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wellship · 5 years ago

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Hello hi I just wanted to say I am absolutely here for Leah and Haley being girlfriends... hippie artist and pretty fashion girl??? Match made in heaven. Thank you. My crops are watered.

LISTEN…….. You have hereby given me permission to wall-of-text about why I love this ship so much lmao…

I already started off loving Haley because she’s IMO the best bachelorette in the game. I love not only how she grows as a character (compared to some of the others who can feel stagnant, even though I love them all too) but how her “growth” doesn’t mean that she sacrifices her personality completely.She was the first villager I ever romanced playing SDV because I was curious to see how she would be written and I was so, so pleasantly surprised. It’s so easy and common for characters like Haley to either stay as a shallow caricature of a “mean, girly girl” forever as a punching-bag for the writers’ projections, OR for her to do a complete 180 as if being girly, or interested in fashion, or not academic are bad traits to be “fixed” in order for the character to become likeable - especially since this was essentially a first-person dating sim, which often plays into the fantasy where a mean girl is turned into a totally pacified wifey-type by the (usually male) PC. I was fully expecting and bracing for Haley to go from being a caricature of a “mall brat” Mean Girl to being a caricature of an “I’m not like other girls” Cool Girl (or worse, “I’m so glad I Grew Up and realised all I need in my life is my hubby!”, but I wasn’t quite getting that vibe from SDV).

But that didn’t happen. Major props to CA for creating a character who DID grow and learn to appreciate things outside of her little bubble without feeling the need to abandon/criticise the things she used to like. She learns that shopping/makeup/boys (wink) etc. aren’t the only important things in her life, and she expands her horizons, but those things are still important to her. As someone who’s also interested in fashion and makeup it was refreshing to see those hobbies still portrayed in a positive light as opposed to something she had to “move past”.

So. Anyway. That’s why I love Haley so much and why I particularly like a narrative of her discovering she’s a wlw (thank you Stardew Valley for watering MY crops by giving everyone canon bi~ reads) as it ties in with her growing and maturing as a person.

And so when I looked at the roster of girls in Stardew Valley I felt like Leah was the best one to complement her character in a relationship:

Haley’s biggest obstacle in her life right now is that she’s very sheltered and, as a result, a little spoiled. Her parents are globe-trotting and her older sister has been left to look after her. The age gap between the sisters doesn’t seem to be that big and Emily isn’t very confrontational at the best of times, so I think she just took the path of least resistance, which was to do everything herself rather than argue with Haley who still sees her as a peer and not an authority figure.Leah, conversely, has had to become extremely independent and self-sufficient, very recently. Her narrative plot line about leaving an (if not abusive, then at least implied to be toxic/unhealthy) relationship and a position where she was “comfortable” but unhappy is very fresh and it’s exactly where Haley needs to be. Leah is in a prime position to, basically, give Haley a kick up the rear and tell her to get her act together, but without it coming off as too sanctimonious or parental since Leah is still going through it and learning herself. Two young adults navigating their way through adulthood and pulling each other along rather than one grabbing the other by the hand and “fixing” them.

The flipside of this is that Leah is in her position through choice, which she was privileged to be able to make. She CHOSE to leave behind a life in the big city and a stable career to pursue the aesthetic of living in a little country cabin and making art all day. Haley wants the opposite, but can’t make it happen. Haley would KILL to be able to pack up her life and move to the city to pursue her dreams - Fashion? Photography? Fashion photography? - but she can’t. She’s sheltered because she has everything provided for her in Pelican Town, but that doesn’t translate to having the same opportunities for forward momentum as Leah. Her parents aren’t implied to be very supportive of her dreams, so they’re not going to fund a move for her, and we constantly see that there are limited employment opportunities in Pelican Town unless she wants to work for minimum wage at Joja. So she’s kind of stuck. Narratively, we’re supposed to see Leah’s desire to move from the city to the country as a positive story arc (because it mirrors the player’s) while we’re supposed to see Haley’s desire to move from the country to the city as somehow being shallow or consumerist, and I think Leah herself would fall into the trap of thinking that way, which would be eye-opening for her.When you look at it, their narratives mirror each other. It’s easy to say that Haley is spoiled and out of touch with the “real world”, but Leah is also out of touch with reality in that not everyone can do what she did. I like Leah a lot and I’m not saying her life or her decisions were easy - and she definitely does seem to be genuinely “roughing it” and struggling for money when we meet her in-game - but she still got there by choice and she still does have a safety net of sorts, since it’s implied she could probably get re-hired in whatever lucrative field she worked in before moving. Haley doesn’t have that - her “safety net” of her parents’ house and her sister only works to support her as long as she stays put.I can see this being a really delicious and rewarding narrative point between them as they started to get to know each other, because I think they would probably HATE each other at first, lol. Leah would think Haley was childish and represented everything she disliked about “fake” city living while Haley would think Leah was pretentious and ungrateful.

Also I definitely love that hippie girl/mall girl contrast BUT please consider - Haley is also an artist and I think they’d both “get” each other on that level. Nobody in town considers Haley an artist. Leah is a “real” artist, a fine artist and a sculptor. Elliott is a “real” artist by way of being an author. Emily is a “real” artist for her sewing and… y’know… general aura. Those are defining aspects of their character. But to the other people in town, and even to the player, art is not one of Haley’s notable features. Her photography is just a throwaway idea. She’s the shallow, frilly, pink, bubblegum-scented boy-crazy “girly girl” who just also happens to take photos sometimes.But photography is serious TO HALEY. It’s pretty much the only thing she does around town other than wandering aimlessly. She has some pretty impressive equipment and she even builds a dark room for herself, either implicitly converting it from a walk-in wardrobe (which demonstrates how she sees her own priorities, regardless of how others see her) OR she builds it from scratch, which is even more dedicated. I think Leah is the best person in town to recognise that Haley is also an artist who’s dedicated to her craft and probably the only person to really encourage her to pursue it, to tell her that it’s worthwhile and not just some silly hobby. Leah would be able to see a lot of her own internal struggles over art in Haley, about whether it was “good enough”.

Conversely if there’s one thing Haley has which Leah lacks, it’s confidence. Leah is full of self-doubt about her art, her life choices, etc. whereas Haley’s main issue is apathy; once she finds something she’s actually passionate about, she’s very self-assured. I think once they broke the ice and started to become friends, if Leah expressed even a smidgen of self-doubt Haley would shut it down with very over-the-top but sincere pep talks.

I also just think their personalities contrast well, lol. Haley is extremely blunt but she’s not really trying to be rude, it’s just that the things she say often come from a sheltered perspective (i.e. “appearance is important to me” -> “[my concept of] appearance is important to everyone” -> “I should tell people if they’re doing Appearance wrong”). Leah on the other hand is very casual and polite but also hard to offend. She’s mostly content to let the odd comment roll off her back, but as we’ve seen with Kel, she’s also not afraid to tell people off when they’re being inconsiderate, which is what Haley needs - someone who won’t ditch her for putting her foot in her mouth, like most would/do, but also someone who won’t just enable her to stay sheltered.

Also in the context of this being a wlw ship/narrative, I think Haley would need a partner who was comfortable in their own sexuality since Haley (and her thematic counterpart Alex) are both extremely stuck in compulsive heterosexuality and sort of need a partner who… isn’t? Or else they’d just get sucked into a “will-they-won’t-they” vortex for a million years where neither of them know how to make the first move. Leah is the only bachelor(ette) who by default has any canonical LGBTQ relationship before the farmer, and that energy just translates well for Haley, IMO. I think if Haley found out Leah was a wlw then it would force Haley to reconsider her assumptions about her own sexuality.

Leah would go absolutely googoo gaga over Haley IMO and it’s just fun to picture her at the start of their interactions being like “god dammit she annoys me so much but DAMB .. .. .. girl pretty”

I doubt anyone read all of this but I HAD FUN and I’m really really glad to see such a positive response to that art!! I would love it if more people started shipping and making content for them 👀

#Anonymous #Stardew Valley #long post #text

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humm-plays-fe · 5 years ago

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Some concluding thoughts about NG VW on Maddening, Pt. 2: Battle time

From my previous post, I had a rough plan in place for duoing the game with Byleth and Claude, despite having not beat maddening before even with NG+, let alone without it. I’ll split up how battles went and the strategies I employed into 5 categories: early game, midgame, endgame, paralogues, and troublesome. Chapter breakdowns below the break.

Final Thoughts:

I honestly don’t know if I think this was overall easier or harder than training a standard team. On one hand, it was refreshing to only have to worry mainly about 2 units and once the avoid ball got rolling they were almost invincible. The months between story battles went by quickly because I only needed to focus on training one unit; the others I just left on their default goals. I was able to use most of my points on training Byleth to get onto a pegasus ASAP or cook stat-boosting dishes to help with the early chapters instead of having a bunch of meals.

The problem with this is that that ball doesn’t really pick up speed until chapters 15/16 and the chapters immediately preceding these were some of the roughest in the game to the point that I wasn’t even sure I would be able to beat them. I only got through ch. 6 because I had happened to have recruited Shamir and Cathrine. Sure all the exp got funneled into two units but because it falls off fast once you hit a certain level threshold above the enemy I do feel like that wasted exp could have trained up a third or fourth unit easily.

All that being said even with all the stat boosters I poured into both Claude and Byleth (by the end they both had reasonable def and Byleth had decent res) if they had actually ever gotten hit they still would have died very easily. With the enemy density and maddening’s tendency to have the enemy AI start mobbing and along with the annoying enemy skill sets (swordmasters have QR, wtf) I don’t know that I actually could have found it within myself to keep an entire roster going. So, despite certain hair-pulling scenarios, I almost feel like I cheesed NG maddening. But I did beat it, and I got the title screen, and that’s all that matters to me. And yes, I S-supported Claude at the end.

Feel free to ask me any questions about the run I don’t really have anyone else to talk to about this stuff.

TL;DR for Chapter Breakdowns:

Early Game: a bit of a challenge but fair

Midgame: build is coming together but most of the Troublesome chapters are here and they feel pretty bs when you try and lowman them. Get past those and you’re fine.

Endgame: Easy peasy. AS+ ftw.

Early Game (Prologue + Ch. 1-4)

You would think that the first few chapters would be the most difficult. In a way that’s kinda right. I’m pretty sure these chapters took the most turns out of most of the rest of the story maps.

Prologue wasn’t too difficult, stole Dimitri and Edelgard’s weapons and then used them as meat shields.

Ch. 1: Three Houses - I used whatever I could get here. While I tried to get kills with only Claude or Byleth I definitely used the other students to chip as much as possible or even get a kill or two just to get through the map. I distributed the DLC statboosters before this and Byleth got the movement shoes, which was exceedingly helpful for the entire game.

Ch. 2: Familiar Scenery - this is where the real game starts. The hardest bit of this map is getting through the initial waves of enemies. I brought Lysithea and Marianne for heals and some magic chip if neccessary. Even with healing spells, well, Marianne only has 5 casts atm, so this is where the vulnerary chugging starts. Took a while but not too bad.

Ch. 3: Mutiny in the Mist - I uh, didn’t exactly bother buying torches for this map. Still brought Lysithia (who had heal now) and Marianne (who got physic). I had already accepted the probably inevitability of Cathrine’s squaddies getting bonked (and one did on like turn 2) but after following them across the bottom of the map and then up toward Lonato somehow the other one survived and I got the rewards.

Ch. 4: The Goddess’s Rite of Rebirth - Honestly pretty simple. While this map does have a 25 turn limit the enemies don’t swarm you so I just made my way up the left side with healers in tow and killed the boss. Easy enough. At this point Claude was an archer and thus had better range, but not quite enough speed for Alert Stance to do a whole lot yet.

Midgame (Ch. 6-8, 10, 11)

About the time Alert Stance and Alert Stance+ start to become viable tactics and I don’t need to bring Marianne and Lysithea along to every map. You might notice some skipped chapters. Those get listed as troublesome. At some pont in these I ended up with a Prayer Ring and a Goddess Ring. Both Byleth and Claude had one equipped at basically all times.

Ch. 6: Rumors of a Reaper - I’d list this as troublesome but my failure the first time playing the map was mostly due to me being dumb. I’d forgotten you don’t get your lord this chapter and you have a 25 turn limit to either kill every enemy except the Death Knight (DK) or kill DK. Lemme just say that it is not possible to do either of those things with just Byleth (who was a pegasus knight by this point), at least the way I had played it wasn’t. Lucky me I had both Shamir and Cathrine in my army and because this was the earliest you could get them their stats were enough to take the right side of the map with Lysithea along for heals while Byleth took the right with Marianne for heals. Shamir was well-deserved MVP of this map mostly for sniper range and crits. Took 24 turns to clear.

Ch. 7: Field of the Eagle and Lion - ...I kinda just hung out on the upper edges of enemy ranges on the map and let the other two go at each other? Then once the density decreased a little moving in to start enemy phasing. I’m fairly convinced that as long as you’re the last house standing you win regardless since it definitely didn’t feel like I beat more enemies than the other two. Didn’t really care since I didn’t expect to be using the Blessed Lance that much.

