My thoughts after another week of basketball and another week of retirement. 
New York Hate- I had forgotten why I hated New York teams. It is incredible how much of the world of TV- news, entertainment, and sports are all New York fans. I really, really the last week have gotten tired of listening to NY fans on TV telling me how happy they are.
OKC Fans- Can you imagine how frustrating it must have been for OKC fans to watch the NBA Finals? They had to be thinking that they could have beaten the Knicks.
Dylan Harper- Time will tell but I wonder if in 5 years if it will turn out that Dylan Harper was the best player in the 2025 draft.
Grueling But- I realize the NBA season and NBA play-offs are grueling, but do teams really want to rest the stars in last 10 minutes of the game. It seemed like the Spurs staff had scripted subbing and didn’t care about the score in the fourth quarter. In game 4, they sat Wemby when the Knicks had just cut it to under 20. In game 5, I believe he sat from the 8 to 5 minute mark of the fourth. I can’t believe with all the stoppages at the end of the game that you can’t keep a star on the floor. You have the entire off-season to rest now.
Thank You Fever- What a difference it has made for the Fever to simply up Clark, Mitchell, and Boston’s minutes. It seems that Clark went up from 30 minutes per game to 35. That made a big difference in the team performance.
New York Fans Good- In the second half of Game 4 and the entire Game 5, sadly the Knicks fans were impressive in creative great energy.
New York Fans Bad- After game 3, the Knicks fans in the media were horrible. They whined and whined about the refs. Then during the first half, the Knick fans screamed when any call went against the Knicks. And as the Knicks went down by 29, I think the Knick fans contributed to the Knick players losing focus and being obsessed with refs.
The Knick fans did what many high school fans do during games. At many HS games when you hear parents and fans going nuts on every refs call, it is so easy for players to lose control.
Why Waste 4 Seconds?- I am puzzled why NBA coaches after a made ft when the ball is dead and clock stopped don’t either take a time out at least let the bounce and set up a long play ob play. The Spurs would just throw it in and let that player dribble and shoot a 1/2 court shot. I think the four second at the end of the first three quarter should be used as much as you would the fourth quarter.
Have Enough Points- Players in JH and HS are taught to recognize when you have enough points and you just want to run the clock out. In Game 4 of NBA Finals, Russell going for a layup was certainly not needed. The next night Mitchell with the Fever did the same thing.
To 3- Play It Out or Foul?- In Fever game when they were up 3, they chose to play it out. I can accept that strategy but…
1- I would not go under screens or handoffs.
2- If a player dribbles away from the basket for a dribble handoff, it has to be an automatic handoff.
Clark/Fever Report Card-
1- Clark/Boston ball screen should be run over and over.
2- Hull is a ton on the o-boards.
3- Billings is looking better every outing.
4- Cunningham needs to play more minutes but not at Hull’s expense.
5- I would like to see the lineup of Clark, Mitchell, Cunningham, Hull, and Boston. Just throw it out 3-4 minutes each half.
6- Clark’s behavior is somewhat better she is losing fans.
UConn Agenda- Sue Bird was asked to name the top three guard tandems. Anytime I have heard someone talk about guard tandems- they mean the pair of guards. She chose to talk about it as having the best 1, 2, 3 positions. So she picked Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Minnesota.
I have trouble not believing this was a way for a UConn player to not have to talk about how good Clark and Mitchell are together.
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