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Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story
Ch. 53
The end of January couldn’t come soon enough. After we beat the Pelicans, we went 2-3 over the next five, losing the last two by double digits. Our wins weren’t in big numbers and our losses were, which spoke to just how razor-thin our margin for error was. At the end of the month, we beat the Spurs (15-23 at the time and falling apart) and then we faced the 27-19 Clippers. LA was easily among the best teams out West and both CP3 and Blake were up to their usual tricks.
We chose that game to premiere our new unis, using the gray ones while we were on the road. It was a look the players liked and the Clippers matched us with their own flex uniforms, their black ones. From the tip, the game was a tight one — LA got out to a quick five-point lead thanks to a CP3 triple and a Blake dunk, but we got our feet under us and played some defense.
Thon and Blake were engaged in a game of one-up-manship; anything one could do, the other tried to do better. As the two engaged in their own little war, Delly had the unenviable task of taking on Paul and he did an admirable job. Where we had the advantage was inside with Noel (Aldrich was no threat) and with Jackson on the wing.
Action Jackson had himself a very efficient game; the kid wasn’t forcing things and he let the offense come to him. Between him, Thon, and Delly, the Clippers slowly lost cohesion, their vaunted offense being thwarted by our swarming defense. We forced 10 turnovers, got six blocks, and kept our heads.
By the time the fourth quarter arrived, we were running on all cylinders and we buried the Clippers without much trouble, playing our deep reserves the last few minutes of the game and even they scored on the Clippers. Thon was named player of the game and put on quite a show.
Our next game took us to Indiana, to face the East leading Pacers. At 38-12, they were the toast of their conference and made us look inferior on paper. We entered the game 30-17 and I was happy to just be that. I didn’t expect much from us against the likes of Paul George, Myles Turner, Jeff Teague, and one of the deepest benches in the league.
But little did I *ucking know that on that night, Nerlens Noel was bringing his A+ game. Noel had been quiet the last few weeks, no big breakout games but good double-double games; he was doing exactly what I wanted, gobbling up boards, playing defense, and scoring easy points in the paint. The offense didn’t make him a priority but it didn’t need to, because he found his points.
That night, Noel wasn’t just looking for points — he was looking for boards. The Pacers were a team that simply was stacked with firepower at every position and from tip-off we had to play hard. There was no warm-up period, no feeling out stretch, it was a straight battle from the beginning — in the first minute of the game, the refs whistled three fouls between our teams because of how physical the play was.
We battled all throughout the first quarter with them, trading buckets and fouls, but early one two things became readily apparent: Noel was going to get every rebound and Thon was going to take whomever the Pacers put on him to school. It was the first game I can remember thinking to myself, “*hit, maybe our approach can win it all.”
The twin towers concept wasn’t as foolproof as it once was, and the league had gotten smaller — the Pacers themselves played a frontline composed of Thad Young and Myles Turner, guys who would have been seen as a SF and PF ten years before, but were now playing a position up.
Noel and Thon worked flawlessly together in that first half, sealing off the block for one or both, gobbling up boards, and throwing down some sweet dunks. Defense wasn’t missing, either, and it led inevitably to a great finish.
But the Pacers weren’t going to go quietly. After we got out to a six-point lead in the first half, Indiana came storming back in the third thanks to the play of Paul George. George took Jackson to school in that quarter — and Jackson wasn’t a slouch this game, he was doing work, but he simply couldn’t cover George. When PG13 wanted a shot, he got open and he nailed that shot for the most part.
If PG13 was a more inferior player, I would have been infuriated. Instead, all I could do was mutter curses under my breath as I watched in awe at a true superstar. Jackson wasn’t so much PG13, he couldn’t hit shots off screens as well at that point, but the kid could do damage inside and would finish in tight traffic in the paint.
We survived the Pacers onslaught and took a slim two point lead into the final frame. That’s when our defense — and Noel’s board eating performance — saved us. Our offense went stagnant for most of the fourth quarter and we were struggling to stay ahead. Every basket the Pacers made seemed to tie the game, only for us to get a basket back to maintain the lead — until that lead vanished in a bull*hit Monta Ellis triple plus a foul.
Ellis scored a four-point play and flipped the score on us, 86-85. From there, the Pacers drove the score up to 92-85 midway through the fourth and we looked *ucking done.
