The one sport
Occasionally a significant story or event in the sporting world not basketball related is discussed. I don’t make that a habit, noteworthy events are worth commentary. I informed a couple of acquaintances; “NFL and college football seasons have begun, for me there is only one season-----basketball season.” Basketball activity slows down during the summer months but never really ceases. Mention of another sport is only a temporary departure from Words eye view.

Bits n Pieces
Did you hear or read the other Gary Payton statement? He says; “Him and Shawn Kemp are the original Lob City.” In this instance there is no reason to dispute Payton‘s assertion. Truth was Payton was tossing lob passes to Kemp when Chris Paul and Blake Griffin were toddlers. Check out YouTube for “Top 10 Alley Oops: Gary Payton to Shawn Kemp.”

I’ve changed my mind, it’s my belief Tracy McGrady belongs in the Hall of Fame. Numbers never paint a true picture but his are comparable to Kobe Bryant. In fairness to McGrady most of the 7 NBA teams he were bad, some really bad. Check out the numbers, he even played on some bad Magic teams. The nearest McGrady came to playing for a good team were the Yao Ming Rockets. Even then he was injured for portions of those seasons with the Rockets.

Did you read the Rockets hired Hakeem Olajuwon to tutor Dwight Howard? Take this for what its worth, Abdul Jabbar says he met Howard on his arrival in Los Angeles. “He’s (Howard) a nice enough guy” was the response from Abdul Jabbar. Nowhere in the interview did he indicate Howard asked for tips in playing the center position. Howard had the all-time leading scorer in the NBA (38,000 points) available to him and didn’t ask for one bit of advice. We must assume Howard is more willing to be tutored by Olajuwon over Abdul Jabbar.

I hope this story isn’t true regarding former Rocket Royce White. You remember White was the rookie who has mental health issues, those issues kept him from flying with the Rockets last season. He now belongs to the 76ers but “Houston we (may) have a problem.” In any event a former girl friend is filing domestic abuse charges against White. If this is true a fan stated the case far better than me, he wrote; “Sounds like he is afraid of flights, but not hitting women in fights.”

Mexico
The first semi-final game of FIBA Americas witnessed Mexico beating Argentina 76-70. The announcers hinted the win might be considered an upset. Is the tide changing among Latin American nations? We might pose the question because Argentina, Brazil, Dominican Republic have long dominated play among Latin nations. If we use the NBA as a barometer there are more NBA players from Argentina than Mexico. I checked basketball-reference.com for the following information. Gustavo Ayon key to the win over Argentina is just the third athlete from Mexico to play in the NBA.  Mexico will play Puerto Rico for the Gold Medal, ever how far Mexico advances it is significant.

The numbers were close
Did you read or hear Jeremy Lin’s comments while visiting Taiwan. Lin stated he thought the Rockets coaching staff lost faith in him. He claims “his inconsistent play led the coaching staff to come to that conclusion.” Lin may have thought he should have played at a higher level, nothing wrong with that. Part of his difficulty I believe could be blamed on the New York sports media, they were certainly guilty of over hyping Lin.

Allow me to clarify my point Lin is an NBA player, he‘s not the “Lin-sanity” player we witnessed with the Knicks. It’s possible the Houston media and fan base might have hoped for the second coming of Lin-sanity. The game is always more than simply numbers, they do aid us however. If you check Lin’s numbers with the Knicks and with the Rockets you will realize they are very close. Across the board they were comparable to the previous season with the Knicks.