What’s for lunch today? Send me a pic.

I’ll tell you what I’m not having. A big ole slice of NY Pizza! Haliburton gobbles the Knicks like a like large pepperoni pie! A no-turnover triple double the likes we’ve never seen. Isn’t Thibs a defensive coach?

My trash wasn’t picked up today since Memorial Day sets the week back. Will the Thunder chuck Ant, Rudy, and Randle in the dumpster? A Finals ticket up for grabs Wednesday night.

It’s Getaway Day in the MLB. All your favorite games will be over by the time you clock out. I love Getaway Day. How can we do better to incorporate this into our Practice? Might have to dive deeper on this one next week.

Digging up pre-draft scouting reports of Guy’s Who Make It is a tired exercise. Scouting and drafting is an exercise about establishing a range of outcomes for a player. Wherever that player lands in his range is up to the Future. No one knows how 20yr olds turn into 25yr olds. No one predicts a 20yr old will later drop a flawless triple double and crush the dreams of an entire Tri-State. As we look back (and forward) on Tyrese Haliburton, let’s at least set a base line though.

As per Kevin O’Connor (Ringer):

“Always in control; he lacks lightning speed or explosiveness, but he uses subtle gear changes to throw defenders off balance, create room, and then strike.”

- PERFECT

NBADraft.net:

“Uses his height to his advantage, showing outstanding court vision and flashes of the ability to make difficult passes and shots over smaller guards”

- BINGO

Sacramento Bee on drafting Haliburton 12th:

“If you watched, listened or read any coverage of the draft you already know that Haliburton is a massive coup for the Kings. No one on God’s green earth had him outside the top 10. Some see him as a franchise changing talent if he reaches his ceiling and fits with the right pieces.”

- Buzz, buzz, BANG from the Bee (until the Kings traded him)

If Haliburton entered the league with such superlatives, why did he drop to 12th in the draft? There’s 3 or 4 major tenets of sports analytics that I find valuable, but of them, the one I think most useful is that the numbers are designed to remove bias in player evaluation. I’d take it one step forward. Forgetting analytical scouting, drafting (or trading) for players still reveals biased selection that causes teams to overlook true talent. Billy Beane (the Godfather) recognized his own bias because he lived it. Beane was a journeyman, has-been fourth outfielder for his career. He was a first round pick because he looked the part. He satisfied the traditional scouting bias of what a Big Leaguer should look like so much that Brad FREAKIN Pitt played him in the movie MoneyBall. Beane’s success as GM of the A’s is that he rejected the eye test. Had teams ignored their mental shortcuts a bit better, Haliburton might not have slipped to 12 (or Curry to 7th, or Jokic to round 2, or Giannis to 15, or Brunson to 33).

Of all the superstars across sports, so few fit the exact archetype of what we think a megastar should be. There’s Ant and Lebron. Shohei and Skenes. Those guys are perfect manifestations of players created in a lab. The top 5 of drafts across sports chase those guys. When will teams start to learn that those generational Lab Rats are the exception? The data of player performance relative to pick selection does spell out that higher picks perform better over time, but teams should take bigger swings on players who otherwise might slip past the top 10. All sports are trending to more analytical analysis of pre-professional athletes. But numbers can only answer so much. Sometimes you just have to take a swing on the guy who averaged 6ppg his freshman year at a tier 2 (Iowa State) school. If you’re right, he can lead you to the Finals.