iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 2h

There was that stretch in Portland a few years ago where Banton was playing almost 30 mpg over 30 games, and he averaged almost 17 ppg. It wasn't efficient. But... it happened.

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 2h

I think DC fits this team a better. Banton might actually be a better scorer at this point, but I think DC can guard other guards better. And I think he's perhaps better suited to fill a support role. I think Banton would thrive overseas as a guy with a green light. DC has the higher ceiling.

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 2h

To clarify, I mean - if you need to dip into your guard depth, I'd much rather have to steal minutes from a guy who's played NBA minutes like DC as opposed to a guy like Shulga.

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 3h

Just look at Ron Harper Jr. Put in the work. It gets noticed.

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 3h

This Maine team is gonna be good. Should either White or PP miss time, it is a quite a luxury to have DC sitting there.

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 15h

St John's fans watching him calmly pull up and drain that 3: "wait, what?"

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 16h

Everyone is so hyper focused on the scoring, they're ignoring the rebounding, defense, and shooting.

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 17h

He's got super high confidence in his jumper right now

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 17h

The natural byproduct of unethical ball

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 17h

Flopping Joel? That's unlike him...

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 17h

Laughed at the "beautiful spin move" commentary when he fell on his ass.

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 21h

too* I promise I know the difference, lol

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 22h

the factory had decided to "end their working relationship" with me Being half asleep, my response was "they broke up with me?" The employment agency person laughed WAY to hard about that.

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 22h

I worked third shift in a factory for 2 days through an employment agency. I got home after the second night, went straight to bed, and the phone rang at 8 am, which is WAY too early in that scenario. The employment agency told me...

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 16/10/2026

Google search a company and the company website sometimes shows up as the 5th entry. Ask a question and you have a skip past 3 pages of memes, reddit pages, and etsy nonsense to get to something relevant. I recommend including ~AI with every search, but that still leaves the broken search engine

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

Under contract through 29-30 (assuming the team option is exercised) at which point he will be at his most expensive 5.5 mil. That feels like a great price for a specialist starter.

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

That's been my thought as well. 20 and 7 would be better season. A really good season. But that's not the jump i would think of as a breakout. Expecting 25 and 10 feels overly optimistic.

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

See, I made a comment about double bigs being unlikely and then Joe rolls out Mitch and Queta - and it really worked. Having that in our back pocket against teams that run double bigs (at the very least) is really nice. I'm happy to be wrong in times like this.

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

In the two games Robinson, Queta, and Garza have played, they have combined for 62 pts, 31 rbs, 4 blks. I doubt we'll have that consistent offensive output from those 3, but it's nice to see that they can give us an offensive boost.

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

I am a sucker for 2nd effort and ball movement

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

Yep. We're apparently all in agreement there

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

I am now craving lasagna. So thanks for that, lol.

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

You're correct, I don't believe you. That is clearly the photo of a 5'3" person.

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Walsh, Baylor, and Hugo all seem to be able to adapt their games to fit what we need in the moment/lineup/game. Nice to have flexible role players. Joe is going to roll out a Conley Pritchard RHJ Garza Queta 2nd unit lineup in game 1 just to quiet all of us down.

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Tons of talent. A reset could do wonders for them.

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

It is. We're going to be small whenever Tatum is off the court. Unless Joe tries double bigs, which is difficult to see working against a lot of lineups. On the bright side, Hugo and Baylor are good rebounders for their positions. And whichever C we throw out yere with them as well.

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

If we learned anything about Joe last year, it's that we'll see a LOT of different lineups. I'll add that Hauser probably wants to see some Hauser/Tatum lineups even more than you :)

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

I think PP, Baylor, Hugo, and Sam have some nice chemistry. They understand how to accentuate each other's strengths. So I like the idea of having them out there at the same time for stretches. It won't always be perfect, but they play hard and they play together.

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

I should have probably remembered that, lol

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

I'll add that while he might not start, I think he will close. Personally I think that's more important.

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

PP requesting a trade feels like a lifetime ago

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

It's my mission at the moment to add similar sentiments in many, many different replies, but... He's a big part of the culture. What he brings to practice, including the offseason is very important. And on a team of nice guys, it's good to have at least a few guys willing to talk shit.

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Right now the only real comparable salary for a guard is Podz. And I will fully admit that I am biased here, but I'd rather have Pritchard. It's @ 10 mil per season less than guys like Suggs and Quickley. Again, I'm a fan, but I am quite happy with the deal.

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

This trend also seems to show that the FO has been extremely good at scouting. When they identify a player they want, both for basketball reasons and personality/culture fit, they have been proven right more often than not.

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Agreed. What he does on the court aside, he's a big part of the culture they've built. Well worth "Podz" money.

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David "No Nickname" Merritts @rutegar.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Add Dillon Mitchell and Devin Carter who both seem to be good enough to play regular season minutes, though it's unlikely either will actually be needed. There's really no reason for the team to ever play anyone hurt/sick in the regular season.

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