Ch. 8: The Flame in the Darkness - Easy enough. Byleth flew down the right side and Claude took left. Saved all the villagers. Solon actually moves toward DK here so I kinda rushed the end. Ended up with dismounted Byleth in a bush next to Solon waiting and spamming healing while Claude came to bail her out bc she couldn’t one-round Solon.

Ch. 10: Where the Goddess Dwells - More wait spam. Just took a lot of turns thanks to the beasts.

Ch. 11: Throne of Knowledge - Hunter’s Volley’d the Flame Emperor on turn 3 to keep the crest stones safe. The rewards are not worth it, should have killed more stuff for exp.

Endgame (Ch. 15-22)

Yes I skipped a bunch of chapters. Yes there’s a reason for that. At this point builds and class goals are fully achieved and I can basically spam the “Wait” command to win the game. Even with forged training lances and bows. As I got to around this point I stopped exploring as much outside of monthly tea and focused on the extra auxiliary battles for exp and the stat boosters. I’m not gonna chapter-by-chapter break these down because the strat was basically set. Move, wait, repeat until near boss, kill boss. The only exception to this being Grondor 2, where I yet again just let the enemy destroy each other before cleaning up what was left.

Paralogues

These fall into 2 categories: A: Kill boss/perform goal ASAP, or B: slowly kill the entire map while the required but definitely underleveled and useless required units follow you around trying not to die. The approach depends on how easy it is to protect said units. I didn’t complete every paralogue I had access too as I deemed the rewards either not worth the hassle or the map to be basically impossible with my setup.

Rumored Nuptials (Dorothea/Ingrid): Approach B. Byleth was able to zoom over to reinforcement man pretty quickly and then it was a slow slog through the map the scoop up the exp. 66 turns, probably the longest I spent on any map. Got Luin out of it which Byleth could use if I needed some extra oomph.

Land of the Golden Deer (Lorenz): Approach A. Stride + peg knight = turn 1 dead boss. Lysithia get Thrysus and as a result saves my butt later.

Oil and Water (Hanneman & Manuela): Approach B, but with a side of frantic for the first few turns as I raced to take out the enemies nearest Manuela, particularly the peg knights. Not sure the batallions you get are worth doing it but I got exp.

The Forgotten (Sylvain): Approach B after sniping out the speedwing thief. Didn’t care too much about the rest of them. Lance of Ruin goes to Byleth for when nothing else will get the job done.

Tales of the Red Canyon (Sothis): Approach B, except this was mostly Byleth flying around out of the birds’ ranges leaving Claude to basically avo tank solo the entire thing. More Divine Pulse (defo needed) and the knowledge gem which goes to Byleth to have equipped when she doesn’t need the Goddess Ring.

An Ocean View (Seteth and Flayn): Approach B except both Seteth and Flayn are capable of helping out. Seteth has enough stats to not die and Flayn can heal. Spear of Assal gets added to the ever-increasing list of badass weapons Byleth can just whip out of the convoy when needed.

Death Toll (Ignatz and Raphael): Approach A. Takes a few turns to get to get to the boss and a few merchants bit the dust buuut I couldn’t bring myself to care that much.

Sword and Shield of Seiros (Alois and Shamir): Approach A. Hide everyone else in the middle of town and just let Byleth fly over to the boss. Stride helps. Also Lysithia picking off an enemy or two that got too close.

Troublesome (Ch. 5, 9, 12-14)

Welcome to the worst story chapters (imo) to get through while low-manning the game. Divine pulse, divine pulse, divine pulse, restart, divine pulse. Difficult and/or exceedingly annoying either because of additional defeat conditions, green units, or just straight-up enemy mobbing. If you plan on trying to low-man the game keep these chapters in mind because several don’t care how buff your own units are, they will find ways around it.

Ch. 5: Tower of Black Winds - ok this one technically wasn’t so bad I just felt like the strat I ended up using was so dumb it belongs here. Just hang back a little at the start to take care of the reinforcements and you can creep your way forward and snag the treasure chest. About halfway up the right side past the chest and after baiting some of the upper level archers with Claude I noticed that every enemy with a vulnerary decides to charge you. It was here that I gave up on Gilbert and retreated to the only defendable location on the map where I could turtle it out: the chest alcove. Claude took the brunt by Alert Stance avo tanking while dismounted Byleth plinked away with a bow from behind. Problem is I had also brought Marianne and Lysithia, and in order to keep them from getting sniped by archers I had to move them back and forth every other turn or so to get the archers to move either further down the wall to try and get to a position to shoot over it or back toward the slowly decreasing vulnerary mob. It just felt really dumb, ok? Beast Miklan was a piece of cake since he can’t go down the stairs. Claude just out-ranged him.

Ch. 9: The Cause of Sorrow - This chapter wouldn’t have been so bad if I hadn’t felt like I’d gotten screwed over by Jeralt’s AI and RNG. I knew I wasn’t saving all the student but you lose if Jeralt dies (oh the irony) and he kept rushing straight for the other side of the map and getting mobbed by three at once. I basically ended up almost breaking the Blessed Lance this chapter (and I had thought I’d never use the thing, how wrong I was) just to be able to quickly break armor in order for Claude or Lysithia to melt health bars using either Hunter’s Volley or Seraphim (sometimes I’d use Seraphim to armor break and Byleth to melt health). Marianne with Physic kept Jeralt going despite his best efforts.

Ch. 12: To War - Also technically not the worst but even with Claude reaching Edelgard in about 5 turns it was nerve-wracking and frustrating trying to keep the enemy away from the defend tiles. Lysithia, Marianne, and Seteth get to join in to assist in this but they also add the extra layer of making sure they’re out of enemy range come enemy phase. DK’s advance does not help this.

Ch. 13: Reunion at Dawn - screw this chapter pt 1. :) On maddening this map is absolutely filled with snipers and gambit spam. So much so that even dismounting both Claude and Byleth is bushes next to each other didn’t keep them alive. On top of that even if that did work this condemns the rest of the students to death and I wanted to at least keep Lysithia alive. Thankfully, she spawns with the group in the safest corner. I ended up moving my duo north, dealing with the small group of enemies there then moving east across the top of the map. I’d gotten Leonie on a pegasus so she was able to fly up and join the safe corner and follow them along with Lorenz and Ignatz. I don’t think there was any way I was getting Hilda out of that so she got taken out. After joining up with Lysithia’s group I was able to fly over the wall with Claude, take out Pallardo 1, use stride on Byleth and fly to the south side of the map to take out Pallardo 2 on the same turn.

Ch. 14: The Alliance Leader’s Ambitions - screw this chapter pt 2. :)) Ah yes, a defend map with 4 tiles to defend and I have 2.5 trained units. No one really threatens the far right tile after turn 1 so more like 3 tiles but you get the point. If this map were defeat commander the entire time this wouldn’t be a problem, since with the powers of stride and warp I could (and did the first time just to try it) get Claude to the bottom of the map and defeat Randolph on turn 1. When that didn’t work, I took out Marianne and Lysithia and just tried to have Claude aggro as many enemies as possible as far away from the defend point as possible but there was always one paladin or so who slipped past, or the falcon knight reinforcements would just breeze past him. It was also still entirely possible for Claude to get hit at this point despite AS+ and die. I eventually decided I would have to find a way to last long enough to escort the greenie down to the fire trap and trigger the enemy retreat. Byleth was perfectly capable of doing this without issue, the problem was defending the 3 tiles for long enough to get him there. I ended up deploying Lysithia again and thanks the Thrysus, Dark Spikes, and Ashes and Dust I was able to finally defend the tiles long enough to trigger the fire trap and easily beat the map from there. If you can get past this chapter you’re probably fine for the rest of the game.

#fe3h #fire emblem three houses #fe three houses #claude von riegan #byleth eisner #humm plays fe3h

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sireneia-a · 6 years ago

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Top 3 Games!

top three fe things.

3. GENEALOGY OF THE HOLY WAR - Out of every game with a second gen, this is definitely the game where I think it was done best. I understand why people would disagree with me, but I prefer having the second generation separated from the first gen since it gives them equal time to be in the spotlight. Also, it’s really interesting to me to see some characters that exist in both generations like Oifey and Finn.Additionally, I just… keep falling more and more in love with all the characters in this game?! I’ve somehow started getting attached to Naoise and Lester who I did NOT expect — and that’s on top of me already loving Silvia, Lene, and Coirpre to death! I think the story is SUPER strong in the first generation and gives us some of the most intriguing political intrigue in the series. And I haven’t even touched the substitute roster which I find super cool with its inclusion! Or the legendary weapons and holy blood system! The way weapons can get repaired! How you technically aren’t benching anyone! My only real big issue with this game is that uh… it’s pretty hard for me to sit down and play since a chapter takes me SEVERAL hours and I prefer playing a chapter in its entirety. The hidden mechanics also trip me up quite a bit.

2. THRACIA 776 - A thing you have to know about me is that I SUPER love gimmicky things in FE, and I have on multiple occasions broken discord character limit to try and discuss why I love the capture mechanic in FE5 with all my heart!! And why I’m so upset with how it wasn’t brought back properly in FE14!!! FE5 also employs Kaga’s tendency to give character-unique weapons the most out of his FE titles I feel, and as someone who dislikes reclassing because he thinks it makes characters feel less unique, this also makes me love this game so much!! Even if there aren’t supports, every character just feels so special to me! I also have to give a shout-out to Thracia’s writing and how it really explores a lord’s struggle with emotions and consequences born out of them. Everything feels so intimate and small and I really grew to be attached to Leif as a lord character which is AMAZING considering I found him not so interesting in FE4 beforehand.

1. GAIDEN - OK SO THE TRUTH IS that shadows of valentia was ranked number three but… i feel bad making this list be a game at number one and its remake at number three when i can only list three KHFSKSFHKSFKSF but know that’s where SoV falls. Gaiden against all odds remains my favorite title in the series. Continuing my love for gimmicks, this game is the one where I enjoy how weapons work the most! I like the fact you choose between a weapon or an item with better bonuses, how archers operate, how magic requires HP to cast, etc. A lot of this game feels like risk versus reward which I thought was played super well! Not to mention there’s no real unit benching which I super appreciate.

Although this game has some more annoying aspects that got fixed by the remake ( e.g. female units require a higher level to promote, nosferatu’s hitrate is worse, healing doesn’t give exp ), I still overall enjoy it more since the gameplay is still fun for me AND I infinitely like the story writing more of Gaiden than I do in SoV. SoV has stronger nuances, but Alm’s and Celica’s arcs resonated with me so much more in the original and Rudolf was a much better villain in that game imo. That’s not to say that there aren’t good story things that the remake introduced! I think Berkut and Rinea as parallels to Alm and Celica was good as was Fernand’s inclusion. I think the conversation that happens should you fail to save Mathilda is ALSO a thing that the remake has over the original.

Last point of praise and comparison I’m going to make here: Alm and Celica having a 100% crit rate in the final fight is one of my favorite instances of storytelling via game mechanics ever.

#// this isn't surprising at all but hi!!#// i love a lot of the characters in fe6 but i admittedly rank it super low grkhrgkrhkk. Big F #fatedcomrades #✦ | ooc.#✦ | answered asks.#long post ----

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bullet-pointers · 6 years ago

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The application is the first part of the process. Occasionally with the aid of a hopefuls chat, it’s how mods get to know muses and muns before the group is finalized. Both the mods’ design of the app and the muns’ filling out of the app are pretty important to making sure a good roster can be put together with minimal pain.

Not all apps have the same sections to fill out or the same requirements for each section. Sections like Character Name or Backstory are pretty much on every single app, while other sections such as Likes/Dislikes and sometimes even Personality may not always be on there. It’s up to the discretion of the mods.

Mun Info

What Is It?: A section for information on the mun. Generally includes name/handle, pronouns, and triggers, and may also include time zone (for scheduling purposes), blacklist/greylist, and squicks.

Notes

Yeahhh, this section is pretty much necessary for all apps. It would be really awkward to not know who’s actually writing these characters. It’s also useful for lowering the odds of OOC drama.

Different groups treat triggers and squicks differently. Sometimes squicks are avoided in the OOC chat and triggers just need to be tagged, sometimes both need to be tagged in posts, and sometimes both are just lumped together in a masterlist. Obviously it’s important to note however they’re handled if you don’t want to make people unduly uncomfortable or worse.

Some apps may have a slot for blacklisted muns, and some may just figure you would list anything like that in an Other section. Either way, if there’s another mun you don’t get along with for one reason or another, be sure to list them. It may affect your chances of getting in, but it’s not worth getting into a group if you’re going to spend the whole time worrying about that other mun. IMO, having a specific blacklist section makes cross-checking apps easier for the mods.

Core Muse Info

What Is It?: The name, gender, appearance, talent, personality, bio, and central beliefs of the muse. This is what sets muses apart from each other and is the central part of the application. That being said, some parts of this section can still be added or subtracted if deemed appropriate.

Notes

Different mods will be more or less worried about appearances when it comes to app judging. It can be hard to compare across apps due to (completely valid) differences in drawing ability, image quality, only having a written description available, etc. Having a clean, detailed image and/or an appearance that reflects important aspects of the character or just like a really cute DreamSelfy can leave positive impressions, though.

