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raccoonhearteyes · 4 years

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Alright so I'm gonna try this long ass post again I guess maybe I'll break it up into two parts. It's pretty much relationship advice and its sorta similar to your relationship anons issues but not quiet fully to that extent? So anyway my gf and I have been together for about 5 years living together for about 3? It started out as an ldr and it was good and fun and I enjoyed going to visit her and she enjoyed visiting me and it was great. The texting was great. I realized about 5ish months ago I'm over her? The thing that'll make it insanely hard is that we work together. Not really in the same department but we essentially do work together. Same schedule and yeah. Theres still occasionally sex involved but its sooooo infrequent that I dont really have much of a sex drive anymore. So during our ldr most of our little arguements consisted of her getting upset over things and not really wanting to talk which I'm fine with but she never actually outright would say "hey I'm upset can you give me space?" It would just be her straight up ignoring me like no responses for days or anything I would literally have to force her to answer me by either sending her the same text a few times until I got some sort of simple 1 worded answer or in real life I'd go "is that okay babe?" 3 or 4 times until she said something. I'm a talker though if I have an issue I'll talk about it to someone or talk to the person I have the issue with. Recently I've been noticing shes kinda looks down on me and my issues? (Yeah I know I'm joining the club) like so recently I had a project I was working on at work and I could do it myself but a coworker wanted in on it because its something hes good at. I declined said thanks but I can handle it plus I'll finish it faster. He didnt like the answer and went to our boss and our boss put him on the project with me. I have a generally good work relationship with this guy so I was gonna talk to him but I talked to my gf about it first and she literally said "that's your problem you should learn to deal with it" like my plan was to talk to the dude first then go to our boss about it if it didnt really get resolved but okay. A lot of times when she gets upset at things she'll pick at something I do? Like if i put a water bottle on the kitchen counter she'll literally get upset that it's in her way. Also I cant stand doors being slammed shut from childhood trauma and she knows this and she'll purposely do it when shes mad at me but most of the time when shes mad st me its over me forgetting to put my water bottle in the fridge or something. 1/2

So anyway she'll get to the point where she straight up wont talk to me for days because she gets mad at me for whatever. Like today on the way home we were arguing over a former coworker who worked in my department like his office was literally right next to mine. She spoke to him maybe 5 or 6 times? He was a body builder but she kept saying he wasnt but he would always talk to me about it so I just kelt saying he was and to ask whoever she wants to if he was ir wasnt. She kinda just stopped talking to me after that and hasnt spoken to me the rest of the day? Because of a guy who left our place to go some where else? Like what? So before covid hit I was taking kick boxing classes and it kinda helped with my frustration of dealing with her in a sense but since I can't now I'm pretty much back to what we were doing? Like I cant talk to her about why this is bothering her so much because she literally wont talk to me? We really dont have many friends in common besides one or two of them and any time I talk to some about it they just tell me to talk to her. Like I've tried a lot but any time I do she just ignores me and shrugs me off. Or if I have another issue I've been trying to deal with I just get told I'm being annoying and I'm not listening to her or her suggestions when most of the time she never suggested anything and just immediately went to "you're being really annoying right now" but anytime shes dealing with shit I'm expected to be focused on her all the time? Like I constantly get interrupted when I'm trying to talk about something so she can talk about herself or so she can say "I cant believe so and so did this" and it's never relevant to what I was just talking about? Like I feel bad because she moved really far to live here and we have plans to move to another state but I'm not sure I want to with her and i cant really afford my own place and neither can she. But when shes finally over being mad she acts like nothing ever happened and if I'm still upset about it she tells.me to get over it and stop being so sensitive? I dont know I just know she moved far to be here and I helped her get the job she has and everything so idk 2/2

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Anyone who ghosts and stops talking to you for a few days because of a silly argument is not worth dating. It is one thing to be upset and need some time away from the person, but to spend days not talking and then never addressing it is bullshit. I have wasted time on those people and all it does is make you walk on eggshells trying not to piss them off, but you never succeed. They need to learn to communicate like an adult. Bottom line.

#rhe spam

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noconcernofyours · 5 years

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5 Takeaways from Avengers: Endgame (WARNING: SPOILERS)

Here’s another one I didn’t really have a place to post, so it’s going up here. Hope you enjoy my Hot Takes™.

