlier Saturday, marked the first time in NBA history two teams won by at least 45 points on the same day, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

But on a night that was spent almost exclusively waiting for the final buzzer to sound, the sight of Simmons cleanly and calmly catching in the corner in front of Cleveland’s bench, rising up and burying a triple was the one meaningful moment to come out of it.

“I’m getting more comfortable,” Simmons said after scoring a career-high 34 points to lead the Sixers, who are now 11-0 at home heading into Sunday’s game here against their Atlantic Division rivals, the Toronto Raptors. “Obviously, throughout time I’m getting more comfortable with the game, and just learning my spots. And just adjusting.”

What hasn’t adjusted is the reaction to Simmons making a 3-pointer from the hometown fans. Like when he made one in the preseason, as well as the one he made against the Knicks, the crowd erupted after he hit it, and fans yelled at him to shoot more 3s during the game.

That Simmons has succeeded as much as he has without a 3-point shot thus far — he won Rookie of the Year in 2018, made an All-Star team last season and signed a max contract extension with Philadelphia this summer — is an indication of his natural talent level.

And while the fan reaction to him making a simple catch-and-shoot corner 3 is over the top, there is no arguing the importance of that shot to a Sixers team that is desperate for any kind of shooting it can get.

“The drama of it is overblown,” Brown said. “The reality [is] that he can shoot and it’s ultimately going to need to come into his game in a pronounced way from an attempt standpoint, that’s not overblown. I think the drama surrounding it is completely overblown. When I put on my coaching hat and I’m looking at a 23-year-old young man trying to grow his game, it’s completely, first, in his wheelhouse. And, secondly, he will be liberated. His world will open up.

“And I think, in many ways, so will ours.”

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nezoid · 7 years

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‘Legion’s Aubrey Plaza On The Sequence That Was Entirely Reworked In The Edit Bay’

Well-known for her signature, deadpan delivery and comedic chops in film (Neon’s upcoming Ingrid Goes West) and television (Parks and Recreation), Aubrey Plaza breaks out of a box in FX’s singular superhero series, in more ways than one. Bringing familiar shadings to the mysterious and pivotal role of Lenny Busker—a demented sensibility and taste for mischief—Plaza nonetheless displays in Legion a tremendous range and dexterity, successfully navigating the complexities of a role and a series that demands attention.

Working on Legion, Plaza was given an “overwhelming” and exciting level of creative freedom, playing a critical role in the various looks her shapeshifting character takes on in Season 1, and collaborating closely with directors and choreographers to nail down sequences that were described loosely on the page. Speaking with Deadline, Plaza gives a window into the idiosyncrasies of Hawley’s process, as well as her own process, in approaching a character that is inherently impenetrable, finding her own way in.

Before Legion came your way, did you ever give much thought to the idea of taking part in a superhero series?

I honestly never thought about it that much. I’m a fan of superhero stuff, and some of it’s really good, but yeah. I think I always had fantasies about playing certain characters in those universes. But I never thought about it beyond that, my own delusions, weird daydreams.

What was the process in getting involved with Legion, and what attracted you to the part of Lenny?

The process was interesting because I did not audition. I met briefly with Noah, and some of the producers and the casting director, after reading the script. I thought the writing was really amazing, and I loved the work that Noah had done before that, on Fargo, so I was drawn to the project really because of him.

The part of Lenny was originally written for an older man, so I didn’t read the script thinking about that role. In our second meeting, when it was just Noah and me, he pitched me the idea of playing Lenny and changing it to a female. That idea had never occurred to me when I read it initially, so I went back and reread it, and tried to imagine what that could be like, and what I could do with that, and that got me really excited. Just the idea that Noah would make a change like that, and trust that I could pull it off.

Many cast members were unaware of the season’s full story arc when they set out. How much did you know about your character’s true nature in early talks?

I would say that I knew a little bit more than anybody else about my character’s trajectory. I knew the place that I would end up, but I didn’t know how I would get there. The episodes in between were a surprise for me, and I had no idea what was coming, episode by episode, but I did know, ultimately, what I would become in the universe of the show.

What do you latch onto when inhabiting a character like Lenny, who is intentionally a mystery for the audience to puzzle over for most of the first season?

I approached it like I would any other role, I think. I don’t approach anything differently depending on the genre, or how crazy it is, or if it’s a villain or not. I just tried to focus on the human aspects of the character.

I had to make a lot of choices for myself, and I was really given a lot of freedom to explore, and to come up with whatever I wanted to do with Lenny. I tried to grasp onto the human parts of Lenny, early on.

Really, I kind of created a journey for my character that is fully focused on David Haller. He is Lenny’s everything, so that was my approach: Who am I to David, and how am I going to get what I need from him?

How much did the look of the character inform your approach?