Some mods prefer to limit numbers of muses with aliases or foreign origins on the roster. The same goes for fake talents, but including a lot of those can get a little weird, especially if someone’s fake talent is the same as/similar to someone else’s real talent. In general, you really don’t want duplicate talents, possibly with the exception of Reserve Course, which isn’t acceptable to all RPs, anyway. Some mods also like some kind of gender balance in the final roster, so sometimes you might get a liiiittle better odds by watching the hopefuls list and applying a rarer gender, but this isn’t always true, either. Just make sure the FAQ covers these sorts of things.

The personality section can be of different lengths and detail levels, and some RPs may accept bullet points or require specific personality aspects or details. Sometimes this section is nixed altogether if mods feel the other app questions should give them a good enough impression of the character’s personality, though I wouldn’t recommend this personally. Just be sure to provide the information asked for, and make sure it makes sense in the context of the backstory.

The same pretty much goes for the backstory/private bio. Just make sure it makes sense with the personality, and hopefully at least one of the two is unique enough to generate interest. There’s nothing wrong with plain/normal kinds of OCs, but you wouldn’t expect to see several of these in one roster. Also be sure any mod triggers listed on the blog are tagged in these. If your backstory has triggers for every mod, you might be better off apping that muse somewhere else, where someone can actually read the whole backstory.

Public bios have been popular but are still not on every app. These are pretty much always paragraph form, and different groups ask for different lengths. They can be a pain to come up with sometimes, and they can get pretty sticky in cases of fake talents or ???s, but they can also be helpful for conveying information that other characters could be expected to know and get an impression from before the game starts. If you put this section on an app, just be sure they’re eventually actually public on the blog/in the chat somewhere or they’re pretty much pointless busy work.

Muse Miscellany

What Is It?: A smattering of questions with less complex answers than personality/backstory. There’s definitely no golden standard for these, though questions related to motives and Monomachine items are common. Also includes likes/dislikes, favorite things/words, and who knows what else. Filling out some of these may be optional.

Notes

These usually aren’t as tough as the other parts of the app, but they can still be a pain if the app requires a ton of them. It’s best to keep this part fairly short, though it should still ask for anything the mods foresee being important in that specific game.

Some of these, like strengths/weaknesses and likes/dislikes, can be good for making the mun think a little harder about their muse. This can make poor characterization more obvious, but a lot of the time this isn’t super necessary information.

Monomachine items are in most apps and can be tricky to come up with. They’re good for revealing lore that your muse may not voluntarily bring up, for providing something that might brighten your muse’s no-good very bad day, or just for memeing. A lot of the time, activity at the Monomachine or local equivalent tapers off much more quickly than activity in general, so it may be better to require a smaller number of these so the interesting ones have a chance to be released into the wild.

It’s also good to have questions about common motives or unique motives the mods plan to use in the RP (most important person/item, biggest secret, etc.). It can provide mods with a good idea of what motives might be effective for a good portion of the roster. Especially when muns may be slow to respond OOC, it’s good to have this information already on hand.

On that note, it may be a good idea to ask for smaller details (shoe size, hand size, etc.) that may be relevant for investigations with bloody footprints or things like that. It is very hard to get this information from everyone later if it happens to come up, but sometimes people get a little confused or don’t really know what to put for such specific details on the app, so it’s a mixed bag.

I personally (and I’ve seen it on other apps, too) like to include a question about whether a muse is more likely to be a killer, victim, or survivor and why. If you’re trying to keep the app short, this could be cut, but it’s good to have a balanced roster that isn’t all innocent babies who would never hurt anyone or all seasoned criminals who will probably kill someone before the KG is even announced. It’s also good for when volunteers aren’t forthcoming and you’d rather make sure murders can be IC than just 100% random/fair.

Sometimes this kind of information is to be answered IC, like in an interview. In these cases, you might want to make a note if the character’s answer is truthful or not and why.

Prompts

What Is It?: The bane of muns around the world, it’s a section of questions requiring longer, paragraph answers written in third-person like RP posts. Sometimes applicants are provided an array of prompts and can choose from them, sometimes specific prompts are required, and sometimes this section consists of only one prompt or is absent, though this is rare.

Notes

This section takes a lot of time, but it’s the best indicator of a mun’s writing ability for the purposes of the RP. They can be a huge pain to fill out, and some common prompts may be difficult to write a juicy response to, so it’s best to ask for the absolute minimum. Zero-prompt apps exist and can work out, but I wouldn’t care for that as a mod.

Execution prompts in particular can give muns a lot of pause, and I can personally say I’ve given up on an app that was otherwise finished just because I couldn’t come up with an execution. It may be reasonable to cut this prompt to save a lot of pain; however, it’s really best to have these on hand from the start. They can be very hard to get later, and they’re kind of important to DR games.

MM/traitor prompts should be required for those applying for that position. This kind of question might fit in a different section so it doesn’t have to be written like an RP post, but in general it’s hard to pick out a mastermind if you don’t know the deets of why they would start a killing game. You don’t necessarily have to ask for an MM speech, but you should at least know if this would be a satisfying plot twist and/or fit with the game’s lore.

The ability to choose from a list of prompts can help when a mun doesn’t feel very inspired to write about, say, the muse waking up in such-and-such location with no idea how they got there, or when filling out that prompt doesn’t convey the muse’s personality particularly well. On the other hand, asking for everyone to fill out the same prompt(s) makes it easier to directly compare hopefuls.

On that note, I like having less standard prompts, like reactions to not getting a Starbucks order right or how a muse would deal with a crazy roommate. While these can be tricky to come up with if you don’t want to just rip them off from other apps (which you prrrrobably shouldn’t without permission), coming up with unique situations can help muns more easily demonstrate the personalities of their muses instead of blandly answering the same old questions. That being said, these can be a little weird to work with if the muse would never go to Starbucks and/or leave their house in general.

Conclusion

No two games have the same app, and no two should. Applications are important for getting to know enough information to put together a roster that’s going to work out both IC and OOC. They also gather information for later use in the RP, when muses may be harder to get ahold of or have less time to answer questions. Mods just need to ask for what information they think they’ll need, and muns just need to try to provide it. It’s impossible to foresee everything you’ll need, but asking for every piece of info you could possibly have use for would make a longer app than anyone would be willing to fill out.

Click [here] for a listing of all guides!

#dr rp #dr rp oc #dr oc #dr oc rp #danganronpa oc rp

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ratemallet93-blog · 6 years ago

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Ask Sam Mailbag: 01.04.19

I'll start off by saying nothing changes if nothing changes. I would like to see some changes. I was thrilled to get Parker. At the time the legend Of Chicago high school basketball was second on the team in scoring behind Zach Lavine. Suddenly Portis comes, Hoiberg is gone, and apparently so is Jabari. Teams seem willing to put up with a player who seldom scores as long as he plays defense, so why is it so hard to stick with a guy like Jabari who can score? I don't understand why we're not playing him at all. The kid is bound to have limitations after two surgeries. If his defense is suspect, don't coaches teach anymore? Tell him, show him, teach what you want him to do on defense. What did they see when they signed him for $20 million a year that they don't see now?? The starting lineup and the rotation has made no changes either. Holiday still starts even though he struggling. Carter still start even though he always gets into early fall trouble. If he came off the bench he could watch and learn for six or seven minutes and then go in against their subs not their starters. I suppose like anybody else maybe we are setting the stage to get Zion. What a huge huge huge move that would be for the Bulls or anyone who would get him. If we are trying to get lottery and first round draft picks, I get that. But I would also like to see a team that would make that guy want to be here.

Jo Morrison

Sam: And you wrote before the Orlando game, so it's without as much rancor. It's pretty obvious now that Parker isn't playing after they substituted Benny the Bull, the Red Panda and the quick dress lady into the game ahead of Parker Wednesday. Actually there is change despite what you note; just not the sort of changes you would like for now. We see this often, and it recently occurred with old buddies Luol Deng and Joakim Noah. They signed long-term contracts. And then managements changed in both places with a new philosophy, and nether played for two years until they basically were released. Jabari likely still would be playing with Fred Hoiberg, who wasn't thrilled with Jabari's defensive transition, but accepted, as you note, the tradeoff with his offense. But Jim Boylen has made clear he's coaching differently, focusing on defense and inside/outside offense (in theory) and a more deliberate pace and measured offense. Plus, Parker also apparently is being used as something of cautionary tale to the rest of the team. Play this way or don't play at all. So the team Parker was hired for no longer exists. The Bulls anticipated it to an extent with the one year guarantee. After all, Deng and Noah had four-year guarantees. Though your suggestions also illustrate the complex issues of starting over again with the same roster without a training camp. You say sit Wendell Carter Jr, but that means start Lopez, who presumably is not part of the team's future. So they really shouldn't want to do that. Felicio? Not as a starter, I presume. Maybe dip into the G-league from the smoking hot Windy City Bulls (six straight wins) for some guys to look at if they're not playing Parker? And now with Justin Holiday traded I suspect we see Chandler Hutchison a lot. I don't fully get why Parker is on the active roster, anyway, if he's not playing and apparently not going to. Though what you hit on clearly is the enigma wrapped in a riddle and all that. There's still a lot of sorting out to do, and the three everyone hopes eventually add a Big prefix just started playing together a week ago.

Let's give credit where credit is due! Garpax just acquired two borderline NBA players and two second round draft picks for Justin Holiday. Justin Holiday is an ideal teammate, a model citizen, and a smart player. So Memphis hit the jackpot if they're looking for a Scalabrine type for the end of the bench. If they're looking for a basketball player, they should keep looking. In 22 out of 38 games this season Justin Holiday shot below 40% from the field. And he shoots 7 threes a game! This is a man that can single handedly bring down your team shooting percentage on any given night. I, for one, am glad he's gone. But I'm sure Boylen is crushed and trying to find creative ways to play Robin Lopez at the 3.

Yuriy Fomin

Sam: Let's not be too hard on Justin since he did also learn to play the guitar on the road. Plus the guy made himself into at least an NBA specialist, and no one much thought he could in Europe, the G-league and a half dozen teams. You know he's got to be moving into Graceland, or at least heartbreak hotel with his guitar. I can understand that Boylen was trying to make his coaching case by winning some games, but he was playing Holiday way too much. In fact, the Bulls seemed to run a curl screen play to shoot a three on top for Holiday out of timeouts more than for anyone else. Enough of that! Management doesn't dictate to coaches who to play—or isn't supposed to—but they can get rid of guys being used too much. It's time for Hutchison, shaky offense and all, to play, and play more as he was playing well the other night in Toronto and then sat out the end of the game. Now you assume Hutchison will start, and whether it looks like a run to the lottery, it's the right thing to do for where and who this Bulls team is now. I'm assuming Lopez is next unless he starts making threes like his brother.

What is your prediction on what the bulls do with: Parker - will they trade him out for something? Or hold until the end of the season and not renew? Gee the Bulls management handled this situation terribly. Should have sugar coated him and played him but from the bench. Now we have driven his value to rock bottom. Lopez - see no logic in a buyout. Might as well clear him at seasons end Holiday - also Rock bottom value and don't see a valuable asset to trade him out for his 4.5 mil Portis - the best of the bunch but we have probably seen his ceiling. Hopefully offer him a lesser contract than earlier or a higher salary (12 mil/yr) but on a 2 yr deal. I was so excited at the start of the season. Now we'll be looking at a no.5-6 pick in an average draft.

Andrew Brown

Sam: At least no New Year's resolutions. I suspect they work out a deal with Portis. Having two injuries like he's had and missing almost half the season probably has been sobering for him. I suspect he'll be a bit more accommodating in negotiations. And he'll still be wealthier than any of us ever are. So no feeling sorry. Parker's fate seems determined. Holiday is no longer a part of the team, as anticipated given the likelihood he wasn't part of the future plan, and Lopez figures to be next. Perhaps Lopez could return at a reasonable price given he's a popular teammate and a tough guy with size. Though he may not want that mentor role quite yet. He'll be more difficult to trade given he makes $14.3 million and the Bulls would have to take back that much salary. Lopez didn't much like the post-All Star last year of seeing the kids. He wants to play. But does it make any sense if he's not going forward? Wendell Carter Jr. ended up with just 13 minutes against Orlando, which was probably an aberration. That's not likely to happen again. I didn't think he played that badly; or at least not so poorly as to stand out among others. He dealt with it amazingly well for a 19-year-old, and though he has had some issues with all these huge guys he's had to play, he's also suffered because the Bulls haven't been emphasizing offensive options for him. They will. The other side of it is understandable. There's a new coach and he wants to win some games to show he is deserving. That's certainly natural. Plus, he wants to win some games and make a point (defensively) in the name of that culture thing.

You want your young players in close games and have a chance to develop habits when the game is being contested. Yes, it would be great to get a top college kid. Really, really great. But it's hardly guaranteed with the bottom three teams having the same odds for the top pick, about 14 percent. Even if you have the fifth poorest record, you have a 10.5 percent chance for the top pick instead of 14 with the poorest record. Is that worth throwing away an entire season? Though with these trades the Bulls may be more so on that path. It is coming time to keep Carter and Chandler Hutchison in games and perhaps get a look at some hungry G-league guys. The move with Holiday assures that if you are not part of the future group, it's time to start making changes. Here come the kids! But it remains a balancing act with the messages the new coach and management still want to send. It doesn't happen in just a few weeks without a summer and a training camp.