On Thursday I went down to my local cinema to watch Avengers: Endgame, the culmination of over a decade of continuous, intricate world-building and story-telling from the mind of Marvel Studios boss, Kevin Feige and co. This article is not a review of the movie. To be clear, I loved it and there are a million reasons why, but looking at it purely as a film doesn’t really make sense to me considering all of the factors that make Endgame more than just another Marvel movie.

Instead, here are five takeaways that I, as someone who has been seeing these films in the cinema since Iron Man released in 2008, have been sitting on since I walked out of the screening on Thursday night. WARNING: HEAVY SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

1. Sam Wilson is the perfect successor to Steve Rogers. Fight me.

There are several major emotional themes that Endgame introduces throughout the film: parenthood, reconciliation, coping with one’s failures. But, as the film moves into its insanely climactic final battle sequence, a new theme starts to move to the front of the pack – a passing of the torch.

From Peter being the major emotional anchor of Tony Stark’s death scene to Captain Marvel mirroring Steve Rogers’ heroic yet futile act of holding Thanos’ hand open from Infinity War, and even to Hawkeye teaching his daughter to shoot a bow and arrow in the film’s emotionally fraught opening scene, there is a real sense that the most definitive way this film can wrap up the original team’s character arcs is by showing who is still there to take up their mantles.

I’ve seen a lot of angry takes complaining that Steve passed on the mantle of Captain America to Sam over Bucky. These takes… *clears throat*… are dead wrong. Bucky is just as out of time as Steve was, more so even, due to the amount of time he spent either in ice, or out of his mind. He’s also so unclear of his own identity that it makes no sense for him to adopt this mantle that is meant to be so clearly defined and inspiring, especially considering the amount of damage he’s done to the world. That same internal conflict is why Steve was so uncomfortable being Captain America for so long. The main argument, I guess, is that he has a closer relationship with Steve, but I would argue that this is an incorrect analysis of their relationship. One of the things clarified by the time travel sequence is how Steve’s relationship with Bucky wasn’t about friendship, or loneliness, but about one of the other themes of the film: failing to deal with one’s mistakes.

It makes so much more sense for Sam to take up the mantle because, arguably, he is Steve’s greatest achievement as Captain America. Steve’s deeds inspired Sam to act. His training made Sam, someone with no superpowers at all, a superhero and brought him to the highest echelons of the Avengers. He, like Steve, was a military volunteer, unlike Bucky who was drafted. And, like Steve, and perhaps most importantly, he doesn’t know how to exist without the next mission. Sam has been Captain America-in-waiting since his introduction in Winter Soldier.

2. This film shouldn’t be nominated for best picture, but there are Oscar nominations that it does deserve

This last Oscar season was incredibly long, taxing and discursively toxic. One of the narratives in various online forums was a sense of discontent that Black Panther was nominated for best picture over Infinity War. Now, despite the fact that I thoroughly disagree with that feeling – Black Panther is one of the most narratively and thematically powerful superhero movies ever released and Infinity War has a thoroughly unpleasant message of abuse=love – there will, without a doubt be an Oscar narrative surrounding this landmark movie.

Let me set the record straight here: Endgame, whilst being an incredibly important moment in cinema, a hugely emotional watching experience, and a massive technical achievement, is not best picture material. Why? It doesn’t stand on its own. Without the background of the rest of the MCU propping it up, it couldn’t achieve nearly as much of the emotional impact that it did. For the same reason, I don’t think Return of the King should have been a best picture winner either. Sue me. The film also has some tonal issues that prevent it from landing all the emotional punches that a best picture nominee should have.

That being said, there are elements of Endgame that deserve recognition from the academy, and they are thus:

Robert Downey Jr.’s gut-wrenching performance as Tony Stark

Honestly, it does feel like Downey’s been playing this character in his sleep since Age of Ultron, but not here. This, for me, is his strongest performance put to film, and that’s all down to an awareness of how this character has changed since his debut in 2008. His meltdown scene after he is rescued at the start of the film is masterfully frightening and sad, made all the more so by his CGI-facilitated emaciated state.

Alan Silvestri’s genius score

Alan Silvestri is an incredible film composer; this much is clear. While I loved his score for Infinity War, which was full of clever little twists on previously existing material, and stunning uses of silence, I did feel a little let down that some of the better leitmotifs from previous films weren’t utilised at all, particularly Captain America’s theme, which Silvestri wrote for The First Avenger back in 2011.

