Some say it’s the most peaceful time of the year. Knowing that the marathon has just started, everyone is chilled out and more or less happy with their current roster (Except for the Cavs and the Wizards. They are super unhappy, miserable teams condemned to sit on a sad island very far from the league, and listen to endless Dwight Howard jokes about his penis). Playoff contenders have still months to fix their holes and figure things out chemistry-wise, while bad teams are just bad, but now this is part of their plan. Perhaps we expected more encouraging play from certain teams and players (what’s up with KAT? What is happening to the Rockets?), but instead of lamenting on their lack of progress and slow start, let’s celebrate others who just kicked in the door and demanded the spotlight right out of the gate.

That being said, here is our official All NBA Unexpectedly-Overperforming Team of the early season.

Guard - Derrick Rose

PTS  18.8     TRB   3.7     AST  4.7

Not a long time ago the Timberwolves counted as one of the most promising young teams in the West. Having two consecutive number one picks, Wiggins and Towns, some exciting role players, and a pass first point guard, the future seemed brighter than ever. On the top of that, they acquired one of the best defensive specialist coach in the league, Tom Thibodeau who quickly accommodated himself in the GM position, and traded for his former star player, Jimmy Butler who was supposed to be the final piece of the team building puzzle. Are we happy? Not exactly.

Although, Wiggins and Towns have reached the age to sign max contract extensions, the Wolves couldn’t get any better on defense (or offense by the way) when Butler was off the court. The shitstrom escalated quickly when Jimmy announced that he’s fed up with everyone in the organization from the cleaning staff to the owner, and demanded a trade right away. In the meantime, Thibs could not give up his bad habit of collecting former Bulls players and slowly turned his promising young squad into some weird nostalgy train. Jimmy’s trade request is still pending which makes everyone pretty uncomfortable, especially the young stars in the team who just didn’t understand...

who the fuck is this guy?

why is he yelling all the time?

and why did he spray “you can’t win without me” on the team bus?

In the midst of all this drama, Derrick Rose seems to be the unlikely hero of this season and the only reason for Wolves fans to get excited and feel good about their team. Of course, he is not an anchor who could solve any problem in defense or coordinate an efficient offensive system, but at least he plays with heart… which may sound sentimental, but significantly better than watching “$ 25 million / year” aimlessly running up and down the court. Apart from his early years in Chicago, Rose brings his best PER average (19.3), offensive plus/minus (+2.9), and highest true shooting (56%) in his career. Against the Lakers (loss) he finished with 31 points, sinked 7 three-pointers, trash-talked to Lonzo, and played like a leader again. His legs are still dancing in mid-air, like a Russian folk dancer during his jumpshot (especially from long-range), but he looks much more confident at shooting than ever before.

https://youtu.be/yvA0ME8vF0Q

What’s more, last week he just went off and scored career high 50 points with a game saving block to seal the deal. Rose burst into tears at the end of the game and the whole thing was truly amazing. I know, I know... it was only one game, he was on fire and made insane shots, and most probably it will never happen again.

Honestly, I just don’t care. It felt good to be 18 years old again.

Guard - Zach Lavine

PTS 27.4     TRB 5.0     AST 3.8

A few weeks ago I was mocking Gary Forman and the rest of the Bulls management to match the (at that time) extensive offer sheet for Zach in the summer, but you know what? This guy has guts. Heck, he’ll never be good at defense, but this fully recovered, healthy version of one of the most athletic players in the league is certainly a force on the court.

Besides his mind-blowing average, he delivered a career high against the Knicks a couple of days ago. He simply couldn’t be stopped (the Knicks is not famous for stopping anyone though) and scored all sorts of way: fadeaways, quick and strong drives to the hoop, mid-range jumpers, 3-pointers in the face of various defenders… didn’t matter.

https://twitter.com/chicagobulls/status/1059659841340235776?s=09

Needless to say, he’s producing career high in all major areas by a huge margin (PTS, AST, TRB, FG%) and his BPM (Box Plus/Minus) is a positive number the first time in 5 years.

Is LaVine just a guy with good numbers on a bad team? Is he going to level off by January? Maybe. Dunn coming back will ceratinly have an effect on his playmaking, but at the moment he is the alpha “guy” of this team and seems like someone who believes in himself and wants to prove wrong all of the critics and naysayers. He’s on a mission. Man, he is good.    

The full team:

Guard: Derrick Rose

Guard: Zach LaVine

Center: Javale McGee

Forward: Caris LeVert

Forward: Serge Ibaka

Come back next week to check out what we have to say about the frontcourt players in the next part of the series.

