Basketball from a fans perspective
Academics and basketball
The NCAA applauded two universities for its athlete’s academic work in the classroom. Duke one of the two schools’ mentioned was not surprising. The other school might have caused shock waves across the country, the second Kentucky. Anybody besides me remember a few years back former Coach Bobby Knight and television analyst stated; “Kentucky players were only attending classes during the fall semester.” Knight had been critical of the school based on the number of one and done players emerging from Kentucky. Later it was proven Knight’s comments were off-base and lacked merit. We live in a world where cheating occurs don’t misunderstand my take. Knight and anyone else needs to check their sources before announcing an outcome.
The NBA Lottery
Leading up to Tuesday evening it was my belief the Lakers would land in a spot that would leave them either Emmanuel Mudiay or DeAngelo Russell. I had little belief they would lose the pick to the 76ers based on the Steve Nash trade. The point guards might yet become Lakers and I would be okay however I doubt it will occur at this juncture. After the terrible season the Lakers experienced the ping-pong balls bounced in the Lakers favor and they were awarded the second pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. So its likely it will be either 6-11 265 pound Jahlil Okafor or 7 foot 250 pound
Karl-Anthony Towns.
Doesn’t matter which of the two is actually picked in the June draft I have no visions of them dominating play in their rookie year. It takes a big man more time to adjust to play at the NBA level.
The Lakers will also have the 27th pick in the first round and the fourth pick in the second round. The return of rookie Julius Randle and second year man Jordan Clarkson you might envision why Laker fans are so optimistic. At the same time the Lakers will be an extremely young team, other than the 76ers they might be the second youngest in the league. 37-year old Kobe Bryant will return however expect him to be more a teacher than a shooter. We haven‘t taken into consideration the prospect of free agency which changes the landscape considerably next season. I ain’t saying an NBA Championship but it could be the playoffs (hopefully).
Ego
If you believe the old story Kobe ran Shaq out of town, Kobe was reported to have been upset with Shaq’s work ethic. In essence the ego of these Laker teammates boiled over and one had to leave town. Believe it or not teammates butting heads might be more
common than many of us might think. This was evident after the Clippers and Bulls were eliminated from the playoffs stories of turmoil in the locker room surfaced. The Clippers DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin were reported to have problems with Chris Paul. It was reported Paul was upset with Jordan’s poor free-throw shooting (40%) and the fact that Jordan didn’t work at improving it. As for Griffin it was simply Paul barking at him regularly.
In Chicago the report was “passive-aggressive.” That’s the term used by Derrick Rose when describing his relationship with teammate Jimmy Butler. The Bulls appeared to offer Butler more shots from the floor over Rose. Consider this fact DeAndre Jordan and Jimmy Butler will become both free agents this summer. At this point in time we have no idea if one or both walk away from their respective teams. In addition we really don’t know the accuracy of these reports. This we know given a summer break the volcano’s in Los Angeles and Chicago may subside and Jordan remains with the Clippers. As for Blake he’s under contract unless he’s traded he’s there too. In Chicago Rose will make adjustments to his game in order to accommodate the talent of both he and teammate Butler.
Speaking of the lottery
I listen to Stephen A. Smith of ESPN, on occasion I have agreed with him on his basketball observations. This is one of those occasions he appears extremely juvenile and small-minded. Example the recently completed 2015 lottery offered one more opportunity for Smith to criticize Phil Jackson. Stephen A. I got news for you; the Knicks were a bad team (37-45) before PJ arrived. Did you really expect him to fix the Knicks in one short season? You questioned the player moves during this season and even criticized him for not accomplishing duties as president. The mess the Knicks have become did not occur in one year, the number one pick wouldn’t have made them a championship contender. I’m sure the studio crew had to turn down your mike as you continued to elevate your voice sharply. You loudly complained about the two game winning streak at the end of the season.
In the next sentence you discuss “tanking” and I suppose if the Knicks had admitted it you would be at the front of the line criticizing them for losing on purpose. The number four pick for the Knicks could be Emmanuel Mudiay or DeAngelo Russell two players the scouts rate considerably high. How bout this little tidbit just gaining the number one position or even two is guarantee of future success. Oh while I’m at it “your brother from another mother” is complacent as well. I’m referring to Mike Greenberg, he doesn’t like the structure of the NBA Lottery and has proposed the ’Greenberg fix” for it. The only problem he can’t get any guest on his program attached to the NBA person to agree with him. He asked former coach and ESPN analyst P.J. Carlesimo if the lottery needed change. Don’t get me wrong if those connected directly with the NBA propose a change I’ll buy into it. Needless to say Carlesimo didn’t agree with him on change.