That’s when Noel said, “*uck it, I’ll do it myself,” and he went berserk. He blocked shots, grabbed rebounds, got steals, the man RAN the fastbreak almost as fast as our guards, and the Pacers were stunned. Noel wasn’t going to be denied, he caught fire and he demanded the ball in the paint, on the block, and our guys delivered it to him.
He delivered us out of that hole and grabbed us a 93-92 lead with a little over three minutes to go. That seemed to break the Pacers and, as a team, we relaxed. Richardson started hitting some shots from mid-range, Jackson nailed a triple in the corner (our three point shooting was God awful that night and I nearly had a stroke every-time one of our guys pulled up), and we turned our lead into a bigger lead.
Paul George tried to mount his team to a comeback, but we did just enough — and hit just enough free throws at the end — to put the game away and silence the crowd.
It wasn’t a pretty win, but we played as a team. Noel was named played of the game and deserved it for the show he put on. It was our first win of February, and it felt good.
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Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story
Ch. 54
The Grizzlies came into the game 28-23, having just lost Mike Conley to a twisted knee two games before — they dropped both, predictably, and without their floor general they looked lost on offense. We welcomed them to the Dome and proceeded to slaughter them. We skinned them alive and had no mercy, which was extremely satisfying for me to see. We led every quarter, we withstood every comeback attempt they made, and we dominated.
It was bittersweet, in a way, because that was the first time we saw Jordan Mickey — former bench big for us — suit up for another team. Mickey, rightfully, had earned the starting spot in Memphis and though he wasn’t lighting things up statistically, the kid was making smart plays and was doing good things.
But Mickey could never match up with Thon and Thon just murdered him. We were carried by him, Richardson, and Jackson as those three really set the tone — Richardson, in particular, scored the first nine points of the game by himself — we jumped out to a 9-0 lead because Richardson was fine jacking threes, three triples in a row to begin the game. It at once impressed me and scared me a little, but Richardson looked to be exactly what I wanted when I signed him.
Bottom line: Memphis never stood a chance, despite Marc Gasol getting the better of Noel … but he was Marc *ucking Gasol, so I was fine with that. Some guys just have one another’s number in the NBA and Gasol had Noel’s in every way. The Grizzlies tried to make it interesting in the final quarter, narrowing the lead a bit, but Josh Jackson put them to bed without much issue.
It was after that game where we got word that Jackson had been named as an All-Star reserve, too.
The unveiling of our alternate uniforms had exactly the intended effect I wanted, and Jackson was ecstatic to be named to the team — as was his teammates. Team morale was high in February as our wins continued. Whereas teams around the league were suffering some injuries and sinking down the standings because of it, we were getting healthier — Carroll was almost on his way back, our training staff reporting he was on schedule to return in early March.
But our victories, as much as they fueled us, also were a reminder we had a target on our back. On February 15th, we traveled to NOLA to take on the Pelicans in the last game of year against them; we were down 1-2 in the season series, and as soon as we got to NOLA the Pelicans fans were giving us the business.
There was some animosity here in NOLA, especially in light of how far we took them last season in the playoffs — which they won, but blamed us for getting their *sses kicked in the second round.
We were energized coming into the game, knowing that they wanted the division crown as much as we did. At 32-22, they weren’t far behind us (we were 35-19). They could easily take the crown and they didn’t want to be on the same side of bracket as the Warriors — who were still eating the souls of all comers — and their hold on the third seed was solid, but not a lock.
The West and the East were both conferences where multiple teams had shots at the playoffs — the league’s parity was at an all-time high that year and every win mattered, because it could have been the win to put you on top.
The game was a chippy one from the get-go. Early fouls on Davis and Noel set the tone as the two bigs squared off, then Thon got in the mix. But the night wasn’t about Jackson — who, again, couldn’t get much going against Issac but didn’t force it nearly as much this time — but it was all about Noel and Richardson.
Both came to play, both seemed to take it personally when their defensive assignments scored, and Noel decided to just eat the Pelicans alive in the paint; the kid didn’t miss his first shot until the fourth *ucking quarter. That’s how locked in he was, that’s how dominant inside he was, and that’s how badly he punked Davis.