How much will dunn make with his new contract? 15 million a year? We always hear “what the team and he agree he is worth" but that doesnt equate to good business. See felicio and jabari. Terry rozier is in line for 15-20 million. Dunn isnt that yet but there are a lot of similarities....rozier shoots the three better and dunn has more length though. Imo hes the most important part of this rebuild....he plays defense unlike lavine or markannen. He also carries a ton of risk due to his inabilities to score in the past. Will the bulls give him market value?

Jake Henry

Sam: Pretty much everyone but LaVine is on a tryout given he has a long contract. I suspect given Dunn's injuries and just settling into a regular role almost midway through this season, they'll treat him like Portis and make him an offer and then see if he wants to go to market. I support players who do that since it's their long and hard-earned right. It worked for Butler and not so much for Portis. Maybe Gibson could have gotten a little more money when he accepted the Bulls offer without becoming a restricted free agent, but as a conservative investor, I believe you're best guaranteeing that first set-for-life contract. The Bulls do what every team does: If you want a guarantee early, you have to give up a little. It's good business and fair for the players. Though the larger issue with Dunn remains, as you say, whether does his defensive abilities outweigh his offensive deficiencies? For now with Boylen you'd say he fits better, though he remains a bit too much a ball control guy who doesn't score enough. He needs to become more of a regular offensive threat even if it's not shooting threes. He's getting to the basket better, but he still doesn't get to the free throw line enough for a ball control player. I'd still be uncertain how much of an investment to make. Which also is an issue the Bulls have. How can you establish a player's value if he's never been in a playoff game or played in meaningful games?

This season is becoming so frustrating. I actually miss Hoiberg and Randy Brown. Is Boylen going to start coaching based on the players he has or continue trying to force this style that he's dreamed and understandbly waited for. However you have build your scheme based on the players you have, including Jabari Parker. Zach Lavine is not turning into John Starks (93') over night. But they owe the fans an apology if they are trying to lose games.

Paul Taylor

Sam: Randy will be pleased to hear. He's really dropped out of sight. Maybe not all fans based on some of my mail. I don't think in just a month with a coaching change the future is clear. I do know the Bulls don't want to hopelessly lose games, but it sometimes happens that way. Of course, they'd like a good draft pick and it's pretty likely they'll miss the playoffs and be in the lottery. I know it's popular among some segments of the community to go for the see-you-in-June strategy. But there's still much to be worked out, especially among LaVine, Markkanen and Dunn. It's clear LaVine and Markkanen are the scorers among this group, and I'd focus on LaVine as my No. 1 guy. I know some believe Markkanen has greater potential, but he doesn't create his shot and get to the free throw line like LaVine can. Dunn just doesn't do enough yet to occupy or upset defenses. Markkanen does mostly with stretching the floor with that beautiful shooting stroke. But it appears the elbow injury and two months out set him back. He seems less aggressive than he was the latter part of last season getting to the basket and initiating contact. Some of that obviously is the change in offensive philosophy since when he came back Boylen was taking over. LaVine basically was the offense until then with Markkanen, Dunn, Valentine and Portis out.

I know some see flaws in LaVine with his shots and passing, but I actually heard a lot of the same stuff in the 80s with that Jordan guy; you know, takes selfish shots, doesn't move the ball enough, makes turnovers. Yes, but he could score. No, Zach isn't defending like Jordan, but Zach can score. He can get to the basket better than anyone on the team, creates contact the best, has an excellent shooting touch and can make tough shots and plays for himself better than anyone on the roster. One of the issues the opposition has been taking advantage of has been the rotations. The Bulls lately have employed too many non-shooters when Markkanen and LaVine haven't played together. So the ball swings, but then ends up with Shaquille Harrison or Lopez or Hutchison. I'd force feed LaVine more shots because with Markkanen standing on the perimeter more, LaVine is really the only one who is getting to the line, making those tough shots and whom defenses fear. Then you get others going since Zach will pass. I can see things then becoming somewhat less frustrating. You're trying to develop a star, and LaVine and Markkanen seem the closest now.

In your story on Wendell it's notable that he views himself as a power forward and “short" at 6'-10". It's doubtful if Lauri would ever evolve into a real five if that is even desirable and Portis also seems to be a better fit at the four even at 6'-11". This seems like your power forward comparison to a Kennedy rush hour traffic jam. There have been references to Wendell as a version of Al Horford but do you recall examples of a successful Lauri & Wendell type combo? They are certainly not the Houston Twin Towers. I note that Davis of NOLA also is also listed at 6'-10" and as a four but he seems to be a better leaper/jumper and, for comparison, is a much more experienced six year vet. Ongoing do we need a Lopez type or even Lopez who is only thirty and a helpful vet? Do we wait for a true center in the draft, sign a less expensive free agent to replace Lopez or even trade?

John Petersen

Sam: I agree; the Bulls appear not to be a finished product yet. Remember, there's the upcoming lottery, free agency with perhaps $40 million or more available and players who will come as they are building it. There will be future drafts and trades and free agency, and by my count maybe leaves eight players on the current roster who probably will not be here next season. Wendell will, and I'm still satisfied that even if he doesn't get taller, being 19 years old he will get stronger, smarter and more skilled. I recall Wes Unseld doing pretty well at center against Wilt, Kareem, Reed (who also wasn't particularly tall), Nate Thurmond, Walt Bellamy and Bill Russell (who also wasn't that tall). Wes, by the way, was about 6-6. There are many ways to be effective at center in the NBA. Wendell just hasn't tried many yet. He's not an offensive priority compared with Dunn, LaVine and Markkanen. But he's a keeper.

What are the chances Kevin Durant shocks the world and signs with the Bulls next Summer? I'm thinking of LeBron's 2015 return to Cleveland. Maintaining his legacy and building a career narrative seemed to be the main reasons for his return to Cleveland. Sure, he won the two rings in Miami, but he cemented his legacy and became universally beloved by winning in 2016 for his hometown, blue collar, long-suffering, Midwest city. This came after he was perceived as selfish and preferring the easy way out by teaming up with superstars. Analogous to a KD-to-Chicago scenario perhaps? He still needs a championship that is uniquely his own, as I see it.

Mike Toner

Sam: And LeBron just did say that made him the greatest player ever. I'd have dismissed the Durant scenario, but if Durant can then claim being the greatest ever—really, to paraphrase Jordan, it's a lot easier to make Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving a champion compared to Ryan Arcidiacono and Cristiano Felicio—maybe that's something we hadn't thought about. But seriously I assume the Bulls will pursue top, elite free agents. All they can say is no. But despite the community negativity about the subject, Chicago is one of the three elite metropolitan areas in the country, a franchise with a championship legacy, great facilities, convenient with the arena and practice facility, a major world sports market and pizza that looks like cheese and tomato sauce on Wonder Bread. OK, other than the pizza, a world class place.

I am really sick & tired of the Boo-Birds. Today (reading comments after the Orlando game) I ‘learned' that Boylen is not an NBA coach. He's too negative & pessimistic and can't inspire players… so we need Hoiberg back. I also found out that Zach needs to pass to Lauri and let him take all the shots, or we should get rid of him. (Last night, they both played 28 minutes. Lauri was 6-12. Zach was 6-10 w/ 3 assists.) And of course – as we already knew – Gar/Pax have to go. (I agree. They lost that game. Neither of them scored or rebounded even once.)

Art Alenik

Sam: It is much more difficult to write my Ask Sam after a loss like that which follows several days off. Happy New Years! Perspective is more fleeting. Though they probably won't admit it, I'm sure Bulls employees read some of those fan comment blogs, too. For now I think the abiding belief is that, ‘Well, it's better than if they weren't upset and didn't care.' Caring is good; disappointment is inevitable when you are going through a rebuilding. The same people who call for tanking for a draft pick all season also watch the games and break down the mistakes and losses like the team is contending. It's part of the fan experience. My wife is a big fan of the post game Bears shows during which no matter the amount of the victory, there's relentless outrage to get rid of the quarterback. With the Bulls not doing as well, there isn't as much post game of that sort. But basketball analysis is fair, positive or negative. It's part of the job in sports. As long as it's not personal, I don't see any problem with questioning what anyone does and why. They should be asked to respond and everyone deserves a chance to have their question answered. It's why I answer all my mail; I don't answer Twitter because I can't figure out how it works and it's used by too many subversives. Write me at the Bulls and you get a response. That comes from my years with the Tribune. I know there was no internet then, but we experienced a similar level of anger and stupidity. It didn't come as an attachment to the internet. It's part of the human soul. I always disliked the way the newspaper editors often condescendingly dismissed the public. Hey, we're the First Amendment! Of course, some were rude, but most just wanted an answer. So it's no surprise in some cases why the media becomes a monolith and is condemned as it is despite it being just a bunch of not particularly special people with merely a different skill. Ah, basketball C'mon, where else in the world can the boss get away with—and be asked to—scream at employees throughout the work day and visitors get to boo the workers' results as they occur? This is not a normal business, so it doesn't draw a normal response.

After a game like last night, hard not to think “Man we suck right now." But Jim is now 4-5. Extrapolate to 82 and that almost makes the playoffs in the East. Break up the Bulls?

Chris Granner

Sam: Actually 5-9 since Boylen took over, which translates to 29 wins. They'd won four of the last eight before Wednesday. But they had been showing signs of a disciplined, defensive-oriented game which, even if not always aesthetically pleasing, was producing problems for some good teams. But when playing that way you have to be “on" more often because there are fewer easier shots and less margin for error on defense. Phil Jackson always talked to the team about looking ahead in five-game segments. Win those five, or four, and then go onto the next. In other words, don't look too far ahead, but realize we're playing a season. The Bulls have talent in Markkanen, LaVine and Dunn. The rest of this season has to be about bringing it out.

I love to recognize former Bulls from previous teams and several years ago. These players are still having long term careers and often have found more success playing roles elsewhere. I feel like the Bulls have missed out on opportunities to keep some of these very quality players to build around for extended periods of time and keep a positive reputation around the league. The players that come to mind are: Elton Brand Tyson Chandler (Never should have signed Ben Wallace and TC is still playing) Jamal Crawford (Moved on too quickly) Ron Artest - Needed more time to mature Tabo Selfalosha - Prime prospect Roger Mason Jr/Matt Bonner (Spurs years) Omer Asik (Rockets- should've matched) Kyle Korver (All star w the Hawks, still playing) Tony Snell (Nice reserve role shooter) Spencer Dinwiddie/DJ Augustine (perfect Backup PGs for right now) Taj and Derrick (The ultimate fan favorites and quality guys Jimmy (I understand moving on from him) Trades occur but I feel like Gar Foreman and John Paxson have not been able to fully maximize the potential of the careers of these players and this could've changed the course of our franchise then having to go through the multiple rebuilds and find other guys. Otherwise they Gar/Pax don't bother me. They are excellent at drafting quality players.

Josh King

Sam: Well, how would you feel about Oklahoma City's Sam Presti, who traded James Harden for some reserves and lost Kevin Durant for nothing? And even Jeff Green, who isn't horrible. Talk about blowing your chances for a championship. I got some of this when the great Spencer Dinwiddie had a big game against the Bulls a few weeks back. I always lobbied for Spencer, but he's a marginal starter. And basically is about everyone else on your list. Elton was perhaps the best (other than Rose and Butler for understandable reasons), and Krause's theory was right that you couldn't win ultimately with him. Of course, he couldn't make the playoffs with what he did instead. The point is you need stars to win. While you mention a lot of good players, basically none were even All-Stars, and when they were like Chandler more of a role player. Carlos Boozer was basically more successful than just about everyone on your list. The Bulls still are working on stars; I'm thrilled those guys had careers as most were good people and good players. Often players need a different landscape or role. Some guys I recall traded were Nate Archibald, Charles Barkley, Dave Bing, Dave DeBusschere, Elvin Hayes, Earl Monroe, Lenny Wilkins, Nate Thurmond and Robert Parish, all of whom had top 50 careers. It's about stars.

I seem to be suffering from a malady predominantly seen in Chicago Bulls fans/players, "Basketball Whiplash." In a period of a few days the Bulls go from emphasizing an uptempo, fast-paced offense to a slow-paced, walk-up emphasis on defense. We hire Hoiberg to help us join the popular, uptempo, 3-ball trend. We hire Jabari Parker hoping to ignite his offensive skills to fit this offense as he appears to believe that emphasizing defense is outdated. We are waiting for key players to return from injuries to see if this is going to work. Just before the players return Hoiberg is fired and Boylen is hired. We go into reverse emphasizing defense and a slow tempo basketball style. Jabari Parker is out of the rotation. Players appear lost in this abrupt change in philosophy. I wonder if you are also suffering from Basketball Whiplash?

Bruce Roberts

Sam: Change isn't easy for anyone. Really, when they keep asking you to change your password. Who really remembers?

