I don’t see how the Heat could possibly beat Denver. Denver is well rested. Huge home court advantage. The Heat can muck up games playing against the Celtics or Giannis. But Denver’s offense is too free flowing and Jokic has always cut up Bam. And then Jimmy Butler vs Jamal Murray and Jokic as scorers late game?
Idk man. Anything’s possible for the Heat, but I was worried about the Celtics vs Heat because quite frankly the Celtics consistently beat themselves and the Heat are great at capitalizing on that. Insanely good defensive team that mixes it up and mucks it up vs more talented teams. Can punish sloppy play extremely well. Golden State did it last year. Both teams (Heat and Warriors) are EXTREMELY well coached and make great adjustments. Miami almost did it last year (when the Celtics were absolutely on fire for the second half of season and had a by all means great coaching staff compared to this year.) Yet they have a much worse roster this year with injuries. The Celtics got theoretically much better
The Celtics win by being very good when Tatum goes off, which he does relatively often in the playoffs. Especially in big games. They’d always win those games and then mostly lose when he had the bad games. Which he does relatively often. But they’d win at a good clip when he has an average game because of good to great defense and great role players (who can get taken out of the game by GREAT coaches and schemes.) Look at the rosters of teams with 2 super stars. No one has a 3-7 even close to as good as the Celtics. That’s their recipe
Just really disappointed by this season. Disappointed with Joe coming back. He’s too inexperienced. Not saying he can’t be great. But his press conferences and public mindset on things doesn’t give me hope. Can’t take a shot in the dark with one of the best teams in the league coming off a finals appearance. Was upset when he got an extension because of an unprecedented hot shooting start that died down.
Disappointed in Jaylen Brown who has some weird ass and hypocritical takes on the world IMO he shouldn’t publicize. Him being a part of demanding a black coach (imagine Luka or Jokic publicly demanding a white coach lol) or at least getting players on board for the Black coach thing was probably part of this mess. (Couldn’t bring in Vogel or Dantoni this season and like why not pick Stoudamire to avoid weird power dynamics with the staff because of him being one of Ime’s choices (the rest of the staff was) and him being oldemuch experienced around basketball. And I don’t think it’s fair for Brown to have so much influence on team stuff when he doesn’t improve his handle or turnover issue. Doesn’t improve as a passer. Etc. Maybe he’s stubborn/ignorant to admitting he’s wrong? Idk. Doesn’t seem to be a work ethic issue. Like he has improved and he’s presumably working hard but it’s not at the right stuff. IMO trading him now would be short sighted with his stock low + there not being good options that move the needle for the Celtics. Maybe should have before? Hindsight is 20/20 I guess
Maybe shouldn’t be so invested in this team because they somewhat consistently show poor effort. I’ve just always, always rooted incredibly hard for this core for some reason I can’t explain. But now It’s hard to root for them vs teams like the Patriots or Red Sox who are always going to give their best in the playoffs win or lose.
Just a disappointing yet pretty predictable post season after last year’s that was so fun to see the turnaround and very inspiring/fun even with the not so close finals loss.
Writing this makes me think I should be a much more casual sports fan for things out of my control. Smh. That’s my rant
I root for this team because they’re so capable of greatness. Legit one of the best modern NBA defenses of all time last year. One of the best offenses to start this season. On the verge of greatness in a 3-0 comeback (which I kinda felt was possible down 3-0.) And then COMPLETELY fold at home in game 7
TLDR: Disappointed. Big mistakes from Brad, Ime, Joe, Jaylen who are all good at their jobs. Avoidable mistakes.

I was thinking about how Jokic should be the face of nba but that he doesn't really seem to want that attention and has 0 social media presence and it got me thinking.
Why not just market jokic and murray as a duo? Jay and silent bob style... Let murray be the voice and do the promo stuff. Murray's Elevated his a status this playoffs and could be very marketable with the blue arrow, got some asshole in him, social media etc.
It also got me thinking can Jokic/murray be the modern day Shaq and Kobe? If not what other past duos are a good comparison if any?
Duncan/Parker?
PSA: I'm not saying Murray's on Kobe level but after this playoff run and the bubble he's clearly on a tier where he shouldn't be an after thought in this league.

MPJ had 13 rebounds in game 1 of the finals [and ended with a team-high +20], he's been great on the glass for the Nuggets.
He's had 7 double-doubles so far [6th most] v. 3 in the regular season [maybe didn't want to do too much after his surgery].
The 8.3 rebounds/g is also his career-high [regular season and playoffs], pretty remarkable for his first season back.
Top 5 [min. 5 reb/g]:
​

Name	Playoffs reb/Reg reb	Increase in the playoffs
1.Kevon Looney	13.1/9.3	+3.8
2.Xavier Tillman	8/5	+3
3.Michael Porter Jr.	8.3/5.5	+2.8
4.Kevin Durant	8.7/6.4	+2.3
5. Karl-Anthony Towns	10.2/8.1	+2.1

Source
Xavier Tillman is the only outlier he went from 19.3 minutes per game to 30.5 minutes in the playoffs.

The time between the first half buzzer and the opening tick of the second half was 15:56. Of that time:
-2:00 (12.6%) was spent with the play-by-play crew. (25 seconds shorter than last year.)
-3:24 (21.3%) was spent with the halftime crew. (9 seconds longer than last year.)
-10:30 (65.9%) was ads. (20 seconds longer than last year.)
In 2021, the halftime show was 75.2% ads.
In 2022, it was 64.2%.
This year’s to-the-second breakdown:
0:00 First half buzzer (followed by 46 seconds with the play-by-play crew)
0:46 Ad break (lasting 1 minute 21 seconds)
2:07 Highlight interlude with the halftime crew (27 seconds)
2:34 Ad break (2 minutes 2 seconds)
4:36 “Is brought to you by…” (10 seconds)
4:46 Halftime crew analysis (2 minutes 39 seconds)
7:25 “Is brought to you by…” (5 seconds)
7:35 Ad break (2 minutes 48 seconds)
10:23 “Is brought to you by…” (8 seconds)
10:31 Highlight interlude with the halftime crew (18 seconds)
10:49 “Is brought to you by…” (15 seconds)
11:04 Ad break (3 minutes 36 seconds)
14:40 Back to the play-by-play crew (1 minute 16 seconds)
15:56 Second half clock starts