A 2000-es évek elejétől kezdve bővelkedünk a jobbnál jobb Sherlock Holmes feldolgozásokban, mind a TV sorozatokat, mind filmeket illetően. Míg az ezredfordulóig inkább a hagyományos Viktoriánus korabeli alapok és kosztümös színházi tradíciók mélységes tiszteletben tartásával nyúltak a rendezők a detektív történetek legismertebb és legnépszerűbb alakjához (Pl.: Sherlock Holmes kalandjai, Jeremy Brett főszereplésével) addig a modern adaptációk már inkább kreatív feldolgozásoknak tekinthetők, ahol különösen nagy hangsúlyt kapnak az egyéni karakterek, illetve a bűnügyekkel párhuzamosan futó mellékszálak. A 19. század végén Sir Arthur Conan Doyle keltette életre a felső osztálybeli, karvaly orrú, középkorú nyomozó figuráját, aki a feldolgozások során volt már gyógyszerfüggő, ám páratlan tudású diagnoszta Amerikában (Dr. House), akcióhős, hobbi ketrecharcos magándetektív a Viktória-korabeli Angliában (Guy Ritchie filmjei), vagy rendőrségi konzulensként ténykedő fiatal lángelme a jelenkori Londonban (Sherlock). Habár az egyes feldolgozások esetében az alapkoncepció és a környezet más és más, van ami soha nem változik, és ez pedig a történetek és főhősünk kísérő személyzete: Sherlock társa és egyben legjobb barátja, Dr. Watson és legnagyobb ellensége, James Moriarty.

Ahogy ez a klasszikusnak számító, évtizedeken keresztül pop-kultúrát meghatározó történetek esetében lenni szokott (mint például egyes képregény karakterek esetében), a különböző feldolgozások nem csak a rendező és a színészek értelmezését, hanem egy egész társadalom és korszellem félelmeit, értékítéletei, és gondolatait tükrözi az adott művel vagy karakterrel kapcsolatban, így ezek a filmek vagy sorozatok érdekes lenyomatai az adott kornak.

A többi szereplő közül különösen érdekes lehet megvizsgálnunk Sherlock barátját, az egykori harctéri orvos, Dr. John Watson karakterét, akinek a modern feldolgozások egyre nagyobb szerepet szánnak. Watson szerepe egyrészről egészen triviális, hiszen ő az, aki lejegyzi a dedukció nagymesterének (nem)mindennapi ténykedését (az ő írásain és szemén keresztül ismerjük Sherlockot), illetve segít neki a rejtélyes bűntények felderítésében. Azonban, ha jobban szemügyre vesszük a két karakter dinamikáját az alapművön és a feldologzásokon keresztül, egyértelmű, hogy ennél sokkal, de sokkal többről van szó. Watson legalább annyira főszereplő a művekben, mint Sherlock. Alá-fölérendeltségi viszonyról inkább professzionális szinten, szakmai szempontból beszélhetünk, hiszen az egész narratívát nézve a két karakter elválaszthatatlan egymástól. De miért?

Kapocs a nézők és Sherlock / Sherlock és a társadalom között

Ha tetszik, ha nem, Watson valójában bennünket, olvasókat és nézőket testesít meg. Leírásain keresztül gyakran kívülálló szerepbe helyezkedik, hiszen természetes módon ő is ámul barátja zsenialitásán, illetve már-már természetfeletti képességein. A közönség könnyen azonosult Watson karakterével, hiszen Sherlockkal ellentétben őt olyan mindennapi dolgok is foglalkoztatják, amelyek legtöbbünk életében fontos szerepet játszanak, például társadalmi elvárásoknak való megfelelés, félelem a mindennapi mókuskerék miatti kiégéstől (többször visszatérő motívum, hogy Watson hiába határozza el, hogy felhagy mindenféle nyomozással és kalanddal, rendre visszatér Sherlockhoz, hiszen civil munkájában és életében nem leli örömét).

Ezenkívül fontos kiemelni azt is, hogy pusztán a jelenlétével emberivé és elfogadhatóvá teszi az egyébként egoista, nárcisztikus, rideg és végletekig racionális karaktert. Ő Sherlock törődésének tárgya, így leginkább ő különbözteti meg Sherlockot a szociopata karakter típustól (saját megfogalmazása szerint, magasan funkcionáló szociopata karakter, de ahogy Marina Konnikova pszichológus cikkében részletesen kifejti, Sherlock távolról sem tekinthető ennek) és így legnagyobb ellenségétől, Moriarty professzortól is.

[caption id="attachment_143" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Robert Downey Jr. és Jude Law  / Guy Ritchie (2009), Sherlock Holmes[/caption]

Watsonra azonban nem csak nekünk nézőknek, de bizony Sherlocknak is égető szüksége van, hiszen bármekkora lángelme is legyen az ember, valamint bármennyire is próbálja magát elszigetelni az egyszerű hétköznapi világtól és emberektől, ő is a társadalom tagja, így szociális interakciókra és kapcsolatokra van szüksége; ehhez pedig egy segítőre, azaz drága barátjára, Watsonra. Ő tekinthető az egyedüli kapocsnak Sherlock és a társadalom között és mint egy kvázi felettes én, Watson döbbenti rá Sherlockot (verbálisan vagy tettlegesen), ha az átlép valamilyen társadalmilag kijelölt határvonalat, vagy megsért egy szociális normát.