As of now, I understand why he made the decision to leave that out. It wasn’t studio interference, demanding overly aggressive aesthetic consistency. It was a choice made to enhance Steve’s character development. We haven’t heard Steve’s theme since Winter Soldier, because he hasn’t really been Captain America since that film. The moment in Endgame that brought me closest to ugly crying in the cinema was when Tony handed Cap back his shield, and we finally heard that theme again. Silvestri has been paying attention in a major way, and probably deserves a writing credit for every movie in which Steve Rogers has appeared since 2011 because of it. Thanos’ theme is terrifying and beautiful too. Give. This. Man. All. The. Awards.

3. Guardians of the Galaxy needs a soft reboot, Ragnarok style

I hate the Guardians. I hate all of them… well… except Gamora and Nebula, but the former was done dirty in Infinity War, and the latter pretty much finished her character arc in Endgame. All the other ones are either funny window dressing (Rocket, Groot, Mantis), or outright intolerable (Starlord, Drax). One thing that made me enjoy Endgame so much more than Infinity War, was that I didn’t have to watch the Guardians’ unbearable antics for the majority of the movie. It was a small reprieve from the dick jokes, backwards character development, unfunny temper tantrums and relentless stupidity.

The end of the film sets up the future involvement of Thor in the next Guardians movie. I hope to god that means they’ll bring Taika Waititi on board to help write the new movie with James Gunn. I’m glad Disney made the right decision to bring Gunn back after his premature dismissal, but after the catastrophe that was Guardians of the Galaxy, vol.2, and the negative impact the characters have had on Infinity War, I think someone with the creative instincts of Waititi needs to be brought on to help make these characters into people again. Thor joining the team is a chance to make that happen.

4. Marvel did ScarJo dirty

Ugh. Every member of the original team got a proper ending, except ScarJo, who got fridged. I’m a huge Hawkeye stan, but Black Widow should not have been tossed off (literally!) in order to develop his character in the way they did. To make matters worse, she doesn’t even get a funeral! Just a little nod at the end from the guy who she died to save. After everything that happened with Gamora in Infinity War, I can’t believe the Russo brothers, who did so much to develop this character in Winter Soldier, were okay with giving Black Widow a death that was not only meaningless, but so similar to the woman they killed in the last movie.

Come on!!!

5. Endgame wrapped up 10 years of movies so perfectly that I don’t have to care what they do next anymore

All that being said, it really doesn’t matter anymore, does it? Over the last few years, I’ve gotten increasingly frustrated with the MCU. With the exception of Black Panther and Ant-Man and the Wasp¸ every film in the series since Captain America: Civil War has been a bit of a let-down for me. I hated Guardians 2, I was left feeling a little empty after Ragnarok and Infinity War, and Spider-Man: Homecoming was the biggest disappointment in the entire series that came close to ruining the character for me.

What’s so special about Endgame, is that it so neatly and powerfully brings to a close the narrative arcs of (nearly) all of the characters I’ve cared about since the MCU’s beginning over a decade ago. It, surprisingly enough, is a legitimate jumping-off point. If I were so inclined, I could be content to never see a Marvel Studios film again because most of the threads I was invested in have been tied up.

It also seems unlikely that they’ll be building to a huge single-narrative conclusion for a long, long while. How could they? Endgame was a movie a decade in the making, and I suspect it’ll be another decade before they get to anything that could rival the emotional resonance of their latest achievement. What comes next will, undoubtedly, feel substantially different than what came before, and therefore, probably isn’t targeted at me or others in my position. If I fancy seeing a new Marvel film, I will, but I highly doubt that by skipping one I’m going to feel like I’m missing out in the same way I would have done if I’d missed any of the last 22 MCU movies.

The greatest gift Endgame has given me, is a way out of the vicious circle of Marvel movie discourse. I can rest now.

#Avengers #avengers endgame #Endgame spoilers #avengers spoilers #MCU #robert downey jr #alan silvestri

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keishajay · 5 years

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I meant for this whole review to go in one post, but damn, I had a lot of complaints, way more than I thought once I started writing them down. Some are nitpicky; most are related to characters and writing choices. For the fans of this series, I did enjoy this series for what it is, but I’ll never defend it as great literature. It’s Sharknado levels of fun, and I live for stupid shit like that. For the haters, enjoy. Oh, and spoilers ahead.