Bally disclosed these numbers in a bankruptcy court yesterday as they tried to lower TV rights payments due to 4 MLB teams. While the NHL is not involved in this Bally-MLB dispute today, Bally's implosion could soon impact the 12 NHL teams whose local games they produce and broadcast - Arizona, Detroit, Florida, Tampa Bay, St Louis, Minnesota, Columbus, Anaheim, LA, Carolina, Nashville. Bally has not said they will pay 100% of the TV rights money due to NHL teams next season, so the NHL could be in the same position the MLB is in as soon as October. Also, Bally only owns the local streaming rights for its NHL and NBA teams for 1 more season and losing them would kill Bally Sports+ even as they continue to hold local TV rights for those teams.
The big questions for the NHL this summer:

• Will Bally miss any rights payments due to NHL teams next season?
• If yes, is the NHL prepared to move production and distribution in-house as the MLB did? NHL teams reportedly are considering it.
• What does the NHL do with the local streaming rights of the 12 Bally teams for the 2024-25 season?
• What is the impact on the salary cap from any lost local TV money?

How and where many fans watch NHL games in the US could change drastically within the next year.
Sources:

• https://theathletic.com/4573494/2023/06/01/mlb-diamond-sports-group-bankruptcy-court/
• https://theathletic.com/4569671/2023/05/31/mlb-diamond-sports-bankruptcy-hearing/
• https://theathletic.com/4565630/2023/05/30/diamond-sports-padres-broadcast-mlb/

Background - Why is this happening and how did we get here?

Bally Sports (formally Diamond Sports Group aka DSG, part of Sinclair Boradcast Group) in 2019 bought the former regional Fox Sports Networks and broadcasts local games for 12 NHL teams. As people cut the cord and move to streaming, the entire Regional Sports Network (RSN) business model has begun to collapse, resulting in DSG hemorrhaging money. Bally isn't the only one impacted - Warner Bros announced in February they are shutting down their AT&T Sports RSNs this year, causing Vegas in May to announce a new TV and local streaming partner for next season.
RSNs rely on 2 major sources of revenue: monthly fees paid by every TV subscriber with their channel and advertising. The channel rights fees are worth way more than the advertising since everyone pays it regardless of how many people actually watch the channel. RSNs began to demand ever higher channel fees from cable, satellite, and streaming TV companies (Comcast, Dish, Cox, YouTube TV, Sling TV, etc) to pay for ballooning rights fees demanded by sports teams for the past 2 decades. Fees are up to $7 per month per TV subscriber as of 2021. The TV companies saw how few customers actually watched sports and decided the RSNs weren't worth passing the increased costs to all of their customers, so they started dropping RSNs left and right in the last several years. That has made it harder than ever for fans to actually watch games, drastically cut RSN revenue, and why so few streaming TV plans include local sports channels today.
RSNs have responded by trying to go "direct to consumer" (DTC) with streaming plans like Bally Sports+, NESN 360, and MSG+. ESPN is doing the same nationally with ESPN+. The problem as shown by Bally Sports+'s dismal subscriber numbers is that the number of people willing to pay for RSN streaming plans is so far too small to offset the losses in their TV subscriber base. RSNs are stuck in a paradox - they are locked into long-term TV rights contracts they can no longer afford, but canceling those contracts removes the only content they have that people will pay to watch.
This financial chaos resulted in Bally declaring bankruptcy in March and trying to force MLB to re-negotiate some of their contracts so Bally could keep showing games but pay less to do so. Fast forward to this week as the MLB and Bally have argued their positions in bankruptcy court. The judge ruled yesterday against Bally and in favor of the MLB and 4 teams who Bally was refusing to fully pay for their TV rights. Bally now must either pay the full amount due or give the 4 impacted teams their local rights back. Bally already did this with the Sand Diego Padres earlier this week and the MLB immediately announced they will produce and distribute future games.

League Information

• Series: VCT
• Organizer: KnightsArena, Riot Games
• Type: Online
• Location: North America
• Teams: 8
• Start Date: 05-31-2023
• End Date: 06-10-2023
• Coverage: Liquipedia VLR THESPIKE rib.gg

Format

• Double Elimination Bracket
  • All matches except Lower Final and Grand Final are Bo3
  • Lower Final and Grand Final are Bo5
• Top 2 teams qualify for Ascension: Americas
• 3rd-8th qualify for Challengers next year

Schedule

• M80 vs Oxygen Esports — 4 PM EST / 3 PM CST / 1 PM PST
• The Guard vs Moist Moguls — 7 PM EST / 6 PM CST / 4 PM PST

Streams: Twitch YouTube

Broadcast Talent

Hosts:

• boq (Mark Wilson)
• Sierra Dawn (Sierra Dawn Hunter)

Casters & Analysts:

• Dryad (Daniela Herrera)
• Tanner Metro (Tanner Metro)
• Upmind (Gustavo Franco Domingues)
• Sully (Ethan Tran)
• IHOLDSHIFT (Alan Donofrio)
• dusT (Dustin Mouret)
• StrongLegs (Roy Ahad)
• EMUHLEET (Emmalee Garrido)
• Starriebun (Katherine So)
• SyykoNT (Donald Muir)

Observers:

• Presy (Preston Calcutt)
• DazedDreams (Tasia McConkie)

Producers:

• FlippyBitsGG (Chris Flippo)
• CallMeShelton (Jacob Shelton)
• FirstKnightOfNi

The European League of Football

Founded in 2020, the European League of Football (ELF) is a professionalized American Football league that kicked off in June 2021. Unlike the former NFL Europe the league focuses on local talents. The league does not consist of clubs, as is common in Europe, but of franchises similar to the NFL.
After the first strong season with eight teams in two Conferences, another even stronger season followed with 12 teams in three Conferences. The upcoming season will start tomorrow on June 3rd 2023 with 17 teams from nine countries.