De miért pont Watson?

“Ő a legbátrabb, legnemesebb, és bölcsebb ember, akit van szerencsém ismerni”, mondja a BBC feldolgozás egyik epizódjában  Sherlock, barátja esküvőjén. Ez azon ritka alkalmak egyike, amikor az egyébként mindenféle érzelmet tudatosan háttérbe szorító detektív szavakkal fejezi ki társa iránti ragaszkodását. A méltató jelzőkkel Watson sem fukarkodik, hiszen így búcsúzik barátja sírjánál a temetés után: “Te voltál a legjobb és a legemberibb ember, akit valaha ismertem és soha nem hinném el, hogy valaha hazudtál nekem. Annyira magányos voltam… rengeteggel tartozom neked.”

Természetesen a két karakter kölcsönösen tiszteli és nagyra tartja egymás szakmai képességeit és készségeit is, azonban mind az eredeti történetek, mind az adaptációk kapcsán rendre előkerül a bújtatott homoszexualitás kérdése, miszerint több van a két karakter között puszta barátságnál. A századforduló közönsége számára két egyedülálló férfi, aki közös lakást bérel, legtöbb idejét egymás társaságában tölti minimum gyanús, azonban Sherlock és Watson kapcsolata mellett fontos megvizsgálnunk a Viktoriánus kori társadalmi milliőt, amelyben a történetek születtek. 

A 19. század közepéig a családi élet kicsiben az államot reprezentálta, tehát egy valamirevaló férfitől elvárt volt, hogy családot alapítson, majd kemény kézzel irányítsa és rendben tartsa azt. Nagy-Britanniában az 1800-as évek vége felé azonban a területi terjeszkedés és a technológiai fejlődés olyan társadalmi változásokat is elindított, melyeknek köszönhetően a férfiak már nem biztonságosnak és kényelmesnek ítélték a házasságot és családi életet hanem teherként, esetleg rájuk nehezedő nyomásként élték meg azt. Sokan egyre később házasodtak csak meg, vagy ha meg is házasodtak, folytatták agglegény életüket és fenntartották addigi maszkulin baráti kapcsolataikat. Számukra Sherlock és Watson figurái hősies kalandokat kínáltak a családi életen kívül, valamint ezek a karakterek ékes példái voltak annak, hogy két férfi miként járulhat hozzá a társadalom és a nemzet működéséhez anélkül, hogy agglegény életüket feladnák.  

A kortárs közönség számára a felmagasztalt férfi barátság, azaz “bromance” már nem újdonság. Joey és Chandler (Jóbarátok), Barney tesókódexe (Így jártam anyátokkal), Will és Chucky (Good Will Hunting), vagy épp a Phil és Stu haverjai (Másnaposok) mind azt mutatják, hogy mekkora szükségünk van a pop kultúrában az ilyen közeli férfi kapcsolatok ábrázolására. Ezzel együtt nagyjából azt is megtanultuk elfogadni, ha valaki a saját neméhez vonzódik, így a modern Sherlock Holmes adaptációkban található célzások inkább humorként és kulturális reflexióként foghatók fel.

Kár lenne tagadni, Sherlocknak és Watsonnak egyszerűen szüksége van egymásra. Watson sikeresen billenti át aszociális barátját a társadalom felé, elkerülve, hogy olyan karakter váljon belőle, mint Jim Moriarty-ból. Sherlock társasága és kalandjai pedig egy olyan kihívást jelentő alternatívát kínál a harctérről hazatérő orvosnak, ami segíti Watson fizikális és mentális rehabilitációját. Nekünk, nézőknek / olvasóknak pedig egy dolgunk marad: élvezni ennek a két zseniálisan megírt karakter a dinamikáját, amely bűnténytől függetlenül minden feldolgozás alapját képezi.

Most young players from the 2014-15 rookie class signed their extensions either last year or this summer which gives us a pretty good overview of how team owners and general managers see the future of their draft picks and what characteristics you need to have if you want a well-paid, long-term, and secure job in the NBA.

(Spoiler: First and most importantly, you have to be able to score the ball.)

Financial Hierarchy Among Players

1.) Group A

(5 years / $ 146-160 million)

On the top level there are superstar caliber players, like Joel Embiid or Karl-Anthony Towns who are awesome enough to sign max contracts only after a couple of seasons (or in Embiid’s case only after a handful of healthy minutes) in the NBA. The reason is quite simple: they’re that good.

Even if these players have their own risks and flaws too (Embiid’s health, Towns’ defense/attitude) these deals are no-brainers for a decent GM since the talent-level is so overwhelming that you have to cash these guys out and make sure they are super happy. Hey, hopefully, they are going to be your go-to-guy and the cornerstone of your organization in the next decade.

2.) Group B

(4 years / $ 70-90 million)

On the next level of the pyramid we have players who are good and important pieces of a team, however, you know and, more importantly, they know that they can be replaced sooner or later if they start complaining. Victor Oladipo, Myles Turner, Aaron Gordon, Gary Harris all belong to this category.

