Originally Posted by VaughnP
https://twitter.com/twt/status/1898889097357209876
https://twitter.com/twt/status/1898889097357209876
PokerFraudAlert...will never censor your claims, even if they're against one of our sponsors. In addition to providing you an open forum report fraud within the poker community, we will also analyze your claims with a clear head an unbiased point of view. And, of course, the accused will always have the floor to defend themselves.-Dan Druff
Do you think this is a dig? So Jokic scores 24 on 23 shots and 6 fts despite rarely driving and Holmgren is a +33 because he offers no resistance at rim and you somehow walk away thinking the Nuggets scoring 103 points and losing by 20 is a win? This is why he is the MVP. Two sides to the game.
The "MVP" leads the league in in field goal attempts per game. The MVP is 41st in effective field goal percentage - obviously this category favors big men, but amongst guards he's ranked 12th. The guy is a decent player, but this is more a situational thing making him look like something that he's not - something akin to a younger Kawhi if he was a worse defender, worse shooter, yet a ball hog combined with James Harden on the Rockets. Steph Curry has had 5 seasons with an EFG in the 60s to give you a comparison to an actual, modern hall of fame level guard.
https://twitter.com/HyattStats/status/1899159090536100277
Again, more numbers that not only show the impact Jokic has but provide more indications that SGA is greatly benefiting by being the first option on a really good offensive team. It is not as simple as this, but it at minimum is an indicator.
Can confirm. I've watched a few Denver games when Jokic was missing, and they just looked terrible.
I don't see this team making it deep in this year's postseason.
Also, don't look now, but the Lakers are #2 seed in the West. They could easily end up facing the dysfunctional Clippers in the first round.
I took a little bite on TWolves +3200 to win Western Conference. They are both a dumb and inconsistent team, but Randle is playing within himself when healthy and when I look at the western conference and think to myself who could theoretically get hot and go on a run, it’s the TWolves. They have been playing Randle as a point forward quite a bit and he looks way more engaged and has been having a lot of assists in addition to his normal game. I can’t believe I’m talking nicely about Randle.
You have OKC sitting up top. Then Denver who is just not good enough imo. Then Lakers and I’m not sure they are going to be healthy enough and no bigs. Then GS who is both old and those 2 are not quite enough imo. Then you have Memphis who is also a special needs basketball IQ team at +2000 and TWolves at +3200. I like the Wolves better.
They are tied for last non play in spot with GS. Both teams hot with 5 and six wins in a row.
I just look at those teams above them and think who do I really think they lose a 7 game series to for sure and besides OKC, I’m not sure I like any of them to beat them. Problem is they are going to have to go through OKC most likely before the finals, so the hedging opportunities won’t be as good. They just have that type of team who is a handful in the playoffs imo. Big bodies, athletes, defense.
Reducing him down to this is stupid and terrible and proves you don't watch basketball.
PokerFraudAlert...will never censor your claims, even if they're against one of our sponsors. In addition to providing you an open forum report fraud within the poker community, we will also analyze your claims with a clear head an unbiased point of view. And, of course, the accused will always have the floor to defend themselves.-Dan Druff
https://twitter.com/twt/status/1900298595779174526
You know you’re loving your team a little bit too much when you watch this video and the camaraderie is secondary to being the overprotective mom thinking don’t get hurt.
They are really good. I still can't shake the history of Mitchell teams overperforming in the regular season only to get waxed in the playoffs but there's basically no statistical case against them. Did not think I would ever like watching Donovan Mitchell play basketball after growing weary of those Utah teams but here we are.
Would love to see them throttle the Celtics, weirdly I've grown to like watching Tatum more but their team overall less. Really hope the NBA does something about putting a cap on three point attempts, Celtics shot over 60 in that OKC loss and it was brutal to watch.
Also nice that Portland is fun to watch after being garbage since 2020. I went to Knicks-Blazers this week and it was one of the best regular season games I have ever seen.
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Detroit looks for real as well, saw them last week in Portland.
Probably not good enough to get out of the first round but a fun team that plays super hard.
If I'm Cleveland or especially Boston I would want no part of them, they would win but it would be hard fought. The east will not be the cake walk it was for Boston last year.