The Franchises

The third season will have 17 teams from nine countries divided into three Conferences.
https://preview.redd.it/lyy7v8o6gn3b1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=181992c1514dfe2e16429a9e2ba712853f816b16
Western Conference:

• Cologne Centurions [Germany]
• Frankfurt Galaxy [Germany, Champion 2021]
• Hamburg Sea Devils [Germany]
• Paris Musketeers [France]
• Rhein Fire [Germany]

Central Conference:

• Barcelona Dragons [Spain]
• Helvetic Guards [Switzerland]
• Milano Seamen [Italy]
• Munich Ravens [Germany]
• Stuttgart Surge [Germany]
• Raiders Tirol [Austria]

Eastern Conference:

• Berlin Thunder [Germany]
• Fehérvár Enthroners [Hungary]
• Leipzig Kings [Germany]
• Prague Lions [Czech Republic]
• Vienna Vikings [Austria, Champion 2022]
• Wrocław Panthers [Poland]

Notable facts about the franchises:

• Former NFL Coach Jim Tomsula is the current Head Coach for Rhein Fire.
• A US group of investors led by former NFL Player Malcolm Smith acquired 60% of the Barcelona Dragons franchise.
• NFL Hall of Fame OT Joe Thomas is part of the Munich Ravens.
• Due to financial struggles the Istanbul Rams who participated in 2022 will not take part in the 2023 season - that why we have an odd number of franchises this year.

​
Thanks to a cooperation with the NFL the ELF is allowed to use the names of old NFL Europe teams. The NFL has no shares or other financial interests in the ELF, they don't own a franchise or something like that. This prevents a situation where the NFL suddenly pulls out and the whole league collapses.
In the next few years the ELF wants to have 24 franchises from more than 10 European countries. The league already announced a new franchise for the 2024 season located in Madrid, Spain.

The games & rules

Every team will play 12 games in a span of 14 weeks with six teams moving on to the playoffs where the champion will be decided in the championship game. The championship game will take place in Duisburg, home of Rhein Fire and the 31.500 seat stadium is expected to be sold out.
In order to promote and support the local players every franchise can only sign 4 US-Players and only 2 of them can be on the field at the same time. There is also a salary cap in order to keep the competitive balance.
The games will be played with NFL Rules with a few exceptions. The league uses the college overtime rule and the XFL Kickoff Rule.
You can find out more about the rules [here].

European League of Football Subreddit: elf

We are a steadily growing community about everything ELF related. We have a good relationship to players, to the league and are a key community when it comes to the ELF.
Throughout the season we will provide Gamethreads as you know them from NFL and similar sport subreddits. We also have User Flairs for each team so you can show everyone who you are rooting for. There will also be AMAs every now and then.
Tomorrow we will have our very first Gamethreads of the season. The first thread will go online at 4PM CEST(GMT+2).
I hope we can welcome some of you over at elf and talk about American Football in Europe.

Where can you watch the ELF?

With the ELF Gamepass you can watch every game of the ELF from all around the world. The league has a cooperation with Endeavor Streaming, who also provide the Gamepass for the NFL, WWE & UFC.
Games will also be broadcast on free TV in some countries.

Region	Broadcaster
International	ELF Gamepass
Austria	ProSieben Maxx / Pro7, ran.de, More Than Sports TV
Germany	ProSieben Maxx / Pro7, ran.de, More Than Sports TV
Switzerland	ProSieben Maxx / Pro7, ran.de, More Than Sports TV
Czech Republic & Slovakia	O2 TV Sport
Hungary	Arena4+/Net4+
China	iQIYI Sports
Poland	Polsat Sport, Polsat Sport News
Spain	Esport3 (not live)

If you want to learn more check out our subreddit and make sure to take a look at the schedule on the league's website: [Schedule]

The European League of Football

Founded in 2020, the European League of Football (ELF) is a professionalized American Football league that kicked off in June 2021. Unlike the former NFL Europe the league focuses on local talents. The league does not consist of clubs, as is common in Europe, but of franchises similar to the NFL.
After the first strong season with eight teams in two Conferences, another even stronger season followed with 12 teams in three Conferences. The upcoming season will start tomorrow on June 3rd 2023 with 17 teams from nine countries.

The Franchises

The third season will have 17 teams from nine countries divided into three Conferences.
https://preview.redd.it/lyy7v8o6gn3b1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=181992c1514dfe2e16429a9e2ba712853f816b16
Western Conference:

• Cologne Centurions [Germany]
• Frankfurt Galaxy [Germany, Champion 2021]
• Hamburg Sea Devils [Germany]
• Paris Musketeers [France]
• Rhein Fire [Germany]

Central Conference:

• Barcelona Dragons [Spain]
• Helvetic Guards [Switzerland]
• Milano Seamen [Italy]
• Munich Ravens [Germany]
• Stuttgart Surge [Germany]
• Raiders Tirol [Austria]

Eastern Conference:

• Berlin Thunder [Germany]
• Fehérvár Enthroners [Hungary]
• Leipzig Kings [Germany]
• Prague Lions [Czech Republic]
• Vienna Vikings [Austria, Champion 2022]
• Wrocław Panthers [Poland]

Notable facts about the franchises:

• Former NFL Coach Jim Tomsula is the current Head Coach for Rhein Fire.
• A US group of investors led by former NFL Player Malcolm Smith acquired 60% of the Barcelona Dragons franchise.
• NFL Hall of Fame OT Joe Thomas is part of the Munich Ravens.
• Due to financial struggles the Istanbul Rams who participated in 2022 will not take part in the 2023 season - that why we have an odd number of franchises this year.

​
Thanks to a cooperation with the NFL the ELF is allowed to use the names of old NFL Europe teams. The NFL has no shares or other financial interests in the ELF, they don't own a franchise or something like that. This prevents a situation where the NFL suddenly pulls out and the whole league collapses.
In the next few years the ELF wants to have 24 franchises from more than 10 European countries. The league already announced a new franchise for the 2024 season located in Madrid, Spain.

