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the-lupine-sojourner · 6 years

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Takara Yamada’s Hero Academia, Season 1 Episode 5 [Eijiro Kirishima/OC] [Female!Aizawa/Hizashi]

Hi, guys! Got past the entrance exam, so it’s on to the first day! This is a longer chapter, and even then I managed to not get in all the episode, so that’ll be next time. Sorry!

A link to a Masterlist for this story is right Here. Hope you all enjoy!

Anyway, taglist! @dailyojiromashirao and @elite-guard-hardygal, as usual. These tags are lonely, though! Who wants to keep ‘em company? :)

Anyway, they are really sweet and I hope they like this! And I hope you all like it, as well!

God Bless and Good Day!

~The Lupine Sojourner

Eijiro Kirishima:

Sorry again. We’d had this planned since the test.

Me:

No, no, it’s fine! Don’t worry about it. We can try for dinner on the first day, right?

Eijiro Kirishima:

You’re sure your parents won’t mind?

Me:

Of course not! They really want to meet you!

Eijiro Kirishima:

If you say so, yeah, we can try.

I frown. Why would he be weird about my parents wanting to meet him? Either way, it was the day we’d found out if we were going to UA or not. Eijiro had called me and neither of us had opened the letter, so I did with him on speakerphone opening his letter as well.

Turns out, there were ‘Rescue Points’, and All Might (on a projector) explained that there was a panel of judges who decides who gets how many rescue points. Katsuki got 0 rescue points, but 77 villain points.

Kiri and I got 35 each, tying us for second place for the test! Izuku, I note happily, is in 7th place with 60 rescue points!

I’d invited Eijiro for dinner to celebrate, but he’d said his family had already made plans for their own celebration, resulting in our current conversation.

Me:

Sounds good! I hope we’re in the same class!

Eijiro Kirishima:

Yeah! That’d be so cool!

There. The Kirishima I met on the bus was back. I never know where he goes or why he disappears, but I was glad he was back.

“So, what’s the verdict?” Dad asks from my doorway, smirking. I roll my eyes. He always got like this when he saw I was talking to Eijiro or Shinso.

“Unfortunately, he and Shinso can’t make it.” I explain. “Both their families already had their own celebrations planned.” I explain. Dad clicks his tongue, waving his finger at me.

“Not helping the ‘imaginary friend’ theory.” He teases. I laugh.

“Dad, I’ve shown you the texts. I’m not making it up.” I assure him.

“Yeah, yeah. Either way, dinner’s ready. Orange chicken with extra chicken and rice balls.” I grin excitedly. My favorite!

“Yay! Coming!”

=#=#=#=#=

Soon enough, April came. And, with it, the first day of school.

By the time I get up, Mom’s already gone to prepare, and Dad was eating breakfast. I yawn, rubbing my eyes and grabbing a bowl for cereal. “Morning, Tik-Tak!” He cheers.

“Morning, dad.” I reply, pouring the milk on top. “Is there coffee?” Dad chuckles.

“Yes.” I yawn again and grab a mug, adding creamer and sugar before sitting back down and eating.

“You ready for your first day of high school?” He asks. I blink, halting mid-gulp of coffee. Oh, yeah. That was today.

“...I guess.” I mumble, my stomach suddenly squirming in nervousness.

“Relax. You’re gonna do great! Besides, your mom’s teaching your homeroom class. It’ll be fine.” I grin.

“Really?”

“Yeah, but in UA, she’s your teacher first, okay?” I sober a little. Of course. It was great having my mom as a teacher (and probably Dad, too), but she was professional enough not to give me preferential treatment. It’d be interesting, for sure.

“I know.” I reply, then grin. “It’ll be great!” With that, I finish my bowl and go to my room to change into my uniform (opting to wear the stockings, as I wasn’t quite comfortable in just the skirt yet), pulling my hair into a messy bun, as well. I came out and heard a camera snap a picture, spotting Dad holding his phone. I blush. “Dad!” I bark. “What was that?!”

“My baby’s going to UA! I had to take a picture!” I sigh. Of course.

“Okay...shouldn’t we be leaving soon?” He nods, grabbing his wallet and keyring.

“Yup! Let’s get going!”

The car ride was too long and too short all at once. Soon enough, we’ve arrived. I gulp, shaking in my shoes. I was so nervous! Dad had a gentle arm around my shoulders and led me to the class I was in; 1-A.

We find Eijiro wandering, looking confused. True to his word, he got the firetruck red and spiked style. It looked...really good on him. “Hey, Eijiro!” I call, determined that it was a friendly compliment, nothing more. He whirls.

“Hey, Takara!” He calls back. I’d scolded him enough times for him to start calling me by my first name. Dad’s eyes light up and I know I’m in trouble.

“Ah, I see. Nice one, kiddo!” Dad whispers, nudging my side with his elbow. I blush scarlet and swat at his shoulder.

“Dad!” I hiss. “I told you! Quit it!” Dad then clears his throat.

“Nice to finally meet you. I’m Takara’s father, if you didn’t know.” Eijiro smiles and shakes his hand.

“Her last name gave it away, Mr. Yamada.” Dad chuckles.

“I see. Where’re yah headed, kid?” Eijiro looks around.

“I’m looking for classroom 1-A, but I can’t find it.” Dad grins.

“Never fear! I’ll lead you! You know, Takara’s in your class.”

“That’s awesome!” Eijiro cheers. I blush as we walk together in silence (Dad constantly watching Eiji and I) and arrive at the massive door soon enough. “We try to make sure everyone can use it.” Dad explains when we gape at the door. “Well, gotta get your teacher! Be back soon!” With that, he takes off. I blink.

“That was a fast departure.” I muse. I then clear my throat and face the door. “Well, shall we?” He opens the door and walks in. I’m right behind him, managing not to tremble as I look at the handful of students that had arrived a little early. One had pink skin and pale pink hair with small horn-things. Her eyes are black with golden pupils and she instantly leaps into a hug with Eijiro.

“Hiiii!” She cheers. “This is so crazy! We’re in the same class!” I am then finding myself clearing my throat, trying not to let a sudden irritation come out in my voice. What was wrong with me?

“Hi there.” I murmur. “I’m Takara.” She grins at me and squeals as she hugs me, too.

“So you’re the one Eiji’s been on about! Nice to meetcha! Name’s Mina Ashido.” I hug her back.

“Nice to meet you, too.” I then gulp as the door slams and a growl is heard. I turn to see Katsuki glaring at everyone as he sits at the far left desk in the second row. He was the only other one I know so far, so I walk over. “Oh, great.” I muse sarcastically. “I get the hothead in my class.” Fighting fire with fire might be a good way to handle this guy. He glares at me.

“What did you say, reject?” I cross my arms. Really? ‘Extra’?

“I said I got a hothead in my class.” He stands, and I try not to flinch. “Katsuki, right?”

“How’d you know that, you damn stalker?” I narrow my eyes.

“Well, I was there in the sludge villain incident. Surprised the guy could wrap that mess around that inflated head of yours.” It felt wrong insulting the kid, but it might get through to him. He scoffs, glaring at me reprovingly.