Source: https://www.nba.com/bulls/news/ask-sam-mailbag-010419

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enbywrestlingfan · 8 years ago

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NJPW Wrestling Primer (Updated for 2017)

A while back I did a primer post to help introduce people to the wrestlers of NJPW, but it's become out of date over time as things have changed since then, since wrestling always changes. So this is an updated version from mid-April 2017.

Kazuchika Okada - The greatest wrestler on the planet today, and one who is in the middle of possibly the best title reign of all time, which has featured numerous 4.5 and 4.75 star matches, as well as two 5 star and even a 6 star match. He originally made his legacy in NJPW with a now iconic rivalary with Hiroshi Tanahashi, but since has become a true ace for the company. He is the leader of the CHAOS faction and possibly Gedos son. Though, the position of ace wasn't meant for Okada, it was meant for..

Tetsuya Naito - Naito was supposed to be the new top face of NJPW, but the fans rejected him. So during a US tour, instead of returing to Japan like most, he took a little soul searching journey down to Mexico, and met a man named La Sombra (you might know him as Andrade Cien Almas from WWE NXT) and his Los Ingobernables stable. This inspired a change of attitude in Naito, who returned to NJPW, and turned his back on the fans who rejected him, becoming one of the best characters and heels in wrestling in the process. He leads the Los Ingobernables stable, has had 5 star matches with Kenny Omega, Micheal Elgin (and imo with Tanahashi at WK11), and is just a master of working a crowd. He won the IWGP Heavyweight Title, and threw it in the air like a piece of trash. It was amazing.

Kenny Omega - Currently in NJPW, there are three men who could be considered the ace. Okada, Naito and Kenny Omega. Omega is probably the most popular wrestler in NJPW outside of Japan, due to him being Canadian. He's the leader of Bullet Club, and is one of the greatest wrestlers on the planet today. Theres simply nothing Kenny Omega can't do. But he has two modes: if he keeps his shirt on in a match, expect more comedy, but if the shirts off you're in for the match of the night because thats when he gives 100%. Last year he became the first gaijin to win the G1 Climax Tournament, and went on to have a 6 star classic match with Okada in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom. Since losing, he's been searching for the answer of "why can't I win big matches", and his current goal is to walk into the upcoming NJPW shows in America as champion, no matter what.

Hiroshi Tanahashi - The former ace of NJPW. He's the man who pulled NJPW out of the dark ages. A wildly popular rockstar of a man, who is still one of the best big match workers in all of wrestling, even now that he's slowing down. He's had classic matches with just about every big name on the NJPW roster, and I don't think you can count him out just yet. He's currently a member of the weird Taguchi Japan stable, and doing lots of 6 man tag matches, but I can't help but feel he'll be chasing singles gold again soon.

Katsuyori Shibata - Shibata is an interesting case. He debuted alongside Tanahashi and Nakamura and with them he was part of the chosen future of the company. But when things got rough for NJPW, he jumped ship to go do MMA fights instead. With his 4-10-1 record, it is often considered pretty bad for him, but when he came back to wrestling, he seemed more legitimate than ever and wants to fight his way to the top instead of being handed the title. He's the anti-hero face that everyone wants in wrestling, a true badass who will fight until the very end... which he might have in his recent main event with Okada. Due to a combonation of dehydration due a longer match than he's used to, and a dangerous shoot headbutt spot, he had to get surgery on his head following the match and might never wrestle again, but if his music hits again, the pop will likely be thunderous.

Minoru Suzuki - 48 fights, 29 wins & 19 losses. That is the MMA record of former King of Pancrase Minoru Suzuki. He's the leader of Suzuki-Gun, and someone who would break your arm off and laugh at your suffering. He's the best bastard heel on the planet, a legitimate badass, and he scares me. He's held both the AJPW Triple Crown Championship, and NOAH's GHC Heavyweight Championship, and only needs the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to be one of few men to hold all three of Japans top belts, and even at 48 years old, age might not be enough to stop him. He's an ageless badass.

Tomohiro Ishii - Ishii is one of the most underrated men in NJPW, as he can be slotted in as a top guy at any time and he'll put on a fantastic match. Just an incredible worker when motivated in a singles match, but usually does tag work with other members of CHAOS, usually Toru Yano. But there are moments of brilliance in all of his matches.

Those are the major players in the company in my eyes but here’s some fun minor characters:

Ryusuke Taguchi - The funky weapon, who likes to throw his ass into peoples faces to win matches. When motivated he's one of the most dangerous junior heavyweights on the roster, but he'd rather just have fun. He leads Taguchi Japan, which is a stable of random members of the roster who for some reason united under the flag of The Funky Weapon. It's awesome just trust me.

Bad Luck Fale - A huge, slow beast of a man. Currently the longest running member of Bullet Club, being the first person to join Prince Devitt's (WWE's Finn Balor) new stable back in 2013. He's a constant force that is protected in singles action and that makes him dangerous. In tournaments he's a spoiler. Don't bet against Fale, he's kill your brackets and your dreams. He's gotten singles wins over most big names in current NJPW, and is a hard guy to predict. Fear the Underboss of Bullet Club.

Tama Tonga - A future breakout star for NJPW, since his awesome performance in the G1 Climax last year, Tonga has just been getting better and better with each match. He's got a unique in ring style where he uses his speed to confuse an opponent before striking. Always fun to watch, and I see singles success in his future, as well as more tag success with his brother:

Tanga Loa - Camacho. Does anyone remember Camacho? Teamed with Hunico in WWE? No? Well he’s in Japan now with his brother and they’re pretty great. He's a brawler, and that's about it. It works in tag matches but don't expect much from a singles match with him.

Ricochet - The human incarnation of flippt shit. He busts out 630 sentons like they're nothing, it's incredible. But beyond that he's just a fantastic and well rounded wrestler.

Will Ospreay - The best high flyer in wrestling but needs to slow the fuck down before he kills his knees. He's only 23, and already one of the best in the world, and only gets better as he expands his style.

Jushin Thunder Liger - Iconic legend of juniors wrestling, character was based off an anime which is much less known than Liger himself, still wrestles but has slowed down a bit. He's 52 years old and can still outwrestle most juniors on the roster.

Tiger Mask W - Not Kota Ibushi

Kota Ibushu - A freelancer who turned down a full time WWE contract to do weird shit in Japan, used to team with Kenny Omega as The Golden Lovers but they broke up and have soap opera level drama AND JUST NEED TO MAKE UP ALREADY. He's also not Tiger Mask W.

Togi Makabe - Bruiser Brody 2.0

Ropongi Vice - Trent Barreta (yes, that Trent from WWE) and Rocky Romero just wanna have a good time in Ropongi, but have to wrestle too but are very good at it. Rocky is one of the best tag wrestlers around, and Barreta is becoming one of the best too.

Sanada - A member of Los Ingobernables De Japon. I can't help but feel like NJPW has big plans for him. He debutted helping Naito win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and has had big singles matches with both Tanahashi and Okada, but has never held singles gold. (only member of L.I.J to not get a singles title) He's an incredibly agile, handsome, and skilled wrestler, expect big things from him in the future.

Evil - A member of Los Ingobernables De Japon, is Evil and has lasers.

Hiromu Takahashi - The Joker mixed with Kefka mixed with a Pro Wrestler, he will kill himself so long as he kills his opponent at the same time. Has a fetish where he needs to lick everything he touches.

BUSHI - Evil Luchador who spits mist in peoples eyes and has really fucking cool masks.

Yujiro Takahashi - The Godfather but Japanese, the only Japanese member of Bullet Club, formerly teamed with Tetsuya Naito as No Limit

Micheal Elgin - The worlds strongest Canadian, likely lives in a gym.

Satoshi Kojima - Heir to the lariat, will take your head off with it, loves bread (seriously follow this guy on Twitter, his broken english tweets are as wholesome as his lariats are stiff)

David Finlay Jr. - Son of Fit Finlay, getting very good

Tomaki Honma - Gravely voiced fan favorite who usually loses but is always fun, he uses his head a weapon, started his career in Big Japan Wrestling where he was the first person to use light tubes in a deathmatch, and is currently on the shelf with a very major neck injury and might never wrestle again.

Toru Yano - A comedy relief wrestler who just wants you to buy his DVD and will keep beating your faves with upset victories until you do

Yuji Nagata - Some would say Nagata is the former ace of NJPW during the dark years, but no one really wants to take that title. But he's a fantastic worker even in his old age, one of the last of his generation of NJPW.

Hirooki Goto - A man who could challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship a thousand more times and still choke every single time, but always have a good match in the process. Seriously, this guy loses 80% of big matches he's in. He's a stiff worker and it's great, but get your head in the game Goto, you can win matches, I know you can!

Kushida - Have you ever watched Back the the Future and thought, ‘this is great but I wish Marty McFly was a wrestler’. Kushida. That’s Kushida.

and just so many more and I could go on forever. There are so many great wrestlers in NJPW, and you really don’t need to know the commentary to enjoy it.

#njpw #new japan pro wrestling

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icharchivist · 1 year ago

Note

I def recall the devs saying they added Uno/Anre for the Harvin rep, because he and Charlotta are the only Harvins in the roster and they wanted it to be at least kinda balanced among the species. Which I respect. Random thought from the top of my head, they could add Philosophia on her spinning top, she's a Harvin and that gameplay could be interesting imo. Or Yordarha, he's in Relink. But he's another sword guy, too

yeah that makes total sense imo. I'm totally for more Harvin rep since there isn't a lot of Harvin characters that really had an impact on the game quite like Charlotta or Lunalu...

i respect the thought, but it's just, the Eternals have so many fan favorites it felt weird to spare this spot there.

Philosophia could have been fun, although she'd be the only R/SR chara from the roster (Lowain bros and co are outlier who shouldn't be counted)

Yordarha would be a nice possible choice, but, yeah, too many swordmen. Same for Sevilbarra, probably.

tho now that i think about it, one character who could be fun is actually Mahira? since she is really popular and it would have been good additions to the General Squad imo. + her skillset is rather unique. (throws a chicken at you, throws a chicken at you, throws--)

Other harvins of note that could have worked also includes Arulumaya, who has pretty unique type of magic and gimmick. she could have been fun, but she's also pretty lazy if i recall so she'd probably not want to be involved with fighting if she could avoid it.

also with Anre coming out during the LGBT+ Pack DLC maybe they should have just put Balurga in it too. With luck they could have salvaged the way canon has... not been the best at portraying his gender. (tho he only got a SSR unit pretty recently/after Anre so he was probably not something that was considered...)

On a similar vibe, Skull is decently popular due to his VA so now that he has a SSR he could be considered eventually....

Drusilla got a nice storyarc recently + a ssr so it could always make her a future candidate imo (but also i was just soft to her story)

Mimlemel is also pretty popular but considering her whole thing is that she's too disabled to walk properly she... probably should indeed stay clear from the fighting games.

I'd consider Bridgette only because i love me some lesbians <3 but yeah she's only R/SR and another swordwoman, + same saga as Charlotta so talk about redundant...

there's also the two Harvins evokers but i would doubt they'd be priviligized over the unavoidable Fraux or Lobelia.

speaking of Lobelia. The one Harvin that would destroy the game is Sierokarte. But we all know she isn't in the game because she would be too powerful. too unstoppable.

Finally, it probably means that if we get the Dragons we might get a possible Wamdus on the table in order to even out more Harvin, since she is popular too. tho she would definitely not be my dragon pick (i will not rest until Ewiyar is playable in game. it's the only right choice.à

so yeah... yeah.

i get why they went with Anre on the Harvin logic, i just feel like, damn, you had to do it with limiting the Eternals huh

#ichareply #ichafantalks gbf #anonymous #or this is how Polaris can still win--

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crimeamarches · 8 years ago

Text

Hal’s hopeful but also realistic Emblem Warriors roster

I want to believe in Koei Tecmo and Emblem Warriors. After all, Hyrule Warriors included some awfully obscure characters! I don’t hate 3DS FE, but as a fan of the series as a whole I will be disappointed if that’s all we see. Hence the “hopeful but also realistic” part.

Now, the trailer more or less confirmed a few characters, so I’m going to start from there and list the characters I think will most likely be in at some point or another, using Hyrule Warriors 45-character (including DLC) roster as a framework.

FATES (FE 14)

Trailer basically confirmed:

1. Corrin

2. Ryoma

3. Xander

Because the 3DS FEs are bound to make up the brunt of the characters, here are my other predicted Fates reps:

4. Azura (basically a shoe-in)

5. Takumi (has both possessed and non-possessed forms)

6. Leo (less likely than Takumi but still likely imo)

7. Elise and/or Sakura (more likely than the older sisters, but I’m not confident)

8. Jakob and/or Felicia

9. Kaze

Something in me doubts that they’ll include all eight siblings in favor of a more diverse roster. I could see Camilla or Rinkah getting in as well; we’ll give them Honorable Mentions. Sadly, i think Hinoka is least likely.