I, like everybody else in the cast, was operating script by script. Once I started reading scenes with Lenny where she’s appearing to David, and talking to him in a different way, I made a choice that I would change my look up, and Noah let me do that. I made a decision early on that Lenny, the human is very different from Lenny, the hallucination if you want to call it that—at least up front.

The creative team was so involved in all of that. I would go into the hair and makeup trailer on my days off for hours and hours, and do different tests on my own with them—different hair tests, and makeup tests, and wardrobe tests—and they were all game.

They were really excited to come up with these different iterations, and they were fully involved in helping me create the different looks. I think that the physical changes that happened really helped me morph into these other Lennys. They all came together in the end, but it was a team effort.

The greatest part of it all is that our leader was Noah, and Noah has certain things that he’s very particular about, but I felt an overwhelming freedom in the creativity that could happen with coming up with the looks, and all of that. It was a collaboration, and I think that’s what he’s really great at, is handpicking artists in different departments that have something to say, that aren’t just doing another job. It felt like we were shooting a movie, and that’s my favorite kind of work.

In moments where Lenny is at the center of the scene, it’s been interesting to see you go off into different kinds of cinematic language. In one episode, you worked with Hiro Murai—a director known for his music videos—on a music video sequence for Lenny.

The dance sequence in Chapter 6 was written in I think one or two lines. I don’t want to misquote Noah, but it was something along the lines of, “Lenny dances a dance of malevolent joy. She rubs her stink all over David’s memories.” It wasn’t spelled out what exactly that dance would be, or what needed to happen, so I was given the freedom to come up with whatever I wanted to do.

Hiro, like Noah, was really open and just let me run with it. I was told, “These are the sets that you’ll be dancing on, and we’ll just take it step by step.” I created a routine with a choreographer who helped me, and just tried to embody what Noah wrote.

The wardrobe helped, and I kind of created the look for that, too, which I thought was really fun and different. Hiro was a great director for that particular episode, because we got to play in a different genre. It was super trippy.

The other major instance is the black-and-white silent film sequence later in the season, where we get to see more of the jerky, unearthly physicality you bring to the role. Was the process with that sequence similar?

What’s so interesting about that is that that was not in the script—that they were turning that into a black-and-white, silent film sequence. That was done in the edit, so all of that physicality was stuff that I had just decided on in the moment. I had no idea they were going to do that. That was a big surprise for me when I watched it, because when we shot it, I’m actually speaking, and it was written as scenes.

Early on, I had this idea in my head—I think it was maybe Chapter 4, when I jumped into the Mirror Room, and I drag Rachel Keller’s character across the floor. I have these jerky movements that are controlling her, so I just tried to keep that alive. That’s another example—in the script, it says, “Lenny kills The Eye.” But it doesn’t say how; it doesn’t say anything like that.

Those were things that we came up with that day. “I’m going to put a fake gun to my head and pull the trigger, and then you guys snap your heads.” That was all playful stuff that we came up with together. That was again a really fun collaboration with the rest of the cast.

And then they just transformed it into a silent film sequence, which was totally perfect.

Does any of the work you put in this season—between the two sequences we’ve discussed—take you back to your early days, honing your craft as an actor, building characters through playful physical expression?

Totally. It felt very experimental at times, and like performance art. We were forced to go back to that place, where we had to use our imagination and just surrender to the playfulness of it all, because we had no idea what was coming. It was a very weird feeling, to not know exactly what we’re doing, but try to make really bold choices. I think that having an improv background and a theater background is really helpful in those situations, because it’s all about the choices that you’re making, and it’s not the kind of show that you can just show up and say your lines. You have to really work, you have to rehearse. There were some times that we would rehearse and block scenes for an hour, which I’ve never done before, when we’re shooting, because normally you just get in there and you gotta shoot. The emphasis was on that, on the preparation and the rehearsals, which is my favorite way to work, so it was perfect for me.

In certain scenes, you’re trapped inside a box—a certain place where David is able to trap you. What was involved in shooting those bits?

I was in an actual box—I was put in a coffin. It was very claustrophobic, as you can imagine. At that point, Lenny was disintegrating physically, so I had these intense eye contact lenses, so I couldn’t really see. I was basically guided into this dark coffin, because I could barely see anything anyway, and then I was just put in there and told to scream and freak out.

I don’t have a problem being in small spaces, thank god. I wasn’t in there for that long. But it was cool. That’s the thing about this show—there were a lot of practical effects, and a lot of things that we actually did, physically. It was physically demanding, but I think the outcome is always better.

What was the biggest challenge you faced creatively with the first season?

The biggest challenge was tracking Lenny at every moment and making sure that I was playing the right version, and that I had all of those layers and motivations alive at every moment. I didn’t want to lose any of that, and I wanted to really honor the script at all times. I think it’s challenging when you don’t know what the next script is, so you can only hope that you’re going in the right direction, and trust the people that are directing you. I think that was the biggest challenge, is just the unknown. It was scary, but I think things that are scary are usually the best things.