[caption id="attachment_130" align="aligncenter" width="678"] Photo: Indiana Sports Coverage[/caption]

While some of them will reach their ceiling pretty fast, others might end up with their own max contract right at their prime following their current deal.              

3.) Group C

(4 years / $ 38-44 million)

The third level of notable young players include guys who have somewhat limited skill set, typically in offense, or couldn’t figure out who they are and what kind of role they can play in a team, but their strengths, e.g. athleticism or work-ethic, make them valuable for a team. Yes, we’re talking about you, Justise Winslow, Larry Nance Jr., and Marcus Smart.

+1. Group D

Sometimes team leaders decide to throw this well-established system, precedents, and rational thinking out of the window and make deals, like:

Zach Lavine (4 years / $ 78 million)

Andrew Wiggins (5 years / $ 146 million)

Devin Booker (5 years / $ 158 million)

Jabari Parker (2 years / $ 40 million)

Oh boy, that’s a lot of money for guys who have zero playoff experience, never played in any meaningful games, can’t play defense, and your only hope is that they are going to be much, much better in the seasons to come. Of course, there are some differences among these contracts as well: for instance, Parker’s second year is a friendly team option, but Wiggins’ max contract… leaves us speechless.

Zach Lavine

Actually, I have a theory of how Gary Forman decided to match Sacramento’s offersheet for Zach Lavine which might not be true, but it would certainly make some sense. One day, Gary’s friends came over to throw a party, grab some nachos with beer, and watch dunk highlights on YouTube:

Friend: Huh, that was nasty!

Gary (smiling proudly): Yeah, I know. He is my boy, Zach.

Friend: Is he coming back next year?

Gary: No, I’m afraid. Stupid Kings offered him $ 80 million.

Friend: And? That’s nothing for this guy, just look at this… shiiiiit! That was even better! (clapping and laughing).

Gary: My so-called scouting “experts” and the so-called “advisors” say that it wouldn’t be rational to pay that much money for a guy who is a minus defender, inconsistent shooter, and prone to injuries… bullshit, I think.

Friend: C’mon…! He is your boy… he is your dude, you just said! A real dunking-machine. Wanna check out the winning dunk from the ‘17 All Star weekend?

Gary: Those stat-geeks know nothing. You know what?

Friend: What?

Gary: I’m going to match the fuck out of that offer sheet, baby!

Jabari Parker

Following the clueless 2016/2017 season, featured by the totally inappropriate and undeserved nickname “the 3 Alphas” (Butler, Wade, Rondo), the Bulls decided to reset their roster and let veterans go in order to set a new direction for the team. In the spirit of this new-wave team building project they have added Dunn, Markkanen, Lavine, and now Jabari Parker to the starting five. Well, what to say… they are not positioning themselves to be a solid defensive team, right?

[caption id="attachment_131" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Source: Journal Posts[/caption]

According to a recent interview, Parker is not too concerned about his main weakness, but unfortunately, there is something he seems to forget... if you suck at defense, it doesn't mean that you're good at offense. Jabari’s efficiency is all right, however, he is totally unable to make plays for his teammates (in his best season he averaged only 2.8 assists / game) and he is far from a good 3-point shooter.

Andrew Wiggins and Devin Booker

Devin Booker’s biggest calling cards are definitely his young age (he’s still only 21) and the fact that he is a hell of a scorer. On the one hand, last year Booker had the best PER (18.1), plus the highest points/game average (24.9) among these guys, and it’s easy to see him flourishing in a well-coached and talented team.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy9xl-GXfkI

On the other hand, we all know that the simple points per game average on a bad team without any other stats can be as misleading as a laughing-crying emoji in a Facebook chat (I’ve seen many people responding to a message with this emoji and most of them were barely smiling). In today’s era when other teams have “superhero” type of guys, like Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis or Kawhi Leonard as their best players, you need your franchise player to be a force on both ends on the court (khm… Booker’s average of -2.4 DBPM is certainly an impact on the defense, but not really the type you want).

[caption id="attachment_132" align="aligncenter" width="656"]Source: Journal Posts[/caption]

Unlike Booker, Wiggins has been surrounded by drama since he was selected as the Nr. 1 pick in the 2014 draft (and the Cavs immediately shipped him all the way to Minneapolis for Kevin Love). Four years and a questionable max contract later, there are still questions circling around the 23-year-old small forward: 

How is it possible to be such a poor defender when you have so great physical tools, like he does?

Can he ever make the leap and become at least an All-Star?

Does he care about winning at all?

https://twitter.com/DrewShiller/status/1046199651529945088

Well, awkward.   

First of all, these guys are still far from their prime years and currently at the stage of their career when they can quickly learn how to adapt or add new skills to their repertoire every month. Secondly, they are all amazingly gifted athletes who have every chance to drastically improve next seasons (Zach Lavine might have heard the critics as he is currently averaging 32.3 points in the new year) alongside a better coach or more talented teammates. 

