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Posts by @Josh Elias

The Don Draper of the NBA: Does Ersan İlyasova Really Exist?

Ersan İlyasova is supposed to be a Turkish power forward drafted in the second round who carved out a solid enough career for himself that he’s still a decent NBA player well over a decade after being drafted. He’s known for being a good floor spacer at 6’10” while shooting 37% from behind the arc for his career and has fit in really well with Milwaukee’s system for quite a few years. This year, he averaged a sliver over 18 minutes per game in Milwaukee’s run to the Eastern Conference Finals – the furthest run he’s been a part of in his career.

And most of that’s true.

But there’s just one problem with that description of Ersan İlyasova. There is no Ersan İlyasova.

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Alfonzo McKinnie's Winding Path to the NBA Finals

Surprise, surprise. The Golden State Warriors are in the Finals again. I’m not sure there’s a person on the planet that could have credibly predicted anything else, and that can’t be said about any other team in history aside from the 1960s Boston Celtics. Don’t get me wrong, it’s absolutely a legendary feat to make the NBA Finals five consecutive times and it deserves plenty of recognition, but it isn’t exactly surprising, is it? Everyone likes an underdog story, and while this Warriors dynasty started out as one, it’s been a long time since that’s the case. So instead, I’ll focus on one specific player that I personally believe is possibly the biggest underdog story in the league – Alfonzo McKinnie.

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MLS Week 12 Must-Watch Games

The season is Los Angeles FC’s to lose at this point, with the other top teams consistently dropping points as soon as they gain any serious momentum. FC Cincinnati finally won a game after going without a goal for five games. Philadelphia and D.C. United are battling for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, and the league as a whole is seeing lots of excitement this year. What’s coming up next?

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The Unlikeliest of X-Factors

The series between Portland and Denver that just wrapped up should easily be remembered as one of the closest, most well-fought series in recent memory. Two moments seem very likely to really stand the test of time and be pointed to as defining stages of the battle between the two Northwest Division pseudo-rivals.

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MLS Week 11 Must-Watch Games

After last week saw the Houston Dynamo catapult themselves to the top of the league on points per game with a big win over their in-state rivals, FC Dallas, and the LA Galaxy lost two straight to put an end to their great start to the season, this is the action you’ll want to keep an eye on this weekend.

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FC Cincinnati Fires Alan Koch

Just about a month and a half ago, there was a real sense of optimism surrounding the expansion FC Cincinnati team. Extremely cautious optimism, yes, but optimism nonetheless. Fast forward to today, and The Athletic’s Kristian Dyer reported this morning that Head Coach Alan Koch has been fired after a 2-7-2 start to the season.

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MLS Recap: Houston Dynamo vs. FC Dallas

Before this weekend’s games began, I pinpointed three specific matches as must-watch action in the MLS this weekend, and the very first game I mentioned was the Texas Derby between the Houston Dynamo and FC Dallas. Let’s just say they didn’t let me down.

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What Each Team Must Do to Reach the Champions League Final

Back in September, the UEFA Champion’s league started with 32 of Europe’s best teams. Now in May, only four teams remain: from the English Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur, who take on Dutch club Ajax. On the opposite side, you have Spanish giants FC Barcelona who are pitted against last year’s runner up in the competition, Liverpool, who also hail from England. Let’s take a look at what each of the four remaining teams must do to have the opportunity the hoist the most coveted trophy in all of club football.

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MLS Week 10 Must-Watch Games

With the league standings starting to take a real shape to them, and a shape that heavily favors a few select west coast teams, here are the three MLS matchups that should be considered must-watch action in Week 10.

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