Now, on to the cons, and hoo boy, are there a lot of them. First, I was shocked to see this was labeled book 7 and not 6. I had no interest in reading Tower of Dawn, as it was marketed as a side story novella. Kingdom of Ash expects you to have read it and spends little to no time explaining who all these new characters are. It’s not confusing, just annoying for those of us not invested in Chaol’s story enough to read the novella. If you like Chaol, more power to you. I just didn’t care enough about what was a sure outcome to waste my time reading a novella about him and only him. Nesryn goes with him as well, but she was barely a character in the fifth (fourth? I don’t know anymore) book, more a cool background piece than a real person. That’s not nearly enough for me to pick up an entire book.

Maas brings in four new “personalities” from Tower of Dawn that really just take up space and fawn over Aelin, just like everyone else. Hasar is just a crabbier version of Aelin; Sartaq loves Nesryn and that’s it; Yrene is Chaol’s wife who’s a healer and that’s it; and Borte likes arguing with her fiance. They might be more interesting in ToD, but here, they just read like cardboard cutouts. They’re unnecessary and boring.

And speaking of unnecessary, there are WAY too many POV characters in these books. What started with a handful of mostly essential characters has now become a library’s worth of them. Even Lysandra’s ward, Evangeline, gets a couple POV bits to herself. Why? They added nothing to the story aside from remind us that she was there and still alive. More POVs should only ever be added to further the story or themes. I kid you not, Elide and Lorchan are together for 90% of the last two books, and for some reason, they both have POV chapters. Elide was already established and should’ve been the only one necessary, but you know, Lorchan’s hot so we should hear him angst too. And that is all he does, by the way, angsts over Elide. Hell, by the end, I was a little surprised Abraxos didn’t have his own POV chapter.

Maas also adds nonsensical things in to ramp up the drama. The worst offender is the character Darrow. He and TWO other old men boss Aedion around throughout this entire book, because... reasons, I guess. They don’t recognize Aelin as queen, fine. But they’re three old dudes against Aedion, who literally commands their entire army and the fire-bringer all the people in their whole country rally to. If anyone can give me a logical reason why Aedion didn’t just ignore every order they attempted to give him, I’m all ears. Instead, he tiptoes around them constantly and outright steals his own army from under their noses to do what he wants anyway. Why? They all know damn well Aelin is the rightful queen and they wouldn’t even have an army without her and Aedion. She could crush them under her thumb, and they all know that too. Hell, Aedion’s treason would even be forgiven in moments when she took her throne back from... no one. Darrow isn’t even trying to be king of Terrasen. He just doesn’t like the idea of this bratty teenager being his queen, and who can blame him? Yeah, I know she wants her country to be different, but she can’t change anything from the sidelines when the old rules are the only things keeping those men in power over her. There is no good reason for Aedion to obey any of their orders. They can do nothing to stop him, and they all know it. They are literally only there so Aedion has someone besides Lysandra to be pissed off at.

Speaking of Aedion being pissed off at Lysandra. For the haters out there, yes, he has every right to be mad at her. She may not have been the one to come up with this insanity, sure, but she knew Aelin suspected it might be necessary. Telling the one person who foams at the mouth anytime someone gets within spitting distance of his cousin that maybe something terrible could happen to her, making this plan necessary, should be at the top of your to-do list. She knew damn well what she was doing and how he would react the entire time Aelin was teaching her to play pretend. He should be angry with her for not telling him what was going through Aelin’s head, not for following the orders of their queen. Yes, him throwing he naked out in the snow was a major dick move, and I’m glad that she didn’t let him forget it. What I don’t condone is his reaction to seeing Aelin again. He just hugs her like nothing ever happened. He’s an asshole to Lysandra for months, but he just forgives Aelin for everything as soon as he sees her. I’m sorry but no. I would’ve forgiven the entire conflict between him and Lysandra being tedious if he had just punched her in the face before he hugged her. God knows she deserves it for all the shit she’s pulled over the course of six books.

