- A Farewell to Takes
- Posts
- Why the Kings have been so dominant
Why the Kings have been so dominant
Plus: It's Steph Curry week
Welcome to another issue of A Farewell to Takes, our quick look around the NBA. It is Steph Curry week on The Old Man and the Three, and we couldn’t have been more excited to sit down with the future Hall of Famer. We covered a lot in the episode, and we highly recommend you give it a watch or a listen.
In this week’s A Farewell to Takes we are giving you:
Our Stat of the Week and why the Kings have been so dominant lately
The impact of Sam Hauser for the Celtics
The Best Thing I Ate This Week
The Best Thing Tommy Ate This Week
Our Wine of the Week
As always, thanks for reading. Please share with friends if you are enjoying the newsletter, and thanks for being a part of The Old Man and the Three community.
—JJ
The Stat of the Week is 6
The Sacramento Kings winning streak stands at 6 games after beating the Detroit Pistons 137-129. This is the first time since 2005 that the Kings have had a 6 game winning streak. After starting 0-4, the Kings are 9-2 in their last 11 games and tied with the Celtics. We gave a lot of love to the Kings in last week’s The Old Man and the Three Things, and it’s worth mentioning again just how good their starting unit has been. For the season, the lineup of Fox, Huerter, Barnes, Murray, and Sabonis has a net rating of +20.5 per 100 possessions (121.5 offensive rating and 101.0 defensive rating). During the 6 game winning streak that lineup has been even more dominant- +32.7 net rating, 134.0 offensive rating, and a 101.3 defensive rating. The Kings are simply playing like one of the best teams in basketball right now. Their next game is tonight at Memphis, who will be without Desmond Bane and Ja Morant. Look for their win streak to continue. And finally, a congratulations to De’Aaron Fox on winning Western Conference Player of the Week. —JJ
Featured Player of the Week: Sam Hauser
When you go through the league leaders in plus/minus this season you'll see a lot of familiar faces. Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum, Nikola Jokic, Steph Curry, Sam Hauser, Mikal Bridges — wait ... Sam Hauser? The Celtics have had an incredible start to this season offensively for a bunch of factors, none bigger than Tatum's MVP-level ascension, but it's important not to dismiss the impact of the 2nd year small forward. He's an elite floor spacer who's given this already deep core another weapon. Hauser is currently shooting 47.9% from 3 on close to 5 attempts per game. Even after their Finals run last year, the Celtics have been looking for a consistent movement shooter. Hauser, undrafted and unheralded coming out of Virginia, looks to have filled this role. Hauser has hit more threes this season than Luka Doncic, Trae Young and Zach Lavine. His 2 man lineup with Tatum has ranked at the top of the league in every statistical category, and his net rating, at 21.6, is by far the best in the league with 2nd place coming in at 16. The Celtics don't need Hauser to be great, they don't even need him to be really good. If it wasn't for Danilo Gallinari's injury, he likely wasn't even going to be playing. This remarkable jump has been the a classic rich-get-richer situation. It helps explain why Boston has won 9 in a row and looks like a serious contender to get back to playing in June. —Tommy
Best Thing JJ Ate This Week: Omakase at Akiko's Restaurant
I was in the Bay on Thursday and Friday to call the Knicks/Warriors game, and Mike Dunleavy gave me a great recommendation for omakase. The entire experience was awesome, and the omakase was exceptional. Pictured here is the shokupan, milk toast with toro tartare, caviar, and gold shavings. Incredible. There’s actually two Akiko’s (no affiliation) within a few blocks of each other. The one I ate at is Akiko’s Restaurant on Bush St. Highly recommend. —JJ
Akiko's Restaurant | 431 Bush St, San Francisco, CA 94108
Best Thing Tommy Ate This Week: Barbacoa Tacos at Laredo Taqueria
When we realized we were going to be taping with Steph Curry in Houston this past weekend, my first call was to friend of the show and unofficial Governor of Texas, Shea Serrano. When asked where we should eat in Houston, Shea was unequivocal. Go to Laredo's and don't think twice. Everything at Laredo's is great. A hole in the wall on the outskirts of the city, the place radiates authenticity and though there's a constant long line, it moves fairly fast. The best thing on the menu in my opinion were the barbacoa tacos. Served for breakfast and lunch, the combination of crispy beef, cheese, and refried beans on one of the softest tortillas I've ever had is an unbeatable combination. The tacos are big; I had three which was more than enough, all of which came out to about 9 dollars. About as good as you are gonna get! —Tommy
Laredo Taqueria | 915 Snover Street, Houston, TX 77007
Like JJ mentioned earlier, it's Steph Curry week over here. It's an all-time episode that covers a lot of ground. Topics include: why Game 4 of the 2022 NBA Finals mattered so much to him, LeBron and Kyrie's performances in the 2016 NBA Finals, if he should have won Finals MVP in 2015, his thoughts on JJ "hating" on him on First Take, the origin of his look-away three pointers, how he ended up at Davidson, why he didn’t declare for the draft after his epic NCAA run, the dominance of the KD era of the Golden State Warriors, what it meant to him to win Finals MVP last season, and so much more.
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Wine of the Week: 2017 Rhys Vineyards Horseshoe Pinot Noir
Our good friends at Parcelle Wine had this in stock last week, and I had to grab a couple of bottles. Rhys Vineyards makes some of my favorite California Pinot Noir. This particular wine contains grapes that are grown on a ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains about 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean. There’s a nice balance of mineralogy, red fruit, and earthy tones. I know the price point is a little higher than what I’ve been recommending, but if you want to splurge on a great California Pinot Noir, this is a GREAT option. —JJ