AD was ineffective against him, so the Pelicans switched him over to Thon after the first; already with two fouls, Davis had no more luck against Thon, who again used his length and silky smooth jumper to keep Davis out of the paint, which let Noel do his thing. Davis got frustrated, he got into foul trouble, and he pretty much sat out the whole third quarter with five fouls.
We extended our lead in the third and every bucket just made the NOLA crowd madder; they were pissed as hell and they booed us at the line, booed our every possession, and it didn’t bother us at all. In fact, it seemed like we thrived under it. That had everything to do with Delly, who was having himself a *hitty game but still egged on the crowd. Delly was a heel if there ever was one, but he was a beautiful heel to have on your team; he focused the defense’s attention on him and the Pelicans unraveled in the third.
After that, it was basic math. The Pelicans had their backs broken and we got the win, splitting the season series 2-2 and ensuring that, if it came down to tiebreakers, our losses to them wouldn’t really come into play. We moved to 36-19 on the year — ten wins shy of our previous season’s 46 wins. Was 50 wins possible? Definitely. I wanted a division title more than anything (*** ****, was I tired of looking up into our empty rafters) but we were definitely a team on the rise.
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Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story
Ch. 55
The All-Star break was what every team in the league was waiting for; not because they expected fireworks at the trade deadline, but rather because teams across the league were beat up. Injuries were taking a toll on multiple squads and the break let organizations settle down, evaluate their players, and plot a course for the end of the season, which was only 6 weeks away.
The deadline was virtually silent, and the reason why was because of how damn close every team in the league was with one another. The top three teams of each conference were a tier above everyone else, who were all bunched up in a cluster*uck of mass proportions.
Look at all that ... what a mess. The Spurs, without Leonard, were done and San Antonio — much like what happened when David Robinson got injured over 20 years before — were going to grab a high draft pick and get a good player with that pick.
The Rockets were without Harden, but couldn’t afford to tank with Hayward on the roster. They had to hope Hayward could carry the team in Harden’s absence and get them a postseason berth.
Surprisingly, the Mavericks and Suns weren’t totally out of it; both young squads were showing signs of life and, maybe, they had a shot at an 8th seed if the chips fell right for them.
The Nuggets were without Horford, their season done, the Knights were horrible (as usual), and the Kings were the KANGZ — one of the most befuddling organizations in all of pro sports.
Out East, there were a lot of surprises. The Heat and Hawks were both fighting for a playoff spot, despite the Hawks being babies and the Heat being without Whiteside. The conference was incredibly competitive, top to bottom, but the bottom teams were going to be hurting in the offseason — the Wizards had been informed by John Wall that he was testing the market in the offseason. Kemba had told the Hornets the same thing, as did Vucevic of the Magic.
The Raptors were spectacularly bad for no reason that anyone could come up with, other than Dwayne Casey seemed to have lost the locker-room. Casey’s contract was up at the end of the year and he was a dead man walking; the team wasn’t going to bring him back and ownership was evaluating the market for coaches already. The Raptors were due to have some big changes in the offseason … and we had their pick. I was rooting for them to lose every night.
Parity was high across the board in the league and it made every NBA game matter in a way they hadn’t in a long-time; we were almost done with the regular season and we still had no idea what the 4th-8th seeds looked like. It was driving ratings through the roof, but it made every front office skittish.
If they made a trade, would it blow up in their face and cost them the postseason? Would it cause locker-room problems that couldn’t be fixed? Would it cost the franchise mega-bucks in the future, when contracts came up?
NBA front offices are, for the most part, places where risks like that are weighed against costs and most teams were still in the playoff hunt. No one wanted to rock the boat and ruin a postseason berth, now infinitely more valuable since only half the league got in.
Only the Blazers had the balls to pull the trigger on a deal.
The trade sent away Crabbe, who was having a decent year but certainly not one worth his contract, and the Blazers got back Collison — a big need as their backup PG (Lawson) was abysmal and Lillard was still going to be out 1-2 weeks. The Blazers had been treading water since Lillard went down and, at only 29-27, they had to do something before the Jazz got too far ahead or those under them caught up.
It was a bold move, a good one in my opinion, for the Blazers. The Kings grabbed a decent asset in Crabbe, who would replace MKG (who was definitely leaving Sacramento in the offseason) as their go to wing … in fact, Crabbe might have been who they should have targeted from the beginning, but at least the Kings realized MKG wasn’t going to work before he walked out the door.
