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http://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/20/politics/lavar-ball-interview-cnntv/index.html
(CNN)LaVar Ball denies being in a feud with President Donald Trump, but repeatedly refused to issue a "thanks" to the President for his involvement in the release of his son from China.
"Why would I be in war with a guy ... the most powerful man in the world?" Ball said Monday night when asked about his back-and-forth with the President by CNN's Chris Cuomo.
"Did he help the boys get out? I don't know. ... If I was going to thank somebody I'd probably thank President Xi (Jinping)," LaVar Ball said.
His comment came a day after Trump tweeted that he "should have left them in jail," referring to Ball's son and two other UCLA basketball players who were arrested on suspicion of stealing sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store while their team was in China.
"Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal," Trump tweeted. "I should have left them in jail!"
Last week, Trump questioned on Twitter whether he would receive any thanks for his role in the players' release.
"Do you think the three UCLA Basketball Players will say thank you President Trump? They were headed for 10 years in jail!" Trump wrote on Twitter.
And although the players themselves expressed gratitude to the President at a news conference, LaVar Ball minimized Trump's involvement in the matter.
"Who?" he told ESPN when asked about Trump's role in the situation days after their release. "What was he over there for? Don't tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out."
In an interview with CNN Monday, LaVar Ball defended his son's actions and talked around thanking the President.
"It wasn't like he was in the US and said, 'OK, there's three kids in China. I need to go over and get them.' That wasn't the thought process," he told Cuomo.
"I say thank you when I see something," LaVar Ball later added.
"If you help, you shouldn't have to say anything," he said. "Let him do his political affairs and let me handle my son and let's just stay in our lane."
The interview concluded on a festive note, with LaVar Ball wishing Trump a happy holiday.
"Tell Donald Trump to have a great Thanksgiving," he said.
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On November 21 2017 14:26 cLutZ wrote:Show nested quote +On November 21 2017 12:49 JimmiC wrote:On November 21 2017 12:11 cLutZ wrote:
That is all a mis-evaluation of the narrative. The narrative was that if Lebron had a heart attack, the next best East team would be lucky to force any of the top 5 in the West to a game 6. There was usually a couple of top teams like when lebron was with mia there was bos with kg pierce and allen that had a chance to win (and did) We are mostly talking about years that Lebron won the East, or more-so, since he won his first title. A significant part of the "Lebron is a top XXX player all time" case lies with his 7 straight finals appearances, and thus, the context that the East has mostly been trash is relevant. If his legacy was all about titles, the East being trash would be a footnote, because people would say, "it looks like trash because his teams are the best". I'd say this came to a head in 2016 when it was pretty clear that OKC basically cost Golden State a game or 2 in the finals by just beating them up physically and getting Draymond some techs (and more importantly a reputation).
So true
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On November 21 2017 12:49 JimmiC wrote:Show nested quote +On November 21 2017 12:11 cLutZ wrote:
That is all a mis-evaluation of the narrative. The narrative was that if Lebron had a heart attack, the next best East team would be lucky to force any of the top 5 in the West to a game 6. There was usually a couple of top teams like when lebron was with mia there was bos with kg pierce and allen that had a chance to win (and did)
Lebron was still in Cleveland when Boston was on top.
Regardless, the east was maybe 2 teams deep for most of the past 20 years while the west frequently had 4-6 contenders. Not to mention that the 7th and 8th seed in the east frequently had losing records.
Remember the 2013-2014 season? A 48 win Suns team failed to make the playoffs in the west. Toronto and Chicago had 48 wins and home court advantage in the east.
Or what about the 2014-2015 season? The defending champion Spurs went from the 2nd seed to the 6th seed by dropping their last game of the season and then lost in the first round in 7 games to the Clippers. Rockets, Clippers, Grizzlies and Spurs all had 55-56 wins that season.
The east had a winning record vs the west in maybe all of 1 season in a very long time. Being ahead this early in the season doesn't change any of that. Or maybe they'll have a winning record vs the west for probably the second time in 20 years. Woohoo
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as i noted earlier in the year Wiggins effort level on defense has gone up substantially. I think the increased effort is yielding results. He has gone from the worst defensive small forward in the NBA to being below average.
i think when you are not trying very hard you can't learn anything. Wiggins is making mistakes; Now that he is trying hard he can learn and grow. A plethora of diverse defense metrics pointed to Wiggins being horrific last year as a defender. Now those same metrics indicate he is merely below average.
what i'm seeing with my eyes seems to match what the defense metrics indicate.
for the purposes of brevity here is my favourite defense metric. Real Plus/Minus.
http://www.espn.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/page/2/sort/DRPM/position/5
Wiggins is #75 in this list.
it'll be interesting to see if Wiggins maintains this higher effort level on defense as the season grinds on...
