It looks like Kevin Durant stays in Brooklyn. I don't think he can give his %100 to this team as he wants Steve Nash and GM Sean Marks to leave but they are also staying.
That's not fair to the organization, why would he do that? I mean, he is paid with big money, so being a professional, he just have to do his job and deliver the expectation of the management. Although I believe there are some conflicts already in the organization, but I don't think Durant would result to purposely not giving his all just to pissed the management. Hoping that he won't do that, something like sabotaging the entire team if he will not play the same type of expected gameplay from him, Durant needs to be a pro, and act as pro. He might lose his fans if he will do that and maybe he will also think about it after he agrees to continue playing for the Nets. He needs to please his fans by playing his best in whatever uniform he's wearing. It will be judged once the league starts and see his performance. It is not just the fans but also that action is detrimental to his career. He will destroy his future if he keeps acting up and does not honor his contract. No team will touch him anymore after his contract with the Nets if he shows that he is very unprofessional and cannot honor a simple contract. Nash has always been a class act and if he wants to have any sort of future in coaching in the NBA, which I believe he very much does, then he needed to resolve this situation. I'm sure he sat and explained to KD how they all want the same thing and the best way for them to accomplish it is together. Once the Ayton contract took him off the trading block it seemed like nobody else had the assets to make something happen.
Nash started his coaching career just a couple of years ago, and he still has a lot to learn. On the one hand, I'd say he is clearly out of luck because he has had to coach players like Durant, Irving, and Harden right away. On the other hand, the whole Nets drama could be a good experience for Nash. I mean, if he can handle it mentally, he will be able to achieve good results as a coach. It could have been easier for him since these 3 have tons of talents together. He just fails to control the egos of these players. The two even said that they do not need a head coach, thus the failure Nets have been. |
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Secret looking so good this major so I would not be surprised to see them playing the finals as they have 6-2 and they are already play-offs guaranteed. However, I do find Nigma playing a very fresh dota with strange picks as the new patch just hit up today and a lot of heroes got nerfed and also buffed but a lot of neutral items have been changed as well.
The new patch caught the teams off guard because they do not have time to test the heroes. They woke up with the patch they need to play in the tournament immediately. But seemingly, the strong teams are still able to adapt quickly and still dominate the games. OG and Aster lead their respective groups with 7-1, and as you said, Secret seats at 6-2. They are secure with the upper bracket. Aster again with a strong start. Hopefully, they shake off the jinx of starting strong and choking on the latter stage of a tournament. |
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SMB didn't fail us, they will win this game and will cover the spread.
The first three quarters, it was hard to tell who's gonna win. It was a close fight up to early of the fourth quarter. I really thought that they would not be able to cover the spread. Then suddenly SMB went on a run and the lead blew to double digits. By then, even with a mini run by TNT thru Castro, TNT was not able to catch up. Congrats to SMB backers! looks like by just looking at the odds, we will already know who will win, SMB got this series even, so game 3 is very crucial.
Maybe the odds will be back to -1.5 SMB, if that will happen? Which side you will take?
Still taking SMB on the next game. Coach Chot will still miss the next game because of Gilas, and Coach Leo will surely take advantage of this opportunity. |
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Group A looking one-sided as expected while Group B is a bit of a toss-up except for OG. Was not able to take some action in the earlier games because of busy schedule but taking some for the last three matches today.
You nearly hit that multi but unfortunately, OG's level of play is on another level even if they're playing with their coach. I'm looking forward to more 2-0's on the side of Group A as I have this mini multi for the second day and the total odds are at 2.82.  Yeah, OG thrashed my multi-bet. I thought FNATIC was able to pull it off in Game 2 when they are giving OG a hard time in the laning phase but sand king and arc warden switched lanes and the favor went back to them. A few kills later and OG snowballed and won the game. Just not my day. Hope to have better luck today.  |
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@OP, Raven of Fnatic and Miracle of Nigma is not playing on this tournament due health issue for both players. I’m really surprised that Fnatic manage to sweep Boom with a stand-in carry. There game 2 match is pretty intense that ended on a throne race run which Boom didn’t expect that Fnatic will sneak there ancient. Both Nigma and Fnatic is showing good performance despite there pos1 is out of this tournament. 3 Miracle- is unable to attend due to health issues, Dreamocel will stand in.
4 Raven is unable to attend due to health issues, Palos will stand in. Dreamocel is a revelation. So far, he is showing good performance against liquid and TSM. Nigma is still lucky to get a good pos1 in absence of Miracle. I am not familiar with Dreamocel but he needs to have a deeper pool of heroes as the tournament moves forward. So, far he has just used Druid and Void successfully. He used Bristle but lose in game 1 vs Liquid. 4 teams will be out and the playoffs comes in.