Not long before, but progress comes in small steps for perennial screw-ups like them.Comment
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Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story
Ch. 56
Scheduling didn’t do us any *ucking favors after the break. We didn’t resume play until February 28th, at home, and it marked the last appearance of our pride uniforms in the regular season — at home, we faced the piss poor Knights. The Knights were 20-36, floundering as they did, and the team — as a whole — just wasn't good … but they weren’t sniping at one another in the press, either. Their locker-room was stable, something that had been missing since the team was founded, and Marshall made the trip down to take the beating like a man this time.
And boy, was it a beating. The first quarter was close, closer than I would have liked — Millsap scored the first ten point for his team, drew two fouls on Thon, and made it seem like the Knights might have a puncher’s chance. But Jackson wasn’t having any of that and in one play he pretty much crushed the morale of the Knights.
The rest of the quarter played out to our advantage, much to Marshall’s chagrin. The game got away from the Knights at that point.
Marshall, though, was still a believer in his strategy. “We have a team that’s just a piece away from making your life miserable,” he told me over drinks. Keep in mind, this is while the Knights are getting destroyed right below him, but he had already moved on to next year.
“One piece? Just one?” I shook my head at him. “You’re a few pieces away, if you’re lucky. You tried to buy your team and look at what it got you.”
“Fultz. Millsap. Nurkic. Prince. McCoy.” He sipped his whiskey, a satisfied smirk on his lips. “And a likely top-5 pick in this draft, which is top heavy.”
He was a conniving *astard, that much was true. “So, you’re going to trade your pick?”
“It’s obvious we don’t need another young player … but we do need a sweet-shooting guard to play alongside Fultz and this draft has exactly that. Carter-Williams was never going to be a part of our future.”
“And yet you traded for him anyway,” I reminded him.
He shrugged. “Got rid of Rivers, who was whining. I don’t have a problem with that.”
“You definitely have problems, but not with that, no.”
“And your team?” He cast a glance down at the court. “I assume you’ll re-sign Carroll and Delladova?”
“You assume correctly. I expect both to be back with us — their veteran leadership is invaluable.”
Marshall scoffed. “If either could stay in the lineup, they might just be as invaluable as you claim.”
“*ocksucker.”
We traded insults between drinks for the rest of the night as the Flight killed the Knights.
After the game, we flew out to Boston to play the Celtics on March 1st. First games back from the break and they gave us a back-to-back affair; what bull*hit but we had to play the schedule we were dealt. Boston was coming off a win the night before, but they didn't look tired; the team came out firing on all cylinders — Thomas, in particular, was lighting us up.
IT4 was a little freak, just a speeddemon with a license to kill. He came off screens like a bat out of hell and Delly had a hard time staying with him. We switched Richardson onto him, but size didn’t make nearly the difference we hoped.
In the first, Boston soundly outshot us and outplayed us, thanks mostly to Thomas but Okafor did some work, too. After one, they led 31-29. In the second, we hit another gear — abusing Boston’s bench. Olynk couldn’t muscle up against Thon or Noel, Smart couldn’t cover everyone on the wing, and we went up big in that quarter — real big. We went into halftime up by ten, 65-55, but in the third we couldn’t force the lead into anything bigger. Despite an epic night from Thon and our bench, Boston hung tough and hung around …
That is until the fourth. We were up only 92-85, Boston had closed the lead to under 10 at the end of the third, and the crowd was ready to cheer their team to a victory. Instead, we caught fire from behind the arc — I mean, straight-fire.
That was part of a 15-0 run — all threes -- as we drained triples in Boston’s face, then got back on defense and made them miss. The crowd went dead silent as we exerted our will. Our lead was 107-85 with under 8 minutes to go and Boston had nothing. They did nothing. They could do nothing. ‘Melo was a non-factor and the Celtics withered and died.
It was the most points our team had ever scored, and to do it against the Celtics — not scrubs, they were 34-27 coming into the game — was a testament to luck, as much as skill. We moved to 40-20 and it looked like we had something that really worked. The return of Carroll to our bench unlocked the full potential of our team … the league was about to learn just how good we were.