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On November 22 2017 05:53 JimmiC wrote:
I just remember bos still being good and ray allen leaving to the heat because he hated rondo.
Allen was also in constant trade talks for 2-3 years. He just outmaneuvered Ainge and the management by leaving instead of being traded,
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On November 22 2017 08:21 JimmiC wrote:
As discussed so much earlier these stats are not the be all end all. Wiggins effort going up? Your scout eyes see this? I think it has a lot to do with butler being there and Wiggins guarding in his more natural position and often the second best player instead of the first.
Treating this as any sort of ranking is so foolish Kyrie Irving showed this, there is no way he went from one of the worst defenders to one of the best in an off season. Its far more likely that the bos system has his collect a few more rebounds which are clearly one of the big factors since centers all have super high numbers and guards low.
And much like the all the talk about Russ's triple doubles last year, a teams scheme can make certain people get more rebounds and that does not make them a better player/defender.
What is amazing is how you can see this and then find some justification for why the stat is still right instead of the much more obvious answer that it is somewhat interesting to look at it but does not tell what you think it does, which is rank players defensive abilities.
Edit:also when did you say Wiggins effort level went up? I feel like I would remember if you were not shitting on him.
There you go again getting yourself catfished into a garbage discussion.
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On November 22 2017 08:21 JimmiC wrote:
As discussed so much earlier these stats are not the be all end all. Wiggins effort going up? Your scout eyes see this? I think it has a lot to do with butler being there and Wiggins guarding in his more natural position and often the second best player instead of the first.
RAPM takes into account all 9 guys on the court. so if you're paired up with 4 amazing defenders against the worst offense in the NBA you're expected to totally shut them down. So Jimmy Butler's superior defense is weighted into the metric for Wiggins.
and no, a cross section of diverse sources for metrics gives a solid ball park estimate of a player's effectiveness on Defense. when every defense metric indicates you are the worst in the league ... ur defense ain't good. effort last year was close to zero. his results matched his effort level.
should the player elect to put forth more effort.. their metrics can and do change. Irving and Wiggins are 2 examples.
On November 22 2017 08:21 JimmiC wrote:
As discussed so much earlier these stats are not the be all end all. Wiggins effort going up? Your scout eyes see this? I think it has a lot to do with butler being there and Wiggins guarding in his more natural position and often the second best player instead of the first.
yep, i'm noticing more effort. basic observation from watching the games. i've already posted the difference in Wiggins effort level on defense a while ago though. last year it was close to zero effort.
this 4 month old article discussing Wiggins lousy effort pretty much matches the observations i've been making about Wiggins for 2 years.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-nba-haters-ball/
"Wiggins’s deficiencies are too many to list quickly, but at root the issue seems to be basic effort. He barely jumps to contest shots, doesn’t run hard to close out, and gets lost watching the ball."
if you can't deal with basic in-game observations i make... stop replying.. like you said you were going to do about 10 times.
On November 22 2017 08:50 Twinkle Toes wrote:Show nested quote +On November 22 2017 08:21 JimmiC wrote:
As discussed so much earlier these stats are not the be all end all. Wiggins effort going up? Your scout eyes see this? I think it has a lot to do with butler being there and Wiggins guarding in his more natural position and often the second best player instead of the first.
Treating this as any sort of ranking is so foolish Kyrie Irving showed this, there is no way he went from one of the worst defenders to one of the best in an off season. Its far more likely that the bos system has his collect a few more rebounds which are clearly one of the big factors since centers all have super high numbers and guards low.
And much like the all the talk about Russ's triple doubles last year, a teams scheme can make certain people get more rebounds and that does not make them a better player/defender.
What is amazing is how you can see this and then find some justification for why the stat is still right instead of the much more obvious answer that it is somewhat interesting to look at it but does not tell what you think it does, which is rank players defensive abilities.
