Basketball from a fans perspective
At opposite ends of the spectrum
I’m not an ESPN Insider so I only have tidbits of Bradford Doolittle’s report. The July 29th NBA page Doolittle pronounces the Clippers the most improved team in the NBA based on free agency. The little I could read he based his conclusion on an improved bench. Needless to say Doolittle hasn’t read my July 27th assessment, too bad he might have gained a slightly different perspective.
Bits n Pieces
If you have HBO another recommend to see is “Runnin’ Rebels of UNLV”. The arrival of Jerry “The Shark” Tarkanian in the early ‘70’s brought the team to a national level. A portion of the documentary covers the coaches’ feud with the NCAA. Tark was the pioneer to a common place theme today i.e. criticism of this archaic organization. The Thomas & Mack Arena was constructed due to the rise in stature of UNLV basketball. Tark was unusual in his approach to coaching he recruited players other schools wouldn’t dare touch.
I’m preparing for the worst possible outcome; three of the five ESPN “experts” have pronounced the Lakers losers in free agency. Cut and paste the following and discover the future for Lakernation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3ZOKDmorj0
As you can see I’m quite concerned about the outlook for the 2015-16 season. Should I guess the individuals accessing the Lakers outlook have met with Jim Buss, Mitch Kupchak and Coach Scott? In all seriousness these guys have a job to do and that is write stories for ESPN.com and provide us their view. The profession they don’t have is acquiring personnel, evaluating talent and coaching that talent.
Most of us believe summer is down time for basketball, to a degree basketball activity does slow however there is still basketball goings-on. The NBA Draft was held in June followed up by NBA free agency in early July. After free agency NBA Summer League play began in Orlando, Salt Lake and Las Vegas. Summer League provided an opportunity to see many of the recently drafted players facing pro level talent. AAU basketball is played from June through August, check for times and locations. The World University Games were held this summer in South Korea and the Pan American Games from Toronto, basketball is a featured sport in both. The summer basketball season concludes with the Naismith Hall of Fame ceremonies to be held in the middle of September.
In the Department of Strange and Unusual celebrities can sometimes be considered agents of the program. Several years ago Iowa State received a warning from the NCAA because actor Ashton Kutcher (once a student) was considered a “de-facto” recruiter. It’s occurred again however Kentucky reported on itself and it involved the rapper Drake. Drake had photos taken and we must guess conversed with at least three prospects at last falls Big Blue Madness.
Ancient--I guess it depends
Veteran point guard Andre Miller (39) signed a 1-year contract to play for the Wolves; he will join 39-year old teammate Kevin Garnett. Tim Duncan will be alternate between power forward and center for the Spurs this season at age 39. Speaking of the Spurs Manu Ginobili (38) will distribute the ball to Duncan during the season. The Clippers reached out and signed veteran free-agent Paul Pierce who turns 38 prior to the start of the season. More recently 37-year old Pablo Prigioni also signed with the Clippers.
You are probably asking where I am going with this fixation on age? I’ve lost track of the unsolicited words of wisdom I’ve received about Kobe Bryant and his age. There is no doubt Kobe has slowed by age; in addition injuries have forced him to the sidelines for two consecutive seasons. He will turn 37 before the season starts but don’t tell for the 99th time “He (Kobe) needs to retire because of his age.” Funny how nobody poses age questions on the other athletes mentioned above.