“Well, you were so attention-hungry, you and Deku jumped right in after me.” I chuckle. Maybe this guy wasn’t so bad under all the bravado and anger...but who was ‘Deku’? Izuku? “But don’t think I owe you anything. I would’ve been fine without you rejects!” Eijiro finally steps in.

“Okay, you two! Geez!” He sighs. “Look- -”

“Hey, don’t but in, Shitty Hair!” Katsuki interrupts. Eijiro growls and I put a hand on his shoulder.

“Katsuki, enough!” I bark, then deflate a little. “Look, I’m not an ‘extra’ or a ‘reject’, okay? My name is Takara. And this is my friend, Eijiro Kirishima.” No one seemed to recognize my name. Good.

“Whatever. Now, get outta my face, you damn nerds.” Katsuki growls. By now, a few more kids have joined the class, and another was just walking in. He was tall, wit- -wait...he’s the stick-in-his-butt from the entrance exam! Great!

He settles into a desk in the right back area before noticing Katsuki’s position, feet propped on his desk. Before anyone can react, the kid’s over at Katsuki’s desk. “Take your feet off that desk now!” He orders. And he’s still got that stick up his butt. Joy.

Katsuki glares at the guy, smirking defiantly.

“Huh?” He asks.

“It’s the first day and you’re already disrespecting this academy by scuffing school property, you cretin!” The guy protests. I face-palm, leaning against the desk a row back and on Kiri’s left side.

“Your old school leave a stick up yer ass, or were you born with it?” Katsuki snaps.

The kid straightens, deciding on a different tactic, putting a hand on his chest.

“Let’s start over. I’m Tenya Iida from Somei Private Academy.” Katsuki scoffs.

“Somei, huh? So you must think you’re better than me!”

“No!” I bark. “Katsuki, stop!”

“I’m gonna have fun tearing you a new one!” Katsuki continues as if I hadn’t said a word. I groan. There was just no getting through to him! Guess I was wrong about him not being so bad…

Tenya gasps. “You would threaten me, your own classmate?” He squeaks.

“Something tells me he’d threaten everyone at once if he could.” I mumble, earning a chuckle from Kirishima, and a glance from Tenya, who turns back to Katsuki.

“Are you sure you’re in the right place?” He asks. I frown. That was too close to what people say about Shinso.

“Okay, enough!” I bark, coming forward. “Both of you, knock it off!” I then sigh heavily and turn to Tenya. I’m sure he didn’t mean that Katsuki should quit and be a villain, right? So, I extend my hand. “The name’s Takara, from Nabu Middle School.” He shakes it, seeming to calm a little now that someone sane was talking to him.

“Tenya Iida.” I nod, smiling.

“Yup. I heard.” Tenya then notices something behind him and the room falls quiet. I turn and spot Izuku standing there. How long, I had no idea. But he looked extremely nervous.

“It’s him.” Tenya murmurs.

I wave. “Hey!” I greet.

“You know him?” Tenya asks. I nod and make my way over as Izuku pales with everyone’s eyes on him.

“Hi!” He squeaks. I point out the desk beside mine.

“Go ahead and take that desk.” I say. He nods, but Tenya walks past me before I can lead Izuku over to the desk.

“Good morning!” Tenya calls. “I’m Tenya Iida from- -”

“Yeah, I know.” Izuku interrupts nervously. I refrain from chuckling.

“Oh.” Tenya says, halting.

“I’m Izuku Midoriya.” Izuku introduces. “It’s super nice to meet you.” His voice wavers in nervousness.

“Midoriya,” Tenya continues, “you realized there was something more to the practical exam, didn’t you?” He asks. Izuku blinks, wondering where this was going. “You must be very perceptive and I completely misjudged you.” At least Tenya’s willing to acknowledge his faults and try to make it right. “I admit, as a student, you are far superior to me.” I almost chuckle at the way Tenya subtly shakes, as if it almost pains him to admit it. Izuku pales and I can tell he’d had no idea about the rescue points until the letter, like the rest of us. Behind Izuku, Ochaco appears.

“Hey, I recognize that messed up hair!” She cheers. “Falling Boy!” Izuku jumps, blushing and hiding his face in his hands. In trying to restrain my laughter at Izuku, I can’t hear much of what she’s saying except that she called Izuku’s punch amazing.

“Oh, hey, hi! So, uh, I sh-should probably thank you for going in and talking to them.” He says. I frown. How’d he know? I was there, but Izuku shouldn’t have known.

“Huh? How’d you know about that?” She asks. “I, er, texted him.” I call to save Izuku explaining. He seemed nervous about it, so I decided to help him out.

“Right!” Izuku replies.

“Oh. What do you think we’re doing today besides orientation?” Ochaco says excitedly. “I wonder what our teachers are like! I can’t wait to meet everyone!” Behind everyone, I spot Dad slinking away after plopping Mom’s sleeping bag down with her inside. I roll my eyes and smile at her.

“If you’re just here to make friends, you can pack up your stuff now.” Mom says. That makes everyone shut up. No one had noticed her. Izuku, Tenya, and Ochaco look at her and I help her sit up. “Welcome to UA’s hero course.” She says, unzipping the bag enough to suck down a bagged energy drink. That seems to shock the group in front of her all over again. I nearly start laughing, but hold it in. mom stands, smiling subtly my way and unzipping the bag. “It took 8 seconds for you all to shut up; that’s not gonna work.” She says. “Time is precious. Rational students would understand.” I smile at her as she scans the class, which was full by now. “Hello, I’m Shota Yamada, your teacher.” Everyone does a double take. Mom yawns and takes out a set of clothes in the UA colors, with an A across the chest and a U beneath it. I raise a brow. “Right, let’s get to it. Put these on and head outside.” My confusion increases. Was Mom not going to let us attend orientation? No one was going forward, so I walk over and take the clothes from her hands. “Thought those would fit you.” She whispers, subtly squeezing my hand. I make my way down the hall to the locker rooms I’d spotted for what I assume is this very purpose. I wonder what Mom’s having us do.

=#=#=#=#=

“A Quirk assessment test?” Everyone asks. Mom nods, her back to us.

“But...orientation.” Ochaco says. “We’re gonna miss it.” Mom shrugs, not turning around.

“If you really want to make the big leagues, you can’t waste time on pointless ceremonies.” Everyone gasps. I just nod. I was used to her apathetic nature. Mom turns and smirks. “Here at UA, we’re not tethered to traditions. That means I get to run my class however I see fit.” I honestly am not sure why everyone is shocked. Mom doesn’t appear like the person that wastes time, does she? “You’ve been taking standardized tests most of your lives. But you’ve never been able to use your Quirks in physical exams before.” She continues, holding up her teaching phone to display the common tests we’d taken. “The country’s still trying to pretend we’re all created equal by not letting those with the most power excel. It’s not rational. One day the Ministry of Education will learn.” I was a little surprised that Mom was almost mad about this. She sighs and turns to Katsuki.

“Bakugo, you managed to get the most points on the entrance exam. What was your longest throw in softball during Junior High?” Katsuki frowns.

“...67 meters, I think.” He replies. Mom nods.

“Right.” She smirks. “Try doing it with your Quirk. Anything goes, just stay in the circle.” Mom tosses him a ball as Katsuki walks into position. Katsuki stretches his shoulder and backs up a little.

