This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Goooood morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for reading this morning. We appreciate you. I hope you’re having a fantastic week. Can y’all believe it’s still January? BRUH.
Anyway, let’s talk about the NBA’s big scoring bug. Offense seems unstoppable in the league today.
There’ve been four players in the league who’ve scored at least 70 points in a game over the last year (Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell, Joel Embiid and Luka Doncic). In this season alone, we’ve had two. Plus there have been two 60-point games as well (Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns).
RELATED: The NBA players with the most points scored in a single game
Basically, folks, there’s been a lot of bucket-getting on some historic levels recently. And the NBA seems to see this as a problem. At least, according to the thinking of one Brian Windhorst.
ESPN’s NBA insider says the league is “out of whack” and that he expects the league will give the defense “a little bit of more of their rights back” next season after seeing this offensive explosion.
"The league is out of whack & I do expect there to be changes in the rules into next season that's tries to bring this back a little bit that gives the defense a little bit of more of their rights back."@WindhorstESPN on the recent offensive explosion.pic.twitter.com/NhmppC7soh
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 29, 2024
These high-scoring games are fun — it’s cool watching players run up the scoreboard by themselves like that. But, at the same time, it does feel like we’re losing control.
Some mind-boggling stats:
— The average NBA offensive rating is at 115.9 today, which is a full 5.3 points per 100 possessions higher than it was just five seasons ago.
— Teams are scoring 115.6 points per game today. That’s almost a full 10 points higher than what they were scoring per game in 2017-18 (106.3)
So, yeah, scoring is a bit over the top right now. That’s not changing — at least not this season. Teams are still fully in the pace-and-space era where the focus is on spreading the defense out and putting pressure on the rim to generate open looks from 3-point range. Almost every team in the league is good at it.
The natural resolution here, as Windhorst said, is to give the defense a bit of leeway. It doesn’t have to be anything drastic like, say, ditching the defensive three-second rule or fully bringing back hand-checking (which is what a ton of people have asked for). Maybe it’s allowing the defense to be a teeny bit more physical while also not rewarding offensive players with fouls on bare minimum contact.
We’ll see what the NBA comes up with this offseason.
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EPL back in the USA
The English Premier League is coming back to the United States, folks! Well, for a few games, anyway.
Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool are set to play in the U.S. this summer during the EPL’s preseason, Adam Crafton of The Athletic writes. t
This isn’t the first time EPL teams have been here, but it’s always a big deal when teams from arguably the biggest soccer league in the world touch down here. Here’s Crafton on the reaction from the game last year:
“The match between United and Arsenal at MetLife Stadium sold out last summer, according to event organizer AEG, while the ticket sales revenue made it the highest-grossing club soccer game at the venue since the stadium opened in 2010. Both clubs, as well as Liverpool, are majority-owned by U.S. investors, due to continuing control by the Kroenke family at Arsenal, the Glazer family at Manchester United and Fenway Sports Group at Liverpool.”
We don’t know the dates or the locations for this year’s preseason games just yet, but when we find out you can rest assured that tickets will probably sell out immediately. This league and these teams are always a major draw.
Soccer’s footprint in the United States is also increasingly growing larger. Between the EPL’s increased presence over the last year and Lionel Messi’s dominance of the MLS, excitement might be as high as it has ever been.
Let’s see where all this goes in another 10 years.
Y’all better leave Elmo alone
All Elmo asked everyone on Twitter was how they were doing. Then everyone just decided to trauma dump on my guy! Mary Clarke has more here.
“It all started when Elmo — sweet, innocent Elmo — asked Twitter on Monday morning how things were going. And folks, the answer is not great! Whether it be overall world weariness of the general state of things in 2024 or you’re a Detroit Lions fan still reeling from the team’s NFC title game collapse, the internet at large is just not feeling too hot right now.
And you know what? I get it. It’s late January. It’s cold outside. I haven’t seen the sun in days and I could use the world’s longest nap right about now. But thanks to the internet, Elmo is now traumatized after bearing the weight of the world’s problems on his little red shoulders. Even Sesame Street‘s Twitter had to step in on Elmo’s behalf to send out a very important reminder about mental health!”
Listen, man. I get it. We all do. We’ve got some problems. But, man. I don’t think this is what Elmo was looking for, folks.
Quick hits: Kevin Garnett back in Minnesota? … WNBA Free Agency is here … and more
— Alex Rodriguez is actually doing some good for once. Maybe he can bring KG back to Minnesota. Bryan Kalbrosky has more in Layup Lines.
— Here’s Meghan Hall with a WNBA Free Agency tracker. Come on, Mystics! Do something!
— Hailey Van Lith’s confusion in the huddle isn’t a good thing for LSU but it’s hilarious for us. Charles Curtis has more.
— Here’s a new NFL Mock Draft for you to look at. I can’t believe it’s already that time. Charles has more.
— Nick Saban and Travis Scott are…friends? Not the couple I expected to see today. Here’s Tyler Nettuno with more.
— Here’s Caroline Darney on Taylor Swift’s favorite number and its connection to the Super Bowl.
Thanks so much for reading, folks! We appreciate you! Have a fantastic Tuesday. You deserve it. Peace.
-Sykes ✌️