So, I hate Aelin Galathynius. Like straight up hate her. She went from being a brat in the first few books to being the worst case of Mary Sueitis I have ever seen outside of self-insert fanfiction. First, she’s a secret princess, a “twist” anyone with a brain could see coming. She’s also somehow the best at everything she does, even though she shows no evidence of any of it. How does the country’s best assassin get caught? On top of that, how does anyone even know who the country’s best assassin is? Shouldn’t hiding your identity be rule number one in the assassin handbook? This shit-licker could’ve been any happy-ass teenager with a knife pretending to be this famous assassin when they caught her. How would they know? Answer, they shouldn’t have any idea (that would’ve also made for a much more interesting story). So, not only is she the best at everything she tries for reasons, she’s also the only one in the whole damn world with fire magic, the only thing that can hurt the demons for a majority of the series. And she doesn’t just have regular old everyday fire magic. No, she has fire to rival fifteen suns going supernova at the same time. She’s also the prettiest and smartest and nicest and snarkiest and funniest girl in the world. She outsmarts someone thousands of years old who could’ve snapped her neck or dropped her in to a literal Hell with a flick of her wrist. But no, Princess Mary Sue wants her new boytoy free, so the villainess has to get tricked into letting him go. Now, let’s not forget she’s also the Chosen One who deus ex machinas her way out of sacrificing herself because no one can do anything without her there to save the day. Seriously, no one ever wins anything unless she’s there. It happens more than once in this book. Her boytoy and company show up to rescue her from aforementioned villainess just as she’s breaking herself out, and they can’t get her chains off until she somehow shows them how to unlock them. She then proceeds to get them out of the country through her magic of summoning deus ex machinas whenever she needs one, and they arrive just in time to rescue Chaol and Nesryn from certain doom. She stops a cascading river with fire because science, and when all hope is lost back home, she shows up on a magical white deer with the Rohir- oops, I mean her army. She also somehow holds off two of the most powerful creatures in the world with her assassin skills and barely any magic, because... villains have to lose, I guess. You know what Aelin loses by the end of the book? Her humanity, which she suddenly cares about ten pages before it’s gone. Aedion lost his father and at least half an army at his command. Manon lost the only people she really cared about in the whole world, and she could do nothing but watch them sacrifice themselves. And Aelin lost her humanity when she’s already been living as a fae since book 3. Oh God, how will she ever survive such a loss? She is actually the worst.

These books, this one in particular, are clearly written with a younger audience in mind (much younger than me at least, and I’m 30), and I strongly believe the target audience is girls. There is so much description of how beautiful the men in this series are that it almost borders on obscene. I do appreciate having a clear picture of what characters look like, but I do not need to know about all the rippling muscles and long fingers that all the men in this series seem to have. Even bookworm Dorian is described as being oh-so-sexy even though he doesn’t appear to have ever handled a weapon in his life. There is a lot of pandering to the female audience, especially with the sex scenes. In a YA novel, these are pretty inappropriate. She started with sex scenes being a fade-to-black kind of event, and now, almost every single one is described in disgusting detail. I like romance as much as the next girl, but if I wanted soft-core porn, I’d read romance novels. To top that shift off, she still insists on using “rutting” as a substitute for “fucking,” and I think that’s what bothers me the most about the whole change here. They are completely interchangeable in every context, to the point where I just read “rutting” as “fucking” every single time. This isn’t Brandon Sanderson’s silly but story-appropriate swearing. It’s just lazy writing. And detailed descriptions of sex are okay, but swearing? Someone call Takamata. We need to start the Inquisition. (History of the World reference for anyone confused.)

This story ends exactly as you should expect it to, with a happily ever after. None of the main characters die, and those with names go out as sacrifices, which is honestly consistent with the rest of the deaths in this series. The deaths we do get are mostly to make the main characters feel bad for no real reason. Aedion even flat-out states that Gavriel could’ve stayed inside the walls, and there is no argument, author or characters, as to why he had to go outside. At least the Thirteen’s sacrifice makes more sense. It was still pretty dumb to have them go out at all, but I don’t know if I could come up with a better way to destroy those witch towers. What they did was noble and understandable in context, though there were probably any number of ways it could’ve been avoided. I’ve seen Desolation of Smaug. Just drop a dragon/whale/elephant-Lysandra on top of the tower before they even get it fixed up to move again.

