The Ordinary Singaporean

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Tag: zion williamson

Basketball! It’s back! (2019-20)

October 22, 2019 /

I don’t know what to do with my hands!

You’d think that, after about ten years of following the NBA, and actively writing (like, two or three pieces a week) about it for a couple years – shout out, The Pick and Roll – I’d be pleasantly looking forward to the new NBA season, but not necessarily overly-excited or anything.

You’d be dead wrong. I’m so stoked for it all to begin again, man. I can’t feel my face.

Why? You all know why

My reasons for excitement are the same as with just about anyone else. There are several good teams with reasonable claims to make it to the Conference Finals, and there’s every chance we get a Finals match up that we’ve never seen before. There is legitimate uncertainty (in a good way) again.

Can LeBron James and Anthony Davis string together enough healthy games to push the L.A. Lakers into the playoffs for the first time since 2013? How will a L.A. Clippers team that’s expected to at least make the West Finals respond to this newfound pressure and expectations?

I’m just gonna leave this here.

How many games before everyone forgets the Cleveland Cavaliers actually exist (I give it five games)? How many 3:30 am practices before Heat staff tell Jimmy Butler to quit acting hard and to come in at 10:00 am like normal folk?

I’ll never stop making fun of Jimmy Butler.

There’s just so much to get hyped about. I’m looking forward to the games, to the Zach Lowe pieces (serious or otherwise), to NBA Desktop, to my maiden attempt at Fantasy Basketball.

This is my team. Their name: The RockEm Siakam Robots.

And of course, I’m looking forward to seeing my Dallas Mavericks.

Let’s go Mavs

I wasn’t pleased with Dallas’ off-season dealings – they once again seemed like they were late to the party, missing out on multiple free agent targets and looking like fools in the process.

But for all of that, I’m still really excited to see how this team plays. Luka Dončić in year two will be a blast, and Kristaps Porzingis looked pretty good in preseason.

More of this, please.

Jalen Brunson is well on his way to being a larger, better J.J. Barea, and I hope we hang onto him forever. Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell are underrated, top-shelf role players. Delon Wright will get a proper swing at a starting role, Seth Curry is back to light nets on fire with his shooting. Justin Jackson could grow into a quality wing.

The Accountant, Ryan Broekhoff, already started tallying the numbers in August.

I feel like making the playoffs is a realistic goal. The immediate post-Dirk era might not involve title contention, but it’s still a future worth caring about. Let’s go Mavs!

Predictions

I’ll end off with some picks.

MVP: Giannis Antetokounmpo
DPOY: Rudy Gobert
ROY: Zion Williamson
COY: Quin Snyder (I think Rick Carlisle stands a chance too)
6MOY: Lou Williams
MIP: Anfernee Simons
Leading scorer: Stephen Curry

Eastern Conference Finals: Milwaukee Bucks over Philadelphia Sixers
Western Conference Finals: L.A. Clippers over Denver Nuggets

NBA Finals: L.A. Clippers over Milwaukee Bucks

Most disappointing team: Brooklyn Nets
Most surprising team: Chicago Bulls

The NBA is finally back, guys.

Zion Williamson on the New Orleans Pelicans is dead boring

May 16, 2019 /

Let’s gear up for another few years of mismanaging a superstar, I guess.

So, the 2019 edition of the NBA Draft Lottery has concluded.

As a Dallas Mavericks fan that had more or less given up on keeping our pick from the beginning, I am virtually a neutral in looking at this lottery. So I’m not being sour or trying to drop a hot take when I say the New Orleans Pelicans getting the top pick and likely choosing Zion Williamson in the upcoming draft is probably the most boring possible result from the night’s proceedings.

You know why? Because Anthony Davis. Because of how they tried and failed to build around Davis for so many years.

I’m not at all condoning Davis’ behaviour in trying to force a trade out of New Orleans this past season, but you can at least see why he felt it might be necessary to do so. And what has changed with the Pelicans to assure that they won’t mess it up with another No.1 pick again?

Zion Williamson is one of the most exciting draft prospects in recent history, and we’re probably going to see a rehash of the botched Anthony Davis era, ON THE SAME TEAM NO LESS.

And therein lies my personal dissatisfaction with the lottery results. From a neutral POV, Zion on the New York Knicks or the Phoenix Suns or the LA Lakers would’ve been infinitely more interesting, even if I don’t feel like any of those clubs remotely deserve him.

Any of those alternatives would’ve made for a fresh set of stories and angles to follow.

Well, this was interesting at least.

Still, the Pelicans definitely deserve Zion, after Davis decided to shit all over the franchise (and his own standing in basketball fans’ eyes). They needed the good vibes, and got them. But their team is still the not-good-enough mess it has been for the past few years, and new GM David Griffin is the only hope that they’ll do things right this time.

Who knows? He did help bring the Cleveland Cavaliers their first ever title. So it could work out.

But right now, man… it all just looks so disappointingly boring to me.

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