Clinging to some positivity here as the season winds down and playoffs hang in the balance, lets look at some comparisons of Dirk's (08-09 & 09-10) 2000 point seasons to Luka's current 2000 point season.
Yes I know Dirk did it in 02,04,05 as well.
We all know how special Dirk was (He totally deserves the HOF) and despite all the HATE at Luka right now, he is simply incredible.
Dirk - 08 - 09
Total Points: 2094 Games Played: 81 Games to reach 2k: 78 30+ pt games: 26
Free Throws: 485 pts (88.99%) 2 pointers: 1,426 pts (49.31%) 3 pointers: 183 pts (35.88%)
Dirk - 09 - 10
Total Points: 2027 Games Played: 81 Games to reach 2k: 80 30+ pt games: 20
Free Throws: 536 pts (91.47%) 2 pointers: 1,338 pts (48.65%) 3 pointers: 153 pts (42.15%)
Luka - 22 - 23
Total Points: 2008 Games Played: 61 Games to reach 2k: 61 30+ pt games: 43
Free Throws: 491 pts (73.95%) 2 pointers: 998 pts (58.36%) 3 pointers: 519 pts (34.74%)

Happy Wednesday everyone! Welcome back to season 3 of Who To Root For!
Thanks to u/roastedhambone u/jocro and u/Squidpsyco for the suggestions and help with the format changes! Hope this is better for everyone!
For those who missed the first post I’ll summarize briefly: dual focus on these daily posts looking at the day’s schedule, with a chance of OKC still making the 10 seed (or higher), but also jumping as high as 9th in the Tankathon standings. I’ll cut out the focus on the tank if they get to 3 games ahead of CHI (or whoever is in 9 in the reverse standings). If there’s a backslide that put 7 or 8 within a game I’ll put the focus on those spots again.
Also because of how clumped the West is, here is the official NBA tiebreaker rules
Here are the current standings out West:

	Record	GB	OKC H2H	Conference
4. PHX	40-35	—	1-2	25-20
5. LAC	40-36	0.5	3-1	23-23
6. GSW	40-37	1.0	1-2	26-21
7. MIN	39-37	1.5	1-3	27-20
8. NOP	38-38	2.5	1-3	26-21
9. LAL	37-38	3.0	1-2	22-24
10. OKC	37-39	3.5	—	23-25
11. DAL	37-39	3.5	2-1	27-23
12. Utah	35-40	5.0	2-1	22-25

To sum up the reverse standings, OKC is projected to be in a tie for 11th (reminder that there are no tiebreakers for draft positioning, it’s a random drawing). Utah in 9th at 1.5 games back is the highest that’s reasonably still within reach if things fall apart.
Recap of last night’s games: … look we can skip this section for a day right? The other three games to care about went fine, there’s another game tonight, let’s look forward, yadda yadda.
Here are tonight’s games with OKC finishing off a B2B set against DET:
GAMES TO IGNORE: MIL-IND, HOU-BKN, MIA-NYK, and SAC-POR can all be ignored.

MATCHUP	TANK RESULT	PLAY-IN RESULT	REASON
DAL-PHI	DAL	PHI	Straightforward if you want DAL to pass OKC or stay in 11th
LAL-CHI	Coin flip leaning CHI	CHI	Coin flip on the tank results since LAL has the tiebreaker and CHI could tie or pass OKC; play-in is obvious
LAC-MEM	MEM	MEM	LAC to lose as much as possible
Utah-SAS	UTAH	SAS	Another straightforward one - Utah to catch up or end their play-in chase
MIN-PHX	MIN	PHX	Another straightforward one, I don’t think PHX can lock up the 4 seed before OKC plays them again

There is a bit of conflict between OKC climbing the standings (requiring teams ahead of them to lose) and LAC freefalling to the play-in or worse (requiring those same teams to win while LAC loses). So LAL/PHX are both okay results either way if LAC loses ground to drop back into the play-in mix.
Have a great day everyone and stay safe!

Finally finished my all King Arthur card, down to the bingo wire!
You can see my first post here, which reviews and discusses the works I read (and didn’t read) up to and including the 20th century.
This post is for the modern works - 2000 up until today. Thanks for reading!

How I rate these books

In no particular order:

• Writing skill and prose
  
• Characters
  
• Level of depth and/or adherence to either Arthurian legend and myth, or subversion thereof, or interesting changes from the sources
  

Novels + Story Collections

The Doom of Camelot - edited by James Lowder (2000)

Two or More Authors (HM), Historical SFF, Five Short Stories
It’s quite fitting that this was my last read of the card, as every story is set around or after King Arthur’s time has come to an end.
The Doom of Camelot is another interesting gem that’s come out of Green Knight Publishing (see also: The Life of Sir Aglovale de Galis from my first post). Each story was well-written, keeping my attention all the way through, and worth reading, but not many of them appealed to me very strongly. There were two I liked best: “The Last Road” by Elizabeth Wyrick Thompson, Arthur’s end told by Sir Lucan’s nameless squire, and “The Battle, Lost” by Susan Fry, a story from a point of view you don’t see very often, a common farm woman during Arthur’s latter days. The anthology’s closing tale, the novella “Avilion: A Romance of Voices” by Verlyn Flieger, was ambitious, and I do think the author did a great job of capturing the unique voices and perspectives of all the prominent figures in King Arthur’s stories. The only thing I wished the author didn’t include was clear misogyny in many of the chapters. I thought to myself the first time, “maybe Kay’s opinion on women is supposed to be realistic for the time period…” but then each female character’s perspective after that calls Genever a bitch, and Genever’s chapter opens by directly stating she has no use for other women and continues in the same vein from that attitude, so, maybe the author was working through something, who knows.

3/5

Here Lies Arthur - Philip Reeve (2007)

Historical SFF, Standalone (HM), Anti-Hero (HM), Cool Weapon (HM), Name in the Title, No Ifs, Ands, or Buts (HM)
Gwyna is the offspring of an unnamed slave woman on Lord Ban’s holding who manages to escape into the nearby river when Arthur’s warband comes to burn and pillage. Myrddin finds her and takes her under his wing, disguised as his servant boy.
Here Lies Arthur won the Carnegie Medal for children’s literature in 2008, which is a bit surprising (to me, at least) because this story is quite dark. Reeve subverts the heroic Arthur and magical Merlin and reveals them for what they may have actually been - a petty, power-hungry warlord and his clever tale-teller. The book of course doesn’t have the detail and length of The Once and Future King, or Sword at Sunset, but still manages to fit in significant depth to most of the characters. I liked how gender was touched on with Gwyna living much of her life as “Gwyn”, and “Peri” being raised as a girl by his mother before becoming Peredur.
It can be read without knowing much of the original legends, but there are a few references here and there to the individual Arthurian figures’ tales, and on top of that the subversion doesn’t work as well without at least reading something like The Once and Future King first which explores Arthur and his knights’ tragedy from a heroic, sympathetic perspective.

3.5/5

Lancelot and the Lord of the Distant Isles: Or, the Book of Galehaut Retold - Patricia Terry, Samuel N. Rosenberg (2007)

Standalone (HM), Cool Weapon, Name in the Title, Author Uses Initials, Indie Publisher
Galehaut is a relatively obscure character from the original Vulgate Cycle (13th century), who nevertheless played a huge part in Lancelot’s life. Terry and Rosenberg’s book here is an effort to bring this character into modern consciousness again.
To understand the background of this character, if you’ve never really heard of him, I have a few suggested readings based on how deep you want to go.

1. Timeless Myths has a great quick overview
   
2. They also have longer summaries - an intro to Lancelot in the Lancelot-Grail, and the key section on Galehaut
   
3. For the real fans, Archive.org has all of Oskar Sommer’s early 1900s translations of the original French. Galehaut is not in all the pages in a row, but he first appears in Vol 3 page 201 in the book, page 206 in the archive copy, and goes until about Oskar Vol 4, page 160 in the archive, 155 in the book.
   