“You asked for it.” He growls, then steps forward and launches the ball, screaming ‘Die!’ as he uses his Quirk (explosions). The ball soars away before landing a long way away.

“All of you need to know your maximum capabilities.” Mom continues, then holds up her phone as the ball rolls a little. “It’s the most rational way of determining your potential as a pro hero.” 705.2 meters, her phone says. Everyone gasps.

“Wow…” I breathe.

“705 meters? Are you kidding?” A boy with blonde hair (with a zig-zag black streak in his bangs) asks, raising a brow. I shrug.

“Well, his explosion Quirk would greatly enhance the ball’s momentum.” I point out.

“Ooh! I wanna go!” Mina cheers. “That looks fun!”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” A boy with flat black hair cries. “Using our Quirks as much as we want!” Mom chuckles, and I sense a touch of dark humor. Mom was having fun being creepy...and I’m not sure I’m completely immune.

“So, you think this is fun, huh?” She asks. “You have three years here to become a hero. You think it’s all fun and playtime?” I gulp. Teacher!Mom is actually kinda intimidating. “Idiots. Today, you’ll compete in 8 physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last has none and will be expelled immediately.” I take a step back. Mom and Dad rarely brought work home with them. At least, not in front of me. If they discussed teaching and hero work, it was when I was not around. This was a whole new side of my mother I’d never seen. Not even when we worked on developing my control of my Quirk. “Like I said, I get to decide how this class runs. Understand?” I gulp and nod. Shit. what kind of tests are these gonna be? “If that’s a problem, you can head home right now.” I bite my lip. Even as her daughter, I didn’t have any right to protest this teaching method. Who was I to say how Mom should do things? I don’t know what it takes to train heroes. Maybe this was the best way.

“You can’t send one of us home!” Ochaco exclaims. I nearly face-palm. “I mean, we just got here! Even if it wasn’t the first day, that isn’t fair!” Mom merely stares at her.

“Oh? And you think natural disasters are?” Mom counters cooly. “Or power-hungry villains? Hmm? Or catastrophic accidents that wipe out whole cities?” Mom had a point. A scary point, but a point. “No.” She continues, “The world is full of unfairness. It’s a hero’s job to try and combat that unfairness. If you wanna be a pro, you’re gonna have to push yourself to the brink.” She was right. We had to handle a lot as a hero. Therefore, our schooling should be an accurate portrayal of what a hero did everyday. “For the next three years, UA will throw one hardship after another at you, so go beyond, Plus Ultra style.” She finishes, smirking with a hand on her hip. “Show me it’s no mistake your here.” It felt like Mom was talking to me directly, urging me to prove my worth, even though she was willing (Dad, too) to get me in through a recommendation. I’d told them I was flattered, but that I didn’t think my Quirk was strong enough to compare to the other recommended students. I’d heard stories and watched Sports Festivals. I didn’t stand a chance that route.

“That’s what I’m talking about…” Eijiro whispers, eyes glinting in determination.

“Now then, let the games begin!” Mom calls.

=#=#=#=#=

Turns out, I did better than expected at a lot of the tests.

The 50 meter dash was hard, but basically propelling myself forward with water from a nearby hose, I was able to beat the boy with six arms I was up against. Eijiro high-fives me and the boy gives me a thumbs up. Mom smiles subtly at me as she calls the next group over.

The others had varying levels of success. Eijiro was behind his opponent by a milisecond. It was some boy with a bird head. Once everyone was done, we moved on to a training room indoors.

Next test was grip strength. The water from the hose didn’t help much. I got roughly 150% of my weight. I’d hoped for a better score, but that was that. Eijiro’s Hardening didn’t really help him, either.

“Wow! You hit 540 kg?!” The boy with straight black hair asks my previous opponent, with six arms. “You’re such a beast!”

“Yeah, like a muscly octopus!” A boy with strange purple hair adds. The six-armed one seems grateful, but doesn’t say anything.

Next was the standing long jump. Again, the water helped, and I managed to beat that purple-haired boy in front of me, who turned as we waited in line, eyeing me up and down creepily before smirking and giving me a thumbs up. I glared at him. “I’ll report you to M-Mrs. Yamada if you do that again.” I growled. He’d shut up and kept his eyes to himself after that. For some reason, I still didn’t want my classmates to know their homeroom teacher was my mom.

We continued to the next test; repeated side jumps.

Katsuki and that purple-haired creep actually got the best scores. Explosions that rocked the ground and a mound of purple balls (That apparently made up the creep’s hair. Gross!) on either side of the marked area made those scores possible. “Impressed yet?” The purple guy asks, winking. I scoff.

“Not in the slightest.” I then watch Eijiro, who went right before me this time. He got a pretty decent score, and then it was my turn. I grin and use the water to make walls to push off of. I got a pretty good score, even if I was tired afterwards. Next was the rest of the class doing the ball throw.

Ochaco got the best score, literally sending the ball to space. Mom holds up the phone, her ‘throw’ reading as an infinity symbol. “That’s insane!” The blonde-black streak boy exclaims. “How is that even possible?!”

“Her Quirk makes things float. It kept floating.” I explain simply, then it was Izuku’s turn. I swallow. So far, he wasn’t doing too well. He stood in the circle staring at the ball for a moment, then his face hardens in determination and he launches the ball. Mom steps forward, eyes glowing red. I gasp. What was she doing? The ball only goes 46 meters.

“Hey, what gives?” Izuku asks, staring at his hands. “I was trying to use it just now…” Izuku can then only flinch in shock before Mom’s in his line of sight.

“I erased your Quirk.” She calls, and Izuku gasps upon seeing her eyes. Mom then grits her teeth. “The judges for this exam were not rational enough.” She continues, her capture weapon floating around her head as well as her hair. “Someone like you should never be allowed to enroll at this school.” I flinch. That was harsh. Really harsh. However, as Mom’s student, I had no place to protest, really.

“Wait..you did what to my- -gah!” Things click and Izuku reels. “Those goggles...Yamada...I know you!” He continues. “You’re Present Mic’s wife! You can look at someone and cancel out their powers. You’re the Erasure Hero; Eraserhead!” Mom merely keeps glaring at him as the others murmur around me.

“I’ve never heard of her.” Eijiro muses.

“I have. She’s prefers to work under the radar.” I explain simply, then watch as Mom continues talking.

“You don’t have control over your Quirk. Were you planning to break your bones again, counting on someone else to save your useless body?” Izuku shakes his head.

“N-no! That’s not what I was trying to do- -ah!” Mom’s capture weapon snaps around his shoulders and drags him forward.

“No matter what your intentions are, you would be nothing more than a liability in battle.” Mom growls in a terrified Izuku’s face. “I’m sorry, Midoryia, but with your power, there’s no way someone like you can become a hero.” That does it. Student or no student, I had to do something.

“Mom, enough!” I bark, and it takes several seconds before I realize what I’d called her. Shit.

Guess the cat’s out of the bag now...

#Fanfiction #OC Insertion Series #Takara Yamada #OC #Original Character #Original Female Character #BNHA #MHA #BNHA OC #MHA OC #Eijiro Kirishima #Eijiro Kirishima X OC #Eijiro Kirishima X Takara Yamada

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junker-town · 5 years

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4 NFL teams that should be panicking the most this week

The Cowboys have lost three one-score games so far in 2019.