Yes, the bottom 2 of each bracket is out of the tournament. Group A will be harder for those who lose today. It seems that the top three are already set to Secret, Entity, and Aster. Alliance, Talon, and Thunder Awaken got swept so I think these three are just fighting for the 4th spot to continue in the tournament.
Here is the schedule for tomorrow.  source : liquipedia - ESL One Malaysia 2022 |
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Btw, as this ESL starts, have you seen the first outcomes of it on the bracket A? I just find it amazing and funny.  Group A is kinda one sided and full of sweep matches. Aster, Entity, and Secret are establishing their dominance over their group. It is exciting to see which of these three will drop their first game tomorrow. Group B is more balance with having OG as the only team getting a sweep. |
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Wierd how in one year the narrative turns on Westbrook. I know it's a lot of pity stats but he was a one man wrecking ball when he was on okc. Maybe it was just an off year. Dude is a competitor so I wouldn't be surprised if he trained hard this summer and comes out different next year.
That is what you get when you clap back to fans, you get more flak, and the narrative is turned against you. He may have his chance to redeem himself since the Lakers are likely to retain him on their roster. No matter what, he should just focus on improving his game and avoid social media. It does not do him go clapping back to fans or haters and it takes away the focus that should have been put into the game. It's because they traded them with they acquire Westbrook from the Wizards. But I do agree that they should all move on, they did try to get some veterans and experience players but it didn't give them dividends or maybe it was the chemistry and no one become the leader when Lebron is out. Russ did try, but it just make matter worst for them. But it seems the Lakers is different from last year, they have a new coach already so that is a start.
Nothing much has changed though. Aside from the Big 3 being healthy now, they are still lacking help from the bench. That is what they need to build too. They still have ample of time to build it before the season starts, let's see what they will do to complement the big 3. |
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Was not able to take some action in the earlier games because of busy schedule but taking some for the last three matches today.  Hopefully this pans out. I only take handicap match because I am not yet sure how the teams are performing in this tournament.
What a game 2 between FNATIC and BOOM Esports. FNATIC was with a large lead but slowly BOOM was able to come back. When PL got farmed, FNATIC was not able to do anything about him. Even with a large lead, FNATIC was not able to win a team fight. So, FNATIC did the unthinkable, they avoided the fight and went straight to the throne and won. What a game. I thought this match will easily go to Boom since they are fresh from their win in Gamers Galaxy but FNATIC was able to pull one from them getting 2-0. |
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SMB knows that they can defeat TNT. They just fell short in the final 1.6 seconds. I'm curious on how the SMB will adjust to it or they will just focus on what they are doing which is spreading the offense and not focusing only on JMF like what they used to do years ago.
SMB should also not stay confident. That kills them. Despite the fact that TNT's Mikey Williams is not in his usual beast mode and Poy Erram is struggling against June Mar Fajardo and Mo Tautaa, TNT still managed to overcome their large deficit. SMB focusing their offense on JMF is really effective as he is really unstoppable. However, that makes JMF's stamina more used as he also focuses on the defense side where lots of TNT players can attack the paint that easily. Without him, TNT can just attack the paint without much a problem. We will see what adjustment they are going to make. In my opinion, they have no problem inside the paint, defensive or offensive wise. They have problems controlling the guards of TNT though. M. Williams, Pugoy and Castro are out playing the guards of san miguel. I am interested to see how Coach Leo will adjust their defense to limit those 3. Last game, SMB took advantage when Castro was out and build up huge lead. But when he returned in the 2nd half, the lead began to crumble and they eventually lost. |
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Another update is that Miracle isn't going to play because of health issues and Team Nigma Galaxy still hasn't released on who's going to be their carry stand-in.
In Liquipedia, their line up is made up of Dreamocel, Sumail, Mind_Control, GH and Kuroky. I do not know if this is official. I have been searching but failed to find an announcement to confirm if Dreamocel is the official stand-in. It is just 7 hours before the tournament starts. Yes, thanks. The update was recent and almost all teams are ready. That's official, I've seen it somewhere that it is Dreamocel that's going to play for Miracle. We've got a few hours left before the first matches are going to be played. This is a lot of games that shall be played and the first ones are Aster vs Talon, Entity vs Alliance and Secret vs Thunder Awaken. Lets put up some links for that stand-in https://esports.gg/news/dota-2/miracle-will-not-play-at-the-esl-one-malaysia-due-to-health-issues/https://dotesports.com/dota-2/news/miracle-to-miss-esl-one-malaysia-2022-due-to-health-issues-nigma-will-play-with-a-subSo its final and i would say a very huge disadvantage on having no miracle on Nigma honestly. Too bad too that they recruited someone from the SEA server. The play style is very different from Europe teams. They will be having a harder time adjusting to each others game play. If it is another player from EU, it could have been easier. And they have very little time to adjust too. This is very tough for team Nigma but hopefully they can still perform at top level even with these challenges and handicap. |
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Another update is that Miracle isn't going to play because of health issues and Team Nigma Galaxy still hasn't released on who's going to be their carry stand-in.