Going into this novel, I was expecting more of a retelling, not just a very similar style and tone to the original Vulgate cycle with some creative license/editing parts out - maybe because of the “Retold” in the title. As they state in the prologue, the entire first part of Lancelot’s story involves Galehaut heavily, so it is indeed surprising no one has really covered this topic before. This was to me a missed opportunity to tell the story in a way that gave dimension to the characters. In the original, Lancelot seems almost indifferent to Galehaut, and Galehaut’s instant love and admiration for the knight is much more one-sided. This could have gone into that aspect in depth - or could have even gone the other way, writing it as if Lancelot really was torn between Galehaut and the queen, loving each in his obsessive way. Except it just ended up as still one-sided, with a few lines here and there where these authors give Lancelot a few extra opportunities to tell Galehaut he also likes his companion a lot, but his actions being, as in the original, wholly revolving around Guinevere.
The book unfortunately ended up being slow to get through, since it is just the original text retold with a bit more extra detail. It might have been faster to get through if I hadn’t just read the translated original, because it was almost like I had read the whole thing over twice in a row, but at the same time it was also good to have a basis of comparison. If this version had done anything new or different, I would have appreciated having the Vulgate context even more.

2.5/5

Tarnished Knight - Jack Campbell (2012, The Lost Stars #1)

Set in Space (HM), Anti-Hero, Revolutions and Rebellions (HM), No Ifs, Ands, or Buts
The war with the Alliance has destabilised the Syndicate Worlds, and the Syndicate’s control over their empire is crumbling. In the Midway star system, CEOs Artur Drakon and Gwen Iceni form a tentative, secret partnership to take out the Syndic government’s Internal Security Service and establish independence for Midway and its neighbouring star systems.
Tarnished Knight is the first book in the series The Lost Stars, part of the larger Lost Fleet Universe that began by following the Alliance. The Syndic characters in The Lost Stars may have been introduced in previous books, but I picked it up without having read any of them and it wasn’t difficult to understand the premise. Although there is a bit of missing backstory with the Alliance and the mysterious alien enigmas, it doesn’t take away from the current storyline. Tarnished Knight was an easy read, which doesn’t try too hard to deviate from what seems to be standard Space Opera/Military SF fare, relying mostly on action and political dialogue to carry the story. For some reason, Campbell seems to be allergic to describing basically anything in his writing - after I noticed, I went back and skimmed some reviews of his first Lost Fleet book and readers had commented on the same thing even back then. There is not a single word of description given to the characters, so you have no idea what any of them look like, and many of the locations are briefly named halfway through an action scene as “the building” or “the facility”, if at all.
Character-wise, both Drakon and Iceni are similar, being former ruthless CEOs in the Syndic corporate structure who are now trying to figure out how they want to do things differently after achieving independence. The only Arthurian connection that goes deeper than just the name is the broad character strokes of Drakon’s subordinates: Malin, a loyal and technical “wizard”, Morgan, a scheming, bloodthirsty soldier, Gaiene, a womanising drunk, and Kai, dependable but unimaginative.
I enjoyed Tarnished Knight after accepting it for what it was - the space battles and political maneuvering were well done and interesting enough to make up for the two dimensional characters and the lack of description.

3/5

The Buried Giant - Kazuo Ishiguro (2015)

Historical SFF, Standalone (HM), BIPOC Author
An elderly couple in Britain struggle to recall any memory of their earlier lives while living in their village. They set off to visit their son, and on the way encounter a boy with a strange wound, a Saxon warrior, and a knight of Arthur’s court.
This was my first Ishiguro, and it seems like it was not a good one to start with. The premise was interesting: King Arthur has passed, and left behind a now peaceful land, with Britons and Saxons living and working together, but no one can recall any past events, and they even have difficulty remembering what happened an hour ago. The execution didn’t live up to the idea, however. Axl and Beatrice, the elderly couple the reader follows, are terribly boring. The boy who leaves his village with them is weird without any explanation, and only the Saxon and the knight have some depth, but they are secondary to the story. There is so much repetition and extraneous dialogue that it gets painful to read at points. Every paragraph of speech between every character is bizarrely polite, making every conversation twice as long as it needs to be. The book’s conclusion stops before the end of the couple’s journey, trying to leave it up to the reader to infer their fate, but it just ends up being confusing and unclear, and I still have no idea what happened to them.

2.5/5

The Lost Queen - Signe Pike (2018, The Lost Queen Trilogy #1)

Historical SFF, Family Matters (HM)
Adam Ardrey’s Finding Merlin presents historical evidence that the legend of Merlin originated in sixth-century Scotland with a man titled Lailoken (which Ardrey translates as “Chief of Song”). The historical Lailoken’s twin sister Languoreth is the protagonist of The Lost Queen, who was a queen of Britons in her own right but is now largely forgotten in modern times. The novel tells of the twins’ coming of age in the Kingdom of Strathclyde, which is undergoing social and religious change as a result of the rise of Christianity, and is also suffering from the incursions of the Angles from the East. Fortunately, a warrior named Emrys, the Pen Dragon, has risen to the challenge of defending the Britons’ lands and way of life.
I felt The Lost Queen was a bit of a simplistic tale at first, but about a quarter or a third of the way through it picked up and became more engaging for me. I give partial credit for this progression to the audiobook I listened to for a while, wonderfully narrated by Scottish voice actor Toni Frutin. The story’s plot even came together well enough for me to finish the last third in basically one sitting.
Languoreth is in a tough position, because while her father the king gives his daughter more freedom than most noble parents might have in that time, she is still bound to make a political marriage eventually. The first half or so of the novel follows her childhood and teen years as she grows and comes to terms with this fate, and the rest shows Languoreth’s involvement in Strathclyde’s political conflicts, and how they affect the fate of her family and her kingdom. Unfortunately, which might be historically accurate or might not be, Languoreth being a woman means she is not able to accomplish much. The men in her life make the decisions, and poor Languoreth generally suffers because of it. Perhaps she is able to gain more agency in the sequel, The Forgotten Kingdom, but she wasn’t given much opportunity to do so in this first part of her life, sadly. Meanwhile, the villains of The Lost Queen are one-note, each of them being power hungry, malevolent, and cruel, but for the most part the other side characters are developed well enough to be interesting and at least multi-dimensional.
It was certainly refreshing to read an Arthurian tale set so far north, and in my uneducated opinion, it seems that Pike succeeded at writing a reasonably historically accurate tale.

3.5/5

By Force Alone - Lavie Tidhar (2020)

Weird Ecology (HM), Historical SFF, Standalone (HM), Cool Weapon (HM), Revolutions and Rebellions, Award Finalist, but Not Won (HM), Shapeshifters (HM), No Ifs, Ands, or Buts (HM), Family Matters (HM)
What if Uther was just a soldier who wanted power? What if Arthur was just a leader of a bloodthirsty gang of boys that murdered his way to the top of all the criminal gangs?
If you want to read how about edgy this book is, how it’s a real missed opportunity, and how it has lots of weird shit in it, head to my Goodreads review.