The Dallas coaches are failing their players (like always), the Saints looked lifeless against the Falcons, and the Bills fall apart against good teams. Also, what’s wrong with Saquon Barkley?

After a week dominated by upsets, there are a lot of teams panicking around the NFL. Let’s start with the Cowboys, who shot themselves in the foot repeatedly Sunday night.

It wasn’t hard to see what was working for Dallas. Dak Prescott was cooking the Vikings while Ezekiel Elliott couldn’t do much of anything.

Prescott finished with 397 passing yards, three touchdowns, and only threw an interception on a Hail Mary as time expired. Elliott only finished with 47 rushing yards on 20 attempts. So who did the Cowboys trust when the game was on the line? Elliott, of course.

With just under five minutes left and the Vikings leading 28-24, the Cowboys needed to go 94 yards for a game-winning touchdown. Seven of the first eight plays of the drive were pass plays and Prescott completed six of them for 79 yards. Just like that, the Cowboys were 11 yards away from the end zone.

Then Elliott was stuffed for no gain and dropped for a 3-yard loss on back-to-back plays. A fourth-down pass to Elliott fell incomplete and the Vikings took over on downs.

Whyyy are the Cowboys coaches so stubborn about forcing square pegs into round holes? It’s important to have a game plan and it’s good to have offensive balance. But coaching is also about making adjustments and adapting to the flow of the game. Dallas, now 5-4, hasn’t had that and it’s losing winnable games as a consequence.

The Cowboys played the Saints without Drew Brees, the Packers without Davonte Adams and the Vikings without Adam Thielen and lost them all.

— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) November 11, 2019

Jason Garrett’s job security has been called into question many times before, but he may finally get the boot if a roster with a top-10 offense and top-10 defense can’t win a subpar NFC East in 2019.

Panic index: The division is still right in front of the Cowboys. They’re tied for the lead with the Eagles and have a rematch with Philadelphia coming just before Christmas. It’s hard to trust Garrett and his staff not to screw things up, but the Cowboys are plenty talented enough to win in spite of them anyway.

The Saints’ offense couldn’t do anything against the FALCONS

Uh, what the heck, Saints? They were 7-1, a double-digit favorite, coming off a bye, playing at home, and facing a 1-7 team on a six-game losing streak who looked worse every week.

And then they let the Falcons dunk on them all afternoon in an embarrassing 26-9 loss. Even with their elite offensive line, the Saints allowed a defense that had seven sacks all season take down their 40-year-old quarterback six times. They were called for 12 penalties, six of them gifting the Falcons a first down. They were flagged for hands to the face four times.

Was everyone in New Orleans still “LSU beat Bama” drunk?

There’s really no explaining Sunday’s result in the Superdome. The Saints were outplayed in every way on both sides of the ball. Most worrisome was the offense, which couldn’t find the end zone at home for the first time in the Drew Brees era. The Falcons were giving up 31.3 points per game — third-worst in the league — and the Saints managed just three measly field goals.

Their running game was nearly nonexistent (52 yards on 11 carries). The usual solid third-down offense converted just 3 of 12 attempts. They were 0 for 3 in the red zone.

Some of these issues aren’t new, either. For the season, New Orleans has scored touchdowns on just 48.5 percent of its red zone trips, or sliiiiightly better than Freddie Kitchens’ Browns, who start playing their own version of “the floor is lava” game with the end zone whenever they get too close to the goal line.

This was also the fourth time this season the Saints have scored under 14 points — but the first time they’ve done it with a healthy Brees the entire game.

Last season, their offense slowed down as the season wore on, and it ended up catching up to them in the playoffs. This year, it might have caught up to them earlier. This is the type of game a contender can’t afford to lose, especially considering it could be the difference between a top seed in the playoffs and having to play on Wild Card Weekend.

Panic index: Anything can happen in a rivalry as big as Saints-Falcons. Most of us didn’t expect, y’know, the two teams to swap bodies, but that’s apparently what happened in Week 10. Still, don’t discount Atlanta’s effort; the Falcons are loaded with talent and looked like they used their bye week to actually prepare, unlike the Saints.

In that sense, this game could simply serve a reminder to the Saints to take each opponent seriously. Just like the Packers the week before, the loss could’ve been the letdown game that happens to pretty much every team once a year.

Even if the offense remains inconsistent, they still have Michael Thomas (152 receiving yards against the Falcons) and an offensive line that should be healthier in their next game than it was Sunday. They also have a strong defense that has been able to carry the team this season, despite the loss to a still-potent Falcons offense.

Going forward, their biggest defensive concern should be on the status of Marshon Lattimore, who left the game in the second quarter with a hamstring injury. He had shut down Julio Jones prior to that and as soon as he exited, Jones ripped off a 54-yard gain. They’ll need their star corner to get healthy while they continue to vie for homefield advantage in the playoffs.

The Bills’ defense can’t do it all

Buffalo ranks third in the NFL in scoring defense (16.7 points per game). It ranks third in the NFL in yards allowed. Opponents have only scored seven passing touchdowns through nine games.

Despite all this, the Bills have yet to win a game against a team with a winning record. The six teams they’ve beaten are a combined 12-44. They spent Week 10 shutting down the Browns in the red zone time after time — Cleveland turned its first two trips to the Buffalo goal line into three total points — and still lost when Stephen Hauschka’s 53-yard game-tying field goal try sliced just barely to the left of the uprights.

How’d that happen? An offense that hasn’t ranked in the top 10 in yards gained in a full season since 2000 remained mired in its mediocrity. Josh Allen, the 2018 top-10 pick whose progress as a quarterback has been a slow trudge to respectability, completed just 22 of 41 passes and failed to throw a single completion in the red zone (0-4). Devin Singletary, who’d spent Week 9 outshining two different future Hall of Famers en route to 140 yards from scrimmage, had just eight carries and three catches for a unit that never found its rhythm against a defense that ranked 23rd in points allowed before Sunday.

The Bills have a more efficient offense than the Patriots — their 5.3 yards per play is slightly better than New England’s 5.2 — but there’s little trust they can kick that group into gear when it desperately needs points.

Panic index: The Bills have scored just 12.3 points per game against opponents with non-losing records this fall. If that doesn’t change, they’ll either be one half of a mostly unwatchable Wild Card Round game or miss the postseason for the second straight season.

The Giants might need to shut down Saquon Barkley

We’re halfway through the NFL season, and 2018 Offensive Rookie of the Year Saquon Barkley has had just two games with over 100 rushing yards — in the first two weeks of the season. The Giants’ star running back missed three weeks beginning in late September due to a high ankle sprain, and hasn’t looked the same since returning on Oct. 20 against the Cardinals.

His worst performance of his career came Sunday against the Jets, when he rushed for 1 yard — yes, one yard — on 13 carries:

Saquon Barkley finished today's game with 1 rushing yard on 13 carries. Not only is this his career low in rushing yards, it's the fewest rushing yards by any non-QB on 10+ carries since Reggie Bush had -5 yards on 11 carries in a Week 9, 2006 win over the Buccaneers.#NYGvsNYJ

— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) November 10, 2019

After the game he received X-rays, but insisted this week he’s OK. Although reporters asked Barkley and head coach Pat Shurmur if the running back if he intends on sitting out the rest of the season, that doesn’t seem to be the plan for now.