PokerFraudAlert...will never censor your claims, even if they're against one of our sponsors. In addition to providing you an open forum report fraud within the poker community, we will also analyze your claims with a clear head an unbiased point of view. And, of course, the accused will always have the floor to defend themselves.-Dan Druff
I really liked JBB as far as he’s a guy who keeps your locker room together and gets them to play hard, but you get into a series where it becomes about film breakdown and such, I was frustrated by him to no end. Forget drawing up a play coming out of timeout. He was league worst at that. I agree Detroit is at right stage of development where he will benefit them. He’s a starter coach once you have a few guys that helps develop good work ethic. They have a few really nice players and are on their way up. Cade in particular.
The Cavs are just mowing real teams down. They coast against bad teams. They rest Donovan and Hunter and walk into Memphis and bludgeon them. Mobley dominated JJJ for second time in a row.
Every time you see some national guy on twitter say something nice about Cavs, the Knicks and Celtics fans are talking that fake Hawks team. They ain’t that. The Knicks fans are delusional.
The notion that wait until the playoffs come and rotations get shorter hurting us is a little silly imo. No one has played less minutes than our starters. Every time the Celtics play a good team Tatum is over 40 when I look. Brown and White close. We literally have one guy averaging over 30mpg. We are just that deep. Even in that huge comeback against Celtics Kenny stays the course and the most anyone played was 35. Whole Boston team was near 40 or over So imo they are already playing close to playoff minutes and we aren’t. Obviously Porzingas being injury prone and Jrue being dinged hurt them. Jrue and Derrick white are scariest guys on Celtics from Cavs perspective. You know Tatum will get his shots. Jrue defense is part that scares you.
Doesn’t mean I think we beat them for sure. They are the champs for a reason. They are a really hard math problem to solve, but it’s closer than most think.
Brown, Tatum and Mitchell are all around same age. Tatum a year young. And Mitchell is our vet. All those Knicks guys like Kat, Brunson, and OG are older than Mitchell. And all have played obscene minutes for Thibs.
We are young, deep, and we are going to be well rested.
Nice win by your Blazers sloppy and Gut even though they seemed intent on making me sweat.
Caught this late only for them to fall down even further to where I was counting it as a loss before the late rally.
Single
@
+180
Won
Mar 16 • 2025 At 07:39:43 PM
Ticket ID: 88714747
Moneyline: POR Trail Blazers
TOR Raptors @ POR Trail Blazers
I feel like they have become the most predictable team over the last month. They will beat teams worse than them, lose to better teams. 2 of their regulars will shoot horribly, pick any random 2!
Its stage 3 of a 5 stage rebuild. A solid .400 winning percentage team. Aka the Bulls for 10 years now.
https://twitter.com/strifeomg/status/1901496357057159650
LeBatard brings up the obvious question. If you're not familiar with him, he had for years the most popular sports radio show and podcast in the country, which was simulcast on ESPN networks, and was also the host and creator of Highly Questionable. Before all of that he was and still is a well respected journalist based out of Miami. He is friends with both Pat Riley and the Heat ownership.
I listened to his show pretty regularly for years. He would often bring up PEDs and LeBron but always cut himself off before saying too much about the golden boy. One got the strong impression that it was basically an open secret. The connections of everyone in LeBron's orbit to steroid clinics is enough in itself, and let's not forget the whole "steroid vacation" debacle.
In high school I knew more than one highly recruited athlete, what did they have in common? Openly admitting to juicing. Kids start this shit early. One thing that has essentially been memory holed is LeBron having a tumor removed from his parotid gland in 2009.
"Possible Links Between PED Use and Parotid Gland Tumors
1. Anabolic Steroids and Hormonal Changes
• Anabolic steroids (testosterone, synthetic androgens) can cause hormonal imbalances that may influence the growth of certain tissues.
• While there’s no strong evidence directly linking steroids to parotid gland tumors, excessive hormone use has been associated with salivary gland hypertrophy and possibly benign growths.
2. Human Growth Hormone (HGH) and IGF-1 Stimulation
• HGH and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) are often abused by athletes and bodybuilders.
