Not sure how the most talented team (note I did not say first place team) in England is an easy draw. There are all kids of reasons which make sense for why City blew the title chase this year, but in a home-and-away tournament fixture, where they’ll really give a fuck? City will be tough.

You might want to reconsider that. Even in college, Walton was considered a free-spirited disaster of a guy who did everything he wanted the way he wanted and was impossible to manage.

I think it’s important to separate Nigel de Jong being a total asshole from the point of my argument, which is that Nigel is part of an evolving narrative of European players in MLS, and isn’t the same as the near-40 Andrea Pirlo’s of the world, who truly have nothing left.

You’re living in a binary world. For Beasely the Chinese league has been a viable path back to the NBA. Moreover, he actually looks better after having been in China.

You don’t think Nigel de Jong can play for Torino or Bordeaux? That’s extreme.

So would you say Michael Beasley going to play in China was not a fairly significant step forward for the Chinese league? As opposed to signing Starbury?

No, that’s not even close. Is Kobe 31? Is the Chinese league anywhere close to as good as the NBA? Was NdJ ever a superstar? The Kobe example you’ve given is exactly the Pirlo narrative.

So are you against journalists having legal protections to keep their sources confidential / safe?

I’d argue he still has 3-4 years of starting for Ligue 1 and Serie A clubs, albeit mid table ones.

Is he in starting XI for Champions League quality team? No. But he’s starting for plenty of mid-table clubs in Italy or France and could do so for another 3-4 seasons. If the MLS is a viable destination for such players, that’s something we should be celebrating, because it’s a positive trend.

Say what you will about Nigel de Jong, but he’s not over the hill. He’s 31 years old and Milan had him signed through 2018. He still has plenty of elite European league talent left in the tank. Trying to fit him into the narrative of this-is-the-problem-with-MLS is lazy.

Ha.

True re: the draft, but the component of independent lower divisions (not to mention the many more leagues) tilts in LC’s favor, especially as long as EPL teams have more money than anyone else.

Whether Krukow should be saying this is one thing, but he’s not diagnosing anything from “some photos.” Until this season he’s been around Panda more or less year round since 2008.

In watching that game, they didn’t look sluggish to me. My conclusion was that NBA players are really goddamn good and it’s why only one team has ever won 73 games. It’s completely normal for a first place team to lose to a mediocre one.

My guess is that people have been asking Kerr that question 25 times a day for the last 5 days, which is why he addressed it.

You’re ahead of yourself with Kerr. Since he decides who goes into the games and who doesn’t— and he hasn’t yet started resting players— he obviously doesn’t think it’s that important.

Agreed. Do the Warriors look particularly tired? I’ve seen super tired playoff teams at the end of the season (i.e. most Spurs teams and any playoff team LeBron is on) and the Warriors are not that.

CORRECTION: San Francisco won in 2010, 2012 and 2014 on the strength of their pitching.

What I love about baseball rules vs. football rules is that when baseball cannot be specific (i.e. a balk) it embraces the judgment call.