“I do not agree with that idea at all ... The mindset of sitting me out and resting me for the rest of the season is beyond me. I do not agree with it and it won’t happen. I’m going to keep going until I can’t go anymore. That’s the type of player I am and I’m going to do it for my teammates,” Barkley said via Big Blue View.

Shurmur added that he has “absolutely not” considered shutting Barkley down for the season, so it appears the two are on the same page for now.

But does it really make sense for a 2-8 team to keep playing Barkley if he’s not 100 percent?

Panic Index: The good news for Barkley is that the Giants have a bye this upcoming week, so that gives him a great opportunity to get healthy before the Nov. 24 game against the Bears. If he’s healthy and Barkley feels good enough to keep playing, then the Giants should. After all, they need some kind of spark.

Quarterback Daniel Jones has 13 fumbles this season, while backup running back Wayne Gallman has just 109 rushing yards. The offensive line has looked bad and has been banged up. Sterling Shepard has only played four games due to concussions and tight end Evan Engram is dealing with a foot injury.

If Barkley doesn’t look much better after the bye, that might give the team more of an incentive to consider sitting him, though. At the very least that’d let him get healthy, and could give the Giants a high draft pick so they can get some OL or another playmaker for the future.

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footballleague0 · 7 years

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The path of this year’s #NBArank top 10 from 2011 to now

For the seventh season in a row, ESPN.com ranked the top players in the NBA. A lot has changed in the league since #NBArank started.

Who are the best ballers in the NBA? We’re counting down the top 100 for 2017-18.

#NBArank: 1-10 |11-30 | 31-50 | 51-75 | 76-100 2017 Top 10: How’d they get here? 2011 Top 10: Where are they now? Windhorst: LeBron the unbeaten champ Dray Q&A: How he soared 324 spots Lowe: Cavs need Love more than ever Fallen stars: Dirk, Dwight, D-Wade sink Still a superstar? Melo falls from top 50 A true unicorn? Porzingis in elite group 5-on-5: Debating future #NBArank stars All-Time #NBArank: History’s top 100

Back when #NBArank debuted, basketball wasn’t even being played, thanks to the 2011 lockout. Chris Paul was two teams away from teaming up with James Harden in Houston, Kawhi Leonard was a little-known rookie who wasn’t expected to do much for the Spurs, and LeBron James — who topped that year’s rankings — had yet to win a single NBA championship. James now has three titles (though, much like 2011, he is coming off a loss in the NBA Finals), and still tops our rankings, though plenty more has changed in the top 10.

Only three players who appeared in the original top 10 are still deserving of that lofty ranking, according to this year’s voters. Three of this year’s top 10 weren’t even in the top 200 back in 2011, including two who weren’t even in the NBA.

Here are Nos. 1-10 from this year, with their year-by-year rankings going back to 2011.

2017 #NBArank: 1-10

2011 team: Michigan State Spartans 2017 team: Golden State Warriors

Then: Green had shown flashes of his potential in 2010-11, becoming just the third Michigan State player ever to record a triple-double. Still, he was just a third-team All-Big Ten selection and wasn’t particularly high on anyone’s draft radar. He’d averaged 12.6 PPG and 8.6 RPG as a junior, which was his first year as a starter in college. It wasn’t exactly the profile NBA stars are made of.

Now: Green was drafted in the second round in 2012, and debuted in #NBArank that fall at No. 334 — one spot above Anthony Parker (who’d retired in the time between the rankings being compiled and being published). Green’s rise through #NBArank was as meteoric as it was unexpected. Heading into the 2014-15 season, Green was still outside the top 100. The very next year, after the Warriors won the NBA title, he was 19th and now he’s in the top 10 following a season in which he won his first defensive player of the year crown and helped the Warriors regain the Larry O’Brien trophy.

2011 team: Filathlitikos (youth squad) 2017 team: Milwaukee Bucks

Then: It can’t be overstated how far Giannis Antetokounmpo was from the NBA radar in the fall of 2011. Then just 16 years old, Antetokounmpo was playing for the youth development squad for Filathlitikos, whose senior team was in the second division of Greek professional basketball. He wouldn’t join the senior squad until the start of the 2012-13 season.

Now: Antetokounmpo spent just one year with Filathlitikos’s senior team. He had signed a contract to join Spanish squad Basket Zaragoza in 2013-14, but bypassed the Spanish ACB entirely to head straight to the NBA. As the No. 15 pick in the 2013 draft, Antetokounmpo checked in at No. 376 in 2013’s #NBArank, one spot ahead of Terrence Williams (who hasn’t played an NBA game since 2012-13). One year later, Antetokounmpo was in the top 100, last year he made his first appearance in the top 20, and now he checks in at No. 9, coming off a season in which he was named the NBA’s Most Improved Player and made an All-NBA team for the first time.

2011 team: Oklahoma City Thunder 2017 team: Houston Rockets

Then: Harden had started just five games over his first two seasons in the league, but the then-OKC reserve was seen as one of the top sixth men in the league heading into 2011-12, checking in at No. 58 in the initial #NBArank, ahead of more than half the league’s starters.

Now: The voters were right to put their faith in Harden, who rewarded them by winning sixth man of the year in 2011-12, as the Thunder reached the NBA Finals. After that he was shipped to Houston, where he blossomed into a true star (and likely would’ve been higher than 26th in #NBArank in 2012 had the voting been done after the trade). He has been a fixture of the #NBArank top 10 in every vote that has been done since he became a Rocket, reaching as high as No. 4 in 2013.

2011 team: New Orleans Hornets 2017 team: Houston Rockets

Then: 2011 doesn’t seem that long ago, but back then the “New Orleans Hornets” were still a thing, and Chris Paul was still their star. The star point guard had actually slipped to third-team All-NBA status in 2010-11, but our panel still thought of him as a first-team level player, and he rewarded them by in fact making it back there in the shortened 2011-12 season.

Now: Mere weeks after the initial #NBArank list was published, Paul was traded to the Lakers, then not traded for “basketball reasons,” then finally traded to the Clippers, where he played the past six seasons. Outside of LeBron James, Paul is the only player to rank in the top seven each year, and his current ranking of No. 7 — which he has had the past two years — is the lowest he has been. This year he comes in one spot ahead of his Rockets teammate James Harden; Paul has never not been the highest-ranked player on his own team.

2011 team: Kentucky Wildcats 2017 team: New Orleans Pelicans

Then: Unlike Draymond Green and Giannis Antetokounmpo, Davis was firmly on the NBA radar even from outside the league in the fall of 2011. The then-18-year-old big man was entering his freshman season at Kentucky as the consensus No. 1 high school recruit in the nation, and likely would have been in the NBA — and thus in the initial #NBArank in 2011 — if not for the league’s age limit.

Now: Davis wasted no time making his mark, entering #NBArank in 2012 at No. 62 — still the highest ranking for a rookie coming into the league. A year later he was No. 33, then went out and made the All-Star team for the first time, leading to him jumping all the way up to No. 3 in 2014. He peaked a year later at No. 2, when he was a trendy preseason choice for MVP honors, but injuries cost him 21 games that season. Davis has settled in to the No. 6 ranking each of the past two years, as he’s still viewed as one of the best individual talents in the league, but without some of the accolades and team success of the quintet of players ahead of him.