In Liquipedia, their line up is made up of Dreamocel, Sumail, Mind_Control, GH and Kuroky. I do not know if this is official. I have been searching but failed to find an announcement to confirm if Dreamocel is the official stand-in. It is just 7 hours before the tournament starts.
Here are the upcoming matches for today. I just noticed that there are back-to-back matches. It seems to be a rough group stage to do back-to-back. A test for the resiliency of the teams.  |
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Irving staying makes no sense to me at all. The only good offer they have is for Irving. They could get Westbrook, one decent player, and then a bunch of picks from Lakers if they want to .Westbrook will be there only for one year, then they will have bunch of picks, a decent young kid, and a bunch of picks which they could ship together to get even better just one pick. Like 5 second rounds 5 years down the line could always become first round pick next year type of trade. Thats of course much better because Irving is not make it or break it type of player, Durant is a superstar and not many like him exists, its harder to trade him.
Irving staying makes sense to me if you're the Nets. Westbrook is washed and has a worse contract that Kyrie. They'd be losing money and talent with that deal. The only thing they'd be getting is losing a headache. Kyrie and Durant still makes for one of the best teams in the league. The Nets should be excited to run them with Simmons this year. I think all 3 probably need to be treated like children and forced to play out their contracts together. But if they are keeping Irving and not Durant (since Durant requested to be traded) then there is no point in keeping Irving. They are not a championship contender without Durant and just Irving and Simmons on the lineup. Unless keeping Irving is bait to make Durant stay with the Nets, then it makes sense. Durant and Irving are buddies, and if Irving is staying, Durant may be more inclined to try their duo one more chance this season. |
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Udonis Haslem signs a one-year contract with the Miami Heat and that will be his last season for the team. Despite low average playing time and only playing a few games within the last six seasons, the Miami Heat reportedly convinced him as they still need his locker room presence.
What's on my mind is that they want Haslem to be part of those players who stayed in the franchise for 20+ seasons. Dirk Nowitzki and Kobe Bryant are the only players in history to do that. This upcoming season, Haslem marked his 20th season on the Miami Heat.
It makes sense to believe for me that's the reason aside from appreciation by the Miami Heat.
Since 2016, Udonis Haslem has appeared in only 9.7 games per season... with a 7.0 minute average. He has not played a single minute in any of the Miami Heat's playoff games during that span. Miami team loves him as a leader and he's helping younger centers develop for the team. I guess he could carry on like this as long as humanly possible. He could serve the Heat better if he works as a coaching staff or trainer rather than taking a slot in the roster. They could have given it to a younger player that can contribute to the team in the regular season and the playoffs. I guess after the gets his 20th season with Miami, he can do that role. For now, he'll enjoy his spot on the roster and continue supporting and contributing thru this. |
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It's hard to have a pick on who's going to be the champ on this tournament but I think, those teams that are already qualified on TI would like to use some experiments on this tournament for them to have like a practice game preparing for the bigger event.
Yeah, they are not going thru the qualifiers anymore, so this is their chance to try some new combination to discover a new meta. I do not see any surprises here so I guess the top teams will win this tournament. There’s always a pub game to experiment combos and item choice. They still need to have profit on tournaments for there organization even though they are already qualified on TI. The players is not playing for there own sake because they are being sponsored and being paid by the team management so I doubt any of them will gonna purposely show an experiment game since this still a official tournament after all. They can, in the group stage. It is always better to do it against professional teams because it is competitive. They can see the holes in their strategies if it is against pro players rather than in pubs. They can experiment in game 1's of their group stage and take it seriously on the latter stages. They can still take the win afterwards. |
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We are not talking about moving on here, we are talking about the controversial winning shot of Castro. For some it's counted, while for others it's not, just like what I'm saying, the official decision was it's counted, but you cannot eliminate the speculation that some people think the officials made a mistake here.
Popular comments I read disagreeing with the officials' decision was, in 1.8 seconds Castro was able to dribble the ball twice and then pull up to shot, they believe the time is too short in order to execute it.