The games & rules

Every team will play 12 games in a span of 14 weeks with six teams moving on to the playoffs where the champion will be decided in the championship game. The championship game will take place in Duisburg, home of Rhein Fire and the 31.500 seat stadium is expected to be sold out.
In order to promote and support the local players every franchise can only sign 4 US-Players and only 2 of them can be on the field at the same time. There is also a salary cap in order to keep the competitive balance.
The games will be played with NFL Rules with a few exceptions. The league uses the college overtime rule and the XFL Kickoff Rule.
You can find out more about the rules [here].

European League of Football Subreddit: elf

We are a steadily growing community about everything ELF related. We have a good relationship to players, to the league and are a key community when it comes to the ELF.
Throughout the season we will provide Gamethreads as you know them from NFL and similar sport subreddits. We also have User Flairs for each team so you can show everyone who you are rooting for. There will also be AMAs every now and then.
Tomorrow we will have our very first Gamethreads of the season. The first thread will go online at 4PM CEST(GMT+2).
I hope we can welcome some of you over at elf and talk about American Football in Europe.

Where can you watch the ELF?

With the ELF Gamepass you can watch every game of the ELF from all around the world. The league has a cooperation with Endeavor Streaming, who also provide the Gamepass for the NFL, WWE & UFC.
Games will also be broadcast on free TV in some countries.

Region	Broadcaster
International	ELF Gamepass
Austria	ProSieben Maxx / Pro7, ran.de, More Than Sports TV
Germany	ProSieben Maxx / Pro7, ran.de, More Than Sports TV
Switzerland	ProSieben Maxx / Pro7, ran.de, More Than Sports TV
Czech Republic & Slovakia	O2 TV Sport
Hungary	Arena4+/Net4+
China	iQIYI Sports
Poland	Polsat Sport, Polsat Sport News
Spain	Esport3 (not live)

If you want to learn more check out our subreddit and make sure to take a look at the schedule on the league's website: [Schedule]

CAMELOT KINGS 3-1 ELDRITCH HOUNDS

Camelot Kings	Eldritch Hounds
Jarcorr	VaporishCoast
Genetics	Quig
BigManTingz	BennyQ
CaptainTwig	Oathh
Variety	Duck3y

Game 1

Bans

KINGS	HOUNDS
Vamana	Hercules
Martichoras	Yemoja
Merlin	Horus
Ao Kuang	Baba Yaga
Agni	He Bo

Picks

KINGS	HOUNDS
Rama	Hachiman
Aphrodite	Guan Yu
Bakasura	Hel
Cerberus	Discordia
Tiamat	Serqet

ELDRITCH HOUNDS WIN GAME 1

Game 2

Bans

KINGS	HOUNDS
Vamana	Hercules
Martichoras	Horus
Serqet	Yemoja
Odin	Ah Muzen Cab
Fenrir	Baba Yaga

Picks

KINGS	HOUNDS
Guan Yu	Hachiman
Aphrodite	Hel
He Bo	Discordia
Cernunnos	Cliodhna
Bakasura	Thor

CAMELOT KINGS WIN GAME 2

Game 3

Bans

KINGS	HOUNDS
Vamana	Horus
Serqet	He Bo
Martichoras	Hercules
Ao Kuang	Bakasura
Agni	Baba Yaga

Picks

KINGS	HOUNDS
Guan Yu	Hachiman
Cernunnos	Aphrodite
Yemoja	Odin
Merlin	Fenrir
Ne Zha	Discordia

CAMELOT KINGS WIN GAME 3

Game 4

Bans

KINGS	HOUNDS
Serqet	Vamana
Ao Kuang	Martichoras
Yemoja	He Bo
Agni	Ne Zha
Discordia	Cernunnos

Picks

KINGS	HOUNDS
Guan Yu	Horus
Ymir	Hachiman
Merlin	Bakasura
Ratatoskr	Yu Huang
Xbalanque	Odin

CAMELOT KINGS WIN GAME 4

When Koby Altman became GM in 2017, we shortly after traded our disgruntled franchise point guard Kyrie Irving for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, a 1st round pick and a 2nd round pick.
On Feb 8, 2018 Koby made multiple trades. Players sent out included Thomas, Crowder, Shumpert, DWade, Channing Frye, and DRose. We recieved Jordan Clarkson, Rodney Hood, and Larry Nance. The 1st round pick from the Kyrie trade becomes Collin Sexton. LeBron leaves in the offseason, Love extends his contract (4yrs/120m) topping out his overall deal to 5yrs/145m. A few games into the 2018-2019 season, Tyronn Lue is fired and Larry Drew becomes interim head coach. Koby made three minor trades that season, including acquiring a 1st round pick which was used on Dylan Windler. John Beilein was hired as head coach. We select Darius Garland, Windler and trade for Kevin Porter Jr. in that draft.
During the 2019-2020 season, Beilein is fired and JB Bickerstaff becomes head coach. Koby made two trades that season. The first was Jordan Clarkson for Dante Exum and a 2nd round pick that eventually became Khalifa Diop. Looking back on it, this was an awful trade as Clarkson averaged 20 ppg this past season and would've had much higher trade value if we held onto him and let him play his game. The other trade was John Henson, Brandon Knight and a 2nd round pick for Andre Drummond. During the offseason, the Cavs selected Isaac Okoro and signed Lamar Stevens to a 2 way contract.
During the 2020-2021 season, Koby made a great trade; acquiring Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince in the 4 team trade that saw James Harden being traded to Brooklyn. We only gave up Exum, a 1st round pick and a 2nd round pick in that deal. A few other minor trades were made that season. Then the Cavs had a great draft, selecting Evan Mobley with the 3rd pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. Before the start of the 2021-2022 season, the Cavs in a 3 team trade acquire Lauri Markkanen and only give up Nance and a 2nd round pick. Another great deal by Koby Altman and the Cavs front office.
A reoccuring theme so far is that Koby doesn't let assets go to waste. Instead of letting a player who we don't want walk in free agency, usually Koby trades them while they are still under contract to acquire further assets. Another example would be how the Cavs ended up trading Taurean Prince and a 2nd round pick for Ricky Rubio, a trade that happened a few weeks before the Markkanen trade. And then after Rubio's injury we traded him, along with a 1st round pick for Caris LeVert. Despite losing in the play-in tourament, 2021-2022 was a good season for the Cavs, considering no one really thought they would even be decent.
Heading into the 2022-2023 season, the Cavs make a blockbuster trade. Donovan Mitchell was acquired for Sexton, Markkanen, 14th overall pick Ochai Agbaji, 3 1st round picks, and 2 1st round pick swaps. The Sexton pick was acquired from the Kyrie trade, Markannen came from the Nance trade. So Kyrie, Nance, Agbaji, 3 future 1st round picks and 2 future 1st round pick swaps eventually turned into Donovan Mitchell. If Sexton doesn't put up high scoring numbers on his rookie deal and Koby doesn't make a smart move acquiring Markannen, we probably never end up with Donovan Mitchell. The Cavs have low odds of ever acquiring a superstar in free agency, so giving up the 3 1st rounders and 2 pick swaps was worth it.
If we were a team that constantly let assets go to waste and let players walk in free agencyinstead of trading them beforehand, we would not be a playoff team like we currently are. Koby has ultimately made many smart decisions in his tenure as GM and now President of Basketball Operations and only a few small mistakes. Acquiring Caris LeVert can be debated, considering we possibly could've got someone else for that 1st round pick we gave up for him. LeVert's $28 million cap hold causes us to have no cap space this summer and we have to bring him back using Bird Rights. He had a good series vs the Knicks and despite inconsistency on offense, he was a solid defender throughout the season. IMO, the Rubio and Wade contracts could also be seen as mistakes. I know many people wanted the Cavs to make a deal around the trade deadline, but the team had a great regular season and the Cavs were right at the tax line so I can't blame them for not wanting to mess with the cap situation either. The rebuild could've lasted much longer, but with smart transactions and for the most part, good drafting, we are now a team who will continuously make the playoffs throughout this decade.