Legion has been renewed for a second season. What has been your takeaway from working on Season 1, and what are your hopes for the future of the series?

I hope that it just continues to get weirder and weirder and that they keep pushing the envelope, and they make something that’s even more insane than the last season. My takeaway is that Noah does not hold back—he has a love for his characters and stories in ways that I haven’t really seen before.

There’s a really special feeling surrounding all of the projects that he’s involved in, and I just hope that that doesn’t go away. It’s hard, when you become successful, to hold onto that feeling and keep it authentic and true. I hope that he’ll do that, and I think he will.

#aubrey plaza #evilhag #interview #article #legion #legion fx #lenny busker #behind the scenes

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toldnews-blog · 5 years

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New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/sports/basketball/on-pro-basketball-joel-embiid-is-having-fun-making-the-sixers-look-unstoppable/

On Pro Basketball: Joel Embiid Is Having Fun, Making the Sixers Look Unstoppable

PHILADELPHIA — The demolition of an eager but thoroughly outmatched Marc Gasol was not completed until Joel Embiid brought out the windmill. That symbolic punctuation to an already decided Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals looked like this:

With 5 minutes 30-some seconds left in the fourth quarter, Embiid caught a pass from Ben Simmons behind the 3-point line, ball-faked an onrushing, lumbering Gasol, took one lane-consuming dribble and threw down a contest-worthy windmill dunk, setting off a celebratory frolic to the far side of the floor.

There went Embiid, arms extended, befitting a young man in full flight. He cupped his ear to an eruptive Wells Fargo Center crowd, à la Allen Iverson, the little giant who once flamboyantly roamed this arena.

“Theatrics,” Embiid would call his last impression of a 33-point, 10-rebound, 5-block virtuoso performance in a 116-95 victory that gave his Philadelphia 76ers a 2-1 series lead over Toronto’s bewildered Raptors on Thursday night.

“I think for everybody that knows me, I need it. When I have fun, my game just changes. I’m always told that if I don’t smile during the game, I’m either having a bad game or I’m not into it.”

Embiid in fanciful fun mode is always the factor that makes the 76ers the most entertaining and intriguing of the remaining conference contenders. He is also the definitive answer to the question of whether a traditional center can still be the dictator of yore in a contemporary N.B.A. ruled by 3-point marksmen of all shapes and sizes.

Of course, Gasol’s hapless late lunge was made necessary because the 7-foot, 250-plus-pound Embiid also happens to possess a soft touch from deep. So what do you do with a guy who makes 3 of 4 from behind the 3-point line, whose footwork and agility are such that he can navigate the paint like a small forward but with the size and power to coerce 13 free throws, of which he made 12?

“Dominant, from the beginning of the game to the end,” said Greg Monroe, Embiid’s 28-year-old backup. “He’s a special player, no doubt about it. When he plays like that, he changes the game.”

In Toronto, in Games 1 and 2, Embiid was more wallflower than man in full bloom, shooting a combined 7 for 25 from the floor, frustrated by the Raptors’ defensive energy, while setting off additional speculation about the condition of his chronically achy knees.

Health has been and may always be an issue for Embiid, a 25-year-old Cameroonian, but his “crown-jewel” talent, as described by his coach, Brett Brown, has never been in doubt.

In a long playoff series, which this still has the potential to be, no game other than a clincher should be weighed too heavily. But it’s clear that Embiid at his best or near-best is an unsolvable problem for the Raptors, who have $45.7 million in 2018-19 payroll invested in the declining Gasol, 34, and Serge Ibaka.

Embiid, meanwhile, was reminding Monroe of Hakeem Olajuwon with his dominance on both ends, including a payback rejection of Pascal Siakam after the Raptors forward’s blatant trip of Embiid earned him a flagrant fourth-quarter foul.

“I mean, the Dream, off the top of my head, the similarities, that would probably be the guy I’d think of,” Monroe said. “The skills, size, plays great at both ends. Step out and shoot the jumper, post moves.”

History is in the eye of the beholder, and no one in the arena has seen more of it than Sonny Hill, an impresario of the Philadelphia basketball scene and a staple in the 76ers’ locker room dating to the 1960s.

Hill spent a good while with Embiid after the game, suggesting he put the night behind him and not assume Game 4 on Sunday will be a mirror image. The great ones, Hill said, all understood the fleeting nature of playoff success.

“What people don’t understand is that he’s still learning to play the game,” Hill said. “On a scale of 10, he’s probably a 6. He’s got another notch or two to go in terms of his development. He’s still learning how to play in the low post. But he has the ability to put the ball on the floor and get a shot. He can stand still and get a shot. He can run the floor. He doesn’t block shots like Wilt and Bill Russell but does intimidate. If we look at this era of basketball, he is the most well-rounded center that we have.”

