NBA Twitter Mailbag: Starting An Ideal NBA Team, La La Land And More
In his first NBA Twitter mailbag, Ti Windisch takes questions about ideal teams, La La Land, Matthew Dellavedova and more.
Hello and welcome to my first-ever NBA Twitter mailbag! I’ve done a few of these focused on the Milwaukee Bucks over at Behind The Buck Pass before, but since I ended up getting general NBA questions I figured this would be a better home for the mailbag.
Of course now that I switched over, I got a few Bucks questions off the bat. That’s cool though, as I’ll answer as many at least tangentially-NBA-related questions as I can here per week. I definitely got some fun ones, including one that will have me comparing NBA players to Emma Stone.
If you would like to get in on the fun for the next week, make sure to follow me (@TiWindisch) on Twitter and keep your eyes peeled for the next time I ask for questions, which will probably be on Tuesdays from now on.
I hope to answer as many questions as possible here, but if I ever get too many I’ll try to answer extras on Twitter. Either way, keep on sending as many as you have! Without further ado, let’s get to this first issue of the NBA Twitter mailbag.
Jan 25, 2017; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) reaches for the loose ball during the second quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
@TiWindisch @HoopsHabit who has been more surprising? The Rockets or the Bucks w/o Middleton?
— George Kondoleon (@georgeythegreek) January 24, 2017
Shoutout to Georgey for asking the first question of the new mailbags! Anyway, this is a fun one to think about. A few weeks ago, I might have considered saying it was the Bucks without Khris Middleton who were the more surprising NBA team.
A recent five-game losing streak has made Milwaukee less surprising, though. The Bucks are 21-24 right now, one game out of the eighth spot in the East. Their surge early was surprising, but their current spot in the East is less shocking.
The Houston Rockets, on the other hand, are 34-15. Houston sits pretty at third in the West, and with the Los Angeles Clippers without Chris Paul for a while it’s doubtful they’ll fall much lower than that for the rest of the season, although the Rockets are 4-6 over their last 10 games.
My real pick for the most surprising team would have to be the Philadelphia 76ers. Philly is four and a half games out of the eighth spot in the East, and no team in the NBA sports a better record over their last 10 games than the 76ers, who are 8-2 in that stretch. The biggest surprise might be that Philly is 2-0 in their last pair of games, both of which they played without Joel Embiid!
Dec 5, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) drives for the basket against New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis (6) in the first quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
@TiWindisch If you were starting an NBA team right now, who would you start it with? Try and pick one player from each position
— Michael Johrendt (@MJohrendt23) January 26, 2017
I love these kinds of questions, because you’re always forced to decide how much of a factor age is. I think the easiest answer here is that I’d want Giannis Antetokounmpo as my small forward, if Giannis can be given a position at all.
If I need a point guard, give me James Harden. The Rockets have shown that all you need to do is surround this guy with shooters to make a juggernaut offensive team, and in this modern NBA it’s pretty easy to find some shooters in free agency and the NBA Draft. Harden is a little old for this at 27, but he played sixth man minutes with the Oklahoma City Thunder and I don’t trust Damian Lillard or D’Angelo Russell enough to take them yet.
Shooting guard is tough. A lot of people would say Klay Thompson, but I’m not a believer in Thompson being a star player if he’s not in the ideal situation that the Golden State Warriors provide. Jimmy Butler is a legitimate superstar in my book, so I’ll take him, even if he technically plays a lot of 3 in Chicago.
These last two are easy then: give me Kristaps Porzingis at the 4 and Joel Embiid at the 5. Porzingis might end up being a center, but for now he’s not so I’ll grab him. Leaving off Anthony Davis and Karl-Anthony Towns is tough, but I like the two picks I made just a bit better than either of those two. I’d be more than comfortable starting a team with any of these five guys, and I think it’d be easy to slot in a good team around any of them.
Sep 29, 2014; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks players Jabari Parker (left) and Giannis Antetokounmpo pose for a picture during media day at the Cousins Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
@TiWindisch @HoopsHabit Are the problems in Bucks locker room between Giannis and Parker or Parker and the whole team?
— O Babis (@ElGrecoAleman) January 24, 2017
This is a much less fun question to answer than the last one. I would assume the question is largely referring to Jabari Parker‘s recent one-game demotion to the bench from the starting lineup, supposedly for breaking team rules and sharing too much with the media.
I haven’t heard anything concrete about any of this stuff, although I’ve never been a huge believer in the Giannis vs. Jabari theory that floats around Bucks Twitter every so often. It seems like they get along fine most of the time, and certainly better than John Wall and Bradley Beal do, and those two seem to have worked through whatever weirdness they had.