Main hub thread with the full 131 rankings
For all the Cyclone fanatics out there, I see you guys. For the 6th worst Power 5 team on this list, Iowa State has had incredible support, averaging 50,000+ fans a year even during their lows. Finally, after years of struggling minus a few nice Dan McCarney years, Iowa State’s found a coach that’s brought them consistent success in Matt Campbell. Outside of Campbell’s first year in which he went 3-9 and the latest 4-8 season in 2022, the 5 years in between (2017-21) all place in my top 7 ISU seasons over the last 40 years. Whether last year was an outlier or if Iowa State will regress to their historical mean remains to be seen, but the last 6 years have been great compared to what fans have been accustomed to.

Best Seasons and Highlights

1. 2020: 7. Iowa State: 9-3 (30.160) 2. 2000: 27. Iowa State: 9-3 (13.294) 3. 2017: 32. Iowa State: 8-5 (12.780) 4. 2018: 37. Iowa State: 8-5 (8.477) 5. 2021: 40. Iowa State: 7-6 (5.442) 6. 2005: 37. Iowa State: 7-5 (3.574) 7. 2019: 43. Iowa State: 7-6 (1.761) 8. 2004: 42. Iowa State: 7-5 (-2.644) 9. 2001: 51. Iowa State: 7-5 (-3.334) 10. 2002: 57. Iowa State: 7-7 (-4.723) 11. 2012: 65. Iowa State: 6-7 (-7.162) 12. 2009: 63. Iowa State: 7-6 (-7.233) 13. 2011: 62. Iowa State: 6-7 (-8.169) 14. 1989: 56. Iowa State: 6-5 (-10.057) 15. 1986: 56. Iowa State: 6-5 (-10.436) 16. 1990: 58. Iowa State: 4-6-1 (-11.929) 17. 2010: 69. Iowa State: 5-7 (-13.761) 18. 1985: 60. Iowa State: 5-6 (-17.317) 19. 2022: 84. Iowa State: 4-8 (-18.173) 20. 1988: 66. Iowa State: 5-6 (-18.197) 21. 1992: 79. Iowa State: 4-7 (-21.249) 22. 1999: 79. Iowa State: 4-7 (-23.653) 23. 1993: 75. Iowa State: 3-8 (-23.926) 24. 1983: 79. Iowa State: 4-7 (-25.659) 25. 1991: 75. Iowa State: 3-7-1 (-26.248) 26. 2006: 92. Iowa State: 4-8 (-30.444) 27. 2007: 93. Iowa State: 3-9 (-31.101) 28. 2015: 97. Iowa State: 3-9 (-31.892) 29. 1998: 84. Iowa State: 3-8 (-31.989) 30. 1984: 85. Iowa State: 2-7-2 (-32.012) 31. 2016: 97. Iowa State: 3-9 (-32.276) 32. 1995: 84. Iowa State: 3-8 (-32.441) 33. 2013: 98. Iowa State: 3-9 (-34.411) 34. 1996: 94. Iowa State: 2-9 (-37.584) 35. 1987: 91. Iowa State: 3-8 (-37.886) 36. 2014: 115. Iowa State: 2-10 (-42.981) 37. 2008: 111. Iowa State: 2-10 (-48.885) 38. 2003: 107. Iowa State: 2-10 (-50.450) 39. 1994: 101. Iowa State: 0-10-1 (-53.566) 40. 1997: 105. Iowa State: 1-10 (-56.575) Overall Score: 9649 (84th) 

• 184-283-5 record
• 0 conference titles
• 5-8 bowl record
• 5 consensus All-Americans
• 42 NFL players drafted

Iowa State certainly has a knack for producing really good RBs. 4 of their 5 All-Americans come from 2 RBs in Troy Davis (1995, ‘96) and Breece Hall (2020, ‘21). At just 5’8 183 lbs, Davis became the first player in NCAA history to rush for 2000 yards in back-to-back seasons, and remains one of only 2 players to ever do so. In 1995 he ran for 2010 yards and 15 TD, placing 5th in Heisman voting. He outdid himself a year later, rushing for 2185 yards and 21 TD, narrowly missing out on the Heisman, finishing to 2nd Florida QB Danny Wuerfel, who got 49% of the votes compared to Davis’ 43%. Davis won 3 of 4 regions, but lost badly in the South. Still, the tradition of producing strong RBs rings true, as Iowa State’s produced 8 RBs during the last 40 years with 2500+ career rushing yards. Notable NFL players include David Montgomery, Breece Hall, Allen Lazard, Pro Bowler Kelechi Osemele, and as a 49er fan, future Hall of Famer Brock Purdy.