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Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story
Ch. 57
After opening the month of March with a historic victory (in terms of our franchise history) against the Cetlics, we rolled off four wins in the next five games — most of it was against bottom-tier teams, but guys with talent. Still, a win was a win and I wasn’t complaining, especially considering who we faced on March 10th: the Warriors.
League-leading at 47-14, the Warriors were absolutely demolishing teams behind Chef Curry’s 27.7 PPG and I wasn’t exactly confident of our chances. Who would be going against the firepower the Warriors had? Klay Thompson had, right before the extension deadline, agreed to re-sign with the Warriors and Golden State inked him to 3yr extension, cementing him and Curry as the backcourt (and backbone) of the team.
Durant was still mum on his decision and wouldn’t talk about it till the offseason, which worried Warriors fans as he had already proved that he’d up and leave a seemingly great situation if it suited him.
That left us. We were 43-21, the second-best team in the conference by record but maybe not in terms of talent. Thon, Noel, and Jackson were a trio that worked as good as any in the NBA — we were absolute bullies inside the restricted area and any miss was up-for grabs, as Thon or Noel were hungry glass-eaters. But defending the triple was among the toughest things for us to do — especially against teams with multiple flamethrowers. The Warriors were the absolute *ucking definition of that and we simply couldn’t waltz into their home arena and play relaxed.
We had to have a game for the ages.
The first quarter of that game, our last matchup with them that year, was a defensive slug-fest for the first eight minutes or so. It befuddled the commentators that two teams with such explosive offenses would choose that game to play some of their best defense, but every player on that court was a top-end competitor; their pride was on the line and, maybe, so was the best record in the West if the Warriors took a few more losses and we grabbed a few more wins.
Both sides struggled to score for those first eight minutes, the score in the teens once we got to the four minute mark. And then the first substitutions came in and our bench gave us a jolt, specifically Junkyard Dog. Carroll was given the unenviable assignment of guarding Durant, but he stepped up and not only guarded him — he hustled for boards, went all-out on the fast-break, and hit a transition triple. 19-16, Flight.
Carroll’s offense — unexpected, he usually takes time to warm up — woke up our offense and we started raining triples on the Warriors in their house. It was surreal to see Curry, Thompson, and Durant get torched on one end, then get shut down on the other. We finished the first quarter up 27-16 thanks to our hot shooting and the Warriors frigid start.
No lead is safe with Golden State, though. It’s common NBA knowledge to never count them out, no matter what, because of the caliber of shooters on that team and, by God, Klay Thompson came out and decided to shoot early and often. He flew off screens, he hoisted it up from just past half-court, he hit deep threes that would amke Ray Allen blush. Behind Thompson’s flamethrower performance the Warriors blitzed us from deep — nothing we did slowed Thompson down.
Add in some Curry antics (a halfcourt three heave that went in right before the half) and we barely limped into halftime with a 52-49 lead.
We were rocked, but not out. Staggered, but not beat. We hadn’t given up and we were drawing good fouls, playing smart defense, and sticking to our gameplan. We couldn’t get into a shootout with the Warriors because they would murder us — it was that simple — but if we played inside out, they wouldn’t be able to keep up with us … if we kept our bigs clean from fouls and if we hit enough outside shots to keep them honest.
We were playing our game and we continued to play it in the third. But halftime hadn’t cooled off the Warriors — Durant woke up and so did Curry. Those two started firing and Thompson was fine with his shot, and to start the quarter the Warriors came right back at us. They took the lead briefly, then we took it back — we spent most of the third answering their triples with two-points, but we got them in foul trouble early and they fouled us a bunch —they sent us to the line and we converted, but not nearly enough to get a comfortable lead.
At the end of the third, Delon Wright decided to hoist up some triples and he sunk them, amazingly enough, and that gave us a slim, four-point lead heading into the fourth.
This was where I figured we’d get our *ss handed to us as Durant, Curry, and Thompson shot us into next week. Instead, Nerlens, Thon, and Jackson flashed them a middle finger and went to work. All game we’d been working it inside, getting boards, getting physical, and it paid off — in the final frame, the Warriors front-line was tired. They couldn’t get those extra possessions, but Noel did — Thon did — and the two ate misses and turned them into putbacks.
Golden State kept hoisting up triples and, when our lead started growing, they tried to get some action inside, but we pounced — we grabbed passes from mid-air, we came up with steals, we had guys hustle on every play and McHale didn’t call a single-timeout the whole quarter. He forced Kerr to do it and, psychologically, that really pumped our guys up; their coach trusted them to finish it off and they did it.