AWAKENING (FE 13)

Trailer basically confirmed:

10. Chrom

And with Chrom along, there’s no way the game won’t also feature:

11. Robin

12. Lucina

Other likely candidates:

13. Tharja (please don’t koei I’m literally on my knees and begging)(but let’s face reality here)

14. Owain and/or Gaius

15. Severa and/or Cordelia

16. Inigo (These three slots are because if it’s driven by popularity polls again they’re the likely winners)(plus tharja but…she’s a bit more of a guarantee…*weeps*)

17. Gangrel or Grima

18. Sumia

19. Anna (not solely an Awakening character, but Awakening is what brought her to the fore)

20. Basilio (wildcard suggestion)

21. Emmeryn (maybe?)

Priam, just to fucks with me personally

ARCHANEA SAGA (Marth Game/FE 1, 3, 11, and 12)

Trailer basically confirmed this as well. I think it’ll have less reps than 3DS FE, but it’ll be there.

22. Marth

23. Caeda

24. Gharnef/Medeus

25. Minerva

26. Merric (maybe)

27. Tiki

Honorable Mentions: Linde, Gotoh, Navarre, Lena, and Julien. There’s a lot to choose from with Marthgame and i didn’t even put any fe 3/12 important guys because i’m not familiar with them.

ELIBE (FE 6 and 7)

This is where we get into the realm of those banished to DLC. I think there’s a good chance some will be featured in the main game:

28. Eliwood and/or Roy (I’m not sure they’d bother doing both)

29. Hector

30. Lyn

And maybe a few more reps might happen if it is DLC:

31. Lilina

32. Merlinus

33. Nergal

Honorable Mentions: Matthew, Marcus, Nino, Nils, Idunn

TELLIUS (Ike game/FE 9 and 10)

Please, Koei. Please treat my children well.

Ok, even if it’s just Amiibo support, we’re bound to get

34. Ike

Then, much like with Elibe, other reps are DLC-bound and increasingly unlikely.

35. Micaiah

36. Black Knight

37. Soren

38. Ranulf

39. Ashnard and/or Ashera

40. Elincia

Honorable Mentions: Lethe, Sothe, Sanaki, A Bird Laguz, Oliver

JUGDRAL (FE 4 and 5)

Slim little chance we get some Jugdral DLC. Hey, Awakening SpotPass included them, at least!

41. Sigurd and/or Seliph

42. Leif

And maaaaaaaybe

43. Arvis and/or Julius

Honorable Mentions: Finn, Julia, Lewyn

SACRED STONES (FE 8)

Lmao @ someone remembering Magvel exists *sob*

44. Eirika (a Real Eirika in all her glory not awakening’s Bride shit please koei im begging you--)

45. Ephraim

46. Lyon (maybe)

Honorable Mentions (me getting my hopes up Really Really High): Saleh, Joshua, Myrrh, L’arachel, Innes

GAIDEN (FE 2)

BIGGER LMFAO

47. Alm

48. Celica

(even that much is a bit of a stretch)

Anyway! This is just my projection. I went a little over the 45-character limit but some of these are conditional picks. I can see it going either way, honestly—either I’m pretty right, or I’m totally wrong and it’s going to be nothing but 3DS and my heart will shatter into teeny tiny pieces. I could also see them going in a different direction entirely but hey! it’s two AM at the time of writing this and im just trying to contain my excitement

Feel free to drop me a line to talk about your own predictions or to talk about fire emblem in general!

#fire emblem #fire emblem warriors

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jodyedgarus · 6 years ago

Text

The Eastern Conference Battle Just Escalated Quickly

chris.herring (Chris Herring, senior sportswriter): While there wasn’t the blockbuster deal that some thought might come at Thursday’s NBA trade deadline, there were plenty of moves — and non-moves — that affected each of the top teams in the East and will factor heavily in the playoff race from here on out.

And on the flipside, there are a handful of teams that aren’t in contention that made trades I liked for their future. (And one that did almost nothing, which confuses me.)

This is insane, by the way:

The Hornets, Jazz, Timberwolves, Spurs … That's it for teams who did nothing? 26 teams making moves? Phew …

— Sean Deveney (@SeanDeveney) February 7, 2019

neil (Neil Paine, senior sportswriter): Chris, this has to be up there with the most active deadlines ever.

chris.herring: So what stood out to you all as the deadline came and went? The trades themselves are over, but a number of teams seem likely to keep an eye on the waiver wire for big names that could become available via buyout.

I have to be honest: I loved Milwaukee’s trade for Nikola Mirotic.

neil: Yes, a week ago, the Bucks were third-best in the East in our ratings. Now they are No. 1. (At least, in terms of full-strength rating.)

chris.herring: They took four second-rounders and the spare parts they got in deals from the past couple of days to get a stretch big who fits their offense perfectly.

Tobias Harris is a more complete player than Mirotic, but the fact that they could get the deal done without giving up much on the personnel side was really impressive.

natesilver (Nate Silver, editor in chief): What stood out to me is that the biggest losers of the whole trade deadline period were the Lakers and the Celtics, even though they didn’t make any moves. (Well, the Lakers traded for Mike Muscala, but I’m not sure that counts.)

tchow (Tony Chow, video producer): It doesn’t.

chris.herring: The Sixers could have benefited from a deal like Milwaukee’s.

neil: Yes, the Sixers gave up a ton in that Harris deal.

tchow: The thing that stood out to me is it seemed like Toronto, Milwaukee AND Philadelphia all made moves with the assumption that their time is NOW. They all seem to believe they can win, if not the NBA Finals, then at least the East. Now, obviously, all three of them (four if you include Boston) can’t make it out on top, so it’ll be interesting to see who, if any, regrets these moves at the end of the season.

natesilver: The Celtics were the biggest losers because all three of the other Eastern contenders made trades that make them much tougher outs. Obviously Philly gave up a lot more to do it than Toronto or Milwaukee did, and I agree that the Mirotic trade is the best of the three.

chris.herring: That’s interesting, Nate.

natesilver: The opportunity cost of not making a move is pretty high if you’re Boston.

Especially if they’re now underdogs to make it out of the second round, which won’t help their case for keeping Kyrie Irving.

chris.herring: I actually didn’t feel like Boston was a massive loser here. On the one hand, yeah, they didn’t change the roster. But they also seem to have played a role in Anthony Davis not being moved, which is a win in some ways, no? I guess it depends on whether you’re looking at short-term (which you probably have to, since the Celtics are a contender) vs. long-term/summer.

neil: Certainly Davis staying in play for the summer is a win for Boston, although Davis’s agent and his father have said he’s not interested in signing long-term in Boston.

natesilver: My thing is like: Kyrie has very openly flirted with the idea of leaving. And both the Knicks and the Clippers, two of the most attractive destinations, have totally cleared their books in way that make them very plausible fits for him.

chris.herring: That’s certainly true

natesilver: The Celtics have to fade a lot of risks: AD openly griping about going there, Kyrie not leaving, the Knicks getting the No. 1 (or maybe the No. 2?) pick — in which case their offer for AD could be pretty darn attractive — and maybe none of the Lakers players having a breakout in the playoffs, which would make them more attractive trade assets, too.

chris.herring: All completely fair.

tchow: Yea, if the Celtics get knocked out in the first round or even the second round of the playoffs this year, I feel like they’re going to really regret not making any moves before this deadline.

natesilver: Like, what if the Celtics had traded for Tobias Harris as a rental?

chris.herring: Maybe I’m just of the opinion that the Celtics doing nothing AND watching AD get dealt to the Lakers would’ve been worse for them.

natesilver: The weird thing about Boston is that they don’t have any obvious weaknesses, so they’re a little hard to improve unless you’re actually getting a star. But still…

chris.herring: I don’t know if I would have liked them dealing for Harris, who is kind of a taller Jayson Tatum with less upside, given their difference in age.

neil: Are the Lakers even going to MAKE the playoffs?

tchow: Maybe? Right now, we project them to be a 9 seed.

chris.herring: That’s a good question, Neil.

natesilver: We have them as 2-to-1 underdogs, although they’re going to benefit from the Clippers semi-tanking. And maybe our numbers don’t account for motivation, as much.

tchow:

neil: Hard as it is to believe a LeBron James team misses the playoffs.

chris.herring: The Clippers are interesting because even after dealing Harris, they aren’t by any means in a bad spot.

natesilver: Yeah, the Clippers have a lot of guys on expiring contracts, so they have incentive to play hard.

In the abstract, the Kings are not tanking, but our numbers hate Harrison Barnes, so that trade didn’t help their chances at all.

chris.herring: I didn’t like that deal for the Kings.

I like that they’re going for it. But I didn’t love trading Justin Jackson.

The Bulls’ deal for Otto Porter was better, IMO.

neil: But it also felt like the Lakers and AD overplayed their hand a little here. It felt like an orchestrated effort to bully the Pelicans into trading a generational player for less than attractive prospects. And the Pelicans didn’t blink.

To hear some tell it, out of spite.

chris.herring: There were a handful of things that played out today that I didn’t understand.

tchow: Fellow Justin Jackson fan here, checking in.

chris.herring: Toronto’s deal for Marc Gasol was interesting. He’s a former defensive player of the year but has slowed down. You deal Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright, CJ Miles and a second-rounder for him. I don’t know how much better that makes the Raptors. Maybe Gasol is less of a defensive liability, but Valanciunas could beat up on second-string bigs pretty well. And I like Wright’s versatility at times.

What did our projections have on that one? The way the Raps handled deadline was interesting. You kept hearing Lowry’s name floated around, etc.

neil: Our projections still like Gasol quite a bit. Mainly for his defense.

chris.herring: Also, to Nate and Neil’s question about the Lakers, at this point, I’m more interested in how the youngsters play from now on. Many of them had never been through this, with it being public that they’re all for sale. How they respond, how hard LeBron pushes himself and how much the Lakers push him will say a lot about whether they’re in the playoffs. It may not be totally worth it for LeBron to push himself to the limit, given how old he is and how slim a chance they have of taking out the West’s contenders.

natesilver: I think literally every player on the roster other than LeBron was rumored to be going to New Orleans at some point, which can’t have helped with morale.

chris.herring: Exactly.

neil: Probably no coincidence they lost by 40+ on Tuesday.

chris.herring: YUP.

natesilver: Plus, the Lakers’ plan B isn’t that bad. Sign Klay Thompson or something this summer, give the young guys more chance to develop, and be opportunistic; there are still several ways you could end up with AD, and if you do, you’re going to have a lot more assets to surround him and LBJ with.

chris.herring: Some teams surprised me by not making a deal today. I thought Atlanta — with guys like Kent Bazemore, Jeremy Lin — could have dealt away a vet to get something in return. Utah seemed to want Mike Conley, yet Memphis decided not to trade him just yet.

But I love Orlando getting Markelle Fultz. They badly need someone at point guard. So I like the first-round pick as a gamble there.

tchow: But our projections HATE Fultz, Chris.

chris.herring: Of course. He hasn’t been good yet!

neil: I don’t think anybody’s projections know what to do with Fultz.

natesilver: Fultz isn’t a guy that projection systems are set up to deal with.

neil: Right.

chris.herring: One team that continues to confuse me some is Houston. They kind of cheaped out. Moved James Ennis for very little. Picked up Iman Shumpert, but also dealt away Nik Stauskas right after landing him in a trade. All seemingly to stay beneath the luxury tax. Those guys could’ve been useful. Maybe not great, but useful. On a team with a ton of injuries and little depth.

It would be interesting to know how James Harden views that sort of thing as he’s doing everything by himself, damn-near.

natesilver: Shumpert with good coaching/management could be an interesting fit. But yeah, Daryl Morey is sort of a home run hitter, and this felt like him fouling off a few pitches instead.

chris.herring: True. They’ve always been bold, when it comes to certain things, that boldness pays off. They washed their hands of Carmelo Anthony a lot earlier than some would have, but they turned things around shortly after. Now the Lakers are interested in picking Melo up off the waiver wire, apparently.

tchow: Speaking of Melo, Chris, in the beginning of the chat, you mentioned something about buyouts, and I keep hearing NBA circles talking about a robust or much coveted buyout market this time around. Who are some of the players that are being circled right now? I have no idea why it’s “robust.”

chris.herring:

The Lakers plan to evaluate the full buyout market once it takes shape, but Carmelo Anthony is expected to be among the considerations too, league sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 7, 2019

Not everybody has been bought out yet. But there are a few key ones, Tony. Among them: Robin Lopez, who’s thought to be headed to the Warriors. Wesley Matthews, who sounds set on Indiana.

natesilver: What if Houston traded Chris Paul for the Lakers’ young guys this summer?

Not that crazy if AD goes elsewhere, right?

chris.herring: I don’t think the young Lakers shoot well enough to put them around Harden.

But that idea is still kind of fascinating. I don’t trust CP3 health-wise beyond this year — especially not with that money he’s making. So they would be smart to get something for him if someone is willing to give them a king’s ransom.

natesilver: The 76ers really need a buyout guy. The drop-off from their starting five to their bench is about as steep as you’ll ever see.

tchow: Scouring on NBA Twitter right now, and Wayne Ellington (Tar Heel!!) is another name that is being mentioned a lot.

chris.herring: Yeah. Ellington def isn’t playing with Phoenix, so he’s another — maybe to the Rockets, even. He waived a no-trade clause to leave Miami, so he’d probably only join a contender.

natesilver: Speaking of Philly, the Fultz move actually opens up some cap space, so they could decide to keep Harris and target another max guy if Jimmy Butler leaves.

chris.herring: That Harris deal was such a big, interesting move for them.