Edit:also when did you say Wiggins effort level went up? I feel like I would remember if you were not shitting on him. There you go again getting yourself catfished into a garbage discussion.
not at all. i've backed it all up with sources.
if you want 5 different defense metrics all showing Wiggins was the worst defender at SF last year i can post them again. as i did last year.
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See. That is not a discussion you want to have.
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nope, go for it. if you have sources and observations and logic to back up your point.. go for it.
the basic in-game observation i've made is that Wiggins is putting forth more effort this year. i noticed it at the start of pre-season and posted that. if you have something to add to that.. or to rebut it .. go for it.
Currently, I'd say Wiggins biggest weakness as a defender is that he gets fished-in/suckered too often by whatever gimmick ( screen & roll; straight screen; pick and pop.. etc..) the 5-on-5 half court offense is running.
The guy who deserves primary credit for Wiggins putting forth more effort is Wiggins himself. No one else can do it for him.
Anyhow, it'll be interesting to see if this increased effort continues throughout the marathon of a season.
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Lol. You don't even know what you're talking about, do you.
Anyway go on JimmiC, there's a reason why everyone here does not respond to him, it's your call.
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On November 22 2017 09:15 Twinkle Toes wrote:
Lol. You don't even know what you're talking about, do you.
that says nothing and adds nothing to the discussion.
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On November 22 2017 09:21 JimmiC wrote:Show nested quote +On November 22 2017 09:18 JimmyJRaynor wrote:On November 22 2017 09:15 Twinkle Toes wrote:
Lol. You don't even know what you're talking about, do you.
that says nothing and adds nothing to the discussion. Bam you described your entire posting history in one post!
lol
User was warned for this post
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On November 22 2017 09:20 JimmiC wrote:Show nested quote +On November 22 2017 08:50 Twinkle Toes wrote:On November 22 2017 08:21 JimmiC wrote:
As discussed so much earlier these stats are not the be all end all. Wiggins effort going up? Your scout eyes see this? I think it has a lot to do with butler being there and Wiggins guarding in his more natural position and often the second best player instead of the first.
Treating this as any sort of ranking is so foolish Kyrie Irving showed this, there is no way he went from one of the worst defenders to one of the best in an off season. Its far more likely that the bos system has his collect a few more rebounds which are clearly one of the big factors since centers all have super high numbers and guards low.
And much like the all the talk about Russ's triple doubles last year, a teams scheme can make certain people get more rebounds and that does not make them a better player/defender.
What is amazing is how you can see this and then find some justification for why the stat is still right instead of the much more obvious answer that it is somewhat interesting to look at it but does not tell what you think it does, which is rank players defensive abilities.
Edit:also when did you say Wiggins effort level went up? I feel like I would remember if you were not shitting on him. There you go again getting yourself catfished into a garbage discussion. Your right holy bullshit. There is 0 chance he has watched more twolves then me in the last 3 years thats why i find it so laughable when he makes these claims about effort he saw change, which just happens to match the stat he puts way to much stock in. Oh look terrance ross is the 6th best sg defender seems legit. But wait he is a terrible player and defender according to every jimmyj post ever. Perhaps his effort has just drastically improved as well. Maybe this stat just measures effort! Also did ypu know there is 89 forwardsthat are better at defense then all but 6 gaurds? And the best gaurd at d is only the 33rd best defender in the league? Like slow ass kelly olynyk is a better defender then butler by over 20 slots. Or maybe its all effort??? ROLF
Also, this is a perfect summary of his "stats and observation",
You lack one vital thing though, something that I couldn't believe you would forget about his greatest contribution to the discussion here. Care to try again...
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On November 22 2017 09:20 JimmiC wrote:
Like slow ass kelly olynyk is a better defender then butler by over 20 slots. Or maybe its all effort???
ROLF
ya, you are not using the stat properly. Centers are judged against other Centers. So, a Center with a Defensive RAPM of -0.6 is amongst the worst in the NBA while a Shooting Guard with a Defensive RAPM of -0.6 is below average with lots of SGs that are way way worse..
I probably need to create an article explaining how RAPM is used.
When RAPM is used properly it has its uses. When used improperly its a case of a little bit of knowledge being a bad thing.
you are using the stat improperly.
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How is RAPM used?
I've always been confused about it
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EPT