2011 team: Oklahoma City Thunder 2017 team: Oklahoma City Thunder

Then: Westbrook was knocking on the door of the top 10 when #NBArank debuted, landing at No. 15 in the initial rankings. Had he done nothing to improve as a player in the subsequent years, he still likely would’ve moved into the top 10, as four of the players ahead of him in 2011 — Kobe Bryant, Deron Williams, Amar’e Stoudemire and Steve Nash — are out of the NBA, while players such as Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose have tumbled out of the top 100.

Now: Of course, Westbrook didn’t remain the same player he was in 2011; he got much better. He’s a six-time All-Star who won scoring titles in 2015 and 2017, made first-team All-NBA in 2016 and 2017, and won the league’s MVP trophy a season ago. So why is he only fifth (a ranking he has earned three times in the past five years in #NBArank)? The panel likely expects Westbrook to take a step back from his historic production levels in 2016-17 as he welcomes Paul George (No. 13 in this year’s rankings) to Oklahoma City.

2011 team: Golden State Warriors 2017 team: Golden State Warriors

Then: Curry was No. 38 in the initial #NBArank, squeezed between Tyson Chandler and Eric Gordon, largely on potential. He’d already proven in his first two years that he was one of the best 3-point shooters in the NBA, but he’d still yet to average 20 points per game in a season. There was a recognition from the panel that the No. 7 pick in the 2009 draft could be really good, he just had to prove it.

Now: Curry actually took a step back in the next #NBArank voting, after an injury-plagued 2011-12 in which he was limited to 26 games. After that, though, it was nearly nothing but ascension for a player who would become the league’s first unanimous MVP. He was all the way up to No. 6 heading into the 2013-14 season and has been firmly in the top five each of the past three years. He peaked at No. 2 last year, but takes a small step back to No. 4 this year, coming off a NBA Finals in which he regained the title but teammate Kevin Durant (this year’s No. 2) won Finals MVP.

2011 team: San Antonio Spurs 2017 team: San Antonio Spurs

Then: In the first edition of #NBArank, voters weren’t quite sure what to make of rookies. That showed with Leonard, who had been the No. 15 pick in the draft a few months earlier, but landed all the way down at No. 296, squeezed between Earl Watson and Eddie House. The player the Spurs traded to get Leonard, George Hill, ranked 205 spots higher.

Now: Earl Watson is the coach of the Suns, Eddie House is a TV analyst and Kawhi Leonard is a perennial MVP candidate. In fact, Leonard has finished in the top three of MVP voting in each of the past two seasons, and has been a first-team All-NBA selection in both of those seasons as well. As far as #NBArank is concerned, Leonard is in his third consecutive year of being viewed as a top-10 player by the voting panel, and had been in the top 40 in each of the two years before that. In fact, his rookie season was the only time Leonard ranked outside the top 100.

2011 team: Oklahoma City Thunder 2017 team: Golden State Warriors

Then: 2010-11 was the second of three consecutive seasons in which Durant led the NBA in scoring, and the second of five straight first-team All-NBA selections for KD. In the 2011-12 NBA season, Durant helped lead a young Oklahoma City Thunder team to what many expected would be the first of multiple NBA Finals appearances.

Now: Durant kept up his strong play throughout the remainder of his OKC tenure as he consistently slotted just behind LeBron James at the top of ESPN’s annual player rankings (the one blip where he fell to eighth was because of the foot injury that ended up limiting him to just 27 games in 2014-15). The Thunder never got back to the NBA Finals, and Durant left in 2016 for Golden State, where he won his first title three months ago. The Finals MVP moved back ahead of teammate Stephen Curry to claim the No. 2 spot for the first time since 2013.

2011 team: Miami Heat 2017 team: Cleveland Cavaliers

Then: James was something of a controversial pick as the top player in #NBArank in 2011, fresh off a disappointing performance in the 2011 Finals (where he’d averaged just 15.3 PPG on 44 percent shooting in the Heat’s losses in Games 4-6). But the panel looked past those three games to James’ overall body of work, where he’d been the NBA’s leader in player efficiency rating, win shares, box plus-minus and VORP in 2010-11.

Now: The ultimate model of consistency and excellence, James has never relinquished his top spot in #NBArank. He won two more MVP trophies in Miami to go along with two titles, then returned to Cleveland where he led the Cavaliers to their first NBA championship. Even as James has paced himself in the regular season — leading to him slipping in the annual MVP vote — he’s still widely recognized as the league’s best player, and he regularly proves it in June. In 2016, he led both teams in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks in the NBA Finals, and this past June he became the first player in Finals history to average a triple-double.

Analysis provided by ESPN’s Adam Reisinger.

The post The path of this year’s #NBArank top 10 from 2011 to now appeared first on Daily Star Sports.

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giantsfootball0 · 7 years

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The path of this year’s #NBArank top 10 from 2011 to now

For the seventh season in a row, ESPN.com ranked the top players in the NBA. A lot has changed in the league since #NBArank started.

Who are the best ballers in the NBA? We’re counting down the top 100 for 2017-18.

Here are Nos. 1-10 from this year, with their year-by-year rankings going back to 2011.

2017 #NBArank: 1-10

2011 team: Michigan State Spartans 2017 team: Golden State Warriors

2011 team: Filathlitikos (youth squad) 2017 team: Milwaukee Bucks

2011 team: Oklahoma City Thunder 2017 team: Houston Rockets

2011 team: New Orleans Hornets 2017 team: Houston Rockets

2011 team: Kentucky Wildcats 2017 team: New Orleans Pelicans

2011 team: Oklahoma City Thunder 2017 team: Oklahoma City Thunder

2011 team: Golden State Warriors 2017 team: Golden State Warriors

2011 team: San Antonio Spurs 2017 team: San Antonio Spurs

2011 team: Oklahoma City Thunder 2017 team: Golden State Warriors

2011 team: Miami Heat 2017 team: Cleveland Cavaliers

Analysis provided by ESPN’s Adam Reisinger.

The post The path of this year’s #NBArank top 10 from 2011 to now appeared first on Daily Star Sports.

from https://dailystarsports.com/2017/09/16/the-path-of-this-years-nbarank-top-10-from-2011-to-now/ from https://dailystarsports.tumblr.com/post/165401523326

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the-usq-daily-prophet · 7 years

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Quidditch Celebrity & Why It’s Harmful

You’re a beater, and learn that your team is about to play Lone Star Quidditch Club. That means you can expect to square off against Team USA’s Michael Duquette. Awesome, you now know not to make weak throws because he’s an elite catcher, and not to look at his feet when aiming low because he’s mastered the jump dodge. You’re going against one of the best in the sport, but at least you know how to play this game.

Now you’re up against Texas State, and your first-string beater has already planned to match up against Jackson Johnson, leaving you with the minutes Ryan Nawrocki is in the game in Johnson’s place. What does that mean? Even though he’s a regional and national finalist, you haven’t seen his name anywhere or been told to watch him in Texas State film. What do you do?