One last complaint that I have regarding the ending is largely the villains. There are three of them, and all three kind of go out like bitches. Erawan, the dickhead pulling the strings since book 1, gets tricked and healed to death. There are a lot of millennia-old creatures getting tricked into doing stupid things in these books. Manon’s grandmother (who never gets a name by the way) gets blown up by Asterin. Honestly, hers was probably the most satisfying end of the three because Asterin got the vengeance she deserved for her hunter and child. Maeve somehow became the biggest threat halfway through the series, and she meets her end in the most extravagant fashion, impaled by Fenrys and then decapitated by Aelin and burned to ash. What irritates me most about Maeve is she could’ve been great. If anyone has read the manga, Magi, you know what I’m talking about. Maeve is discount Gyokuen with half the threat and less than a quarter the sense. Where Gyokuen is highly capable, both as a fighter and a politician, Maeve is kind of a pushover who gets tricked by our “heroes” numerous times. She’s shown preparing for all sorts of unlikely eventualities, but she somehow can’t handle the plucky teenagers. Give me a break. From the moment you meet her, you know Gyokuen is going to be one of those bad guys that will require some clever thinking to defeat. I felt like Maeve could just be snuck up on and murdered by anyone who knew her schedule. Her last ditch effort against Aelin was clever, but other than that, she barely puts up a fight despite all the fear and hype she gets from almost every character in the book.

Now, like I said above, I did enjoy these books. I don’t feel like my time was wasted or that I was manipulated by them at all. I had fun with them the same way that I have fun with SyFy channel original movies. The characters and story had so much more potential than what this amounted to, but I don’t hate this series at all. Yes, the subplot with the gods was idiotic and unnecessary, but the valg were interesting as an enemy type. Yes, the romance shoved down my throat could be awful at times, but some of the relationships were genuinely sweet. Chaol and Dorian are the best bros, and I love Lysandra taking it upon herself to protect this little girl when she could’ve looked the other way. Manon’s relationship with Asterin was great as well. Do I wish it was better? Absolutely. Should it be boycotted by everyone? Of course not. Despite their problems, these books are fun, fluffy, popcorn movie fun, and sometimes, that’s just fine.

#kingdom of ash #throne of glass #spoilers #complaints #honest review

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junker-town · 7 years

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2021 NBA player rankings, Nos. 70-61: Jahlil Okafor still has one believer

Bet you didn’t expect to see Jahlil Okafor on a list of the 101 best players in 2021, but one of us still has hope.

When reading this ongoing projection of the 101 best NBA players in 2021, it’s important to remember that this is not a consensus list. Instead, 10 of us picked one after the other, fantasy draft style. That way, we could defend our picks while the rest of the crew argued for or against them.

That’s an important prelude to the surprising choice one of us made at No. 70. Let’s get to it.

70. Jahlil Okafor

CHRIS GREENBERG: We’re all understandably excited about the future of the 76ers. Jahlil Okafor is not the future of the 76ers. But that does not mean he has no future.

Okafor is only 21 years old right now. Sure, he hasn’t delivered on all — or any — of that silky post game promise he used in a lone season at Duke to earn all sorts of hardware and the No. 3 spot in the 2015 draft. His two seasons in Philly have been a disaster. But Philly has also been totally fine with being an outright dumpster fire for his entire time in town.

Maybe he’s not the next Tim Duncan. But what about the next Al Jefferson? That’s pretty useful. Like Jefferson, Okafor will benefit from a change of scenery, either by way of a trade soon or free agency. Needless to say, this pick will look much smarter after the Spurs pick him up on the cheap and Pop maximizes his offensive talents.

Everyone else’s reactions

KYLE NEUBECK, LIBERTY BALLERS: This is absolutely insane.

There is no evidence he can live up to the defensive responsibilities of a modern center, he's not a good enough rebounder to compensate for that issue, and his offensive strengths are increasingly useless with the way teams play. Maybe going vegan magically changes all those things, but I just don't see it right now.

TOM ZILLER: Chris, is this a cry for help?

CHRIS GREENBERG. Not help, necessarily. Just attention.

KRISTIAN WINFIELD: Chris, I’m ordering you lunch for tomorrow. You must have been hungry making this pick.

CHRIS GREENBERG: Lunch would be great.

MIKE PRADA: Feels odd to say this about a 21-year-old, but the game has passed Okafor by. You just can’t get away with that many deficiencies for your big man.

More reading material

69. Frank Ntilikina

KRISTIAN WINFIELD: You lost your mind if you thought I wasn’t going to take at least one Knick.

In all seriousness, though, Frank Ntilikina isn’t flashy. He’s not going to break ankles or wow crowds nightly. But he’s going to do two things: Play defense and play smart basketball. And if the Knicks are winning basketball games in four years, stability at the point guard position will play a major part in it.