Top 5 Seasons

Worst Season: 1997 (1-10 overall, 1-7 Big 12)
Remember how good Troy Davis was, especially after I described him above? Well, his teams weren’t very good, going 3-8 in 1995 and 2-9 in 1996. So you can imagine how 1997 went after he had left for the NFL. Iowa State didn’t stand a chance in Dan McCarney’s 3rd year as head coach, and it’s honestly a miracle the Cyclones let him stay for so long, as it took 6 years for him to get his first winning season. The gamble paid off though, as he was eventually inducted into the Iowa State Hall of Fame. Still, 1997 was his worst year. They had a talented freshman QB by the name of Sage “Helicopter” Rosenfels on the roster, but he wouldn’t start for another 2 years. QB was not a big issue though, as Todd Bandhauer had a respectable year, completing 48% of passes for 2514 yards 20 TD 9 INT, leading the Big 12 in passing yards and TDs. Bandhauer was a 2-time All-Academic Big 12 selection, and is currently an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Colorado State. WR Tyrone Watley led the Big 12 in receiving yards with 827, and RB Darren Davis had 1000+ yards in just 9 games. Offense wasn’t a huge issue, but the defense gave up 44.8 PPG. The lone win on the year was 24-17 over 2-9 Baylor, and losses included 14-77 to #3 Nebraska and 20-63 to #13 Iowa, losing their 15th straight against the Hawkeyes.
5. 2021 (7-6 overall, 5-4 Big 12)
For this season to be a disappointment but also top 5 on this list tells you how far Iowa State’s come under Matt Campbell. Make no mistake, it was a disappointment, finishing 7-6 after a preseason #7 ranking, but they were still the best 7-6 team in 2021 (out of 17 teams) by my metric. Iowa State returned 4th year starting QB Brock Purdy, consensus All-American Breece Hall, 2x 1st Team All-Big 12 TE Charlie Kolar, and Big 12 Defensive POTY LB Mike Rose, so the preseason expectations weren’t unfounded. A typical ISU slow start saw them barely beat Northern Iowa, and a classic Brian Ferentz Iowa performance had the Hawkeyes take a 27-10 lead (27-17 final) despite getting outgained 173-339 in yardage. 2 weeks later, a trap game 31-29 loss in Waco all but ended the Cyclones’ playoff hopes, despite outgaining Baylor by nearly 200 yards. However, in true Iowa State fashion, they rebounded to mess up Oklahoma State’s season a few weeks later, beating the #8 Cowboys 24-21 to improve to 5-2. A 2-4 finish was mostly because of location, going 2-0 at home and 0-4 in road/neutral sites. It was a squandered year for Iowa State, outscoring Big 12 opponents by an average of 12 PPG but going just 5-4. 8 starters on offense made 1st/2nd Team All-Big 12, by far the most in the conference. Breece repeated as consensus AA/Big 12 OPOTY with 1774 yards and 23 TD from scrimmage, while Rose earned 1st Team all-conference again.
4. 2018 (8-5 overall, 6-3 Big 12)
For the first time since the Big 12 moved from divisions to a round robin format in 2013, Iowa State wasn’t picked in the bottom 2 with Kansas. Big 12 media picked them 7th, this time coming above Texas Tech, Baylor, and of course Kansas. But after starting QB Kyle Kempt went down in the season opener, and backup Zeb Noland went just 1-3, Matt Campbell gave a shot to a freshman by the name of Brock Purdy. In a sort of foreshadowing for names in the NFL, Kyle became a mentor to Brock, and Purdy exploded onto the scene, throwing for 4 TD and rushing for another in a 48-42 win at #25 Oklahoma State. He’d top that a week later, beating #6 West Virginia and Will Grier 30-14, this time the defense stepping up big to hold Grier to just 67 total yards. ISU never looked back with Purdy, and nearly made the Big 12 title game if they had beaten Texas. They finished the regular season 8-4, 3rd in the Big 12, and nearly beat 11-2 Washington State in the bowl. Campbell won Big 12 Coach of the Year for the 2nd straight season. Purdy was 6th in the nation in passing efficiency, completing 66% of passes for 2250 yards 16 TD 7 INT, on 10.2 YPA. RB David Montgomery had another 1000+ yard rushing season and has gone on to have a productive NFL career. WR Hakeem Butler was 3rd in the nation in yards per catch (22.0), getting 60 passes for 1318 yards and 9 TD.
3. 2017 (8-5 overall, 5-4 Big 12)