• IGF-1 promotes cell proliferation, which may increase the risk of tumor development, including in salivary glands.
• Some studies suggest an increased risk of benign tumors (pleomorphic adenomas) or malignancies in tissues affected by IGF-1.
3. Insulin and Other Metabolic Manipulators
• Some athletes misuse insulin or related drugs to enhance muscle growth.
• Insulin and IGF-1 share growth-promoting properties, potentially influencing tumor development in various glands.
4. Chronic Inflammation and Immune Disorders Suppression
• Certain PEDs (e.g., corticosteroids, immune-modulating substances) alter immune function and may contribute to chronic inflammation, which can increase the risk of tumor formation.
5. Salivary Gland Enlargement in PED Users
• Some bodybuilders using HGH or steroids have reported swollen parotid glands, which may reflect glandular hyperplasia (excess growth).
• While this does not directly indicate tumors, chronic stimulation of growth factors in the salivary glands could create a more favorable environment for tumor development over time."
I would bet every dollar I have against a McDouble that he has routinely abused HGH and other PEDs since he was a teenager. Now he is likely cycling in the offseason and doing some sort of advanced blood doping for recovery throughout the season.
I had Raptors +6.5. So was definitely sweating bullets the last 6 minutes of the game.
Agree, not sure what the cocktail is but he's rarely gotten hurt and still can look like the most dangerous player in the league when he's feeling it.
If he was just still pretty good most of the time I might think differently but he goes from looking more than washed to absolute elite. Was taking two weeks off all the way back to 2016, maybe even earlier.
I posted earlier but think his groin injury is mostly bullshit to get his ass in the lab before the playoffs. He had been playing all out since even before Luka.
To my knowledge it's never been more than chatter but pretty clearly hrs on something illicit.
The guys who get caught are never stars and probably just had a sloppier program in place. It's probably rampant.
PokerFraudAlert...will never censor your claims, even if they're against one of our sponsors. In addition to providing you an open forum report fraud within the poker community, we will also analyze your claims with a clear head an unbiased point of view. And, of course, the accused will always have the floor to defend themselves.-Dan Druff
I posted this on March 9. I see it's catching on now perhaps because LeBatard is discussing it.
I think players slip under the radar in the NBA with the juicing, because that's more known as a baseball thing. A guy crushes 40 HR in his late 30s, people immediately think roids. Lebron has the muscular body of a young man and plays like one at age 40, and people just talk about how undeniably great he is.
I really think there's a good chance he's the Bonds of the NBA -- a super-talented guy who decided he didn't want his career to fade with age.
Could you see the NBA, or the mainstream sports media for that matter, pressing a Lebron roid narrative? It would be suicide to do so.
I am a Lakers fan, but I can't help but think these rumors are true.
Stephen A. Smith had made some remarks about Bronny not being ready for the NBA, and Lebron took it personally, and angrily confronted Smith at a Lakers game.
In an interview following the confrontation, Smith is shockingly muted (dude is usually screaming) and seemingly shaken.
Smith recently signed a 5-year, $100m deal with ESPN (what???), so he's basically untouchable, even by someone like Lebron. Still, you can see how Smith is nervous about the whole thing, perhaps fearing that Lebron will exert some kind of influence to harm his career.
The whole Bronny thing is a disaster. It was clear for a long time that the kid just doesn't have NBA level talent, nor does he have the size to perhaps make up for it. Bronny is under 6'2" and not muscular nor big framed.
Lebron clearly wanted the father-son NBA moment, and he got it, but much of it at the expense of his kid, who is routinely derided in sports social media. Had Bronny attempted an NBA career but failed due to lacking his dad's talent, it would be a non-story. Most sons of pro athletes don't go on to make the pros themselves. Lebron's genes got diluted, the kid took more after his non-athlete mom, and that's that.
I don't often share Atlantic articles, but this one about Bronny is a good one: https://archive.ph/vBDtC
I do feel a little bit bad for Bronny. He seems like a nice kid. He may not have inherited his dad's talent, but he also seems to have dodged inheriting Lebron's arrogance. I'm sure a lot of him wishes that he chose a different career path.
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