However, they like it or not, the stakes are much higher from now on as it is not enough to live up to the hype anymore: general expectations have turned into hefty price tags and huge salaries. If they fail to deliver, a big portion of the team’s salary cap will be locked down for the next 4-5 years as an investement in their potential that might never be fulfilled. 

Gary Clark Jr. came out with his Come Together (The Beatles) cover last year, featuring an electro-rock mixture of him playing the guitar and Junkie XL (Deadpool, Mad Max, etc.) producing the beats. Now this song belongs to the original soundtrack of the latest DC comic-book superhero movie, Justice League, which was anything but success, so at least we can say that we got something out of this whole adventure. From the perspective of the movie, going for a song, like Come Together sounds like a logical idea as what else could represent better the whole idea of the annual superhero gathering than an actual song about, you know… coming together.

Gary Clark Jr at Somerset House ( Justin Ng/Music Pics/REX )

Despite of his young age (he’s still only 34), Gary Clark has been widely considered to be one of the most authentic and purest blues artists in the world since his debut album Blak and Blu (2012) six years ago. Critics love him, girls love him, and heck, even blues icons admire the guy!

With his eclectic approach to his guitar and music in general, he has always built on blues traditions and legends, like Muddy Waters or Buddy Guy, but quickly learnt how to mix these classics with his progressive, raw, and unique playing style. (Just check out the first couple of songs on the album and you’ll get the full package of his garage rock, funky-groove, pop, blues, r’n’b sounds and beats.) He plays like a man from another era, but at the same time he’s one of the most revolutionary guitarists in the contemporary rock-blues scene.

So we’ve got everything that we could ask for, right? Well, sort of.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7imYeuAfkg

On the one hand, here is an evergreen rock classic from possibly the greatest The Beatles album ever (Abbey Road) and one of the most talented musicians of our generation who’s rocking riffs from McCartney and Lennon. On the other hand, selecting Come Together as one of theme songs of a superhero movie is certainly a great choice, but Gary Clark seems a little bit out of character in this mainstream role, especially in the official music video of the song. In this apocalyptic, kind of industrial environment Gary acts like a conductor in the middle of the scene, while there is blazing fire, shooting, and superheroes coming out of everywhere to fight the bad guys and save the world. No doubt, the sound and the visual settings are effective together, but it feels like asking the Italian film director, Paolo Sorrentino to work on the upcoming blockbuster Marvel movie:

“Okay, we know that you did a great job with the Youth by portraying the character of an old man who struggles to realize that his perspective of life will be always limited by his circumstances and the constant search for meaning in everyday life. Now we would need something slightly different… how about a good guy and an evil guy beating up each other on a rooftop while some buildings and airplanes blowing up in the background? Could you do that?”

The over-distorted tune is there, the heavy riff sounds well, the vocal is good, and we still got the feeling that something is missing. One thing is for sure, Gary’s essence is not fancy, super fast solos. He plays less, compared to e.g. his fellow blues virtuous, Joe Bonamassa and that’s all right; he has never tried to be like that. He creatively operates on his guitar (and on the stage) with immense sensitivity and channels a load of raw emotions and energy to his songs through both his voice and electric guitar playing. That being said, this song feels like to be "delivered" and missing all the above mentioned traits that ultimately make Gary Clark Jr. an exceptional blues artist… but not a superhero.  

Hey, Gary Clark is not the first musician who covered Come Together (and not the last one for sure) so here you go, take a look at the “unofficial” list of the coolest interpretations of the song over the past few decades:

1. Michael Jackson (Originally recorded for his 1988 film Moonwalker; then released on the album HIStory in 1995)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubR9cXWkXv8

That was the time when the King of Pop could touch anything and it turned out to be gold. Take a look at this performance... it’s gutsy, exciting and super unique.

2. Joe Cocker (Across the Universe, 2007)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r534TLlvPSg

If you can think of any iconic song from the past 50 years, Joe Cocker most probably  took it and sang the shit out of that piece of music over his long career. Fortunately, Come Together is not an exception as it was recorded for the soundtrack of the film Across the Universe (2007) in which Joe plays a crazy homeless guy, then a pimp, and finally a hippy guru. “Got to be a joker / He just do what he please”. Masterpiece.

3. Aerosmith (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1978)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om8VRl81PF0

When I found that version of the song, three things came into my mind right off the bat. First of all, how is it possible to sing and say words properly with such a large mouth? Secondly, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band  is a very strange film. Thirdly, it was recorded in the freaking ‘70s! It’s kind of amazing that 40 years has just passed and Steven Tyler still checks into rehabs on a regular basis. Some things will never change.

+1 The Beatles  (Abbey Road, 1969)

Rumour has it that when Lennon was asked during an interview whether Ringo was the best drummer in the world or not, he simply answered: "Ringo isn't even the best drummer in the band."Old, but gold. However, Ringo certainly did a great job on the drums in this one by covering Paul's iconic bass riff. The result? One of the most powerful and important songs in the 20th century.