It was an understatement on a night when Embiid displayed multiple skills and moves: a right-side drive and a no-look over-the-shoulder pass to Jimmy Butler for a layup; a difficult catch of a bounce pass from Butler in the lane before levitating for a score. All of the offensive fireworks were appreciated by Brown, who nonetheless preferred to dwell on Embiid’s interior defense.

He had plenty of help at the offensive end from Butler (22 points) and others, while the Raptors’ Kawhi Leonard was left to wonder what happened to his 58-win team, with the exception of Siakam.

After dropping another 33 points, Leonard is averaging 37 for the series on 60 percent shooting, a Bernard King-mimicking maestro of the midrange. But the minute he went to the bench to start the fourth quarter, the 76ers went on an 11-0 run to blow the game open. He won’t be enough without much more help and unless Gasol vs. Embiid becomes a fairer fight.

Back in the locker room, while waiting on Embiid to go to the interview room in tandem, Butler yelled out: “He windmilled so he can decide when to go. But the second he says some bull, I’ll be out of there — and you know he will.”

Perhaps mindful of Hill’s advice, Embiid was uncharacteristically bland.

“Great player, have a lot of respect for him,” he said of Gasol. “But it’s a team game.”

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amtushinfosolutionspage · 6 years

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The Outlet Pass: The Highs and Lows of Markelle Fultz’s Return

A weekly roundup of observations, questions, and predictions from Michael Pina’s NBA notebook.

1. Markelle Fultz!

I’m not sure if decibels go high enough to measure how loud Wells Fargo Center would’ve been on Monday if Markelle Fultz made his first jump shot. Despite badly missing his initial field-goal attempt outside the paint, the 19-year-old’s second season debut should by all accounts be viewed as a success. (He made a 20-footer with less than two minutes to go, after the game was already decided.)

Fultz was helter-skelter in the healthiest possible way as Philly’s backup point guard and primary decision maker, on units that were clearly designed to put him in a position to succeed. There was always plenty of space; Brett Brown first subbed him into the game in a hockey line change, with J.J. Redick, Joel Embiid, Ersan Ilyasova, and Robert Covington. In Fultz’s second stint, Brown had Dario Saric and Ilyasova in the frontcourt (a duo that hardly ever plays together) while Embiid sat on the bench with four fouls. Marco Belinelli and Covington were also on the floor.

Fultz looked comfortable and moved like half the court was sloped downhill. He attempted the second-most shots on the team and had the fourth-most touches despite not even playing 15 minutes—zero of which were spent beside Ben Simmons (more on that in a second).

We saw his signature spin move, and even after that drive ended poorly at the rim Fultz came right back to exhibit short-term memory on the very next play by finishing strong through contact. He got up to block Jamal Murray’s ambitious dunk attempt from behind and was engaged throughout the game.

It’s hard to criticize too much about the little time Fultz spent on the court, in just his fifth game of the season, and first in 153 days. A million things were probably going through his head. The incalculable pressure and embarrassment. The radio silence that continued even after the night ended, when Fultz refused to answer questions from the media about the mysterious shoulder injury that kept him out as long as it did.

Mistakes were perfectly okay, expected, and accepted. But on a clearout to end the third quarter, we saw a glimpse of what his life might be like if that jumper doesn’t become a reliable weapon.

In a 1-4 formation, Fultz is given the ball in space to try and either score himself or draw help for a quick dump off. Devin Harris gives him a huge cushion before a dribble handoff is executed too late in the play. (The action might’ve been designed to get Belinelli that shot and Fultz’s timing was off, or that was a second option if he couldn’t find initial progress in isolation.)

A lacking jumper will create humongous problems if it’s not resolved at some point over the next few years. This has been known for months, but he and Simmons cannot co-exist if neither can shoot, especially when the team’s best player operates from the block. And if those two can’t be on the court at the same time, it’s unknown how Fultz will find the opportunity he needs to grow. (T.J. McConnell is a factor somewhere in this conversation as well.)

Simmons can duck into the post and make himself useful in subtle ways from the weak side—he’s already one of the game’s best cutters, can screen and attack the offensive glass—but taking the ball out of his hands for even half a stint vandalizes who he is and how he impacts winning. Brown can get funky by playing Simmons at the five, Fultz at the point, and then surrounding the two with any three-man combination of Covington, Saric, Ilyasova, Belinelli, or Redick, but those lineups may get killed on defense.

This is a long-term issue that doesn’t need to be resolved overnight, though. All in all, Fultz moved well, understood where he was supposed to be (he even made a couple smart off-ball switches on the other end), and glowed with the ball in his hands. It’ll be interesting to see when/if Brown plays his two first-overall picks at the same time once Philly is in the playoffs, but until then merely watching Fultz perform as a healthy—from a mental and physical perspective—individual is wonderful news for the NBA, and everyone who loves basketball.

