How u? So Roger Mason Jr.'s twitter wasn't hacked (shocked), but there was a logical reason for it happening according to Mason who appeared on ESPN Radio to discuss the lockout and the tweet. From Royce Young at Eye on Basketball (first reported by Tommy Beer on twitter),
Actually I was in high school with my son and I have an assistant that frequently updates my account. And a friend of mine sent me a message about how the lockout could last. And I said, 'It looks like it could be a season.' So it sent him a message back. She sends a message thinking it was a text message but it wasn't, it was a tweet.
"So I got a bunch of calls from media and they asked me about the tweet and I didn't know anything about it so I assumed I had been hacked.
So it wasn't a response to a DM as I previously thought, but was intended to be just a reply to a regular text. Mason also wasn't claiming a hacking because he was trying to lie or shift blame, because he didn't realize immediately what had happened, he thought his account had to have been compromised.
We didn't know the context of the text either until now which makes things worse. Most assumed, except for the astute SurlyMae, that this was a positive indicator of the negotiations going well. Bully Hunter has told players to expect to miss half the season before something gets done.
SLAM Online has a feature on Jeremy Evans and his art. We know that the lockout is going to hurt some more than others, but Evans had just a one-year deal worth about $473k. Most of us would jump at that salary to play ball. Should we lose the season though, Evans could be selling some of his artwork to make ends meet,
While short in distance, the trip to Sin City is a far cry from the largely Mormon population of Salt Lake City, Utah, where Evans spends most of his time. He says he's drawn a series of pictures of Salt Lake's nationally renowned Latter-day Saints Temple, which he may look to sell should the NBA work stoppage continue.
Sounds like someone needs to set him up with someone at Deseret Book (an LDS-owned bookstore).
Brian T. Smith is in Vegas to watch Evans play in the Impact League. He had another great showing,
Evans scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds during an afternoon game, playing a key role in his team's messy 118-104 victory. He entered the contest leading the IBL in blocks and ranking second in rebounds. He walked off the hardwood covered in sweat, earning praise from IBL founder and president Joe Abunassar and a congratulatory punch in the arm by Matthews.
...
"His athleticism is something you don't see," Abunassar said. "I've been doing this for 15 years. It's very unique."
He did get dunked on something fierce by JJ Hickson but had several fantastic dunks according Smith.
The online stat sheet that Impact had up is now not available. They also announced that there will not be any streaming games at all for the tournament. Sounds like a real alternative.
Should we be concerned that four of the top ten top floppers as reported by the Orlando Sentinel are current or former Jazz men?
It's hard to argue when Raja has flops such as this one and this one. AK probably had his best performance here against Dirk.
Derrick Favors comes in at #35 on the top 99 players in 2015. Mike Prada states thusly,
Call it a hunch, but I think you'll see why the Nets took him over DeMarcus Cousins in the 2010 draft. Cousins will always be a better scorer, but Favors' defensive potential is off the charts, and with the NBA game now more suited to pick and roll instead of straight post-ups, Favors will still find a way to score enough to be a very good third- or fourth-option player.
Ziller's going to say how hard it is for us to project defense, but I say hogwash to that. Why can't we project defense? Why can we definitively say Cousins will mature and then turn around and say that we can't definitively say Favors will become the kind of defensive big man anchor that wins championships? (Really, I'm just trolling Ziller the Kings fan now, but the point still stands). -Prada
Favors needs a lot of polish, but he has all of the physical tools to dominate on both ends.
Odd stat of the day... One of the things Favors will need to work on most is his free-throw shooting. He shot just 59.5% for the year and just 56% while he was a member of the Jazz.
However, on Monday's his free-throw shooting was phenomenal. He went 21-26 overall (80.8%). His next-best percentage was on Friday's when he shot 68% (17-25).
So if we could just play on Mondays and Fridays, that would be great.