2/5

Legendborn - Tracy Deonn (2020, Legendborn #1)

Historical SFF (HM), Book Club, Cool Weapon (HM), Urban Fantasy, Features Mental Health (HM), BIPOC Author, No Ifs, Ands, or Buts, Family Matters
Bree Matthews’ mother dies 3 months before she gets into Early College admission at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While she’s starting school there, still dealing with her grief, she witnesses what appears to be magic at an off-campus party. When she makes a connection between the magic she just saw and the magic she now remembers seeing after her mother’s death, she infiltrates the campus society known as the Order of the Round Table.
Legendborn was solidly written, and skillfully paced in most parts (less so the middle), but the typical tropes of YA present throughout the book really just didn’t work for me. It’s written in first person, an outsider girl who happens to be super special and unique stumbles into and joins a secret society (and a competition), naturally the two attractive and prominent boys of this society form a love triangle with the girl, and on top of that she and one of them are in love after the entire 2-3 week duration of the novel. Towards the end it was so egregious that I was rolling my eyes at any lines dealing with the triangle. Safe to say these types of books aren’t for me.
I thought the best parts were when Bree’s grief was addressed, and the moments with her family, and when she got to discuss and learn about her family’s history in Carolina. It was also important how the everyday and insidious racism she had to deal with was not brushed over for the reader. Otherwise, however, the majority of the character work outside of Bree was neglected. There were so many characters that she interacts with who belong to the Legendborn society and all of them outside a select few are so interchangeable it was hard to differentiate them when any of the names came up. Even her best friend, who is given some background and a bit of development early on, is shunted to the side as soon as Bree enters the Order and forgotten about until the end, where she comes back briefly to be given the role of following Bree the hero around.
By contrast, I did actually really like the take on a secret society revolving around the descendants of King Arthur and using Merlin’s magic, but that part of the book felt like it would have been way more interesting and relevant if it was set in Britain. It felt like with everything else about the American South the author was trying to address - racism, slavery, inequality - something like a secret Founding Fathers society would maybe have been more thematically appropriate and less disconnected from Bree’s local history and ancestry. Although of course, they don’t have a convenient, well-known magic user like Merlin. Maybe Benjamin Franklin could have turned out to be some kind of wizard instead.

3/5

Sword Stone Table - edited by Swapna Krishna, Jenn Northington (2021)

Two or More Authors (HM), Five Short Stories (HM)
A really solid set of short stories, divided into Once (more medieval/original myth settings), Present (more modern day, urban settings), and Future (futuristic - self-explanatory I suppose).
There were a couple duds, but for the most part they were all worth reading, and a few were standouts for me.
In Once, Roshani Chokshi’s “Passing Fair and Young” imagines that the Arthurian characters may have their fates and myths written on their bodies from birth, and Elaine of Corbenic and Lancelot determine for themselves how to interpret their own myth marks. Daniel M. Lavery’s “Galehaut” short story (available to read here at LitHub) is a shorter version of what I wish the earlier Galehaut retelling I read was like.
In Present, “Mayday” by Maria Dahvana Headley is pure brilliance. Written as an evidence report of items found in an abandoned lighthouse on a Lake Erie island, it tells of the Pendragon corporation’s rise and fall power in late 1800s America. It’s hard to live up to “Mayday”, but without going into all of them in detail, I did also really enjoy “Flat White” by Jessica Plummer - an Elaine of Corbenic coffee shop AU, essentially. What if a French guy named Lancelot walked into your coffee shop, and also had two best friends named Arthur and Gwen?
I think Future’s standout is Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s “A Shadow in Amber”, where Elaine of Shalott is a wealthy woman in a future city, living at the top of her skyscraper, paying a dealer to bring her illegal memories she can ingest and experience as if they were hers.

3.5/5

Sistersong - Lucy Holland (2021)

Historical SFF, Standalone (HM), Award Finalist, but Not Won, No Ifs, Ands, or Buts, Family Matters
SIstersong aims to retell and add detail to The Twa Sisters, a ballad whose earliest recording was in the 1600s. Holland sets her book in Arthur-adjacent Cornwall (“Dumnonia”), following King Cador’s three children as the kingdom begins to come under the threat of Saxon invasion, while also dealing with a Christian priest who wants to convert the Dumnonii to Christianity at all costs. The ballad sometimes has an extra sister in addition to the titular two sisters - here, Holland writes not only the sisters, Riva and Sinne, but a third sibling as well, Keyne, who is born as the middle daughter but comes to identify as a boy. The itinerant magician Myrdhin, who has secrets of his own, helps Keyne in his journey.
I went into Sistersong expecting a focus on the two sisters, and what I got was a book that ended up mostly focused on Keyne. The three siblings have relatively equal points of view for the first two thirds of the book, but as the Saxon threat increases and Keyne takes on more expansive and traditional male roles to help protect the kingdom, his sisters and their conflict over a man fade to the background. It seems like Keyne’s story was the one Holland really wanted to write, which is great, but Rive and Sinne could have been left out completely and Keyne’s story would not have changed. They loved him and he loved them, despite their conflicts, but his sisters’ tragedy serves as a sad chapter on his way to become who he is.
Many of the characters weren’t as fleshed out as I would have liked. Sinne, the youngest, is mostly a typical shallow, vapid blonde, and the eldest Riva is jealous of her looks and her beauty. Riva is probably the more developed of the two, as she has a physical disability and has to learn to overcome her fears and insecurities (thanks to a man, though, I suppose). The Christian priest is one-dimensionally cruel, except for one or two scenes where he breaks character for some reason and briefly treats Keyne with respect, and as for why the king and queen allowed him to terrorise their children and their villages, the belated half-baked explanations given don’t make a lot of sense. Myrdhin is just “mysterious” - Keyne even tries to learn more about him, asking where he came from, and Myrdhin refuses to answer, and it’s just never brought up again.
I would probably only recommend this to someone looking for a trans story set in Celtic Britain. If you’re looking for a multi-character-focused story with at least a semi-accurate historical focus, look elsewhere.

3/5

Blackheart Knights - Laure Eve (2021, Blackheart Knights #1)

Urban Fantasy (HM), No Ifs, Ands, or Buts, Family Matters
Set in an alternate, queernorm, Blade Runner-like London with circa 90s-00s technology, this is a very ambitious modern Arthurian story that I really enjoyed. I think I’ve learned that I’m easy to please with the modern retellings, and because there are so few of them, each one feels like a special find.
Blackheart Knights is well paced, with two interesting POV characters’ stories being told in alternating chapters in different time periods, building up to a meeting point. I thought the two protagonists were developed well, with some interesting nuances, but the side characters could have used some work, since for the most part the writing tells us about them a few times rather than giving them pagetime and showing us. One thing about the writing I would have changed is we are sometimes not given a character description at all, like we have no idea what even Artorias looks like until his hair colour is mentioned maybe two-thirds of the way through the book. The world is cool and has a lot of potential, being set in a London that’s split into multiple districts named after their founding seven Saints, each unique, and there are Kingdoms outside of London, but they’re never expanded upon and only a few of them are even named, in passing only. This modern London has knights that are essentially celebrities and fight in their arenas like gladiators for fame, money, and to settle legal disputes. Some people are born with magic powers, but are looked down upon by society, and are forced to register themselves by age eighteen. This part of the story was super interesting but underdeveloped. I did enjoy the references to the King Arthur mythos that I caught, and I’m sure I missed many at the same time, but for the most part only one key storyline from the original was kept close to intact. I was happy to see a Lailoken mentioned, who is the Merlin character in The Lost Queen.
I would recommend Blackheart Knights as a fun, fresh take on King Arthur, if you go in without expecting everything about the world to necessarily be explained in the first book and just enjoy the ride.