(Fun fact: Lennon originally wrote this song for Timothy Leary's California gubernatorial campaign against Ronald Reagan)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45cYwDMibGo

Shortly after the official Media day this week, the NBA has kicked off with two preseason games showcasing two of the best (young) teams the league has to offer, the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers (and yes, yes, the Charlotte Hornets). I’ve never thought that I could be that happy to see a bunch of guys playing ball for fun without having anything at stake, but it was awesome. So, let’s see what we’ve learned after watching the first 96 minutes of the 2018/2019 season!

1.) My boy, Simmons is dropping dimes, like they’re hot!

Ben Simmons, the second-year (third-year?) point forward of the 76ers has just decided to staff the stat sheet and dominate the game from the tip-off last night. Seriously, he looked like a dad playing against kids from the local streetball park on a Sunday afternoon. Apparently, being 6’10, having a mind of a basketball genius, and working out with LeBron as your mentor is a good combination.

Anyway, is this legal?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZOsbjtxiX0

Jesus, in the mid ‘50s this move would have been probably banned from the television screen alongside Elvis Presley’s “overly sexual” swiveling hips and body!        

2.) Last year’s No.1 pick, Fultz is back to play basketball games!

There have been some news coming out from the otherwise closed Philly camp regarding Markelle’s progress and developed jumpshot in the past few weeks, but for me what was really reassuring is his interview with Isaiah Thomas a couple of weeks ago. He had no far-fetched plans (such as winning MVP in the first year), only down-to-earth mentality for the next season which seems like something that he managed to channel to his game against the Australian team.

He was attacking the rim, giving great passes, catching assists from Simmons, and doing his athletic spin moves on the court that made him the consensual first pick at college last year.

Jumpshots are still missing, but he can build on this encouraging and energetic performance. Good luck!

3.) Gordon Hayward is back on the court. Thanks God.

When you miss more than 10 months due to a horrible injury, it’s not easy to get in rhythm, especially if you happen to play in the fastest basketball league against the best athletes in the world. Hayward looked far from his pre-injury, prime form and didn’t get too many touches in his first “semi-official” game, but I couldn’t care less. He seems to be healthy and we’re lucky to have him back.   

https://twitter.com/gordonhayward/status/915040667042242560

4.) Uncle Drew was rocking with the afro and the headband while sinking shots from deep.

First, Kyrie shut down the rumors about him leaving the team at the end of this season, then showcased some of his tricks. Poetry in motion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn2Ghk1JDfs

5.) Jayson Tatum collecting moves for his arsenal

Hey, similarly to Hayward, Tatum didn’t play well last night (3-11 FG, 0-3 3PT), but he just went full Dirk-mode and pulled off a one-legged fadeaway in the first quarter just to set the tone for the rest of the game.

Okay, we see you, Jayson, we see you…  What’s coming next? Dream-shake?

6.) Batum can do it all; he would just need a “go-to-guy”

I’m a simple man. If I see a player who can pass, get rebounds, score the ball, and play super intelligent, I hit the like button. We know that Batum is able to do it all (however, he was much better before he got paid), but this game was an instant reminder that he desperately needs a main guy on his team who could take over games in crunch time and allow him to be the perfect wingman.   

It’s also exciting to imagine him playing in a perfect system, like the Celtics, and the more we think about it, the more painful it's to realize that he’s basically wasted his prime years for the most stagnant and hopeless average team of the league.

Villains are super important in movies and series since the audience desperately needs someone whose ambition goes against an established system, a beloved person, or an innocent victim. This way villains produce hatred and make the good person a hero who protects traditional human virtues and yes, this is where all superhero or standard action movies start from. However, in some cases the audience is still gravitating towards these bad guys instead of celebrating heros, and the judgment of evil characters is not always so clear and simple, right? Sometimes, villains, like the Joker from Batman movies (The Dark Knight) or Professor Moriarty from the Sherlock Holmes stories (Sherlock: The Final Problem), can be really appealing for us and we tend to like them, what’s more, cheer for them because of some psychological and practical reasons.

First of all, these characters are special in the sense that they can play two seemingly opposite roles and fulfill two contradictory human wishes. They are the hero and antihero at the same time; they can entertain and shock the audience with their actions. Although, at first glance they seem clearly one-dimensional stock characters (bad guy who does bad things in order to reach some evil goal), they still captivate the audience with their superficial intelligence, energy, humour, and confidence. No surprise, we all like these features not only in fictions, but also in everyday life. Additionally, as I’m going to try to show you below with all sorts of tangled examples, these villains satisfy a relatively suppressed human wish, namely the freedom of action which is a huge part of their popularity among the audience.

The role of the villain requires a great deal of self-awareness, ambition, and motivations so it is inevitably played by an extremely complex character (complexity is always exciting). This role is often associated with the shadow archetype which is considered to be the dark and unconscious side of the hero of a narrative, which aspect also strengthens the link between hero and anti-hero and gives another layer to their character.   