We walked out of that arena 44-21, having just beaten the best team out West, and we earned it.
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Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story
Just caught up on this thread. The Rise of Thon! As a Raptors fan I've been excited to see the development of Delon Wright and how he and Junkyard Dog 2.0 have fit in to this now contending St. Louis team.
Clearly the Flight are contenders now. Excited to see how they fare in the playoffs with the elite teams of the West.
Love the writing style! Keep it up, man. Good stuff all around.Comment
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Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story
Great dynasty!Funkycorm
Currently Playing:
MLB The Show 25 (PS5)
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Twitch
Dynasties:
None at the momentComment
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Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story
Real life must have slowed you down
Can't wait for the next entry!"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, that's why it's called the present!"Comment
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Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story
Ch. 58
The win against the Warriors infused our team with a level of swagger we’d never had before — we were an expansion team, we weren’t supposed to be this good this soon but, here we were, on the precipice of making the playoffs as the 2nd seed in the West; it energized our fans and our players.
We blitzed through March, going 4-4 for the remaining games — not great, we lost to sure playoff teams in the Jazz (who were going to make the playoffs, finally) and to the Bulls (who were really liking that Green trade). But our losses were all close and we didn’t get blown out once — I took comfort in that.
April arrived and that’s when we kicked it into high gear; the schedule was kind to us, setting us up with the likes of the Kings, Magic, and Hawks in the first three games of the month before we hit a nasty stretch with the Blazers (playoff bound), Thunder (on the bubble), and the surprise Mavs. No one — I mean, no *ucking one — had the Mavs even sniffing the playoffs, especially after they lost the first overall pick, center DeAndre Ayton, to an MCL tear that had him miss the rest of the season from March 1st onward.
Yet, here they were — Rick Carlisle, again, proving how kick*ss he was as a coach. The Mavs entered the game as the 8th seed, barely hanging on at 37-40, while we were 52-26 — locked in as the 2nd seed pretty much, though NOLA could still steal it from us if they won out and we lost out. Still, we weren’t worried about too much … as a team and a franchise, we were trying not to look ahead.
The game wasn’t anything special — we waltzed into Dallas and danced all over their faces. Thon had a HUGE game, from beginning to end, and he came out with a purpose.
We nearly choked the lead away in the second quarter, but in the third we locked them down from the moment the second half began and we rode off into the sunset. Jackson held Barnes to just 9 points (what a massive overpay that was), but it didn’t change the fact that we came out and dominated.
The season was winding down, but we were playing some of our best basketball and were undefeated in the month of April so far. With the Warriors nursing a three game lead over us and us only having three games to go, we knew the 1st seed was likely out of reach.
It was the bottom of the conference that was going to determine our playoff fate — the Thunder sat as the 7th seed, only a game ahead of the Mavs, and we desperately wanted to avoid OKC. Who the *uck wants to play Westbrook in the playoffs? Not us.
So, there was that to worry about it. I wanted to win a playoff series — anything less would be a massive disappointment, especially after taking the Pelicans to seven the year before. We could make it … but we had to get a good matchup.
And that was completely out of our control.
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Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story
Patrick Beverly.
That's a good-looking win, though. That's one of those games that may not seem important in virtual land, especially with the two seed all but wrapped up, but it's a game you need to win. Going into the playoffs rusty, especially if that's the make-or-break between playing OKC, is something you want to stay far, far away from.Patiently waiting for a New York Jets title.Wish me luck.Comment
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Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story
Agreed. I'm a big believer in momentum and positive momentum is a great thing, especially heading into the playoffs. I really want to avoid OKC (we'll see how that shakes out) but if I can get the Mavs at the 7th seed, I'll be ecstatic -- that's a damn near guaranteed playoff series win and I want that.
The franchise is ready for the next step ... but we'll see how it plays out. The bottom of the West's playoff picture is really, really chaotic, the last few games of the year will be huge for so many teams.Comment
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Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story
Ch. 59
With the end of the season fast approaching, my brothers and I met at The Dome to sort through all that was left to do outside of the playoffs. We were definitely going to get in and we would be the 2nd seed — who we faced was up in the air, but we had to look past the postseason and to the offseason.
