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Baron DavisBaron Davis

The best way to manage LeBron James is to challenge him to set picks and focus on team-oriented tasks

You have to challenge LeBron, right? ... finding little things in the game that could be challenging to LeBron that would ultimately dictate a better outcome... Can you set five incredible picks to get somebody open? Can you set a backdoor screen? Things off the ball that allows his teammates to like – so he's in the play but not in the play but still affecting the play.

This is a coaching philosophy that many have suggested, though in practice, LeBron has rarely been used as a primary screen-setter throughout his career.

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Win
Jan 21, 2019
#1851
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Rob Gronkowski was sandbagging all season and is actually the best tight end in the NFL again

I'm going to eat a bird, a big black bird with feathers, and say that Rob Gronkowski was sandbagging the entire season. He's totally healthy. He's actually the best tight end in the NFL right now. I'm sure he'll show up for the Super Bowl.

Gronkowski had a massive catch to set up the game-winning TD in the Super Bowl and was clearly elite for the postseason run, though he retired immediately after (before returning in 2020).
Void
Jan 21, 2019
#1853
Big CatBig Cat

Andy Reid's clock management in overtime was baffling and classic Andy Reid

I still don't understand Andy Reid, and I don't want to blame, you know, do the timeout thing, but you have three timeouts in overtime that can't end in a tie... And he let his defense just die out there without calling one timeout, whether it be at a third and ten, whether it be when the Patriots get to the goal line. It was baffling to see... That happened. I guess it wasn't really baffling because that's Andy Reid.

Reid famously struggled with clock management in big games for years, a narrative that only shifted after he won multiple Super Bowls with Mahomes.
Loss
Jan 21, 2019
#1855
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Tony Romo is receiving the coordinators' play-call audio in his earpiece during broadcasts

I know someone who works for the CBS football production team, and CBS is pulling play-call audio and hot routes from the same radio channel that the coordinators send to play into the QB's helmet. They direct the audio into Romo's earpiece, and he appears to know all the calls beforehand.

This is factually incorrect; Romo's 'precognition' was based on his high-level study of tape and defensive alignments, which he has explained in numerous interviews.

More from Baron Davis

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Baron DavisBaron Davis

Modern NBA players are too friendly because they all grew up together in AAU and camps

Back in my day, like, everybody was mean, dude... I think that times evolve times change... if I was playing in those last five years, I can look and see that there were 30 guys who've been to my camp that are in the NBA. They were little kids in my camp. So why wouldn't we be friends, right? ... we didn't grow up on the same AAU team in people's basketball camp.

This is a subjective observation on league culture that is widely accepted by both fans and media as a byproduct of the youth sports system.
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Baron DavisBaron Davis

UCLA should hire a young coach who cares about the school rather than Rick Pitino

I think for UCLA it's actually a golden opportunity for them to be smart like the Rams, right? Go get a young dude who cares... who wants to be there for a long time... [Big Cat]: Rick Pitino? [Baron Davis]: No... If you want hookers in the locker room, this is L.A. Imagine what he was doing in Louisville... We don't need Rick Pitino, man.

UCLA ended up hiring Mick Cronin (not a 'young dude' per se, but an established veteran) and Pitino went to Iona and then St. John's.
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Baron DavisBaron Davis

Playing pickup basketball to 7 by ones and twos is better than playing to 14 by twos and threes because the smaller numbers create more urgency and panic.

It's the same number when you're thinking about ones and twos. It's like you're just getting closer to a smaller number. So that smaller number actually causes more panic. When it's 14, you kind of look at it as a bigger number, and the game wouldn't have the same type of intensity. The more you lower the number... then a two-pointer gets you closer to that seven.

This is a matter of basketball philosophy and player psychology.

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