3.5/5

Spear - Nicola Griffith (2022)

Historical SFF, Standalone (HM), Book Club (HM), Cool Weapon (HM), Published in 2022, No Ifs, Ands, or Buts, Family Matters
Nicola Griffith pens a queer retelling of Percival, drawn mostly from Chrétien de Troye’s Perceval and Peredur Son of Efrawg, one of the Three Welsh Romances, along with an added dose of the Tuath Dé from Irish myth. Griffith was originally asked to write a short story for the Sword Stone Table anthology, but Spear grew into its own standalone novella instead.
Having recently finished Mary Sutcliff’s A Sword at Sunset, I felt the writing and the choices Griffith made in Spear were very much in a similar spirit, with a focus on what historical Britain was likely to have been like at the time, although Spear certainly has much more magic. Beyond the setting, the parallels include both Llanza (Lance) of Spear and Bedwyr of A Sword at Sunset being disabled but unmatched horsemen, and each being in love with not only the king’s wife, but their king as well. While Sutcliff wrote a gay relationship for two of Artos’s Companions (in 1963!) but kept Bedwyr’s love for Artos as only subtext, Griffith establishes many of her characters as explicitly queer, beginning with her protagonist, from the moment Peretur - a girl who has grown up alone with her mother in the wilds of Wales - encounters a pretty young woman in a nearby village. Spear is a lovely, well-written story, with a particularly fascinating take on Myrddyn and Nimuë - I only wish it could have been a full-length novel, with time and space to flesh out more of Peretur and her time in Wales and Caer Leon.

3.5/5

Dark Earth - Rebecca Stott (2022)

Historical SFF, Standalone (HM), Cool Weapon (HM), Published in 2022, No Ifs, Ands, or Buts, Family Matters
Set in and around the abandoned Roman city of Londinium (the “Ghost City”) circa 500 AD, Dark Earth follows two Saxon (“Seax”) sisters living near the Thames in Seax territory under the control of King Osric, who in this story is a recent descendant of Hengist and Horsa. Isla, the eldest sister, has been forging swords alongside her father the Great Smith even though Seax law forbids women from stepping inside a forge, and Blue, the youngest, has the makings of being a wicca.
I think I wanted Dark Earth to be more than what it was. Arthurian-era stories that touch on the Briton-Anglo-Saxon conflict are almost entirely from the Britons’ point of view. I enjoyed the writing and certainly appreciated the historically detailed setting, but I was hoping for more of a deep dive into Saxon settlements during this time period. Isla and Blue are both outcasts from their family’s original camp, so they’ve been isolated from all of their people from a young age, and only briefly do they visit Osric’s palace during the story and speak with other Seax again. The people the sisters do encounter after that are interesting, as at this time the area of Essex was occupied by a fascinating mix of Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians, as well as any native Britons from various tribes who had intermixed with the mainland settlers, like the sisters’ mother who was Iceni (“Ikeni”). Unfortunately, the novel doesn’t go into as much detail as I would have liked about why the characters might have settled there, or much history of their lives in the Old Country, or their beliefs and how they’ve integrated their cultures now that they’re in Britain. King Arthur is briefly referenced as “the boy in the west”, but the larger political and cultural context isn’t expanded upon either.
Isla is the least interesting character in the cast, which is unfortunate because she is the point of view for the reader. Isla and Blue have been traumatised by the actions of Osric and his cruel son Vort, and have been deeply affected by their mother’s disappearance in a raid years ago. Isla’s smithing is forbidden by Seax culture, so she lives in fear and hesitation of anything bad that could happen to her or her sister - which is certainly sympathetic, but not the greatest to read about for basically a whole novel, especially when contrasted with her more courageous sister. Isla barely makes any decisions of her own, just goes along with Blue and their allies’ directions, after declining and protesting out of fear each time at first. There is a bit of growth towards the end, but it’s not enough to make up for the faults in Isla’s story during the majority of the book.

3/5

Short Stories + Novellas

The Green Knight’s Wife - Kat Howard (2016)

Didn’t end up fitting on the board
Available to read at Uncanny Magazine.
What if the events of Gawain and the Green Knight didn’t just happen to Gawain, but happened whenever someone asks for something wondrous, beginning in medieval times through to the present day? What if The Green Knight’s wife never had a say in her husband’s game?
An interesting short story from a different perspective - certainly the original poem doesn’t consider how the wife feels about the time when Gawain stays at their castle, or whether she was pressured to participate or chose to do so willingly when her husband suggested it.

3/5

Once, Future - Kat Howard (2018)

Standalone (HM), Cool Weapon (HM), Revolutions and Rebellions, Urban Fantasy, Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey, No Ifs, Ands, or Buts, Family Matters
Found in Kat Howard’s anthology A Cathedral of Myth and Bone, “Once, Future” takes place at Severn University, in the graduate seminar The Arthurian Legend in Time. The students’ discussion brings up a question: why are there so many retellings of this legend? Is it that writers are deliberately placing the elements to make it recognisable, or do the core aspects of the story somehow make themselves known and repeatable? Professor Link proposes the students each be assigned a name from the legend and keep a journal for the semester, to see if any patterns emerge in their lives.
I really liked this novella. Without spoiling too much, it questions the nature of fate, and how stories should end, and how the original legend was supposed to play out. As I find with many novellas, I would have liked more, since there isn’t enough time for in-depth explanations or backstory, when I would have liked to be able to dig deeper into many parts of the story. Even without that, however, if you just let it take you along for the ride, it’s a great blend of modernity and myth.

3.5/5

Didn’t Finish

Queen of None - Natania Barron (2020)

I wrote a pretty scathing review on Goodreads.

Half Sick of Shadows - Laura Sebastian (2021)

Half Sick of Shadows is set in a somewhat alternate Arthurian universe, where there was a “fey war” prior to Arthur’s lifetime, and Lyonesse is a kingdom in the north that Uther has been trying to conquer. Elaine of Shalott moved to Camelot with her mother when she was younger, and is now known as Elaine the Mad after she had a vision for the first time and went screaming through the castle. When she first meets Morgana, the fey-blooded girl with magical powers convinces her to come back to Avalon, where she can learn to control her skills as an Oracle, and where she meets and befriends Gwen, Arthur, and Lancelot.
Unfortunately, I dropped this one a quarter of the way through. The writing was adult enough, but many of the tropes employed are too simple for an adult novel. Morgause is a one dimensional Mean Girl, Mordred is Arthur’s Evil Stepbrother, and Camelot is a typical High Fantasy Court exclusively home to brainless, fancily-clothed nobles that none of our group of friends could possibly fit in with. Not enough is explained in the pages I read, like why Gwen has been on Avalon the whole time, or why Morgana left Camelot in the first place, or why when they all go back to Camelot, Elaine is suddenly a skilled political advisor to Arthur even though she was a shunned outcast at court and left in her early teens. I was interested to see how the mythical Elaine of Astolat could be retold in a feminist way, but I guess the author’s answer here was to change almost everything about the character and place her in a different setting altogether.

Other 21st Century Works I didn’t get to in time

• Under in the Mere by Catherynne M. Valente (2009, novella)
  
• Kingfisher by Patricia A. McKillip (2016)
  
• The Story of Silence by Alex Myers (2020)
  

At the end of Season 3 episode 4, two New Republic pilots found Beskar pieces as a clue. We know the Mandalorians attacked the prison transport and took Gideon. So, are there Mandalorians affiliated with the Imperial Remnant?