And we all agreed, the first thing we needed to do is evaluate where the hell we were going with our draft picks. Thanks to the Raptors, who had the third worst record in the NBA and would likely finish right around there with that, we were guaranteed a lottery pick — but who would we use that damn pick on?
The 2019 draft class was a crapshoot of epic proportions, more than any that I can remember in those first years of our existence. The 2016, '17, '18 drafts … they were known quantities comparatively. 2019 was like a blind date and I didn’t want the ugly chick.
“Trade it,” Tony said, first thing, when I brought up the question. He had been beating that drum since the All-Star break, once he saw how utterly craptastic the Raptors were destined to be. “There’s not a player we can take in the top-ten that’ll help us, right now, get further into the playoffs. We want a championship, we want a trophy, and we need to go out and get it. We need a better point guard.”
Garrett was aghast. “Delly is great!”
“I ain’t saying he isn’t,” Tony continued, “but he’s getting older. This draft class ain’t got a great point guard beyond … what’s his face? Bullard?”
“Bullard,” I confirmed. Daniel Bullard, out of Massachusetts, was a throwback guard. The kid was a high level passer, playmaker, and a leader. Standing at only 6’1”, he was a small kid but he was fearless — drove the lane, played the mid-range like a concert pianist, and was a stud defensively, at least at the college level.
He also had one of the worst weaknesses for a point guard in 2019 — he was a weak three-ball shooter, and that was from the shorter college arc. The mock drafts had him going before we got a chance to pick and that hadn’t changed all season.
As far as teams that could really use Bullard, the Spurs and Hornets were the teams we needed to beat out in the draft lottery. If either landed in the top-3 above us, Bullard was as good as gone and we would be left with the rest of the draft.
“We need Bullard,” I stated as unequivocally as possible. “If he’s not there where we’ll picking, we have two choices — we either trade the pick or go best-player-available.”
Tony groaned. “*uck, I hate that BPA *hit. You know what’s available after Bullard? Nothing we need.”
Garrett shrugged his shoulders as he scribbled on his tablet — he was working on even more alternate uniforms for next season, which I didn’t much mind; the more alternates we had, the more jersey revenue we’d generate. No one disliked having more money.
“We have to look at Stewart, Cook, Bellamy, or Newman.”
Tony shook his head. “Newman’s too short — 6’2” for a two-guard? In this day and age? He’d be eaten alive.”
“I tend to agree.” I activated the big screen and brought up the draft profiles on the potential top-10. “We don’t need any of them, really.”
Garrett held up a finger. “We might need Bellamy if Noel leaves. 2020 free agent,” he reminded in an all-to chipper voice.
Sadly, that was true — Noel was a free agent in 2020 and the kid had given us nothing in terms of signals. No idea if he was going to stay or go. Add in Lauvergne, too, and in 2020 we could be without our two best centers … if they left in free agency. Would they?
“We have to consider that possibility,” I admitted, as much as I hated to. “If either leaves, we’ll need to get a big somewhere … I’d rather promote in-house than to go out and sign one, but we’re still a year away from that being a consideration.”
“Early bird gets the worm,” Tony reminded me. “It ain’t a bad idea to take Bellamy as insurance … trade Hammonds or Boucher somewhere else and grow a big of our own.” He poured himself a glass of whiskey and tossed some back. “Still say we trade it, though.”
“For who?” I asked. “The best point men are free agents this year … Wall, Walker, both on the market. We could grab one of them, but they don’t fit our needs.”
“The Thunder, trade for Payne and a pick or something. OKC is barely hanging on this year, you don’t think they’d jump at picking up a cheap asset?”
I crossed my arms. “If anything, I think they’ll laugh us off the phone. They love Payne, signed him to a big extension, he was a key part of their title run in 2016 … no way they part with him for just a high pick.”
“Maybe Denver — they suck,” Garrett chimed in. “Lord knows they have plenty of parts … we could use some.”
“Maybe,” I conceded. Staring at the screen, I wasn’t sure where we were going to go in the offseason … there simply wasn’t a consensus which direction was the best.
We didn’t have much time left to figure it out, either. The offseason was coming and, ready or not, we were going to be on the clock.Comment
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Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story
2018-19 Regular Season Awards
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Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story
2018-19 Final Regular Season Standings
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