Being able to keep him as insurance depending on what happens with Butler — who isn’t my favorite long-term max option anyway — is huge. Harris is also a lot younger than people realize because Philadelphia is already his fifth team at age 26.

tchow: He’s only 26???

natesilver: I like it more for the Sixers than a lot of people do, in part because it gives them several different options going forward.

chris.herring: Yep.

natesilver: Also, if Ben Simmons is your point guard, you need forwards who can make a 3.

chris.herring: I was tough on them last year, but can we circle back to the Pistons right quick? Because they are seemingly punting on this season. They gave up Stanley Johnson for Thon Maker, which I don’t mind on its own. Thon could be good. But they dealt away a very decent/good player in Reggie Bullock to the Lakers.

neil: And according to our projections, Detroit has a 56 percent chance of making the playoffs!

chris.herring: THAT’S WHAT I’M NOT UNDERSTANDING

neil: Same.

chris.herring: Like, there’s a possibility they could be trading themselves out of the playoffs.

Now, maybe that risk isn’t terrible — especially now, with what happened with the Wizards.

neil: Making the playoffs is a pretty low bar, especially in the East. But Detroit has only done it once since 2009.

natesilver: Top to bottom, Detroit has to be in one of the worst situations in the league. They’re stuck in that in-between zone, but without very many young assets to pull them out of it.

chris.herring: As it stands, they still wouldn’t be in. And I feel like they hurt their chances, if anything

tchow: Yea, I was about to say. Detroit making the playoffs might be surprising, but if you look at the East, who else would be the 7 or 8 seed that seems more probable? 56 percent seems about right to me.

neil: The Wizards basically blew everything up. (Although I was a little surprised Bradley Beal wasn’t on the move.)

chris.herring: Miami. I trust Erik Spoelstra and that group more than Blake Griffin and the Blakettes.

natesilver: If the Pistons decide they want to blow things up, then I wonder if they’d consider moving Blake this summer.

chris.herring: I guess they probably want to build around him going forward. But yeah, Blake probably should be moved. He could make several teams really interesting.

tchow: Man, I feel so bad for Wizards fans.

chris.herring: Yeah. Speaking of the Wizards, I liked the Bulls jumping in on the Otto Porter situation. Some Bulls’ fans didn’t like it. But Chicago has done literally nothing to make itself more appealing to free agents this summer. So they sacrifice that space by getting Porter, who’s young. But they at least have a young vet who is decent on both ends to put around that young core.

natesilver: There are so many teams with max cap slots open that some of these “bad” contracts, e.g. Blake or CP3 or maybe Kevin Love, could start to look like assets.

All of those guys can still play obviously, but they get very expensive in the back half of their contracts.

tchow: Aren’t all those teams waiting for the summer though, Nate?

natesilver: Yeah, I think the summer is going to be totally wild. Dallas also cleared a max slot, or close to it.

chris.herring: Yeah! The Dallas situation was big. Last week, when we discussed them, we talked about how they didn’t have space. By moving Barnes now, they do. Accelerates the timeline quite a bit, which you obviously want to do now that you have Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis together.

chris.herring: LOL

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) February 7, 2019

The way the Pelicans handled this whole scenario is ridiculous.

neil: So petty.

tchow: The NBA is the pettiest league. But that’s also what makes it the best league.

chris.herring: Although the Lakers’ core wouldn’t have had me excited to make a deal, either.

neil: No, and I think part of it was New Orleans feeling like planting a flag for the small-market teams of the league. The Lakers can’t just have anyone they want whenever they want.

natesilver: If Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram had played, like, 20 percent better this season, everything would be so much easier.

neil: That’s definitely true.

chris.herring: I think the Pelicans’ social media team just called the Lakers’ offer the equivalent of the Fyre Festival.

sorry, but hard pass on the villas in the Bahamas

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) February 7, 2019

neil: I didn’t realize FuckJerry was referring to Jerry Buss.

Lol

tchow: LOL

natesilver: But maybe the Lakers deserve some blame for that. The chemistry around the team is really weird and there are a lot of mixed messages about what their objectives are.

chris.herring: Completely. I don’t think it was ever fair to assume they could get the deal done. But I do understand L.A.’s frustration if, as reported, they weren’t even getting counteroffers back from the Pelicans.

natesilver: A lot of the better deals of the past few years, like Paul George or Kawhi Leonard or on a smaller scale Mirotic today, are just about teams being opportunistic.

Instead of trying to call their shots.

chris.herring: Yeah. It would’ve been something had Milwaukee or Toronto been able to land Davis. Probably too big of a gamble for Toronto, and maybe Milwaukee didn’t have enough outside of Giannis.

But the gamble for PG paid off; especially considering OKC generally isn’t in play for the biggest free agents because of location.

natesilver: It was sorta funny that AD’s list included the Lakers plus three teams that didn’t really have pieces that fit.

neil: Yeah, there was another conspiracy theory floating around that that was to provide cover when eventually talks circled “back” to the Lakers.

chris.herring: Yeah. It was Lakers or bust this whole time.

natesilver: If the Knicks get the No. 1 pick, what are the odds they flip it for Davis? Gotta be at least 50/50, no? It just feels like a very clean transaction.

chris.herring: Nate, I think the Knicks would be very well-positioned if they win the lottery. They would have the No. 1 pick (Zion Williamson), two recent lottery guys — in Frank Ntilikina and Kevin Knox — AND the future first-round picks they just got from Dallas.

I don’t think too many teams can touch that. Not a whole lot in the way of players who can make a big, immediate impact. But Zion alone is something you can sell to your fans, as well as a boatload of future picks. And now that the Davis saga is being pushed out to the offseason — and with Boston perhaps being put in a weakened situation, given the lack of clarity around Kyrie — the team that wins the lotto could be best position to make NOLA an offer.

tchow: Circling back to things that did happen, outside of the AD saga, the story of these trades seems to be about the moves the top Eastern Conference teams made. FWIW, this is how the top of the East looked a week ago, compared to now:

neil: I love the East horse race this season! I think the favorite changed hands, like, three times in the last few days. Everyone is making their move now that LeBron is out of the picture.

chris.herring: As they should!

tchow: The King is gone — the throne is wide-open. It’s like “Game of Thrones” in the Eastern Conference.

chris.herring: I really do like the Mirotic trade for Milwaukee. When I tweeted about it, someone said, “Yeah, but how does he help them against Golden State?” Milwaukee hasn’t gotten out of the first round since 2000. They have a real chance to make the finals now, with an elite player, offense and defense and an explosive scheme that allows them to rain threes.

tchow: So. Many. Shooters.

neil: Right, Ray Allen and Sam Cassell were Bucks the last time they were in a spot like this.

chris.herring: Mirotic isn’t perfect. But he really helped AD and the Pelicans down the stretch last year. Can certainly help Milwaukee.

tchow: All right, enough about the trade deadline. Who’s ready for the All-Star draft?

Check out our latest NBA predictions.

from News About Sports https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-eastern-conference-battle-just-escalated-quickly/

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thesportssoundoff · 8 years ago

Text

TUF Redemption: Can anybody actually get redeemed here?

Joey

Feb 27th

Let's be fair and not mine words; the TUF Redemption season is just a show. Its goal, in so many words, is to just provide some content for Fox to fill out a bit more of the FS1 schedule and add give TUF one more go. It's no longer first viewing content but a schedule is a schedule. Even the pseudo journeyman aspect of it is a departure from chasing prospects and finding new names. Nobody from this show is going to turn into a star in all likelihood and chances are even less likely that the fighter who "wins" does anything but occupy a roster spot. But can they stick? Can ANY of these sixteen guys stick around? Let's play a little guessing game and from the sixteen fighters presented, try to find who is most likely to make a home in the UFC once this is all done. NOT win the show, I'm not arguing that, just which fighter could stick around beyond the requisite 2-3 fights.

14- Tom Gallicchio TUF 22 Opening round elimination vs Marcin Wrzosek 19-9 record no UFC record 0-1 record since TUF

Soooooo I am admittedly confused as to why Tom Gallicchio got the call here. Maybe there was a lack of TUF guys for the gig (I find that a bit tough to comprehend) but he's here nonetheless. I could think of about 5 lightweights/welters I would've preferred over him (James Jenkins, David Michaud, Igor Arujao Jon Manley) but whatevs. I'm not sure what Gallicchio memorable either. He's a little bit on the smaller side and I don't see anything remarkable about him.

13- Jesse Taylor TUF 7 Finalist* 30-15 record 0-1 UFC record 24-13 since TUF

*Got removed from the spot because he's an asshat.

Jesse Taylor has a style that could totally lend itself to him winning this entire show. A bigger bodied guy who is almost certainly a middleweight (are they even fighting at a weight class here) is now being given the opportunity to fight dudes who fought as low as 145 lbs. That and if the TUF format speaks to the path of least resistance being the guy who wins then the grapple happy Taylor's got a chance. Reality though suggests that Taylor is done as even a mid level guy. Since the start of 2015, Taylor has racked up a 3-4 record and has been finished in all of those fights. He's been mostly getting thrashed by guys in Russian organizations after getting the axe from WSOF after making their MW title finale. Taylor, if he won, would probably fizzle out pretty quickly.

12- Hector Urbina TUF 19 First round elimination 17-10 MMA record 1-2 UFC record 1-2 since TUF

I like Urbina a lot. It wouldn't be wrong to suggest that Hector Urbina, at 29 years old, has a lot to still offer MMA. The problem is that Urbina's run in the UFC was really just a buoyed attempt at breaking through in Mexico. That's fine and all---but chances are Urbina wasn't UFC quality to begin with unfortunately. Last time out, Vicente Luque smoked him in a round which isn't a deathknell (Luque will be a title contender soon enough) but it was proof that Urbina lacks a real home. He's too slow for 170 lbs and not strong enough for 185 lbs.

11- Justin Edwards TUF 13 Opening round elimination 9-5 MMA record 2-5 UFC record 3-5 since TUF

Once upon a time, a Justin Edwards type would have a place in the UFC. Back in the days of Sam Stout, Yves Edwards, Piotr Hallmann and so many others holding spots at the LW junkfest table, a Justin Edwards would've fit right in as a not too good, not too bad sloppy lightweight. Unfortunately for him, times have changed and the landscape at 155 lbs is loaded up. The lightweight division is now the best in MMA (IMO) and so Edwards has no place. As a welterweight? I mean he wasn't good there either. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that Edwards probably will only stick around beyond a fight or two if he does what he normally does; has an exciting fight where he loses or gets finished in a crazy fashion.

10- Seth Baczynski TUF 11 Quarterfinals elimination 19-14 MMA record 5-6 UFC record 7-7 since TUF

Seth Baczynski deserves a lot of credit, far more than he deserves, for his success as a UFC fighter. He was apart of a flunky heavy sort of TUF class but he went on to rack up some pretty damn good success even AFTER losing to Brad Tavares and getting released the first time. Baczynski's not a bad fighter, just a guy who is somewhat limited and couldn't hide those limitations forever. It's even worth pointing out that at one point he won four straight fights in the UFC and he holds wins over Matt Brown and Neil Magny. Unfortunately this is a guy who has lost six of his last seven fights and three of those were by stoppage. He's old, the chin isn't what it used to be and he wasn't a great athlete to begin with. Seth might be done on the top level.

9- Julian Lane TUF 16 Opening round elimination 11-7-1 MMA record 0-0 UFC record 7-7-1 since TUF

I don't know why I don't have Lane higher up on this list. I guess I'm just perplexed about what he is. Of all the fighters involved, he's the natural WW who has been super active since not making the cut. He had a really impressive (at one point) four fight winning streak before the bottom fell out. He'll make for some silly fun at least during the garbage TV portions of the show.

8- Gilbert Smith TUF 17 Opening round elimination 12-6 MMA record 0-1 UFC record 7-4 since TUF

Ah Gilbert Smith. Back to the days of TUF 17 where we thought the show would produce a new crop of 185 lb talent. Tor Troeng, Josh Samman, Kelvin Gastelum, Bubba McDaniel and Uriah Hall were going to fix the ragged 185 lb division! So the TUF middleweight season only produced one truly great fighter in Gastelum but that's neither here nor there. Gilbert Smith has had a decent enough go of it outside of the UFC including wins over some solid fighters like Bojan Velikovic and Bristol Marunde. He rebuilt his stock in RFA to the point where Bellator came calling. Smith went 0-2 in Bellator, losing both fights by decision, and now he's back on TUF. Smith is a powerful dude who has improved to the point where he offers something up just about everywhere he goes. He just lacks an elite skill, isn't much of a fight finisher vs reputable competition and showed serious signs of slowing down athletically and cardio wise in recent fights. It's worth noting he's 35 years old so the time is running out on him.

