Quote from: MU82 on May 02, 2026, 10:08:29 PMSay what you want about Embiid, but he was a warrior today. Just a few weeks after appendix surgery, and he kept getting hit on the knees, yet he kept going, even diving on the floor for a loose ball. Oh, and 34 points, 12 boards and 6 assists, too.

But I do agree about Maxey; he deferred a little too much today.

Maxey is a prime-time baller.  Dude has ridiculous zoomability and can finish in the paint.  He's a fking blur in transition. Yes, he can be hit or miss from the perimeter, but I'd take him on my squad.  He needs to attack Brunson and have a 🦣 series for Philly to win.

The silver lining of Sheek leaving and Shaka retaining Caedin is the opportunity it gives Josh Clark imo.

It's risky, very much so, and CH18 drives me nuts as much as he does to most of the fanbase, but Clark really did show some flashes in his limited minutes.
He's got good tools, and is the type of backup 5 that Shaka covets with his rim running and lob threat ability, so this is a massive off season for him.
He needs the game to slow down a bit, he needs to learn positioning and improve his confidence, but he has solid tools and will learn things from Sananda Fru.

Also, at the end of the day, one of the big knocks on Fru from Louisville fans was that he's bounty soft. "Shaka style" bigs will have that because sometimes it goes hand in hand with the versatility and mobility/movement he covets.
Having Caedin on the roster and at practice day in and day out should, in essence, help toughen up the other bigs a bit, you'd hope.
If he learns to become useful on the court he gives you 5-7 mins of muscle/beef and some fouls when you need it.
If not, at least he provides a solid example of someone who works his arse off and challenges the other bigs from a physicality perspective in practice, and then hopefully moves on the following offseason if he can't figure it out.

It's definitely risky not bringing in another quality big, and it's not ideal going into a BE and ncaa tourney hopeful season hoping Josh Clark becomes a quality backup overnight, but at least he's got a really good opportunity to grow into a solid role.
If Fru plays 25 mins- which I'm sure Shaka hopes is on the low end for the amount of money spent- you've only got 15 to cover amongst Josh and Caedin. If Josh can't give you 5-10 useful minutes then you could be in trouble.
That's how I justify it in my mind at least.

Quote from: MU82 on May 02, 2026, 10:03:36 PMYour net worth is up 25% since 2023? Congrats, my man!

Closer to 50% (not including additional investments).  I'm mostly a S&P500 indexer.  My best performing account holds about 44% S&P ETFs, 34% dividend paying companies (VYM), 14% bonds, the other 8% are some random fliers I take, but really most of that are the GE spin off companies (I bought GE a long time ago, and held through their crash).   I reinvest the S&P dividends, but take the bond $ and other dividends and push them back in the S&P.

I've posted this before, but I was really swayed a few years years ago when I found this calculator, and compared what I had done since 2005 (a year I took funds from a company 401k into a self directed IRA) with what I could have done...
https://ofdollarsanddata.com/sp500-calculator/

Quote from: MU Fan in Connecticut on May 02, 2026, 07:24:44 PMThat was probably the craziest horse race I recall seeing.  From the jockey falling off the horse as they are entering the gates to all the longshots that were in the final stretch.  Just crazy.

"Falling off?"  With the horse going down to the ground, he got off as quickly as possible and clear of the 1300+ lb. horse so that he didn't become embedded in the track.

I had a horse that one time snagged the edge of the pavement, tripped, and toppled over sideways. Fortunately, his shoulder hit the ground first. Otherwise, my leg would probably have been broken in 2-3 places. and if he had rolled over me I probably would not be here typing this. The jockey had time to get off. I didn't, and I had a very sore leg but no broken bones. Riders have been killed by a horse going over backwards and landing on them.

Quote from: GoldenEagles03 on May 02, 2026, 08:04:43 PMI'd imagine I'm in the majority with that opinion. You shouldn't survive 2 unserious seasons at Marquette, and some would argue having Hamilton in line to play minutes would make this the 3rd consecutive unserious season.

I think he will add another center because I think he knows this, but all of the good from this offseason will really be dampened if we ever have to watch him play here again.

I love seeing Caedin play as much as the next guy, but to say that the impact of keeping him on the bench outweighs the impact of adding Fru and Minessale to the starting lineup is as nonsensical as it gets.

Quote from: MU82 on May 02, 2026, 10:12:59 PMThat spike in gas prices was due to the Russia-Ukraine war. You know, the one some lying twat boasted 5,339 times that he'd end on "Day 1."

I'm in total agreement with the exception of your arithmetic.

Quote from: MU Fan in Connecticut on May 02, 2026, 07:24:44 PMThat was probably the craziest horse race I recall seeing.  From the jockey falling off the horse as they are entering the gates to all the longshots that were in the final stretch.  Just crazy.

Yeah, it was fun.

And now everyone can go back to ignoring horse racing for the next 364 days.

Quote from: WellsstreetWanderer on May 02, 2026, 02:46:54 PMPeople adapt just like they did under the previous administration when gas was even higher and our strategic stockpile was sold off

That spike in gas prices was due to the Russia-Ukraine war. You know, the one some lying twat boasted 5,339 times that he'd end on "Day 1."

Quote from: MU82 on May 02, 2026, 09:58:22 PMAnd it's obviously not only gas. Deisel, jet fuel, crops (because fertilizer prices have skyrocketed) ... to go with already major spikes in costs for health care, utilities, insurance of all kinds, beef, coffee, numerous other foods

The other stuff is no big deal, but coffee? I'm so pissed!

Say what you want about Embiid, but he was a warrior today. Just a few weeks after appendix surgery, and he kept getting hit on the knees, yet he kept going, even diving on the floor for a loose ball. Oh, and 34 points, 12 boards and 6 assists, too.

But I do agree about Maxey; he deferred a little too much today.