I think it’s fair to include Hayward in the narrative. The Celtics planned to have him on the team and built a roster that assumed he’d contribute in a big way (traded Avery Bradley to clear space, moved Jae Crowder). If he were out of the equation, they probably could have built a better one (for this year only;…

KILL IT WITH <flips through arsenal> oh boy

Oh I totally agree he’s doing what he needs to do — if that’s the best way for the Rockets to win, they should go for it. I’m simply agreeing with the sentiment that it’s not fun to watch.

I know, halfway through the first round (admittedly I’m a Wolves fan) after watching Capela set about 19 moving screens in a row so Harden could get the space he needs to jerk his arms into a defender’s airspace, I found myself thinking I couldn’t wait for Golden State to blow them away.

This is is spot on. He is in fact capable of breathtakingly entertaining play and excellence. He can drain step-backs, slice his way to the rim, toss up gorgeous lobs for Capela to finish. But all he really wants to do is flail his arms into you the second you get close enough.

FWIW, this is one of the best summations I’ve ever read about why prequels, in general, are bad. People say it’s because we already know how the story ends, but that’s not really it — as Heather so effectively puts, it’s because it fills in holes in mythology that are far more effective when left unfilled. It replaces…

It’s mostly unfair, and the insular thing happens in every sport (who knew spending all your time in a bubble with the same 15 to 50 dudes for a decade can make you weird?).

Don’t forget, they’re also dumb as shit! Many of them have been doing nothing but baseball since they were in high school, and all of them are elite talents at a game where the whole point is to turn off your brain so you can repeat the same simple motion 10,000 times.

And somehow the paragraph got WORSE!

Honestly, worthwhile exotics and some new activities would be enough to get me to pick it up again. My biggest problem with D2 to date has been that the guns feel so boring.

Speaking as a Wolves fan: The Wolves are also kind of trash, and match up horribly against Houston. I’m much more interested to see if the Rockets look real against Utah and Golden State.

This, this, this. It’s amazing what kind of looks you can get when you just follow the guy trying to fight through the screen around (or sometimes push him into the shooter so they call a foul).

Wiggins’ biggest problem on this team is that he very much needs the ball to find his game, and he’s never going to get it enough on this roster. There aren’t enough touches for him and Butler and Towns, let alone Teague and Crawford. So his touches come in fits and starts, and in between he’s left with spot-up looks…

It’s a badly constructed roster that’s tailor-made to be less than the sum of its parts. Every starter except Taj, plus Crawford and now Rose off the bench, needs the ball to be successful. They’re woefully short on outside shooting (this has somehow been true for the entire existence of the franchise).

Third sufferer chiming in! I was a longtime Thibs defender and brushed off the naysayers — and every single thing the naysayers said came true. He only plays his veterans, he makes his guys miserable, he’s obsessed with the lurching shell of Derrick Rose, he can’t coach offense, he can’t adapt — it was all spot-on.…

The crazy thing is, although it feels like 15 years ago, he coached elite defensive Bulls teams as recently as four years ago. He was only out of the league for a year (when he was on tour, supposedly learning from the best) and somehow the game lapped him in that time. I truly don’t understand how it happened to a…

Playoff Rondo continues to be of the most delightful little curiosities of our time. His regular season career profiles like a slightly above-average journeyman with attitude problems — and then he has bullet points like “the best player in the series that ended LeBron’s first run in Cleveland” and “staked the…

I think there’s a pretty low chance Goldblum agreed to a shoot that wasn’t “a couple scenes sitting down in a room.”

I hate to quibble, but I think I’d score that one as “half right.”

Enjoy the NHL playoffs, Cassie.