Everyone else’s reactions

MIKE PRADA: Ntilikina will be 22 in four years. How many good 22-year-old point guards are playing today? Spoiler alert: not many.

TIM CATO: I’m concerned Ntilikina won’t even be starting in four years.

WHITNEY MEDWORTH: The Knicks spelled his name wrong on his first practice jersey. Save all of these potentially great players from the Knicks please.

CHRIS GREENBERG: So ... you’re saying he is a potentially great player?!?!

KRISTIAN WINFIELD: I STAND BY THIS PICK DAMMIT.

JOE FLYNN, POSTING AND TOASTING: In a league of freaks and unicorns, it's hard to place a 6'6’’ point guard with a 7-foot reach. If Ntilikina can stick at point guard, this ranking could end up extremely low given the way he already defends.

More reading material

68. Jusuf Nurkic

WHITNEY MEDWORTH: Nurkic will thrive in Portland alongside Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. He’s the perfect big man to fit with that team. They’ll bring out the best in Nurkic and he’ll be averaging a double-double at 26. He’ll also have the 2018 NBA’s Most Improved Player Award on his shelf at home.

Everyone else’s reactions

TOM ZILLER: If you need the perfect situation to be a passable NBA player, I hold little faith for your long-term future.

WHITNEY MEDWORTH: Situations and environment matter!

MATT ELLENTUCK: This is pretty high for a guy most thought was trash except for like the last three months of the season. Recency bias, or is Whitney on to something here?

MIKE PRADA: Gonna need to see a little more than a couple good months considering the way he sulked out of Denver.

DAVE DECKARD, BLAZERS EDGE: Teammates, health, and conditioning will determine whether he becomes a potent weapon or a passing curiosity.

TIM CATO: The only thing that could prevent Nurkic from being a top-100 player in four years is if he gives up basketball to pursue the family business as a Bosnian policeman like his dad.

More reading material

67. Jrue Holiday

TIM CATO: I mean, this all comes down to health. But Holiday’s at least a top-70 player right now, and there’s no reason why a 31-year-old Holiday won’t be around the same unless he just simply can’t stay healthy. Which is a real possibility, given his track record so far!

Everyone else’s reactions

OLEH KOSEL, THE BIRD WRITES: With NBA mileage not being an encumbrance, Holiday is primed for success despite being on the wrong side of 30. If he develops a confident, deadly three-point shot, a ranking of 67 is going to be far too low.

Yes, I enjoy living out on this little ledge.

KRISTIAN WINFIELD: In four years, Jrue will still be a physical defender at the point guard, a solid shooter and a game-managing point guard. If he can stay healthy, he should still be a top-70 player.

MIKE PRADA: I love Holiday’s game, but I’m scared he looked so off once DeMarcus Cousins arrived. Then again, an adjustment period is to be expected and who knows how much longer Cousins is in New Orleans anyway.

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66. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

KOFIE YEBOAH: The Pistons fan in me misses KCP. I don’t know what team he’ll be on in four years, but he could thrive depending on his new destination. He’ll be in his prime, so that’s a plus.

Everyone else’s reactions

MATT ELLENTUCK: Can KCP do anything else besides shoot? Can he even shoot well enough to just be a guy who can shoot? I don’t think he’s settled the many questions he came in with four years ago.

TOM ZILLER: He can defend, and the shooting is a question mark. I think he’ll settle in as a plus two guard somewhere. I just don’t know if that’s worthy of a top-75 player.

MIKE PRADA: I want him to be good and all the parts suggest he should be good, but will the full package ever come together?

KRISTIAN WINFIELD: I think it depends on where KCP is playing in four years. I agree with Ziller, but I’d like to think he’ll develop offensively by 2021.

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65. R.J. Barrett

MIKE PRADA: My Limited Upside podcast cohort Ben Epstein has spent the last few days raving about this guy, so consider this a show of faith in Ben’s ability to evaluate talent. Ricky seems to like him too, which is good enough for me.

More interesting question: will R.J. be the best Canadian player in the world in four years, or will it be that other guy in Minnesota? (Foreshadowing!).

Everyone else’s reactions

KRISTIAN WINFIELD: Let the high school picks begin.

RICKY O’DONNELL: Easily could have been the first high school player taken. Barrett might end being what everyone thought Wiggins would be.

WHITNEY MEDWORTH: I like this pick and wish I would’ve made it myself. Every Canadian I know is bonkers over this kid. He led Team Canada to a shocking win over Team USA in the U19 division in July with 38 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists. Great pick.