2. Josh Jackson’s Most Identifiable NBA Skill

Josh Jackson’s first season with the Phoenix Suns created more questions than answers. He’s scrappy and aggressive on both ends, but, while existing in a terrible situation, he’s somehow been asked to do too much and not enough at the exact same time.

But what we do know is he’s flashed real promise moving off the ball. Six of the top 12 cutters at forward (measured by field goal percentage over at least 60 possessions) play for either the Golden State Warriors or Cleveland Cavaliers, where the game’s most symphonic system and LeBron James’s brilliance reward players who make even the slightest effort to get open.

Jackson is one of the other six players. According to Synergy Sports, he’s shooting 71.7 percent on cuts. Even in a terrible situation, Jackson does a terrific job taking advantage of defenders who lose track of where he is, thinking he’s stationary and useless. Elfrid Payton has helped here, as has all the attention Devin Booker attracts whenever he puts it on the deck.

This is all neat, but Jackson obviously needs to develop other areas of his game to justify his worth as the fourth pick.

3. Iguodala’s Increased Importance

With Steph Curry possibly out for the entire first round, everyone on the Golden State Warriors will need to do more under harsher conditions. That includes Andre Iguodala, who, at 34 years old, has had a bad season that’s quietly ending on a bright note. With a three-point percentage that’s still below 30, Iguodala is starting to hit outside shots at the right time, while the Warriors are steadily increasing his minutes.

All year most of his shooting numbers have been about the same, whether Curry is on the floor or off, but life is still different. Just look at this pace differential: by a significant margin, Iguodala functions on the fastest team in basketball when Curry is in the game, but when he’s not their pace drops down to 26th.

Iguodala doesn’t get the same easy looks at the basket, in transition or otherwise, either. A higher percentage of his field goal attempts are threes when Curry isn’t on the floor, and even with Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson presumably at 100 percent, lineups that feature Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, and Draymond Green will feel cramped in a half-court setting.

So long as everyone else is healthy, the Warriors should still beat whoever they’re matched up against in the first round, but the battle could be far more arduous if Iguodala reverts back to the shooter he was earlier this season.

Photo by Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

4. LeBron at the Five Might Still be Cleveland’s Ace in the Hole

It’s a configuration we’ve yet to really see this season, but when Larry Nance Jr., Kevin Love, and Tristan Thompson were all injured at the same time earlier this month, Cleveland turned to lineups that featured LeBron James and Jeff Green in the frontcourt quite a bit. Even in a small-sample size, with injuries elsewhere on the roster, the results were basically what you’d expect: Blazing offense and wretched defense.

This year’s pros and cons when Cleveland goes uber-small are just as obvious as they were last season, when the Cavs surrounded James with guards and wings as the team geared up for another Finals showdown against Golden State. This year, dramatically downsizing will force the opposing team to either stash a big on someone like Rodney Hood (not a great tradeoff) or pull all their rim protectors off the floor and let LeBron rampage through the paint at will.

On paper, this roster is better suited to have success when LeBron is at center. The three-point shooters are longer, younger, and more interchangeable. Instead of Richard Jefferson, Iman Shumpert, and Deron Williams, Cleveland has Hood, Cedi Osman, Jordan Clarkson, and George Hill, to go along with holdovers like Kyle Korver and J.R. Smith.

According to CTG, the Cavs have generated 114.3 points per 100 possessions when James isn’t on the court with another big (not including Green) since the trade deadline. That’s absurd offense, and they’ve done it while tossing up bricks above the break.

Beyond LeBron getting by his initial defender whenever he wants, or backing someone down, forcing help, and rifling out a perfect pass to a spot-up shooter, his value as a screener in these units empowers teammates to score on their own.

In the sequence above, Cleveland’s first objective is to get Giannis Antetokounmpo off LeBron. Clarkson and Jose Calderon set screens to force a switch before LeBron swings the ball to Clarkson and then runs over to set a pick. Unable to turn the corner with his left hand, LeBron then flips the screen and lets Clarkson get a step on Eric Bledsoe.

And here he is from earlier in the same game. His roll forces Snell to take the half step away from the strong-side corner that gives Korver an extra second to down a three.

Cleveland’s offensive success within these lineups is translatable to the postseason, where they can flourish at any speed, in the half-court or open floor. Defense is a more intriguing proposition, considering that many of their warts are due to poor effort from their best player.

In the regular season, if Korver gets beat off the dribble and LeBron is on the opposite block, well-positioned to rotate over and contest someone at the rim, instead of risking a foul or exerting the energy it takes to get up and disrupt a dunk while airborne, he’ll concede two points. We’ll see if that still happens in the playoffs when he’s the last line of defense, or even if Cleveland will ever seriously turn to those lineups at all, with Nance Jr., Thompson, and Love back in the fold.