Fans will always make it controversial whenever it is a close call. They never lose, they only got cheated. If you want this to be controversial, show a photo where the red backlight is on and the ball is still in Castro's hand. And it is not 1.8 seconds, it is 1.6 seconds and it is doable. You can even see this kind of play in amateur/collegiate basketball, so it is not impossible to be done in PBA in a finals game. I said move on because there is nothing you can change in there. You can never reverse time or reverse the ref's call. You can only throw shades that are only detrimental to the league. |
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Officially it went it, but you cannot blame some fans who think that it should not be counted.  ctto That one looks not counted, but if you look at the video, it's very close, it's hard to tell, I think the PBA officials are too quick to conclude, they should have made a look several times before making a final judgment. You can see that the board is not yet in red light. Yes it is zero but the board not yet in red. And if you review the video, it is really hard to determine. The rule in PBA is "When it is inconclusive, the first call stands" and the first call was it is a basket. So it is counted. Mind you, I am an SMB fan and I accept that they lost Game 1. Fans should move on too. It is just the first game and SMB has shown that they can have a big lead against TNT, only if they can protect it. SMB will adjust in Game 2 for sure, that is what I want to see. They can dominate TNT, with just a little adjustment. |
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It's hard to have a pick on who's going to be the champ on this tournament but I think, those teams that are already qualified on TI would like to use some experiments on this tournament for them to have like a practice game preparing for the bigger event.
Yeah, they are not going thru the qualifiers anymore, so this is their chance to try some new combination to discover a new meta. I do not see any surprises here so I guess the top teams will win this tournament. |
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Lakers is indeed a powerful team so its players should also represent the outstanding performances that the team needs. However, with Westbrook, even if he has not made outstanding performances in the previous games, but I don’t think Lakers will pursue trading Westbrook, instead the team will add more players that bring more asset to the team.
They are not pursuing it because no team is willing to make a trade. That's why they should just forget about it and move on, use Westbrook as one of their key players again and see if this time he would be productive. Maybe it just needs time to adjust and build some chemistry with Lebron and AD for us to see his worth. They should give it a try if this trio could work. Last season, they only played together for 21 games. I think no one could build reliable chemistry if you only played too few games together. If AD and Lebron can stay healthy, maybe they could eventually have chemistry with Westbrook. And who knows, their coach wanted Westbrook to remain, maybe he has something in mind that could make Westbrook fit better with the Lakers. |
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As we can see, the Jazz management wants to rebuild its team significantly, and it looks like they are trying to collect as many draft picks as possible. By the way, they already got 5 draft picks in the Gobert trade, and now they wanted 7 draft picks for Mitchell. Obviously, the Jazz is asking way too much, and I think the Knicks management should think it over carefully before agreeing to any deal with the Jazz.
Well, yes, if we look at it that way, the Gobert trade (5 picks in the draft) was a positive trade (or not)... but is there really a possibility that they get 7 draft picks for Mitchell? Is this extremely viable for the team? Because they would be trading a excelent player for NBA rookies, that is, it would be something uncertain, because we wouldn't know if the nba rookies will be promising players. If you are trying to rebuild, it is the best way forward, I guess. Just look at the teams that rebuild from the scratch. Golden State was successful in building a dynasty team from draft picks and some notable trades. Celtics is also on the verge of doing it. They have built around Tatum and Brown, their own picks. They are successful enough to reach the Finals last season. And I do not think that that is their peak. We can still expect more from Tatum, Brown, and company to achieve more. Also, it would be cheaper to acquire rookies with great potential than a high-paid star when rebuilding. |
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SMB fans should just accept that Game 1 defeat. Stop saying that it was rigged in favor of TNT.
In the first place, scores should not reach that close if they were able to protect their lead.
Sick to see comments on social media that it was fixed. That's always the argument when their team loses the game.
Typical Filipino I guess. It is either we win or we were cheated. We do not accept defeat. You can see that mentality not only with SMB fans but across sports. Big adjustments of Pogoy. Most TNT key players during their previous series are struggling on Game 1 like Mikey Williams and Poy Erram. SMB even put down TNT at a big lead but TNT was able to narrow the lead and steals a lead entering the 4th quarter. Better luck next game. SMB has a powerhouse cast way better than TNT. Next time, don't be comfortable even with a good lead. SMB's Coach Leo Austria didn't know what to do during the time TNT is now catching up.  I think Castro was out in the first half when SMB had the big lead. When he is back in the second half, they were able to come back. That and the valiant effort of Pogoy put TNT in the lead and eventually win the game with Castro's winning shot. |
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