The Second world of the Carnival where traditional norms are suspended

Before we would dive deep into the character study of villains, let me summarize what we know about this cool world, called Second World, originated from the Renaissance time and the Carnival festivities, and how it is connected to postmodern characters from movies and TV series.

The main focus of the carnival is on the liberation from every hierarchical structure and socially established order which means that everyday life with its ranks and regulations is suspended, and people are free to speak and live with each other in equality.

Basically, the carnival spirit is based on this universal equality in which traditional norms and relations are forgotten for a while. For an outsider, the temporal world of the carnival – the second world – can seem to be really chaotic and unstructured, but it’s important that it always reflects on the structures and patterns of the real world.

In this environment not only conventional norms lose their meaning, but also the people who originally have higher hierarchical ranks. Still, the carnival needs a “main” guy that can take over a symbolic role in the feast, make people laugh, and in this way stand out from equality. This figure is the clown, which role occasionally can be played by the Trickster who “has been a source of amusement right down to civilized times, where he can still be recognized in the carnival figures of Pulcinella and the clown” according to the Jungian archetypes.

In this aspect we can see how these contemporary characters fulfill this ritualistic role in the respective narratives.

The "Napoleon" and the "Clown Prince" of Crime

My previous examples, Professor Moriarty and the Joker are rather complex characters. We may understand and interpret their character and their actions this way or that way, each of them has its own right. It’s for sure that they successfully play the role of villain in the series/movies by creating tension and the flow of the plot, but they are a lot more than that.

Sherlock's arch-enemy, Moriarty cheats, manipulates others, kills innocents, and oversees his terrorist network and the criminal underworld as a hobby. Many times, Moriarty’s clear goals, seemingly based on ambition and careful planning, are only the products of his personality and he functions as a Trickster whose role is determined during the "feast" by the ritual of crowning and uncrowning (There is an important ritual, called crowning of the clown, during which the people elect the clown for a king, but strictly only for the time of the feast. Basically, this metaphore goes through the whole episode).

The Joker's case is also simple. He is a (super) evil clown who needs to amuse the crowd, satisfy their unconscious wishes, but at the same time he has to be defeated and mocked by them (or at least by Batman) in the end. We love his joking and pranks on people, even if innocent people die because of them, but when we wake up and realize that he went too far and harmed not a single person or a group of people, but a whole town, we need it to be over.

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The divine nature of the Trickster is also one of his key traits. In a certain sense, he is clearly above others, but in many aspects he can never reach a human level because of his unconsciousness. Both Moriarty and the Joker are a lot smarter than others; virtually they act on the streets and in the criminal underworld as if they would play in their own playground, but they lack the ability to change which causes them to fall (literally) and fail in the end. There are other corrupt characters in the stories who belong to their crew for a shorter or longer period (they always have a bunch of misfits), but they are alienated even from them. They are alone from the beginning of the story but that does not even bother them, however, in this way their fate is truly determined.

The ritualistic role and function of the Trickster character, not only during the time of the carnival, but also when it’s over, is to break the traditional rules and tumble the conventionally settled order by his behavior. This way they quest for chaos, or at least for unrest which is essential for the process of building the second world of the feast or the narrative.

The trickster is free to act in every sense, he does not need to accommodate himself to everyday situations, does not have to deal with ordinary problems, ethical, religious, or social norms.

If you think about it, that sounds pretty good, right?

With his freedom, he satisfies not only his own desires, but also fulfills the unconscious wishes of the people who created him and elevated him on a high level in the Carnival. The Joker has always been an anarchist and looking for unrest, killing anyone without any reason so that’s simple. In the BBC series, Sherlock, Moriarty gives orders to murder anyone, place bombs on buildings seemingly only for one reason: to "play" with Sherlock and challenge his proud ego and mind. Moreover, as they also express several times during the series or the film, killing their nemesis, the hero is simply out of question. Being the "shadow" side of the hero, they need this game to be continued as this is the only thing that keeps them motivated so the audience may wonder... is there any bigger chaos and anarchy than that?

Jayson Tatum, the 19-year-old small forward from Duke, was selected as the Nr. 3 overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft. This guy basically came out of nowhere, at least compared to Lonzo Ball and his infamous father, or Markelle Fultz (later Nr.1 pick), but now there is no basketball fan in the world who would dare to doubt his talent (there aren't a lot of players in the league right now, have never been, who enjoy the ultimate, unanimous sympathy of basketball fans: the unofficial list would probably include players, like Tatum, Antetokounmpo, Porzingis, and Anthony Davis). What’s more, thanks to him and his fellow youngsters in the Celtics roster, especially his athletic running mate, Jaylen Brown, the “Boston Celtics-Bandwagon” is officially a thing again and that’s cool! We need a good Boston team in the league, given the fact that there are not many historic franchises in the NBA.