5. Marcus Morris is Suddenly Exactly What the Celtics Need

Speaking as someone whose oxygen tastes 15 percent more fresh whenever the Boston Celtics win, my (completely one-sided) relationship with Marcus Morris has done a 180 this month. Let’s go back to explain. Heading into March, his uncharitable orientation into Brad Stevens very-charitable offensive system capsized entire possessions that could’ve gone a more efficient route.

Morris’s antiquated shot selection made him look like someone intentionally trying to stand out—he was Lisa’s saxophone solo at the beginning of every Simpson’s episode, with terrible on/off numbers and the mindset of a self-absorbed superstar whose priorities were, in order, 1. shoot, 2. shoot, and 3. consider passing to the open man, look him off, then shoot.

But with all the injuries to their primary options (including Morris, who sprained his ankle in Phoenix on Monday night), getting the 28-year-old to function exactly how he views himself is suddenly exactly what the Celtics need. Morris has discovered a rhythm and feel for how to work inside an environment that suddenly needs him to behave without sacrifice.

A third of his shots in March have been catch-and-shoot threes, and he’s made 46.7 percent of them. This is fantastic, but even more important, on a team that can’t generate consistent offense without Kyrie Irving or Marcus Smart handling the ball, is the fact that he’s taking contested long twos—sometimes late in the shot clock—with confidence. Morris is 11-for-26 on mid-range jumpers with a defender between two and four feet away this month.

He’s one of 14 players with at least 25 such attempts, and everybody else on the list is either a superstar or folk hero (i.e. Michael Beasley). Morris is good (in a loose interpretation of that word) at drowning out what just happened, ignoring the scoreboard and the clock, and just firing the ball towards the basket. There’s zero hesitation. He can hit a game-winner, halt an opposing run, or demoralize the defense with a string of backbreakers that waft with unparalleled conviction.

But beyond scoring, Morris has sprinkled some simplicity into his game, the type that makes life easier for everyone else. Here he is bouncing a pocket pass to Aron Baynes, who flips it to opposite corner for an open three.

Morris’s shots won’t fall forever like they have this month, but it’s still good to see him balance responsibilities just enough to make things work as Boston hobbles its way into the postseason.

6. Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond Still Need More Spacing

These two have flashed promising moments together. Both can rip a defensive rebound off the glass and take it up the floor to find the other for a quick bucket on the other end. They don’t waste time with an outlet and understand how critical it is, given their dearth of spacers, to attack as soon as possible. Bad things happen when they don’t go fast.

According to CTG, Detroit’s offense is down near the bottom five when Griffin and Drummond share the floor. (When Griffin is out there with Anthony Tolliver, the Pistons are more efficient than the Rockets.) Here they are trying to attack the third-worst defense in basketball with a 4-5 pick-and-roll.

Sacramento switches the screen, then help and rotate off Detroit’s perimeter shooters. De’Aaron Fox is probably more aggressive than he needs to be—which eventually leads to an open corner three for Stanley Johnson—but there are still valid reasons to worry. Healthy Reggie Jackson will theoretically help next season, but this duo’s early offensive returns haven’t been great, and they’re in desperate need of feared shooting at various positions next season.

7. Derrick Rose’s Pleasantly Surprising Activity

Anyone who’s seen Derrick Rose play basketball over the past five years already knows how he wrecks his team’s spacing on offense. Nobody respects his shot. They ignore him spotting up in the corner or opposite wing, and go under every screen. According to CTG, Rose’s presence has helped disallow prolific three-point shooting for his entire team, a career-long trend that probably won’t ever turn itself around.

This has continued in Minnesota, where, despite a high usage, the 29-year-old has almost exclusively functioned off the ball in three-guard lineups. Rose has only made one three since February 1 and has already turned his ankle. All of that is the bad news.

The good news is he looks committed and physical on defense, was moving well before the injury, and is (so far) finishing at the rim, too. But the most hopeful sign might just be how engaged he is when away from the action, constantly putting pressure with cuts and screens. To take it one step further, Rose has also made some pretty good split-second decisions with the ball when he catches it on the move.

In the play above, instead of standing above the break and waiting for Crawford to hit him on a pass that’d either lead to a missed open three or hideous floater, Rose makes himself useful by darting behind Lou Williams, sucking in help from the corner, and then whipping a smart pass to Karl-Anthony Towns for three.

Highlighting this type of play shows just how different Rose needs to play if he wants to have a positive impact on basketball games. His margin for error is so low, and there’s a relentless energy he needs to exude if he wants to stay on the floor. The old Rose is dead, but that doesn’t mean a completely different version of who he used to be can’t be handy in the right lineups, in limited spurts.

8. Eric Gordon’s Handle is Secretly Clever

Understandably overlooked all year as an integral tool in Houston’s offense, while averaging his most points per game in seven seasons, Eric Gordon is mostly thought of as another Moreyball jamboree: Over half his field goal attempts are threes and nearly a third come at the rim.

