John Wilmes - Basketball Analysis

Luka Doncic Is The NBA's Truest Gamer

by John Wilmes

May 31, 2024 11:05 PM

It's time for some Gamer Theory: Luka Doncic plays Overwatch, and is in the 99th percentile of performance. He's in the 100th percentile of NBA players, but it's important to understand he's also elite pretending to be a futuristic gladiator and talking trash to teenagers. Read more »

Tags: Dallas Mavericks, NBA

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Wolves Vs. Mavs Is Something Totally New

by John Wilmes

May 22, 2024 10:01 AM

In the 2024 NBA, regime change has arrived, and old templates won't tell us what's coming. Luka and Ant-Man aren't following old bibles about how to win, closely mimicking anyone who came before them, or sticking to their reputational patterns. Read more »

Tags: Dallas Mavericks, Minnesota Timberwolves, NBA

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The Wolves Owned All 4,700 Basketball Squares

by John Wilmes

May 7, 2024 1:20 PM

Minnesota's defensive effort in Game 2 was a transformative sight. In what appeared to be an effort to become one with their team name, they swarmed, smashed, hounded, snarled, took, and destroyed for 24 straight minutes to start the game. Not an inch of the court was safe. Read more »

Tags: Minnesota Timberwolves, NBA

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Joel Embiid Is Already Legend

by John Wilmes

Joel Embiid carries the weight of expectations differently than others. As his fanbase and national media have constructed stories that have him as the potential messiah in a decade-long process of experimental team-building, coupled with the unusual rabidity of Philadelphia sports fans, he has accepted this role sincerely. Read more »
Kevin Durant's Exploratory Era

by John Wilmes

For many, Kevin Durant's career has been less about his skills and more a cause for referendum on modern league politics, and on what happens when a player attempts to fully tell their own story. Read more »
Panic! In The NBA Playoffs

by John Wilmes

After a dull weekend of Game 1s, a doubleheader between Knicks/Sixers and then Nuggets/Lakers delivered an excess of drama. You never know when a basketball cult might be formed or broken. Read more »
Basketball's Best Weekend: A Review

by John Wilmes

On the Cavaliers doing to the Magic what the Knicks did to them last season, Milwaukee saving up their competitive juices, New York's rabid hustle cult, Minnesota vanquishing their playoff inexperience, a nerve-inducing game in OKC and more. Read more »
The Malaise And Potency Of The Phoenix Suns

by John Wilmes

Because of the staggering expectations they set for themselves by loading so much neon into their superstar billboard, they inspire more malaise than optimism. That might be changing, though. Read more »
The NBA Is Sweating Through Its Gambling Era

by John Wilmes

The NBA will now be weathering various strange controversies as a part of what is maybe a process toward better future health. And it will take some much bigger blow-ups before anything is seriously done about the situation. Read more »
The Changing (Podcast) Face Of NBA Retirement

by John Wilmes

The likes of Gilbert Arenas, Jeff Teague and Kwame Brown have shown us that the option to be a professional vibesmith is larger than ever, and the blueprint for a post-playing career is forever changed. Read more »
The Pelicans Are In Unfamiliar, Promising Territory

by John Wilmes

Zion Williamson is still 23, but he is now a layup artist, getting on the scoreboard in decidedly less pyrotechnic ways than before. He's stayed healthy this season and the Pelicans figure to enter the playoffs more formidable than ever. Read more »
The Nuggets' Confident Collective Prodigy

by John Wilmes

The Nuggets won't rack up a lot of blowouts, but they don't have to fret much to win games, either. Pressure, for them, is a bathhouse; the heat of it relaxes them. Read more »
The All-Star Game's Goofy Core, Exposed

by John Wilmes

If there is a meaningful future for the All-Star Game, it should be in further exploring the range of this dopey anti-competition. Read more »
The Bucks, The Bulls, And Two Very Different NBA Midwest Lives

by John Wilmes

As Chicago and Milwaukee sit 90 miles away from each other, there is a dichotomy between both present and past of their respective NBA franchises. Read more »
Welcome To Giannis Revisionism

by John Wilmes

Giannis Antetokounmpo was unassailable in the public realm, but he ultimately is more like other stars than previously imagined, and less the exception to their characteristic profile than assumed. Read more »
The Lakers And Bulls Need Each Other

by John Wilmes

A Zach LaVine trade is not an ideal scenario for either the Lakers or the Bulls- not now, and not after they potentially make this trade. But there aren't superior options on the table, or even on the horizon for two teams that need some humble reorganization. Read more »
The Ja Morant Moral Panic Is Back

by John Wilmes

If Ja Morant is endangering himself or others, that's an issue that needs addressing, but when it comes to how he wants to be, well, that's up to him, and it looks as though he's decided for now that his freedom to speak and signal as he does matters more to him than maximizing his branding opportunities. Read more »
Zion Is Still Here

by John Wilmes

You don't have to squint too much to see how, through all the deflated hype and underwhelming results, Zion Williamson remains indomitable enough pull his team through the postseason. Read more »
We've Witnessed The Birth Of A New NBA Tradition

by John Wilmes

Here we are, at the start of something, which one of the greatest players of all time felt strongly enough about to make it an important conquest in his shockingly lengthy farewell cruise. Read more »
Small Sample Size Notebook

by John Wilmes

On Jalen Suggs, Jamahl Mosley, Tyrese Haliburton, De'Aaron Fox, plus notes on the Thunder, Clippers and Pelicans. Read more »