Dagger From Lepanto
“They coming for me, wanna see me fall
They know my story, I been through it all
Nights I felt like dying, but I ain't crying
What didn't kill me, made me strong as I am
I am, I am” - Jay-Z “ Oh My God”
If I were a more accomplished writer, I’d wax poetically about what you can accomplish in a second. But I think it’s a waste of words and at the end of the day, y’all wanna get to the good stuff.
Now, I don’t want to say that Malik Monk hitting a game-winner justified not re-signing Kemba Walker. But the more growth I see from guys like Devonte Graham, Malik, Bridges and PJ Washington — the more I feel like I can justify it.
I had a friend of mine text me after I got out of the game, that Malik had gotten torched by Langston Galloway (he did) and that Malik would’ve gotten pulled on a playoff team (this is also true). While both of these things are true, that’s why a bunch of this is so much fun - - guys are allowed to fail and learn from this.
I’ve hinted at this, but if Kemba Walker was still on this team, we likely don’t see the growth from the kids this season. The ‘playoffs or bust’ mantra put a bunch of undue pressure on fans, coaches and most of all players to develop quickly and with as few errors as possible.
Which is how we get to Malik Monk and the growth that he’s shown. Under a ‘playoffs or bust’ mentality Monk constantly looked over his shoulder and for the most part wasn’t allowed to fail without seeing the end of the bench. Granted there were multiple issues with maturity for Malik but this is the first time fans are seeing players with the latitude to fail. Latitude to experiment with things that might be to conducive to winning later, but not immediately.
Sure we’re more apt to see more errors than successes, and some of the offensive droughts that we’ve seen have come are attributed to experimentation. But I might be willing to change the 2019 Charlotte Hornets experience from the greatest roller coaster ever to one of the more interesting experiments where wins and losses are meaningless and the only thing that matters is growth.
Giving players the freedom to fail can be very liberating and thus far we’ve seen two of the young kids thrive with that freedom within 12 games. Who knows where the future of this freedom can be in 15 more games, either way the ride just got a tiny bit more fun and i’m still enjoying it.
Other Notes
You hate to see Blake Griffin looking off wistfully in Spectrum. This will launch a million meme’s, and set off a fire sale in Detroit.
Two things on this call: 1) Eric Collins seems wildly subdued and it kinda throws you off. Now let me explain something, Eric Collins is a guy I want narrating mundane things in my life. Like watching me go on a minor killstreak in Call Of Duty, Eric Collins might’ve gassed me into thinking I was a pro gamer or something. 2) HOW DID MALIK NOT PASS OUT FROM THE HEADLOCK DEVONTE GRAHAM WAS GIVING HIM? Look at the reaction shots, Malik is just trying to get out of the headlock. It might be the only thing Devonte has done wrong all season.
Cody Martin, I’ve never seen someone so limited offensively affect so much on the floor. His defense on Derrick Rose in the 2nd half was one of the big keys to holding the Pistons to only 18 points in the 3rd quarter.
Shameless plug: I recorded an episode with Doug and Walker on Locked On Hornets on Friday. It’ll be a weekly thing barring anything crazy. I made a Marvin Williams/ Giles from Buffy The Vampire Slayer reference that’ll make sense when you hear it.
Now if you don’t mind me, I’m buying Pepto and preparing for the Knicks game tonight. Remember to enjoy the ride and allow yourself to fail.