Before Brock Purdy and Iowa State could run, the 2017 team had to walk. Years of effort from give-it-their-all players like Allen Lazard and Joel Lanning culminated in a magical 2018 season that might just be the fondest on this list. ISU had gone just 11-37 over the previous 4 seasons, so a 2nd to last place Big 12 finish was expected. After a 2-2 start, ISU pulled off maybe the biggest win in school history, beating #3 Oklahoma 38-31, who’d go on to make the playoff with Baker Mayfield winning the Heisman. LB Joel Lanning, who was the team’s starting QB the previous 2 seasons, was the Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week, logging 8 tackles, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery, as well as 9 rushes for 35 yards and 2 completions for 25 yards on offense. A few weeks later against Oklahoma State he’d become the 1st player in the last 10 years to record a pass TD, rush TD, and half sack in the same game. After the win over OU though, just a few weeks later Iowa State would ALSO beat #4 TCU 14-7!!! A few one possession losses later and ISU finished 7-5, but would beat yet another top 25 team in the bowl in #20 Memphis.
Lanning was named a 1st Team All-American by FWAA, racking up 114 tackles, 6 sacks, 5 TFL, 1 INT, 135 rushing yards, 47 passing yards, and 3 TD. Not bad for a former QB. QB Kyle Kempt was one of the most underrated stories of the season, emerging as the starter in the 5th game and going on to throw 15 TD to just 3 INT. Kempt was a 5th year walk-on who had only thrown 2 passes in his career prior to the Oklahoma game. By the time the season was over, he had 2 wins over top 5 teams, and today is still on the team as a coach.
2. 2000 (9-3 overall, 5-3 Big 12)
Like the 2017 team, the 2000 Cyclones came out of nowhere, a dormant program that had gone just 27-80-3 the previous decade. ISU players knew the talent they had though, led by future NFL QB Sage Rosenfels, one of 9 players that would go on to make NFL rosters. Another would go on to join the Iowa Senate, and the late LB Justin Eilers would fight in the UFC. They played a very favorable schedule, going 8-3 in the regular season with 0 wins over Power 6 teams with a winning record, but did beat 7-4 Ohio, 8-5 UNLV, and rival Iowa for the Cy-Hawk. ISU put any “soft schedule” talk to rest when they beat the Big East’s 3rd placed team, Pitt, in the bowl 37-29. Rosenfels had a nice curtain call, winning offensive POTG with 23/34 passing for 308 yards and 2 TD. Rosenfels did what he had to during the year, with deceiving stats of 2298 passing yards 8 TD 12 INT. He was a solid runner though, and would become known for his patented “helicopter” move in the NFL, rushing for 381 yards and 10 TD. RB Ennis Haywood and C Ben Bruns were ISU’s two 1st Team All-Big 12 selections, as Haywood ran for 1237 yards and Bruns led the way. The 5’6(!) JJ Moses led the team in receiving with 775 yards, and was named team MVP.
1. 2020 (9-3 overall, 8-1 Big 12)
Ahh, but it had to be the 2020 team at #1. Even my algorithm places this team way above 2000 even though they had the same record, with the 2000 team finishing ranked 27th and 2020 finishing ranked 7th. After a typical ISU slow start, losing 13-30 to UL Lafayette, the rest of the year couldn’t have gone much better. In the 3rd game they beat eventual B12 champion Oklahoma 37-30. Later on they beat #17 Texas in Darrel K Royal 23-20, essentially ensuring Tom Herman would be fired after the season, and stomped 6-4 West Virginia 42-6. ISU entered the Big 12 championship game against Oklahoma as the 1 seed, and had an opportunity at the end to win, but came up short 21-27. A 34-17 Fiesta Bowl win over Pac-12 champion Oregon was pretty satisfying though, and Iowa State finished with their highest ever postseason ranking at #9. They cleaned up in the Big 12 accolades, taking up 9 of the 22 1st Team all-conference slots. Breece Hall was Big 12 Offensive POTY and a consensus All-American, with 1752 yards and 23 TD from scrimmage. LB Mike Rose won Big 12 Defensive POTY with 99 tackles, 10.5 total TFL, and 5 INT. Campbell won Coach of the Year, and WR Xavier Hutchinson and DB Isheem Young won Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year and Defensive Freshman of the Year, respectively. Shoutout to 1st Team All-Big 12 TE Charlie Kolar as well, who was a consistent force making 1st/2nd Team all-conference in each of his 4 seasons.