He complements James Harden and Chris Paul with smart off-ball movement (Gordon is so good lulling his man to sleep before darting off a screen for a clean catch-and-shoot look), the ability to space the floor, and attack a closeout. He constantly looks to put the ball in the basket, and keeps opponents off balance while they’re trying to stop Houston’s two best players. The result is someone whose usage is actually higher than Paul’s.

There’s a robotic element to Gordon’s game, and even though that’s meant to celebrate what he’s become it also shorts just how imaginative he can be. Especially when they’re small, the Rockets will sometimes run action specifically designed to let Gordon carve up a mismatch. And that means he gets to dribble. A lot.

According to NBA.com, Gordon has the highest effective field goal percentage among all players who’ve attempted at least 90 shots after taking seven dribbles. Just looking at two-point shots, there’s a four percent cushion between Gordon’s league-leading 65.2 percent and number two on the list.

Gordon’s low volume makes those numbers less impressive than, say, Victor Oladipo or Irving, but mixing his outside shot with one of the tighter handles in basketball (then unleashing it in a system that provides an unfair amount of room) is devastating. Still, not too many players can dribble the ball 10 times and then finish at the rim. It’s just another weapon Houston has when possessions bog down and they conduct open-heart surgery on half-court defenses that are too afraid to help off the three-point line.

9. Brandon Jennings and Jason Terry Forever

If you were to travel five months back in time and tell people that the Milwaukee Bucks were steadily deploying Jason Terry and Brandon Jennings as a regular backcourt combination, and that while doing so their season hadn’t already crashed and burned into an epic race to the bottom of the lottery—that instead they were actively jockeying to get the seven seed—nobody would believe you.

It’s a tandem that makes no sense and isn’t sustainable in any way, but thanks to hot three-point shooting and Milwaukee making an outrageous 50 percent of all their shots between four feet and the arc, they’re outscoring opponents by 7.8 points per 100 possessions with these two on the floor. The defense is a predictable nightmare, though. Neither guy can stay in front of his man and both are dreadful whenever involved in a pick-and-roll (whether they’re guarding the ball or the screener).

Malcolm Brogdon and Matthew Dellavedova should hopefully be back in time for the playoffs, but until then let’s all enjoy one of the stranger lineup configurations any team that isn’t complete trash has deployed this season.

10. Get Well Soon, Isaiah

Nothing much to say here except I really hope Isaiah Thomas can get healthy and look like himself at some point over the next 12 months.

The Outlet Pass: The Highs and Lows of Markelle Fultz’s Return syndicated from https://australiahoverboards.wordpress.com

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winterolympicssports2018-blog · 6 years

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Markelle Fultz of Philadelphia 76ers scores 10 in return from 68-game absence

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Markelle Fultz of Philadelphia 76ers scores 10 in return from 68-game absence

PHILADELPHIA — Markelle Fultz, the Philadelphia 76ers‘ rookie guard, returned to action Monday night for the first time since Oct. 23 in a 123-104 win over the Denver Nuggets.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft played 15 minutes as the backup point guard to starter Ben Simmons. He scored 10 points on 5-for-13 shooting from the field, while recording eight assists and grabbing four rebounds. Fultz joined former Washington Bullet Kevin Porter (1980) as the only players in the shot-clock era to record 10 points and 8 assists in under 15 minutes, according to Elias Sports Bureau research.

Fultz checked into the game with less than three minutes remaining in the first quarter to a rousing standing ovation from a sold-out crowd at the Wells Fargo Center. Fans roared in anticipation each time he collected the ball on the ensuing possessions in the period.

“There was a little bit of excitement,” Fultz said about entering the game for the first time. “And a little bit of ‘I have to help the team. I don’t want to let the team down.’ Once I stepped out there on the floor, it felt great to be back out there with my brothers.”

In his inaugural game of 2018, Fultz enjoyed some impressive flourishes and suffered some rough moments. He lost the ball on his first possession down the floor guiding the Sixers’ offense, but followed moments later with a smooth finger-roll layup off the dribble along the right baseline for an easy score at the rim.

Fultz was twice blocked by Nuggets big man Mason Plumlee in the first half as he attempted a couple of midrange jumpers off the dribble, but also orchestrated a choreographed pick-and-roll with Sixers center Joel Embiid, delivering a behind-the-back pass off the action, resulting in free throws for Embiid.

“He gives us another great pace,” Embiid said. “He can find ways to score and also set guys up. You could tell by his eight assists tonight in 14 minutes. That’s big time. That’s what we need him to do — score the ball, get guys involved, and create.”

“I thought they were saying ‘Nick Foles,”’ Markelle Fultz said of the Super Bowl MVP for the champion Eagles, when sharing what his reaction was when he heard 20,000 fans chanting “Fultz! Fultz! Fultz!” “Then I realized it, and it was pretty dope.” AP Photo/Matt Slocum

Fultz appeared more confident during his six-minute stretch in the second half. He unleashed an acrobatic, torquing driving layup off the glass propelled by the right shoulder he’d injured. Moments later, he snatched a feed from teammate Marco Belinelli while diving to the hoop for another basket at the rim.