Walker Kessler has been amazing this year, he's currently sitting at 72.4% and is 19 field goals made away from qualifying for league leader in field goal percentage. But, that's not just good for this season, he's also on this pace for the highest rookie field goal percentage, and by a wide margin of 10.6% over Brandon Clarke 3 years ago. He is also only 1.8% behind Mitchell Robinson for highest field goal percentage in a season all-time, currently sitting at third on the list. His blocks are also historic for a rookie, averaging the 16th highest amount of blocks per game this season, and he's doing it all in only 22.9 minutes per game. Historic season for Walker, and a great season for a rookie who was just thrown in a trade for a guy he is almost as good as (if not as good or better).
​
https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/?q=nba+rookies+to+lead+the+league+in+field+goal+percentage+all-time
https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask?q=nba+rookies+to+lead+the+league+in+blocks+all-time
https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/highest-nba-field-goal-percentage-in-a-season
https://www.nba.com/stats/leaders?StatCategory=FG_PCT&PerMode=Totals
https://www.nba.com/stats/playe1631117

The following analysis looks at attacking player’s Goals, Assists, Expected Goals (xG) and Expected Assists (xAG) to create differences and ratios that can help us look at players to see if they are over-performing this season when it comes to scoring goals and how much luck they might have when it comes to assisting.
The data I’m using was pulled from FBREF and looks at players who are leading the scoring and assist charts in the top 5 leagues. I then used the Compare Similar Players option to pull in those players too (hello Henry Martin). The data was then transformed using Python into a format I could then use to display the data visually. The interactive version of this dashboard is on Tableau Public and feel free to play around with it and give feedback!
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Tableau Public interactive dashboard

Note: the Tableau version will perform better if opened up on a non-mobile device.

Firstly, before we begin lets quickly discuss xG and xAG:

What is xG?

Very simply, xG (or expected goals) is the probability that a shot will result in a goal based on the characteristics of that shot and the events leading up to it. Some of these characteristics/variables include:

Location of shooter: How far was it from the goal and at what angle on the pitch?
Body part: Was it a header or off the shooter's foot?
Type of pass: Was it from a through ball, cross, set piece, etc?
Type of attack: Was it from an established possession? Was it off a rebound? Did the defense have time to get in position? Did it follow a dribble?

Every shot is compared to thousands of shots with similar characteristics to determine the probability that this shot will result in a goal. That probability is the expected goal total. An xG of 0 is a certain miss, while an xG of 1 is a certain goal. An xG of .5 would indicate that if identical shots were attempted 10 times, 5 would be expected to result in a goal.
npxG is the expected goals not including penalties. Penalties have an xG of 0.79.

What is xA (expected assists) and xAG (expected assisted goals)? How do they differ?

xA, or expected assists, is the likelihood that a given completed pass will become a goal assist. This statistic developed by Opta assigns a likelihood to all passes based on the type of the pass, the location on the pitch, the phase of play, and the distance covered. Players receive xA for every completed pass regardless of whether a shot occurred or not.
In order to just isolate the xG on passes that assist a shot, there's Expected Assisted Goals (xAG). This indicates a player's ability to set up scoring chances without having to rely on the actual result of the shot or the shooter's luck/ability. Players receive xAG only when a shot is taken after a completed pass.
We use xG + xAG for goal contributions since players' goal contributions are typically Goals + Assists and this better matches that standard.
For my analysis I will be using xG/npxG and xAG to create visualizations that hopefully give insight into how the top forwards from multiple leagues are performing this season.

GOALS DIFFERENCE vs ASSISTS DIFFERENCE

The below charts looks at goals difference and assists difference where by:

Goals Difference = Goals - xG
Assists Diffrence = Assists - xAG

A value of 0 indicates that the player is performing as expected.
A positive value means that they are overperforming their expected
A negative value means that they are underperforming their expected
Difference Total: we can separate the chart into four quadrants, with players over performing in goals in the top two quadrants, and players over performing in assists in the two right quadrants.
Difference per 90: we can separate the chart into four quadrants, with players over performing in goals per 90 in the top two quadrants, and players over performing in assists per 90 in the two right quadrants.

GOALS RATIO vs ASSISTS RATIO

The below charts looks at goals ratio and assists ratio where by:

Goals Ratio = Goals / xG
Assists Ratio = Assists / xAG

A ratio of 1 indicates that the player is performing as expected.
A ratio above 1 means that they are overperforming their expected
A ratio below 1 means that they are underperforming their expected
Ratio Total: we can separate the chart into four quadrants, with players over performing in goals in the top two quadrants, and players over performing in assists in the two right quadrants.
Ratio per 90: we can separate the chart into four quadrants, with players over performing in goals per 90 in the top two quadrants, and players over performing in assists per 90 in the two right quadrants.

PERFORMANCE GOALS vs ASSISTS

Performance Total: this chart is separated into 4 quadrants (using averages amongst the players), with the top left quadrant being your poachers, your bottom right quadrant being your creators and the top right being players excelling at both.
Performance per 90: this chart is separated into 4 quadrants (using averages amongst the players), with the top left quadrant being your poachers per 90, your bottom right quadrant being your creators per 90 and the top right being players excelling at both per 90.

EXPECTED GOALS vs ASSISTS

Expected Total: this chart is separated into 4 quadrants (using averages amongst the players), with the top left quadrant being players getting into good goalscoring positions, your bottom right quadrant being players creating a lot of chances and the top right being players excelling at both.
Expected per 90: this chart is separated into 4 quadrants (using averages amongst the players), with the top left quadrant being players getting into good goalscoring positions per 90, your bottom right quadrant being players creating a lot of chances per 90 and the top right being players excelling at both per 90
What we can see here from the difference and ratio charts are four quadrants are created as we use the fact that a difference of 0 or ratio of 1 means the player is performing as expected.

G < xG and Ast < xAG

Players are scoring less than expected and have also been unlucky to not have more assists
Bruno Fernandes – looking at the differences chart it becomes very apparent how unlucky Bruno has been this season when his Assists – xAg is at -7 meaning he should have 7 more assists if his team mates were converting the chances he was creating. He also has been struggling a little more in front of goal this season with his Goals – xG being below 0 too. Despite his goal scoring not being is a high compared to when he first joined United, what is clear from these charts and especially the Expected chart – Bruno is a World Class creator being ahead of Kevin de Bruyne this season and only second behind Dusan Tadic in Expected assists.
Kai Havertz – we’ve seen Havertz on the scoresheet a lot more in the last few weeks, however compared to his xG Havertz is still under-performing in front of goal. With question marks around whether or not he is the right striker to lead Chelsea, one thing that might have been missed by everyone is how unlucky he has been to not have another 4 assists with an assist difference -3.8.
Darwin Nunez – despite a lot of the memes earlier on this season Nunez has been contributing to sub-par Liverpool this season with 4 assists and 12 goals. Although 3 goals of his expected goals count, one thing that is impressive about Nunez is xG per 90 as he is the 5th highest only behind Haaland, Ramos, Benzema and Osimhen. With Liverpool likely to return to better form next season the might be an impressive force if Nunez can become that little more clinical.

G < xG and Ast > xAG

Players are scoring less than expected and have also been lucky to have as many assists as they do
Youssoufa Moukoko – Dortmund’s teenage sensation has an impressive 6 goals and 5 assists from 24 matches played (13 starts). Only slightly underperforming his xG so far this season the biggest takeaway is accumulating 5 assists from only an xAG of 1.3 (4 more assists than expected). Regardless of him possibly being a little lucky this season with assists, the future looks bright for this youngster!
Ansu Fati – bursting onto the scene as a 16-year-old back in 2019 and scoring 8 goals that season, Fati has been extremely unlucky battling back-to-back seasons with a knee injury. This season he is back and has made 4 assists (3 more than expected) however, he will probably be frustrated not having more goals with having 4 less than expected with only 3 goals. However, the 20-year-old is still very young and coming back from almost two seasons of injury so it’ll be interesting to see if he’ll mature into the player so many people thought he would!
Thomas Muller – Bayern’s all-time third top goal scorer is having a slightly quieter season this season in his contribution to goals and assists underperforming in goals by 2 and also tallying up more assists than expected. Could this be the start of a decline in his goal contributions?
Rodyrgo – probably the newest member of Real Madrid’s cult heroes for his memorable substitute performances and goals which helped drive Madrid to the Champions League last season! However, this season he is only on 7 goals from an expected 12. Still only 22-years-old, he’s proved that he can score goals in big moments, but will he be the man to lead the goals for Madrid when Benzema eventually retires.
Gabriel Jesus – everyone thought Arsenal would plummet after losing Jesus to injury after the World Cup. Whilst returning to injury last week Arsenal fans will be happy to have him back as Eddie Nketiah, although starting well, has struggled to be the clinical striker fans were hoping for with only 6 goals from an expected 10. Jesus on the other hand isn’t that clinical striker either, as he has only 5 goals from an expected 9. However, with 6 assists and having Saka, Martinelli, Odegard and now Trossard around him it seems that Arteta’s trusts that the ex-City forward offers so much more than goals.