5th Quarter

Iowa State fans, what do you look back more fondly on, the Matt Campbell years with expectations of competing for a Big 12 title, or the Paul Rhoads years with a win over #2 Oklahoma State and some other fun upsets? Do you think Brock Purdy was always as good as he played for the 49ers in 2022, or is he mostly propped up by a stacked San Francisco offense? Who was better, Troy Davis or Breece Hall? Does David Montgomery take the 3rd spot or does that go to someone like Darren Davis/Alexander Robinson? Aside from going there, what makes someone choose to follow Iowa State? And how’d I do on your guys’ history?
If you appreciate the effort, please consider subscribing on substack!

I’m visiting from Toronto for the summer and live in the Brentwood area.
I wanted to round up a couple people to hit up a sports bar to watch the NBA playoff finals.

Watch it for free on the NBA App, coverage begins 5 minutes before tip off.
Link: https://www.nba.com/watch/event/game-lnb-betclic-elite-lyon-villeurbanne-vs-boulogne-levallois
LNB stream not available today.
It's the playoffs! The #2 place Mets take on #3 place ASVEL in the semifinals.

 Error in context[[1L]] : subscript out of bounds 

R version 4.1.0 (2021-05-18) Platform: x86_64-w64-mingw32/x64 (64-bit) Running under: Windows 10 x64 (build 19045) Matrix products: default locale: [1] LC_COLLATE=English_United States.1252 LC_CTYPE=English_United States.1252 LC_MONETARY=English_United States.1252 [4] LC_NUMERIC=C LC_TIME=English_United States.1252 attached base packages: [1] stats graphics grDevices utils datasets methods base other attached packages: [1] ggplot2_3.3.6 bigrquery_1.4.0.9000 shiny_1.7.1 replicaToolkitR_0.1.0 wellknown_0.7.4 [6] tidyr_1.2.0 tigris_1.6.1 stringr_1.4.0 SpatialKDE_0.7.0 sfhotspot_0.6.1 [11] sf_1.0-3 readr_2.1.2 reactable_0.3.0 purrr_1.0.1 mapview_2.11.0 [16] magrittr_2.0.3 log4r_0.4.3 leaflet.extras2_1.2.0 leaflet_2.1.1 leafem_0.2.0 [21] here_1.0.1 gauntlet_0.1.0 forcats_0.5.1 dplyr_1.1.2 data.table_1.14.0 [26] crosstalk_1.2.0 loaded via a namespace (and not attached): [1] colorspace_2.1-0 ellipsis_0.3.2 class_7.3-19 rsconnect_0.8.26 [5] rgdal_1.5-27 rprojroot_2.0.3 snakecase_0.11.0 satellite_1.0.4 [9] base64enc_0.1-3 fs_1.5.2 rstudioapi_0.14 proxy_0.4-27 [13] farver_2.1.1 bit64_4.0.5 fansi_0.5.0 lubridate_1.8.0 [17] codetools_0.2-18 cachem_1.0.7 knitr_1.39 pkgload_1.2.4 [21] jsonlite_1.8.4 dbplyr_2.2.1 png_0.1-7 clipr_0.8.0 [25] compiler_4.1.0 httr_1.4.4 assertthat_0.2.1 fastmap_1.1.1 [29] gargle_1.2.1 cli_3.6.1 later_1.3.0 s2_1.1.2 [33] leaflet.providers_1.9.0 htmltools_0.5.5 prettyunits_1.1.1 tools_4.1.0 [37] gtable_0.3.1 glue_1.6.2 wk_0.7.2 rappdirs_0.3.3 [41] Rcpp_1.0.10 jquerylib_0.1.4 raster_3.5-15 vctrs_0.6.2 [45] xfun_0.38 brio_1.1.3 testthat_3.1.4 mime_0.12 [49] miniUI_0.1.1.1 lifecycle_1.0.3 terra_1.5-34 scales_1.2.1 [53] hms_1.1.2 promises_1.2.0.1 RColorBrewer_1.1-3 mapedit_0.6.1 [57] yaml_2.3.5 curl_4.3.2 memoise_2.0.1 sass_0.4.5 [61] stringi_1.7.4 desc_1.4.1 maptools_1.1-1 e1071_1.7-13 [65] leaflet.extras_1.0.0 rlang_1.1.0 pkgconfig_2.0.3 evaluate_0.15 [69] datapasta_3.1.0 lattice_0.20-44 htmlwidgets_1.5.4 bit_4.0.4 [73] tidyselect_1.2.0 R6_2.5.1 generics_0.1.3 DBI_1.1.3 [77] pillar_1.9.0 foreign_0.8-82 withr_2.5.0 units_0.7-2 [81] sp_1.6-0 tibble_3.2.1 janitor_2.1.0 crayon_1.5.2 [85] uuid_0.1-4 KernSmooth_2.23-20 utf8_1.2.2 rmarkdown_2.14 [89] tzdb_0.3.0 progress_1.2.2 grid_4.1.0 digest_0.6.31 [93] classInt_0.4-3 webshot_0.5.3 xtable_1.8-4 httpuv_1.6.9 [97] openssl_2.0.3 stats4_4.1.0 munsell_0.5.0 bslib_0.4.2 [101] askpass_1.1 

Who wants to join a 30 Team Fantasy league?
It would be a short season probably 14 Games then playoffs would be 3 games each round and NBA finals would be 1 game. Draft spots will be randomized so even me as admin I will not get #1 pick. I will create a discord specifically for this 30 team Fantasy league so everybody can be in contact in one big discord channel so we can organize games, trades, and possibly any disputes people will have. This is my first time hosting a fantasy league but I was in them a lot back in the day so I have an idea of how it's ran. Rules will probably be in discord channel. You'll be invited after you drop your discord name.

Dear Statisticians,
I am currently researching the influence of stakes in predicting future events. To do this we had four treatment groups predict the likelihood of the home team winning a given matchup in the NBA playoffs. The results are inconclusive, for some matchups the stakes seem to matter, while for the others they do not (I did a regression analysis with binary variables for the 2 different stake models ran against the participants' predicted values per matchup). While the results are inconclusive, I do notice a trend that has me curious and I would like to research further.
When I visualized the data it appears as if participants predicted in a certain pattern. In almost all of the four groups they would predict above the .5 line for one question, than below for the next question, then above for the next question etc. I would like to investigate if this is a significant effect. Furthermore, I would like to know if there is any preexisting literature about this. I hypothesize that because this is a prediction task with a static sequence people like to compensate a high previous prediction with a lower current prediction, and this pattern would then continue.
Let me know if you know how I can test this (I use Stata) or if you are aware of this phenomenon and can point me to relevant literature. Thanks in advance!

I’m a first time bar owner and I just opened a sports bar in a competitive market in nyc. We are crushing on NBA/NHL playoff nights and pretty much dead otherwise. We have a decent food menu but it’s not enough to draw people in for dinners unless they are sitting down for a few hours to watch a game.
I’m looking for ideas on how to draw in customers when there aren’t big sports events going on (and without giving crazy discounts on food and beverages).
Ideas so far - we’re getting trivia set up which should help. I would love to do movie nights but I’m not sure the right legal way to go about doing that. I’m thinking about getting a pool table but it’ll take away seating from our already relatively small space.
Has anyone had success with other regular theme/event nights that draw a crowd?

during the toxic MVP race the narrative was Jokic not showing up in the playoffs. at the moment he is top 10 in PPG (Luka, KD, LeBron, Booker and Donovan only active above him), he is also top 20 in both APG (Wall, Trae Young, CP3, Luka, Westbrook and Simmons) and RPG (Giannis).
he is currently the only player in top 20 in each of the 3 main stats.
Luka, LeBron, young are in top 20 in PPG and APG
Giannis is in top 20 in PPG and RPG and is the closest to break into the top 20 in the third statistic with APG (currently 67th), Doncic is next (81st in RPG)
all are ABA/NBA combined*
https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/pts_per_g_career_p.html
https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/trb_per_g_career_p.html
https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/ast_per_g_career_p.html

2019: Raptors 2020: Lakers 2021: Bucks 2022: Warriors 2023: Nuggets/Heat
To get another stretch with 5 different teams in 5 years you have to go back to...
1977: Blazers 1978: Bullets (go Bullets!) 1979: Sonics 1980: Lakers 1981: Celtics
Just an unbelievable stretch with multiple dynasties spanning over four decades. The 80's Celtics and Lakers gave way to the mini-Pistons dynasty, before the Bulls completely took over the 90's. Then, the Lakers and Spurs traded titles for most of the 00's. The Heat had just a long enough run to keep the streak going before the Warriors late 2010's juggernaut got us to four decades.
I for one, am excited by the fact that this is the most parity we've seen in the NBA in over 40 years! I think with the new CBA there's a chance we could get even more.