I just don’t think there’s some sort of disaster scenario approaching the Bucks, at least not based on this. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant reportedly were never super close, but they still played a decade of fantastic basketball together.
For now, I think any chemistry problems with the Bucks have more to do with losing games than with any specific personalities in the locker room. I could be wrong, but losing tends to cause problems in the same way winning tends to solve them. If the Bucks go on a run soon, don’t be surprised to see the chemistry whispers quieted down.
Sep 26, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Toronto Raptors guards DeMar DeRozan (10) and Kyle Lowry (7) pose for pictures during media day at BioSteel Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
@TiWindisch which NBA player reminds you the most of Emma Stone's character in La La Land?
— Andrew Snyder (@acsnyde) January 24, 2017
Here’s the thing–I haven’t seen La La Land just yet. I heard it’s good and I’m a huge Ryan Gosling fan, but the last time I went to a movie I saw Patriot’s Day instead. I would recommend that, by the way.
Anyway, so since I haven’t seen La La Land yet I’ll just talk about which NBA players remind me the most of Emma Stone characters from other movie’s she’s in.
Zombieland Emma Stone – Kyle Lowry
Zombieland Emma Stone is a badass, just like Kyle Lowry. More importantly, there needs to be an big brother/little brother dynamic here, and DeMar DeRozan is definitely the little brother in Toronto.
Superbad Emma Stone – Jimmy Butler
There are a few reasons Jimmy Butler is Superbad Emma Stone. Most importantly, there are suitors vying for him. The Boston Celtics are Jonah Hill’s character, in this analogy.
Also, Butler is really good and also incredibly likable, just like Stone’s character in the movie. Even though she gets embarrassed pretty badly at the party, she’s pretty cool about it. Somehow, the New York Knicks are McLovin.
Gangster Squad Emma Stone – Kevin Durant
The Oklahoma City Thunder are greedy. They didn’t want to pay the luxury tax to James Harden, so they traded him away. The Thunder didn’t want Kevin Durant to leave though, even though he knew the situation was dangerous. The Golden State Warriors, ever the good guy, stole Kevin Durant away to give him a better life.
Replace the Thunder with Sean Penn’s character, the Warriors with Ryan Gosling’s character and K.D. with Stone’s character from Gangster Squad and you’ve got your analogy. It’s the same story, really.
Jun 9, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova (8) talks with forward LeBron James (23) during the first quarter against the Golden State Warriors in game three of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
@TiWindisch @HoopsHabit Was Delly secretly key to the Cavs success? #LeBronNeedsAPlaymaker
— Matt McClannahan (@mehtastic) January 24, 2017
The Cleveland Cavaliers certainly miss Matthew Dellavedova right now, but I think it would be more fair to say that having more than one point guard is more accurately the key to success for the Cavs, not Delly himself.
More from Hoops Habit
Cleveland banked on Mo Williams to be that backup floor general for their team, but his retirement ruined all of that. Now it’s up to Kay Felder and DeAndre Liggins, neither of whom are ready to step up and play major minutes on a contender.
LeBron James saying that Dan Gilbert needs to spend more is a little ridiculous though, considering the salary cap that the Cavs have already exceeded and the fact that Cleveland will likely pass the Brooklyn Nets in all-time luxury tax spending after this year.
The Cavaliers aren’t exactly being thrifty. When a team has three stars and a few other role players who get paid very well for their services, it’s tough to afford real talent at the backup positions. LeBron and the Cavs are finding out just how hard it is right now.
Jan 29, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker (12) reacts with center Greg Monroe (15) and forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) after scoring a basket in the first quarter against the Miami Heat at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
@TiWindisch @HoopsHabit Can you see Parker becoming the bucks most important player? If his all around game keeps improving that's scary
— Nathan Birch (@k9mastah) January 24, 2017
As my high school English teacher said to me when I posited that The Red Wheelbarrow is an analogy for communism: that’s a stretch. Jabari Parker will be crucial to the Bucks, but it’s really tough to imagine anybody being more important than Giannis is going forward.
Jabari is behind Giannis in terms of development time though, so maybe he does end up being super important. The general NBA community doesn’t really realize how good he’s getting just yet, but he’s nearly posted a few triple-doubles over the last week.
Part of this question might’ve been influenced by Giannis having a pretty slow last few weeks by his standards, but even so I think the Greek Freak will remain Milwaukee’s most important Buck. His national status and desire to remain in Milwaukee going forward certainly matter for this too.
That’s all for this week, but keep your eyes peeled for me to take more questions and do my best to answer them again next week on Twitter!