G > xG and Ast < xAG

Players are scoring more than expected and have also been unlucky to not have more assists
James Maddison – man if this guy just stayed fit he would probably be right up there this season. 15 goals and assists in 20 goals with a combined xG + xAG of 10.40. He is definitely over-performing and playing very well when he is playing!
Joao Mario – although 12 (14 attempted) of his 31 goals have been penalties if you remove the penalties he still remains in this group and is having quite the season. Each penalty has an xG of .79 *14 = 11.06 so he is still above target. 14 penalties in a season is pretty crazy regardless. Have Benfica been lucky or is not just the Premier League dealing with poor officiating this season?
Julian Brandt – the Dortmund midfielder looks to be having his best season to date as he outperforms his expected (4.5 xG) by double with 9 goals this season and also, being unlucky to not have 2 more assists. As Dortmund look to end Bayern’s decade long reign of Bundesliga titles, Brandt keeping up this form will be crucial as the season closes out.
Christoper Nkunku – although only holding 2 assists to his name this season Nkunku has been outperforming his expected goals with 15 from an expected 11. He’s also been unlucky to not have 3 more assists. With the RB Leipzig man moving to Chelsea this summer, questions will be asked to whether he continue this form into this Premier League, however if he can Chelsea no doubt will believe that can be enough to challenge again for the title next season.
Martinelli – the young Arsenal forward has been on fine form this season scoring 13 goals, 3 more than expected and has also been unlucky to not have more assists with only 3 from an expected 7. One thing is clear this season, Martinelli has been crucial to Arsenals title race contention and will continue to be, as we come into the last 10 games of the season.
Giovanni Simeone – per90 this guy is only behind Haaland and has been instrumental coming off the bench for Napoli this season overperforming with 7 goals from an xG of 3.5. Double than what he was expected to be getting. This is definitely an important factor for any team that is challenging for the league and Napoli are more than challenging at the moment as they seem to be running away with it.

G > xG and Ast > xAG

Players are scoring more than expected and have also been lucky to have as many assists as they do
Erling Haaland – I mean if you’re looking for outliers, Haaland is one of the stand outs other than Bruno Fernandes. The most impressive thing about Haaland is he is showing the world how clinical he is with 38 goals from an expected 26.9. That’s 11 more goals that expected. This is probably why Kevin De Bruyne has more assists than expected this season because Haaland is well…a goalscoring freak (in the best way of course). Have City found the missing piece to the Champions League puzzle?
Randal Kolo Muani – I’ll admit I don’t know much about Muani, besides a couple of very impressive performances at the World Cup. However, he is definitely having a great season scoring 13 goals and notching up 10 assists (6 more than expected) and looks to be the future of France’s front line as Giroud ages and Mbappe operating on the left hand side for the National Team.
Kvicha Kvaratskhelia – highly regarded as the ‘Georgian Messi’ Kvicha is having some season over-performing with 14 goals and with a little bit of luck notching up 14 assists too (6 more than expected. Although, a little lucky with some of his assists – this could be in align with Victor Osimihen scoring 5 more goals that expected this season and the two of these developing a great partnership leading Napolis attack and contributing heavily to their fantastic season.
Neymar – no surprise to see Neymar here as he’s quietly going about another impressive season. When you look at his per 90 stats as well how can you not be impressed with 1.21 goals and assists per game. With 15 goals and 13 assists goals this season, PSG must be scratching their heads to why they haven’t made it further in the Champions League this season.
Lionel Messi – only second to Haaland in Goals and Assists this season, Messi continues to show his class at the age of 35 and on the back of winning the World Cup. Messi leads the assists charts with 17 this season from an expected 12. Some people might call this lucky, but everyone who watches football knows that this just Messi.

CURRENT LEADERS

Current Top 30 Goals + Assists Leaders
Current Top 30 Goals + Assists Leaders (per 90)
​

TEAM ANALYSIS

Now lets take a look at some teams to see if their player productivity is impacting there team performance:
Arsenal Differences Chart
Arsenal
What’s apparent when you look at the Arsenal players here is that everyone is either overperforming their expected goals or assists (top and right quadrants). With Saka overperforming this season and being one of seven players this season to enter double figures with 13 goals (10 xG) and 10 assists (7.8 xAG), Arsenal’s main talisman will look to continue this as Arsenal enter the last third of the campaign. We can see that, maybe Martinelli (13 goals, 3 assissts) and Odegard (10 goals, 6 assists) would have more assists if Jesus (5 goals, 6 assists) and Nketiah (6 goals, 2 assists) were more clinical this season. Additionally, it seems like acquiring Trossard (8 goals, 8 assists) was a masterstroke signing by Arteta, as he is continued his great form from Brighton to Arsenal and filling in at the false-9 position. Despite their strikers underperforming in front of goal, it hasn’t stopped Arsenal scoring lots of goals and creating chances as they look to hold on to clinch their first Premier League title in nearly 20 years.
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Man City Differences Chart
Man City
Despite the obvious outlier (Haaland), we can see that Foden is having an excellent season outperforming his expected goals and assists by almost double with 10 goals (5.5 xG) and 6 assists (3.7 xAG). Despite Kevin de Bruyne not firing in front of goal like he was last season, 15 assists puts him only two behind the leader Messi this season. It looks like City have finally found the answer to de Bruyne’s prayers with Haaland coming in and them developing an instant relationship already to a point where de Bruyne has more assists than expected this season (12.4 xAG). With Mahrez (8 goals, 6 Assists) performing around just as expected, Grealish.(3 goals, 5 assists) being a little unlucky and Alvarez contributing when he gets game time will City be able to take the title race all the way to the end of the season and could this be the year they finally win the Champions League?
​
Manchester United Differences Chart
Manchester United
What stands out here in this chart is how reliant United have been on Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes this season. With Rashford out performing his expected (15.70 xG) with 20 goals and 4 assists (3.4) and Fernandes (6 goals, 8 Assists) underperforming and being extremely unlucky to not have more assists, it’s obvious to everyone that United are missing another player that can contribute to the attack more regularly. With Sancho (5 goals, 1 assist) and Antony (6 goals, 2 assists) overperforming this season we’ve these small numbers, one thing that these players do lack compared to the other players in their position is their expected goals and assists. If United want to be competing the likes of Arsenal, Man City and even Liverpool they will need to have players creating more chances. United will also be glad to have Eriksen return soon as hopefully he can continue his great creative form with his 9 assists more than double his expected this season and although a little lucky, United will need this with a heavy fixture schedule going into the last part of the season.
​
Napoli Differences Chart
Napoli
Probably the most in form team in Europe at the moment with the deadly combination of Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia leading the front line for Napoli. Victor Osimhen has 25 goals (20.4 xG) and 4 assists this season and is the third highest goalscorer behind Haaland and Mbappe and Kvaratskhelia is one of seven players with double digits in both goals and assists. Nineteen points clear with only 11 games to go this season and still in the Champions League, the differences chart also shows us Piotr Zielinski is also overperforming this season too, with 7 goals (6.4 xG) and 9 assists (7.6 xAG). With Napoli, 19 points clear of Serie A and looking near enough impossible to catch at this moment will they be able to add to this season by winning the Champions League as well? If there plays keep over peforming like they are right now, then surely they are strong contenders!.
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Bayern Munich Differences Chart
Bayern Munich
The stand out for Bayern this season is as everyone expected … Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, but seriously what a season he is having. Almost overperforming his expected goals by double with 14 goals (7.7 xG) and accumulating 2 assists the back-up to Robert Lewandowski last season is having quite the season! To add to this Bayern seem to have another gem for the future in Jamal Musiala who has 11 goals (8 xG) and 10 assists (6.4 xAG) so far this season, which is quite astonishing for a 20 year old. Additionally, Bayern have Sadio Mane (9 goals, 5 assists), Leroy Sane (11 goals, 5 assists), Serge Gnabry (11 goals, 7 assists) and Kinglsey Coman (6 goals and 5 assists) all outperforming their expected goals which is pretty remarkable. It’s no surprise that, Bayern are considered the favourites for the Champions League this season. Will Nagelsmann’s sacking interrupt their season as they battle it out with Dortmund and Berlin for the title and also try to secure another champions league.
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PSG Differences Chart
PSG
Well, we can’t not talk about PSG and more importantly about Kylian Mbappe. Only behind Messi and Haaland in total goals and assists Mbappe has 26 (21 xG) goals and 6 (6.6 xAG) assists this season. After another fantastic World Cup, the PSG strike force will be frustrated to again have their Champions League dreams ended early with a very unconvincing display against Bayern. Despite having Neymar (15 goals, 13 assists), Messi (17 goals, 17 assists) and Mbappe, PSG continue to fail in the Champions League and could this know be the final straw that sees them lose at least one, if not both of Mbappe and Messi at the end of the season.
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Benfica Differences Chart
Benfica
Ten points clear of Liga Portugal and making a return to the Champions League quarter finals this season, Benfica are not a team to take lightly this season. Leading their line this season they have the talented Goncalo Ramos with 19 goals (20 xG) and 3 assists (2.9 xAG) and seasoned Joao Mario with 23 goals (19.5 xG) and 8 assists (8.9 xAG) who seems to be have his best season ever. With Rafa Silva contributing 11 goals (12,2 xG) and 4 assists (4.1 xAG) as well we can see why Benfica are having the season they are having year. Could this year they make the semi-finals of the Champions League, for the first time since they reached the final back in 1989?