Tatum embodies the future, the hope, and lays down the fundamentals of an organization which strives to be a title contender for the upcoming decade following the post-Warriors era (couldn’t we just skip this part, and jump there?) so it is worth taking a closer look at this guy who has the chance to become the face of his team and the NBA someday.

It perfectly illustrates how much he means to the team and how much they trust him now that when rumours started circling about Kyrie Irving's potential departure at the end of the 2018/2019 season, the general atmosphere in Boston was pretty much... unchanged. Of course, fans wouldn’t be happy, but no one in town would go crazy about Irving leaving the team which tells us a lot about the load of young talent in Boston. How many teams do we know in the league who can say that “ You know, we gonna start the next season with or without Kyrie, the guy for whom we just traded a high draft pick and the biggest hero in recent memory (Isaiah Thomas), but either way, I think we gonna be kinda alright (shrug).”

Draft

So, imagine this: Danny Ainge, the cold-blooded master of puppets, just traded down from the No.1 pick to No.3 in the 2017 draft since he was in love with Tatum’s old school, kind of throwback style of play bringing back memories of watching Carmelo Anthony or Paul Pierce. At Duke, he simply loved catching and jab stepping, facing up in the mid post, and the most common category for his offensive sets was isolation, which is weird as it was a Mike Krzyzewski  team. At that time, Philly was more than happy to trade up to be able to select Markelle Fultz who was considered to be the final (master-)piece in their team-building puzzle.

When the trade was completed, 76ers former president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo happy said,

"We are very pleased with the outcome of this trade, which puts us in the enviable position of selecting first overall in consecutive draft years. History suggests that No. 1 has the greatest odds of producing franchise-level talent and we are confident that this year's draft class has that very potential.”

Source: Yahoo! Sports

The situation in which Tatum jumped in is almost too good to be true. Usually, high draft picks are doomed to start their careers in the worst teams possible: no wonder, that’s the idea behind the draft system, to give opportunity to really bad teams to get better by selecting the biggest talents. However, in awful lot of times, these kids instead of improving the team step-by-step, begin to accommodate to poor organisational culture, pick up bad habits and poor mentality on and off the court (khm, Boogie Cousins in Sacramento).

In 2016, Boston happened to win the regular season in the eastern conference which, you know, quite far from being the worst of all. If that’s not enough they’ve had a coach, named Brad “I-pick-up-girls-by-showing-them-my-inbound-plays-on-my-iPad” Stevens. The most general consensus around the league right now is not that our good-old mother planet, the Earth is round (thanks Kyrie), but that Stevens is a freaking strategic mastermind, and probably the best coach in the league.

That being said, let’s see what we have got in our hands:

• a Top5 team with seasoned veterans who can teach you how to win basketball games and fresh young legs helping you out every night,
• a Top2 head coach,
• a winning organisation with a history that is longer than Philly’s losing streak in the 2014/2015 season.
• a GM who is said to have improved their family roster at the age of 14 by trading his own brother

It’s also part of the story that Tatum’s minutes in his rookie year were affected by the horrible injury of Gordon Hayward in the season opening game against the Cavs. 12 minutes into the season, Stevens had to re-calibrate everything and figure out how to distribute the minutes between his players, Brown, Tatum, Morris, and Smart, and set a good balance on the lineups.

Eventually, partly because of the movement-based, ego-sacrificing system of Stevens, partly because of Mitchell and Simmons stealing the show with ridiculous numbers, Tatum came short of the ROY race in the regular season, but according to many, owned the posteason, at least among fellow rookies. This 20-year-old just did this to one of the greatest players of all time with whom he had fan photo a couple of years ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PPci3nXFoQ

To do that, man, you better have a shitload of confidence, and... a sort of “mamba” mentality. Isn’t that funny, that the biggest nemesis of Boston, the player who was legendary hated in the Garden, is now working out with the fresh prince of the town, teaching him tricks to kick ass next season? No, probably it isn't funny, just amazingly cool (Jaylen Brown, Jayson’s good buddy, also found a personal trainer in the meantime, some guy named Tracy McGrady).

So what now?

The biggest question for the upcoming season is, of course, what to do if Hayward, the superstar small forward signed huge contract in the previous free agency, (and Irving) fully recovers and is ready to play healthy minutes. It is quite unlikely that the Celtics would jeopardize Tatum’s progress and improvement as a player, and more importantly as a leader by putting him on the sideline or forcing him to take a backseat.

Will Stevens be willing to play his best lineup regardless of traditional positions? In the crunchtime, more likely, given his progressive coaching style and profile, but the main task here is to keep everyone’s happy and give these youngs guys opportunity to get better everyday. It will most likely involve Tatum playing increased minutes at four which requires him to gain some muscle and get stronger, especially for the defensive end.   

Tatum says, they’re going to figure it out, no worries. We don’t worry, we shouldn’t as this Boston Celtics is one of the most fun, exciting, and likable collection of talented individuals and athletes we have seen in years, and that’s a very good thing.