Chasers, your team is about to play the Los Angeles Gambits, which means trying to stop Tony Rodriguez from single-handedly outscoring your whole team. Luckily, footage has revealed that he is responsible for nearly all of his team’s offensive output, so you can plan with your fellow chasers to double or triple team him and force the Gambits out of their comfort zone.

Now you’re up against Texas Cavalry, and while you know exactly how Augustine Monroe plays thanks to the years of coverage he’s rightfully received, you know next to nothing about the rest of his offense. Who are the biggest threats? Who relies on speed? Who relies on strength? Should you watch for picks, should you bother covering their female chaser?

There are a number of pros and cons when it comes to individualized quidditch analysis. It’s great to receive credit for your hard work and become a household name throughout your sport. Such recognition helps you land spots on Team USA or get picked early in fantasy drafts. Unfortunately, it means teams also know exactly how to play you. If you’re a seeker who always dives to one side, snitches know to protect that side and seekers know to try to block you in a way that forces you out of your comfort zone. If you like driving left, teams will force you right. If there’s a certain player you love to pass to, expect that pass option to disappear.

The first University of Texas team to win Nationals was filled with quidditch celebrities, but many consider that squad to be the best to ever play the sport not because of the individual performances, but because all of those stars worked together as a unit and seemed to be fully aware of each other’s capabilities and limitations. Teamwork and cohesion were what defined UT, and those values have continued to be essential at every Nationals since then. Having an all-star team of athletes historically hasn’t been enough - you’ve needed to focus on cohesion and team unity, more than recruitment. We barely knew anyone on the second UT championship team, and knew even fewer players on the third championship team. How’d they win? They were the best team, rather than the best gathering of star athletes. This year, Texas Cavalry won despite Lone Star picking up Team USA’s Tyler Walker and Michael Duquette and thus fixing their slight inadequacies in the male beater department. Is it a coincidence that yet another team filled with unknowns won a tournament that should have been dominated by a team of undeniable all-stars? Maybe not.

When you’re a quidditch celebrity, you’re expected to provide the crowd with highlight reel-worthy plays. Stevie Bell is expected to throw that alley oop to Simon Arends. Michael Duquette always has to catch a bludger while simultaneously beating his target. Kody Marshall has to drive through several defenders to make an important dunk. Stars seemingly don’t feel right making the boring - but often correct - play. How often do you see Tony Rodriguez opt to make a pass to a teammate over taking an opportunity to plow through an entire defense single-handed? How often does Daniel Daugherty take long shots, even though he has an open chaser waiting next to an unguarded hoop? We love them for their flair and finesse, but we can’t deny they’d be even better if they occasionally abandoned the flash for the fundamentals. If Lone Star’s star quaffle players were willing to wait until bludger control instead of always relying on their athleticism, they wouldn’t fallen prey to turnovers and fast breaks which put them out of range against BosNY. If their Team USA beaters didn’t feel a need to do more than their share and tap out virtually everyone while also trying to engage opposing beaters, they could have focused on stopping goals on defense. While Cavalry’s team filled with lesser known role players was content sticking to the basics during regulation and even playing slowball during SOP to keep control of their game, Lone Star never abandoned their regular play style, not even when things were looking rough and the game’s momentum wasn’t in their favor. Individuals kept playing like individuals, instead of trying to play like a team. Cavalry never had that problem. Maybe it’s because they’re simply a better team, or maybe... the fact that their players don’t have names on their backs because they’re playing for the name on the front of the jersey is actually significant. Maybe that selflessness and cohesion is why they won a tournament that was Lone Star’s to lose, and why each season, all-star teams fall to teams who find enjoyment not only in winning, but in playing with their friends.

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junker-town · 5 years

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The Donovan Mitchell superstar blueprint

Donovan Mitchell has to raise his game to another level for the Jazz to be a true title contender.

For the Jazz to be the best in the West, Mitchell needs to take his game to another level. Can he do it?

Donovan Mitchell’s team needed a rebound, and he was ready to do anything necessary to get it. Before Turkey’s Cedi Osman could react, Mitchell’s chest was above his head. By the time he jumped, Mitchell’s fully extended right arm was batting the ball out of the sky. Before he could process losing one of the most important rebounds in Turkey basketball’s history to a guy seven inches shorter, Osman watched that same player step through a trap and find Jayson Tatum standing well beyond the three-point line.

This is the ruthlessness Jazz fans have come to adore out of Mitchell. “Enter, Spida-Man Mitchell,” read the recap from SB Nation’s Jazz site SLC Dunk, referencing his ubiquitous nickname while evoking images of Peter Parker swooping in to snatch an innocent child from a collapsing building. That the rebound came in the game’s most important moment is exactly the point. Few players period, much less ones Mitchell’s age, are better at erasing 39 minutes and 50 seconds of spotty play with one Holy Shit! sequence.

The thing is, those 39 minutes and 50 seconds of spotty play count, too. In that time, Mitchell shot 3-12 from the field, struggled on defense, and committed a back-breaking turnover on the previous possession. Gregg Popovich benched him for most of the ensuing overtime, despite his pre-tournament status as the co-star of the team along with Kemba Walker. Did that clutch rebound save a poor performance, or merely obscure it?

This is the challenge of properly rating Mitchell. He has all the bona fides of a cornerstone player. He can score at all three levels. He’s willing to pass and possesses excellent vision. He takes over when he feels he must, but also functions in a team setting. He galvanizes the fanbase with signature moments, both glamorous and blue collar. He has elements of prior stars’ signature style, aggregated to create his own. He’s high-flying, but also smart enough to adjust to the flow of games. All that means he implants many unstoppable moments and games into our memory, such as his 27-points-in-three-quarters scorcher in the quarterfinal loss to France three games later.

Now is the time when the Donovan Mitchell star equation needs to add up

Yet so far, those elements have added up to something less than the sum of their parts. Mitchell’s pejorative reputation as a volume scorer is more than fair. Of the 38 players that ended more than 25 percent of his team’s possessions while on the floor last season, Mitchell ranked 31st in true shooting percentage, 29th in effective field goal percentage, 34th in two-point percentage, 28th in player efficiency rating, 29th in win shares per 48 minutes, and 24th in free-throw rate.

Now is the time when the Donovan Mitchell star equation needs to add up. The Jazz took off the kid gloves this summer, trading significant future assets for 32-year-old Mike Conley, then handing 30-year-old Bojan Bogdanovic a four-year, $73 million contract. Mitchell and the Jazz are suddenly overflowing with elite spot-up shooting, a wide open floor, and secondary playmaking after having significant deficiencies in all three during his career. With the NBA landscape resetting after a wild free agency period, the Jazz have picked the perfect time to level up.

But for Utah to be a serious title contender instead of merely a paper tiger, Mitchell has to actually play like the star guard he occasionally mirrors. For that to happen, Mitchell must follow the path another electric young guard walked.

Nine years ago, third-year point guard Derrick Rose fielded a question about his ambition during the Bulls’ preseason media day.

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”The way I look at it, why can’t I be the MVP in the league?” Rose said. “Why can’t I be the best player in the league? I don’t see why not.”

The claim was outlandish at the time. On Oct. 26, 2010 — a month after he put the thought of winning MVP in the public’s head — Rose was listed with 18/1 odds to win the award, behind a list of 11 players that included Brandon Roy (15/1), Amar’e Stoudemire (15/1), Steve Nash (12/1), and Carmelo Anthony (6/1). After Rose defied the odds to become the youngest MVP in league history, that bold preseason quote became iconic.

