Maui madness

If the Maui Invitational feels a little more physical than normal — and no, I’m not talking about the mini-fracas in Tuesday’s late game — you’re not wrong. While previous tournaments have featured lots of scoring and made shots, this one’s more about grinding out wins.

So let’s dive in.

1. Missing shots, and Lahaina’s soft rims

Maui is famous for a few things. Incredible beaches. Magnificent surfing. And rims so soft, even Ben Simmons could hit a 3.

The rims at the Lahaina Civic Center are an essential part of the Maui Invitational. There’s such a fondness and reverence for the tournament because those forgiving rims have produced some of the best November games of the last 40 years (and some of the best games, period).

Which is why when teams struggle to throw the ball in the ocean, people notice. If you relish the offensive showcases of previous Maui tourneys, the rims at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu haven’t been the same.

It’s not just an anecdotal, Twitter/X thing, either. Effective FG% after Day 1 lags way behind the any Maui tourneys of the last 10 years — the orange line below is the rolling 3-year average — and even behind the years when Maui had to move to Asheville, N.C., and Las Vegas.

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