TIM CATO: It’ll be neither when the Anthony Bennett comeback happens.

TOM ZILLER: Prada’s talking about Andrew Nicholson, right?

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64. Clint Capela

MATT ELLENTUCK: Clint Capela was extremely productive in Year 3 with the Rockets as a clean-up man with a rapidly developing defensive game. He’s just 22 years old now, and his job will become that much easier with Chris Paul coming into town alongside James Harden. I have a feeling this potential “Big 3” will stay together for some time.

Everyone else’s reactions

TOM ZILLER: This is a pretty good pick, though I’m not sure he’s irreplaceable for the Rockets if that makes sense.

RICKY O’DONNELL: It feels like the league is trending toward players with ball skills at all five positions. Capela is good at what he does, but he’s still fairly limited offensively.

KRISTIAN WINFIELD: Capela might be a backup’s backup somewhere in four years.

MIKE PRADA: Terrific pick and I think there will still be a space for him in the league. I dunno what Kristian is talking about here.

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63. Jamal Murray

RICKY O’DONNELL: Murray can really shoot the ball and I think he has some sneaky potential to handle point guard duties on offense, too. He might never be a good defender, but No. 63 feels right for a player with his skill level.

Everyone else’s reactions

TOM ZILLER: It’s so disappointing that he didn’t put up numbers last season, because he’s the type of fun player everyone could have gotten behind for an insurgent Rookie of the Year campaign.

KRISTIAN WINFIELD: This is a good pick. I like Jamal Murray and he’s an interesting piece to a young mosh pit of talent in Denver. He should be the starter in four years, if not way sooner.

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62. John Collins

ZITO MADU: Last year, Rick Pitino described John Collins as a “terrific basketball player, the best post player in our league by far, if not the country.” He put on a offensive highlight show in summer league, but it’s not just that he can dunk. He’s generally active, which leads to initial and second chance points for him and his teammates.

Everyone else’s reactions

JEFF SIEGEL, PEACHTREE HOOPS: The Hawks are very excited about how Collins can develop as an ultra-athletic power forward in an era that demands such athleticism from that position. But with zero minutes of NBA action to his name, it's impossible to tell if he'll be in the top 25 four years from now or off the list altogether.

MATT ELLENTUCK: Collins could be a solid clean-up guy in the league later down the line, but a top-65 player in four years? Nah.

TOM ZILLER: I totally forgot who drafted Collins, and I’m honestly not interested enough to look it up. That’s how much I hate this pick.

MIKE PRADA: You just put him here because of that one Summer League dunk, didn’t you?

WHITNEY MEDWORTH: To be fair, it was a pretty great dunk.

JOHN COLLINS WE ARE NOT WORTHY!!! http://pic.twitter.com/3urJblnWfo

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) July 12, 2017

KRISTIAN WINFIELD: POSTER MACHINE.

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61. Aaron Gordon

TOM ZILLER: Someday, Aaron Gordon’s coaches will figure out how to use Aaron Gordon. Here’s hoping it comes before 2021.

Everyone else’s reactions

CORY HUTSON, ORLANDO PINSTRIPED POST: Sixty-one feels like an appropriate median outcome, but Gordon could very well land far ahead or far short of that rank.

RICKY O’DONNELL: I still believe. Playing Aaron Gordon at the three last season was a crime against humanity. Get this man in a Draymond role!

KRISTIAN WINFIELD: Aaron Gordon will be better than Blake Griffin in four years. Blake Griffin has not been picked yet. Y’all are tripping.

MIKE PRADA: It’s the year 2020. Magic coach Randy Wittman announces his intention to play Gordon at small forward, with Jonathan Isaac at power forward and Nikola Vucevic at center. Gordon shoots 30 percent from three and looks lost until Orlando salary-dumps Vucevic at the deadline. Gordon then shifts to the 4, intrigues next to Isaac at the 5, and we get excited again.

Then, the Magic sign Jahlil Okafor in free agency. Wittman announces his intention to play Gordon at small forward, with Jonathan Isaac at power forward. Gordon shoots 30 percent from three ...

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INTRO | FULL LIST | TOP 100 OF 2017 | HOW WE DID IN 2013 | SNUBS | 101-91 | 90-81 | 80-71 | 70-61 | 60-51 | 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-1 | THE CASES FOR NO. 1

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