Rose’s production improved that season in two significant ways. One was by replacing many of his long two-point jumpers with threes. The other was by making the same change in technique and mentality that Mitchell must now make. Rose was more ruthless all the time, and not just in brief moments.

It may sound odd now, but Rose was an inefficient scorer around the hoop, the very area his skill set would suggest he dominate. He was such a gifted athlete that he jumped to avoid contact rather than seek it.

In practice, that meant he took a lot of floaters and off-balanced layups instead of on-point layups and free-throws. In 2009-10, Rose took twice as high a percentage of his shots (64 percent) from short and mid-range areas as he did at the rim (32 percent), according to Cleaning the Glass. Meanwhile, he scored only 4.66 points per 100 possessions at the free-throw line and shot less than 54 percent on shots classified as layups. He was just good enough playing this way to think he was maximizing his best self, but he wasn’t.

Rose spent the summer of 2010 improving his technique to address that shortcoming. In an interview with Chicago Magazine, Rose said that after watching film over the summer, he discovered that he was “picking up the ball too early.” The new Bulls’ coaching staff noticed he often drove without a plan, so Tom Thibodeau urged Rose to attack, in Rose’s words, “north-south,” and “not as much east-west.”

The difference year-to-year was staggering. In his MVP season, Rose took nearly as high a percentage of his shots around the basket (39 percent) as he did in the two mid-range areas combined (41 percent). His shooting percentage on layups rose to 58 percent, and he jumped up to 8.33 free-throw points generated per 100 possessions.

Rose was no more powerful or athletic in 2010-11 as he was in his first two years. He just applied those traits more consistently by cutting out the cute stuff. Rather than use his power to produce fancy moments, he channeled that energy into consistent, punishing pressure on the basket. That in turn made him a more efficient player, one whose collection of offensive skill and athleticism actually added up to the sum of its parts.

Those technical improvements stemmed from a change in mindset. As he told Sports Illustrated: “The best players are killers all the time.” (He didn’t say “on the basketball court,” but let’s assume it was implied).

Is Donovan Mitchell a killer all the time? He certainly is a killer some of the time, often when his team needs a hoop. But these are not the finishes of a killer. Instead, they’re the finishes of a player operating as if he gets bonus points for degree of difficulty.

These were shots Mitchell took in crunch time, but his tendency to make the simple play complicated was even more pronounced during the flow of the game.

These were the shots Mitchell fell in love with, so it’s no wonder his overall scoring efficiency plateaued. Twenty-nine percent of his shot attempts were classified as “short mid-range” (between four and 14 feet) last year, according to Cleaning the Glass. That put him in the 93rd percentile for players at his position and was more than 10 percentage points higher than his portion of shots from that range as a rookie.

That section of the overall pie was gobbled up from a combination of all other zones on the court. Mitchell ended up taking proportionally fewer shots from every other spot on the court, all so he could take more floater-range shots. How’d he shoot on said attempts? Thirty-six percent, a conversion rate lower than from any other zone.

Thirty-six percent on short mid-rangers isn’t horrible — it puts Mitchell in the 37th percentile at his position on such shots, according to Cleaning the Glass — but it’s not great. Mitchell has the capability of getting better looks for himself than this, even if he sometimes makes them.

This leads to an obvious question: why didn’t he generate more efficient shots last year?

One popular reason is that he was victimized by Utah’s cramped spacing. He had to take these shots, the theory goes, because he had no driving lanes to create anything better. This is a modified version of the who else gonna shoot line of thinking that has been used for years to explain away the low efficiency of high-usage stars.

There’s some truth to this claim — otherwise why replace the bad shooters with great ones this summer? — but the effect is overstated. If Mitchell really was a victim of his team’s cramped spacing, you’d think he’d generate better shots when the Jazz ran out lineups with more shooting in them.

However, lineup data suggests otherwise. In both seasons, Mitchell has been more efficient and taken fewer short mid-range shots with notorious non-shooter Ricky Rubio in the game than with him on the bench. Even more significantly, Mitchell was actually more efficient and took fewer floater-range attempts with both Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert on the floor, as opposed to just one of them.

(It should be noted that the opposite was true when Mitchell was a rookie. Still, the data clearly doesn’t show a consistent trend of Mitchell performing better without those two bigs clogging up the paint).

The reasons for Mitchell’s inefficiency have more to do with Mitchell himself than his surroundings. In particular, his technique is surprisingly poor for someone with his level of athleticism. Like pre-2010 Rose, Mitchell picks up his dribble far too early, though for a slightly different reason. Whereas Rose often looked to pass too early, Mitchell starts his shooting motion too soon. He thinks that he can cover all this ground with two steps and a gather and finish on balance, but he simply can’t. He’s a 6’3 guard, not Giannis Antetokounmpo or LeBron James.

The whole point of taking two long steps after the gather dribble is to set up the defender with the first step, then tap-dance around or bulldoze through them with the second. That’s why the Eurostep is such a devastating move: it pulls the defender one way, then goes back the other. But by picking up his dribble so soon, Mitchell removes the setup effect of that first step.

That makes his drives a lot easier to defend than they should be. Canny defenders can hang back knowing that no matter how large that first step is, it’s not going to cover enough ground to force them to react. Without that reaction, the second step that’s supposed to go around or through them is functionally useless. That’s why Mitchell second step is often sideways rather than forward, and it’s why he throws up so much junk like this.

Mitchell’s balance at the point of attack also hurts him in these situations. He has a tendency to veer outward before advancing to the cup, rather than moving in a straight line. That’s a bad habit because it allows his primary defender to slide back into position and angle him off. It’s common to see Mitchell appear to get a step on his man, only for them to recover and force an ineffective sideways Eurostep that turns into more junk.

Even when Mitchell does get closer to the hoop, he attempts too many wrong-footed layups that lack the necessary power for strong finishes and/or drawn fouls. Mitchell’s leaping ability is second to almost none in the NBA, but that doesn’t mean he’s strong enough to negate bigs from this position.

Wrong-footed layups are an essential part of any player’s diet these days, but they’re best used for quick finishes when the offensive player already already has an angle on a rim protector. They’re much less effective when that driver is coming straight at them.

Just like Rose, Mitchell’s improved technique must also come with a change in mentality. Too often, Mitchell plays like a magician eager to show off all his tricks in a single act. Opponents don’t fear Mitchell’s diverse palette of moves. They fear his theoretical ability to put pressure on the basket with powerful, high-flying drives.

Similarly, Mitchell’s playmaking should service his hard drives, not the other way around. Subtlety is nice, but too much subtlety is counterproductive. On plays like these, Mitchell should be attacking decisively to dunk on the entire state of Texas, not trying to impress them with a side-to-side tap-dance floater.

There’s a place for careful surveillance of the court, but Mitchell is too athletic to be playing so indecisively. Hit the damn hole!

Put another way, Mitchell needs to be more ruthless. We know he has it in him, because he’s already shown an edge in so many high-pressure situations.

But to be the player the Jazz need to be taken seriously as a title contender, he needs to heed Rose’s words. Killers are killers all the time, not just some of the time.

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