“I got even more comfortable,” Fultz said of his second-half performance. “The first time, I was just trying to make sure I did what I could do. The second time, I started to get my groove back more and more.”

The Sixers outscored the Nuggets during both of Fultz’s shifts, and he finished his 14 minutes with a plus-16 in the box score.

With the Sixers leading by 20 and just over three minutes remaining in the game, a chant of “We Want Fultz” grew to a deafening pitch. Coach Brett Brown obliged by reinserting the rookie, who took the floor for the final 2:42 to a loud staccato “Fultz. Fultz. Fultz.”

“I thought they were saying ‘Nick Foles,”’ Fultz said of the Super Bowl MVP for the champion Philadelphia Eagles. “Then I realized it, and it was pretty dope. These fans are great, and I love them.”

Fultz avenged Plumlee’s first-half blocks by draining a step-back jumper over the big man in the closing moments of the 76ers’ win.

“Honestly, there were really no expectations,” Embiid said. “My message to him was always about being patient and come back whenever you feel like it. It’s not even about being healthy, but just about being confident and it’s kind of a risk coming back especially when the team is playing well and we have to include him. I thought he did a good job tonight at not forcing anything, set everybody and we played team basketball.”

There had been a degree of intrigue surrounding Fultz’s timetable for recovery, with indefinite information on his return emanating from both the 76ers organization and Fultz’s camp. The shoulder is a notoriously complicated joint, and identifying the specific cause of Fultz’s setback was an elusive exercise. While recovering from a right shoulder problem, Fultz was diagnosed with a scapular imbalance.

“We don’t know where it started, when it started, but it was sometime from the time we saw him in summer league — where everyone saw that he did not have a shoulder problem and there was no indication there was a problem with his shot — to something that very quickly rose to awareness in late September and early October as we started the season,” Sixers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo said prior to Monday’s game. “It literally was just a breakdown of muscle function. I don’t know enough about the injury. It’s very uncommon in basketball. It’s very complicated and complex. That’s why there’s been so much unknown here.

“We’re not sure when it happened or how it happened, but it happened. What we’ve seen is a hard-working young man and a hard-working staff that’s done everything possible to get him ready for this moment, to get him back out on the court and do what he loves to do — play basketball.”

Following the game, Fultz was reticent to address specifics about the cause or nature of the injury. He repeatedly deflected questions, opting for silence on occasions when asked if there was a reason he didn’t want to discuss the injury.

Fultz’s recovery took longer than the Sixers initially expected last fall. As recently as February, Fultz was unable to shoot from beyond 15 feet with sound mechanics or a well-tuned rhythm. But in recent weeks, Fultz intensified his workouts. Sources within the 76ers believed it was increasingly probable that Fultz might be activated as the team moved closer to clinching a playoff berth, which they did on Sunday.

Brown said before the game that Fultz will serve in a backup point guard role to Simmons for the foreseeable future, picking up approximately 14 minutes per game — his output on Monday — though there’s no medical limit on his playing time. Colangelo added that the team would likely seek out additional “garbage time” opportunities. Both Brown and Colangelo were noncommittal on whether Fultz would play a significant role in the playoffs, where the Sixers will compete for the first time since 2012.

In his pregame media conference, Colangelo emphasized that he didn’t anticipate integrating Fultz into the rotation would pose any more disruption to the chemistry of the team, which has won 18 of their last 23 games, than the recent acquisitions of veterans Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova. Colangelo said he expects Fultz to help the 76ers with shot creations in possessions, an area in which they’ve struggled at times this season.

A week prior to last June’s draft, The 76ers traded the No. 3 pick, along with an additional draft pick from either the Sacramento Kings or Los Angeles Lakers to the Boston Celtics in exchange for the No. 1 pick, with which they selected Fultz out of the University of Washington. In NBA Summer League last July, Fultz showed flashes of the dynamic combo guard that enticed the Sixers into trading up, but in 76 minutes of regular-season action in October, he shot only 9-for-27 from the field with a shooting stroke that appeared as unfamiliar as it did awkward.

Fultz wouldn’t play again until Monday night.

“Just look at what he’s been through,” Brown said. “It’s ridiculous what he’s been through. He understands it. I understand it. That’s the scrutiny you get when somebody says, ‘And with the first pick in the 2017 NBA draft, the Philadelphia 76ers select Markelle Fultz.’ That comes with pressures and responsibilities and acknowledgements. It’s just such an atypical way anybody enters pro sports. Knowing what I know and seeing what I’ve seen, and understanding how special that kid is from a human being standpoint, it’s a good day.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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