Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

I will remain a fan
Here we go again; another proposal to “fix” the NBA draft has been laid out. A buddy of mine sent me an email regarding a proposal to revise the draft, he asked my opinion of it.  I’m unsure if this “Wheel of Fortune” approach will address the concerns of the conspiracy theorists. I’m going to give where it’s due, I didn’t pose this scenario a fan did. “Player A knows the Raptors have the first pick in the June draft; because the order is known in advance he knows which team has the first pick next season. Realizing the Lakers (Rockets or Spurs) might have the first pick the following year what prevents him from remaining in school?”  I haven’t read the proposal in detail but it appears there is nothing to prevent this from occurring. 

I could foresee new conspiracies emerging from the lips of these same folks. In 1985 we had the bent lottery card which allowed the commissioner to award the Knicks the first pick---Patrick Ewing.  How about this one, the Cavs re-payed for losing LeBron James allowing Cleveland to win two out of the last three draft lotteries.  Folks sometimes forget for every draft bust there exist draft gems. I don’t think anyone envisioned Dwayne Wade would rise to All Pro status when he arrived from Marquette. More recently we could make the same statement regarding Paul George out of Fresno State. Kawhi Leonard (San Diego State) and Kenneth Faried (Morehead State) have both become important contributor to the Spurs and Nuggets.

Officials don’t decide the games outcome
Mizzou lost the annual Braggin’ Rights game to Illinois Saturday 65-64. A fan wrote complaining of what he believed was a travel on a Illinois player late in the game. “If the referee had blown his whistle the Mizzou player would not have fouled him,” the Mizzou foul resulted in free-throws. The Illinois player sank 1 of 2 free-throws which constituted the margin of victory. Teams should play the game in order to not force an official to “decide” the game. Court-space is limited in basketball compared to other sports but I maintain it remains one of the most difficult sports to officiate. Play well enough to win so there is no need for officiating to be called into question.

I’m uncomfortable
After the Saturday night blowout by the Warriors over the Lakers I’m concerned. When Kobe went down I reconciled myself to the fact there would be no playoff for this years team. I looked ahead to the 2014 draft hoping the Lakers would be able to add additional youth and athleticism to the team. Unfortunately for me the coaching issue is becoming more and more of a concern. This is all rear view mirror but allow me to place the vehicle in reverse, I was not a Mike Brown fan (still ain’t). He was the Jim Buss choice for coach so I went along with it, you know what occurred Brown was fired 5 or 6 games into his second year at the helm. Word circulated Phil Jackson would be re-hired and all Laker fans were excited with the prospect of his return. Buss did it again; he hired Mike D’Antoni who left the Knicks under a cloud. We said okay again believing Buss had made the best decision and one that satisfied him.  D’Antoni is certainly not responsible for the rash of injuries that have hit the team this season. 

Maybe it’s his tiring of answering questions posed by the media I’m a little displeased with the appearance of caviler responses at press conferences.  I fail to believe he is unconcerned about winning his post-game comments are not received by me (and other Laker fans) in the best light. Once upon a time the Kansas City Chiefs had a coach (Hank Stram) who was highly successful; in fact he led them to their only Super Bowl win. Not all at once but gradually the NFL game changed and I believe the coach did not adapt.  In addition the players the team had behind the Hall of Fame players were unable to play at the level of those they replaced.  The key issue in Stram's press conferences he tried to persuade fans “there’s nothing wrong.” D'Antoni seems to have adopted the same mentality recently.  He said; “fans need to find another team if they are discouraged.“ You don't insult the fans of any team, a day later he apoligized.  That’s kinda where I am with D’Antoni, I don’t think he’s a bad guy I just don’t think he’s the right coach for this team.

We thought we knew all the names
Every August we are witnesses to a number of high profile freshman arriving on campus.
The names of this crop were familiar to most of us; it was the belief of many the number would distinguish themselves at their respective schools. The names were Wiggins, Parker, Randle, Gordon and others not mentioned here. There are always surprise additions to the talent mix, earlier we mentioned Joel Embiid at Kansas. This 7-footers game has matured to the point he’s projected a top 5 pick in June should he decide on the NBA. The latest surprise name might be Zach LaVine a 6-5 180 pound point guard at UCLA. His numbers are modest (12.8 ppg and 2.0 assists) at this point and this should not be an endorsement he’s headed to the NBA. Lavine is just one of a number of qualify freshman to emerge in this young collegiate season and a surprise.