CAVEATS

One of the biggest questions that might come in to play here is looking at the strength of the league so a future addition to this analysis and dashboard would be adding a league multiplier which could be based on the strength of the league. FiveThirtyEight have created a SPI (Soccer Power Index) which evaluates the strength of each team and Global Football Rankings have then used this to evaluate the strength of the league. You could then normalize the leagues SPI’s on a scale from 0 to 1 and then use this as a multiplier against the statistics used in this analysis. This would be a little difficult to apply to players like Cody Gakpo who moved halfway through the season and the majority of his goals and assists this season from when he was playing at PSV. As an example here, the league strength of the Dutch Eredivisie compared to the Barclays Premier League is 52.88 to 72.40. So in this, the multiplier would have a big effect on Gakpo’s goals and assists at PSV.
You might notice goals and assists missing from cup competitions as I seemed to have some issues adding these competitions on FBREF as it wasn’t consistent across players. So, I decided to leave those competitions out to make it fair.
I also had to leave out some players out as the xG and xAG for these players was just way off:
​

Players	Goals	xG	Assists	xAG
Cristiano Ronaldo	10	1.9	2	0.4
Wout Weghorst	8	1.3	5	0.7

Anybody watching Man United this season knows Weghorst xG should be a lot higher than that since he’s scored two goals in the 3 months he’s been at the club. Also, Ronaldo’s look a little suspect too. So I decided to leave these out!

CONCLUSIONS

There are probably more questions than answers with this analysis, however I think using these differences and ratios gives us some sort of idea of how players have been performing this season and who has had a little luck on their side. We all know that when it comes to assessing performance goals and assists don't tell the full story, however using xG and xAG definitely gives a better idea about how these players are performing.
Players with higher xG means that they are getting into good goalscoring opportunities, which indicates that they will always be a threat in the game. There's been plenty of commentary about Darwin Nunez not scoring enough goals this season and missing chances and although that might be true at least he is getting into those chances. He might not be as prolific as Haaland, but if or when he does finally find some form you'd imagine he could be getting 20+ goals a season regularly. When you look at this per 90, Nunez again is near the top of this list.
Players with higher xAG means that they are creating chances for people, it's nice to see the data back up what we already know when we see players like Dusan Tadic, Bruno Fernandes, Kevin de Bruyne, Neymar and of course Lionel Messi leading the expected assists. When you look at this per 90 those names don’t change, however it does give you an idea about the other creators in Europe and the world like Jonas Hofman and Kingsley Coman (when fit).
Moving forward, adding a league multiplier might be in the next addition of this analysis, which helps factor in the strength of the league. Finally, it will be interesting to see if these players are still in the same quadrants at the end of the season and if the relationship between how many players you need to over perform to win a competition.
​
TLDR:
Haaland is really really really good, Bruno is pretty unlucky this season, Joao Mario is a penalty merchant, Ronaldo's data doesn't add up. The more over performing players you have the more likely your team will succeed (unless you are PSG). League difficulty multiplier might be a great addition to understanding player performance on league strength.

He's the second player ever to record 65 power play points in a season after Lemieux (who did it 4 times). That Oilers PP is a sight to behold this year.

Rank	Player	Season	GP	G	A	P	EVP	SHP	PPP
1	Mario Lemieux	1987-88	77	70	98	168	74	14	80
2	Mario Lemieux	1995-96	70	69	92	161	73	9	79
3	Mario Lemieux	1988-89	76	85	114	199	102	18	79
4	Connor McDavid	2022-23	75	60	83	143	70	6	67
5	Mario Lemieux	1985-86	79	48	93	141	75	0	66
6	Paul Coffey	1988-89	75	30	83	113	49	0	64
7	Pat LaFontaine	1992-93	84	53	95	148	83	2	63
8	Al MacInnis	1990-91	78	28	75	103	37	3	63
9	Adam Oates	1992-93	84	45	97	142	78	2	62
10	Denis Savard	1987-88	80	44	87	131	56	13	62

Charlotte defeated Oklahoma City 137-134. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY SportsMar 28 2023; Oklahoma City Oklahoma USA; Charlotte Hornets forward P. J. Washington (25) drives against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) during the first quarter at Paycom Center. He’s not his brother Keegan – Kris’ shot isn’t quite as versatile and he’s not quite as fluid athletically as the current Sacramento Kings rookie. Charlotte won 137-134. Wallace doesn’t quite have Maxey’s level of burst but he’s already a better defender and was a more consistent playmaker in college. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY SportsMar 28 2023; Oklahoma City Oklahoma USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) steals the ball from Charlotte Hornets forward P. J. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY SportsMar 28 2023; Oklahoma City Oklahoma USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jared Butler (14) shoots against Charlotte Hornets forward P. J. He’s one of those guys who is tough-minded and won’t take anything off the court for his team if his shooting translates to the next level. Denver Nuggets (via OKC): Jordan Miller 6-7 wing Miami (Fla. )43. He’s tremendous as a shooter with a quick trigger and a high release point at 6-foot-8. But there is a bit more to Dick’s game than meets the eye. He’s a teenager who drilled 40. 3 percent from 3 in the Big 12 this season while averaging 14 points and taking nearly six 3s per game. He’s a 6-foot-9 forward who can hit shots from distance having made 39. 4 percent from 3 this season on five attempts per game. Lively’s offense needs work but he’s a tailor-made defensive center for where the NBA is headed. He’s not an awesome passer and he can’t really defend anyone – guards are too quick and forwards are too strong. - Alpha AI