7- Ramsey Nijem TUF 13 Finalist 9-6 MMA record 5-5 UFC record 5-5 Post TUF

It could be argued, by which I would not disagree, that Ramsey Nijem is good enough to be in the UFC right now. Nijem's one of the few guys to beat Beneil Dariush in the UFC and his wins tend to either be very exciting or finishes. The same could be said for his losses as well; with Nijem being finished in four of his five losses. Ramsey's well rounded, he's got power in his hands and he's a squirrely active fighter on the feet and on the ground. The problem ultimately is that his chin has never been good and he's fought some brutal competition (Carlos Diego Ferreira, Tony Ferguson, Beneil Dariush, Myles Jury, Justin Edwards, James Vick and so on so forth). What's more, Ramsey Nijem was openly vocal about how much he disliked the UFC after his release, bemoaning their pay structure and their contracts. So now he's back? This feels like a fuckjob upcoming and so IF Ramsey wins the show, chances are he won't be hanging around for too long.

6- Dhiego Lima TUF 19 Finalist 12-5 MMA record 1-3 UFC record 3-4 Post TUF

So Diego Lima is an interesting guy and one of tthe fighters who, in theory, could surely stick around if he gets the right kind of matchup. Lima's problem is that he's not his brother so the expectations were always sort of wonky. He's a decent all around fighter who can challenge you from a variety of ways. He's just not very dynamic and his chin is questionable. Since losing in the TUF finale to Eddie Gordon, he had a so-so run in the UFC (two stoppage loses and a win over a guy no longer employed) but seemed to find his groove on the regional circuit with two wins including an impressive five round decision win over David Michaud in Titan FC. He followed that up with a controversial stoppage loss to Jason Jackson (BTW where is HE on this thing?!) where his chin once again reared its head. If you protect him, he could find a place as mid level filler.

5- Joe Stevenson TUF 2 Winner of the season 33-16 MMA Record 8-8 UFC record 10-9 Post TUF

I wish I could rate Joe Stevenson higher. Stevenson is a huge part of my MMA conscious and he was a key figure for me as I got into the sport. It's crazy to think a TUF winner who fought for an interim title and has six bonus wins under his belt is now scrapping to try and save his career. Watching Stevenson's fight(s) on youtube, you can sense that the guy who once fought BJ Penn is essentially gone. Now most fighters don't age gracefully but Joe looked surprisingly slow and incapable of pulling the trigger. Maybe that's just rust. Ultimately Joe is a guy who fought as low as 145 and will be fighting guys who could probably crack at 185 lbs if not higher. I want this to end well---but chances are it won't.

4- Mehdi Baghdad TUF 22 Opening Round Eliminated 10-5 MMA Record 0-2 UFC Record 0-2 Post TUF

Mehdi Baghdad shouldnt have been released. While he's not the first fighter to get cut after pulling out via an injury, it doesn't sound like Mehdi had any sort of malice behind him. It wasn't like a certain HW claiming injury to go film a movie for instance but he was still nixed none the less. It didn't help that he had pulled outof a few fights previoussly. Mehdi's last fight was a split decision loss to John Makdessi in a fight most people thought he won, outstriking the Canadian. Baghdad's biggest weakness is that he's hittable on a show filled with power punchers and he's undersized. Otherwise I'd pick him to beat almost any 155er here on the show. Worst case scenario, he find a spot as a niche fighter at LW.

3- Hayder Hassan TUF 21 Finalist 6-3 MMA record 0-2 UFC record 0-2 post TUF

Hayder Hassan was on the Blackzilians vs ATT season of TUF and he was one of the few standouts. ATT rode him like Sea biscuit, having him five three times on the show. He went 0-2 on the show but he lost to two awesome fighters in Vicente Luque and Kamaru Usman who are beating everybody. No shame there. Hassan is a powerful guy who hits hard, has pretty great cardio and if you can overlook a few key flaws (he's hittable and his ground game is sort of kind of mediocre), there's no reason he can't be an all action addition to the UFC at welterweight. Like a poor man's Tim Means.

2- Ed Gordon TUF 19 Winner 8-4 MMA record 1-3 UFC 2-3 post TUF

So if this was a middleweight redemption deal I'd pick Gordon over anybody. He hits hard, he can wrestle, his weaknesses (mediocre grappling, eh cardio) are less likely to be exposed in a tournament format. The problem I have with Gordon, who was probably good enough to not be cut in the first place, is deciding to try a cut to 170 lbs on a reality show. That's sort of what hamstrung Sam Alvey's chances on TUF and turned him into a late notice UFC replacement down the line. It's a pretty miserable idea to be honest. Gordon is really good enough to carve out a niche in the UFC; the problem is that niche isn't too high up.

1- James Krause TUF 15 Eliminated/Didn't Qualify for the House 23-7 MMA record 4-3 UFC record 8-3 Post TUF

I mean.....he's basically the Mac Danzig of this season. He's a ringer designed to ensure that either a) a name is created by beating him or b) a competent fighter wins the whole show.

#MMA #UFC #TUF #Redemption

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beverlymunoz · 8 years ago

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Profile of a Possible Savior: Mick Cronin

Cronin! I just like saying it. Cronin. Sounds similar to Crootin’, a good sign IMO.

I agreed to do the Cronin POAPS because I thought it would be easy – I could just update the one we did 6 years ago. But I couldn’t find that old one. I realized that we HADN’T POAP’d Cronin in 2011 because the POAPS committee was so disheartened that he was a real candidate. Time proved us wrong, as discussed below.

Important Questions, In Rough Order Of Importance:

1. Has he coached teams that have won a national title, made multiple deep NCAA tournament runs, and/or consistently been highly ranked?

No. He’s advanced to the Sweet 16 only once in 8 NCAA trips. The Bearcats rank 11th in the AP poll at present, reached as high as 7th before finishing 15th in 2013-14, and have spent at least some time in the polls during 7 of the past 8 season (including this one). But they have been unranked more often than not.

2. Has he built a program from the ground up?

You could go either way on this one. Under Bob Huggins, Cincinnati reach 14 straight NCAAs and finished in the AP top 11 8 times. But Huggins was forced out in August 2005, the 2005-2006 season was played under interim coach Andy Kennedy, and understandably that all took a toll on the roster and recruiting per reports. Cronin went 11-19 in his first year. Things slowly improved – a winning record in year 3, an NCAA tournament bid in year 5. Most impressively, there has been no backsliding. Cincinnati has reached the NCAAs in each of the last six seasons, and they are a lock this year with perhaps Cronin’s best team yet.

So: Cronin did not build Cincinnati up after years from irrelevance – Huggins did that. But he did build them back up from the implosion at the messy end of Huggins’ tenure.

Before Cincinnati, Cronin was the head man at Murray State for three years. He did well there, but it is a strong program in its conference traditionally. Cronin’s predecessor had good results, as did HIS predecessor…Mark Gottfried.

3. Has he substantially improved the program from when he took over?

At minimum, you’d have to say he’s done this at Cincy.

4. Has he succeeded at more than one head coaching job?

Indeed, see above.

5. Does he have significant high-major experience as either a head coach or an assistant?

How you answer this depends on how you characterize the Cincinnati gig. More on this below. If it’s considered high-major (and I would personally), then yes. Besides his stint as Cincy’s head man, he spent three years as a Pitino assistant at Louisville, and a few years as a Huggins assistant at Cincy before that.

6. Is his team one of the best in its conference right now?

Absolutely – they are a half-game behind SMU for first in the American conference, and have compiled a gaudy 22-3 record overall, with only one conference loss (to SMU).

7. Do his teams actually play, what is this thing called, "defense"?

Yes, sir (or ma’am). D is Cronin’s calling card. His KPom AdjD rankings by year, going backwards, starting with 2017 going through 2011: 11, 16, 16, 9, 15, 24, 13. Both outstanding and consistent, and needless to say a huge improvement over what we’ve seen in recent memory. NO NC State team has EVER had a defense in the top 25 going back to the start of the KPom rankings in 2002.

Cincy under Cronin typically excels at making opponents shoot a low percentage. They don’t foul much. They do pretty well at creating turnovers. Defensive rebounding is adequate.

Review this summary from a Cronin talk on his coaching philosophy on defense and other things. Basically the opposite of what we’ve seen this year. BE STILL MY BEATING HEART:

"He believes winning teams shoot free throws and limit turnovers. That’s a commonly held belief among college coaches, but Cronin goes all-out to make it part of his game plan. If players commit bad fouls (he considers fouling a player away from the ball "inexcusable") or commit turnovers, he will not put them on the court.

His defense is driven by analytics. Cronin’s core tenets of defense are denying layups, limiting free-throw attempts and closing out on the opposing team’s best 3-point shooters—which happen to be the three most efficient ways of scoring, by any metric. That may sound obvious, but Cronin practices what he preaches, regularly sending his players video edits of their defensive miscues.

Playing time has to be earned. There are three things a player absolutely has to prove he can do before Cronin will put him on the floor: Play defense, take care of the basketball, and be in the right spot."

8. So how about offense?

Not to the level of the defense, but not awful. Cincy is 41 in the current KPom AdjO rankings, the best of the Cronin tenure. During this 7 year NCAA streak they’ve ranged between the 50s and the 110s. I haven’t seen anything about him playing a particular offensive style. Maybe it’s out there. Feel free to research on your own. I’m not getting paid for this.

9. Any indication that he can recruit McDonald’s All-American-type players?

I counted 6 Cincinnati recruits in the RSCI top 100 composite rankings during Cronin’s tenure, but 4 of those came in his first two years. Unless I missed something, he’s not really drawn big time talent to Cincinnati (but won anway).

10. Does he have any connection to NC State, North Carolina, or the ACC?

Not that I can tell.

11. Any other random red flags or positives?

1. Positive: That article I linked earlier has some good stuff about how he demands accountability and buy-in from his players, while working every day to steer them clear of negative outside influences. Read it, it’s impressive. Again, the obvious comparison to where we are now.

2. Positive: Despite having over a decade of head coaching experience at Cincy, he’s still only 45 somehow.

3. Negative? They play s l o w. Tempo down near the slowest in the country, year in and year out. Defense first, slow tempo…think something like UVA (though I think the defensive scheme is different).

This is not the way I want to play. My preferred style, as much as it pains me to say it, is UNC’s under Roy: Run like hell, balanced offense (i.e. not chucking threes all day), annihilate your opponent on the glass at both ends. But beggars cannot be choosers. If we have to play a variation of soul-deadening Bennett-ball to win, so be it. And, perhaps, with better recruiting using NC State’s platform in the ACC, Cronin could marry his stifling defense with a better offensive scheme.

4. Negative: Cronin had to sit out most of the 2014-15 season due to an unruptured aneurysm. All indications now are that he’s fine, and hopefully he is, but he seems like the typical workaholic/super-intense coach so you’d have to worry a little about his health.

Summary (note: I changed these up a bit):

Would he be better than Gottfried?

Yes. Cronin has hit a 6 seed or better 3 times in the NCAAs in his Cincy run, whereas Gott has never had that seeding at State. Moreover, Cronin’s record and philosophy describe a guy who works hard and smartly to build a sustainable program with patience. I think his ceiling exceeds Gott’s and that he would avoid the wild swings and unpredictability of the Gott tenure.

Two caveats: (1) Cronin’s lack of experience in the ACC region could hurt with recruiting; (2) there’s a possibility of a health problem (but that’s true for all of us, I suppose).

OK, so what is his ceiling?

He’s gotten Cincy to the consistent top 25-ish/non-bubble team level that we want to reach here. I don’t know if that’s his ceiling or if he could do even better with more time and the NC State platform. I’d love to find out.

Would he take the job if offered?

It seems like the answer should be "no." Mick’s a Cincy native and UC is his alma mater. He’s got them rolling.

And yet, Cronin has had dalliances with other jobs in the past. Most recently, he took a hard look at UNLV last year, to the point where UNLV’s AD alleged that Cronin reneged on a verbal agreement to take the job. Cronin, for his part, acknowledged that he "chose to evaluate his career and his life" but claims he never "officially" accepted.

Of course, Cronin was a candidate for the NC State job last time around. Reports at the time were that he wanted the job, but couldn’t take it due to a personal situation preventing him from moving. Mike DeCourcy of Sporting News, in a very good and level-headed column on our job opening, reported that we low-balled Cronin last time. If so, then he may still have hard feelings towards Yow.

So, who knows. Query whether the uncertainty around Cincinnati’s place in the college basketball pecking order gives Cronin pause. Perhaps no school has suffered more from the conference musical chairs game. The American conference includes a bunch of total non-entities in basketball – UCF, USF, ECU, Tulane. I think the conference straddles the line between high-major and mid-major. Cincy has bounced from the Metro to the Great Midwest (the what?) to Conference USA to the Big East and now the AAC. Stability and the best basketball conference in the nation might be appealing.

How would I feel if he were hired?

Great! My bottom line: Among quasi-realistic options (if you consider Marshall unrealistic), Miller and Cronin are 1(a) and 1(b), and maybe even not in that order.

How would the fan base as a whole feel if he were hired?

I think everyone would be very happy to hire a coach away from a top 20 team with Cronin’s track record. The only possible blemish on his resume is a lack of tournament success, though he’s basically performed in line with expectations.

http://ift.tt/2lrHtiB from Blogger http://ift.tt/2lganQp

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