Long time lurker first time seller here. I have a newborn and now looking to clean house of any extras:
https://imgur.com/a/BxZ47hE
$850 - 11.5 Mid Gas (less than 30 rounds fired), Geissele MK8 DDC 10.5 handguard, Faxon Gunner 11.5 mid gas barrel, SA Adjustable gas, Colt Upper (non QR), Falkor BCG, 1/2×28 Rearden 3P FH
$600- 11.5 Carbine (Less than 1000 rounds fired), BCM MCMR10 handguard, Rosco 11.5 Carbine barrel, SA Adjustable gas, Aero Upper, No BCG/CH, 1/2×28 Q Cherry Bomb, Q PVD Whistle Tip
$525 - 10.5 300 Blk (Less than 500 rounds fired), Geissele MK8 9.5 handguard, Radical 10.5 300blk pistol gas barrel (extremely salty upper), Fixed gas block, Detachable A2 Carry Handle, 5/8×24 A2 Flash Hider, DD Fixed Front sight, No BCG/CH
$150 - Rosco 14.5 barrel 1:7 twist 556 Carbine gas 1/2x28 (Less than 500 rounds fired)
$300 - SFMB 1/2×28 + Warden black
$200 - 16” BA 223 Wylde barrel Mid gas 1:8 twist Recce/OpsInc profile w/ Allen Engineering brake and collar 1/2x28 (less than 200 rounds fired)
$375 - Sig 552 556 1:10 twist 14x1 LH Barrel (Used)
$40 - Badger J arm 35° 1.70 (NIB)
$75 - Badger J arm 35° 1.70/RMR plate (painted/like new)
$75 - Geissele Gas block w/ tube stainless (used)
$75 - Geissele Gas block w/ tube black (used)
$20 - Reptilia CQG Grip (like new)
$150 - High Speed Gear Operator Belt Cobra 1.75” Inner Belt/Size 3 BLK (used)
Everything selling as is/not parting out or splitting up any listings. All items are used unless listed. All sales via Payal G/S as required for new sellers. All prices include flat rate USPS shipping.

I learned wicker emporium is strictly an east coast canadian thing the hard way….
While doing improv at an audition for a commercial in Calgary, Alberta. There was a brief time I dabbled in acting… mostly background, and few modelling gigs for stock image companies. (Asks one does when they are lacking clear life direction…the money is trash, but you’re well fed on set. Spot me in Fargo season 3)
It’s 2017 green screen all around, 6 actors having a dinner party and talking about some fancy wine opener. I throw out that I picked it up from the Wicker Emporium which I thought was as universal as Bed Bath and Beyond. It was not. Everyone both in front and behind the camera gave me the weirdest look and I just kept rolling with it. Must have said “Wicker Emporium” 9 times, minimum because I knew I blew it and it just sounds hilarious.
I did not book that job and eventually gave up acting and returned to the east coast by which time all WE’s were tits up.

I just wanted to say that I absolutely adore the season so far. There’s only been 3 episodes but I swear this is my favorite season. I love the music, the new characters, the old characters, the developments, everything!! I know this may be a bit of a dumb/basic post but no one else I know watches TL so I can’t talk about it with anyone. It’s just a such a good show, I can’t wait for next week!!

REP:
IGSRep Page 6
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HAVE:

• A Case of Distrust
• American Fugitive [x3]
• Anomaly: Warzone Earth [x2]
• ATOM RPG Trudograd
• Automachef
• Battlestar Galactica Deadlock
• Before We Leave
• Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons [x2]
• Conan Chop Chop [x2]
• Crown Trick
• Deadly Days
• Disciples: Liberation
• DOOM Eternal
• Drawful 2 [x4]
• Dungeon of the ENDLESS
• Dungeons 3
• Emily is Away <3
• Encased: A Sci-Fi Post-Apocalyptic RPG [x2]
• Epic Chef
• Evan's Remains
• Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game [x2]
• Fallout 76 [x2]
• Fibbage XL [x4]
• Five Dates [x2]
• Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel [x2]
• Fortune-499 [x2]
• Fun with Ragdolls
• GARAGE: Bad Trip
• Gas Station Simulator [x2]
• Gold Rush! Anniversary
• Gold Rush! Classic
• GRIP: Combat Racing
• Grow: Song of the Evertree [x2]
• Hamilton's Great Adventure
• Hammerting
• Hell Let Loose
• Hiveswap Friendsim
• Hokko Life [x2]
• Homeworld Remastered Collection [x2]
• House of Caravan
• Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days
• Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West
• Legend of Keepers: Career of a Dungeon Manager [x2]
• Legion TD 2 - Multiplayer Tower Defense [x2]
• Magicka [x2]
• Meadow
• Mech Rage
• Mind Scanners [x2]
• Möbius Front '83
• Morbid: The Seven Acolytes
• Nebuchadnezzar
• OlliOlli World Rad Edition
• Omno [x2]
• Orwell: Ignorance is Strength
• Othercide [x2]
• Out of Space
• Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition
• Peppy's Adventure [x2]
• Pinball FX3 - Marvel Pinball Season 1 Bundle
• Pinball FX3 - Marvel Pinball Season 2 Bundle
• Pinball FX3 - Star Wars Pinball Season 1 Bundle
• Pinball FX3 - Star Wars Pinball: The Last Jedi
• Quiplash [x4]
• Railroad Corporation
• Red Faction: Armageddon
• Save Jesus
• ScourgeBringer [x2]
• SCUM
• Shady Part of Me [x2]
• shapez Full Edition
• Shoppe Keep 2
• Siege Survival: Gloria Victis [x2]
• SimpleRockets 2
• SKYHILL
• Smoke and Sacrifice
• Source of Madness
• STAR WARS: Squadrons
• Starsand
• State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition
• Subdivision Infinity DX
• Subterra
• SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE
• Supreme Ruler The Great War
• SurrounDead
• Syberia 3
• The Coma 2: Vicious Sisters
• The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope
• The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos
• The Jackbox Party Pack 3 [x3]
• The Jackbox Party Pack 4 [x2]
• The Jackbox Party Pack 5 [x2]
• The Serpent Rogue [x2]
• The Shapeshifting Detective
• The Survivalists
• This War of Mine
• Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales
• Through the Darkest of Times
• Tools Up!
• Tribes of Midgard
• Vampire The Masquerade: Coteries of New York
• Velocity Ultra
• WARSAW [x2]
• Yes, Your Grace
• Yoku's Island Express
• YOU DON'T KNOW JACK HEADRUSH [x4]
• YOU DON'T KNOW JACK MOVIES [x4]
• YOU DON'T KNOW JACK SPORTS [x4]
• YOU DON'T KNOW JACK TELEVISION [x4]
• YOU DON'T KNOW JACK Vol. 1 XL [x4]
• YOU DON'T KNOW JACK Vol. 2 [x4]
• YOU DON'T KNOW JACK Vol. 3 [x4]
• YOU DON'T KNOW JACK Vol. 4: The Ride [x4]

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WANT:

• Blood: One Unit Whole Blood
• Death's Gambit: Afterlife
• Fable Anniversary
• Gotham Knights
• Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
• LEGO City Undercover
• Lord of the Rings: War in the North
• Prototype 2
• Quake 4

Most likely personal opinion but, this game has become a stagnant cesspool of just the same decks. I took count of the past 25 games to see and here were my results:
Darkhawk - 2, Dr Doom - 2, Thanos - 5, Galactus - 3, Shuri - 10, Discard - 3
These "nerfs" the applied did nothing to the Shuri meta. I'm so sick of playing it and it is continuing to push me away and I have completed every season pass since the beginning. Sorry, just needed to let some steam out.