Basketball from a fans perspective
Mount Mutomobo
Dikembe Mutomobo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacque Wamutombo is his full name. In his nearly 20-year NBA career he came to be known as Mount Mutombo, he was never much of an offensive threat (9.8 ppg). Playing defense was his forte especially the art of shot blocking. Many opposing player would drive the lane and have their shot swatted away Mutomobo would extend his right hand waving one finger as if to say; “Not in my house.” Eventually the NBA outlawed his finger waving stating he was taunting opposing players. The majority of his NBA career was spent with two teams the Nuggets and Hawks. The Hawks recently announced his jersey number 55 will be retired in November.
I overlooked him
Monday I wrote of the dysfunctional Kings and omitted Rajon Rondo, remember former Celtic and Mav Rondo? He failed to run the plays Coach Rick Carlisle had drawn up thus wearing out his welcome in Big D. We have owner Vivek Ranadive, Boogie Cousins, Coach George Karl and Rondo. Added to this cast of characters is free-agent and former Ole Miss bad boy Marshall Henderson. What’s not to like about this gathering?
Oh really
There is no requirement to live in the past, at the same time we must remember and reflect on the past before opening our mouths. Rockets center Dwight Howard took to Twitter on Monday, he declared; “James Harden is the best left-handed player of all time.” No argument from me Harden is certainly a very talented athlete however I have a question for Howard.
Celtic legend Bill Russell has 5 championship rings he could sport on his right hand and 6 on his left hand his shooting hand? We know Russell was never the focus of Celtic offense but he was left-handed and he did win 11 championships. Doesn’t this fact deserve consideration by Howard? I’ve concluded most of us are products of the present age; it’s difficult for us to envision basketball played at anytime but the here and now.
His average with a 3-point line
A 30-second shot clock in college ball will be implemented for the upcoming season. The change in the shot clock hopefully will increase scoring but will it? That we must wait to see my first thought was “I wondered about Pete Maravich with the benefit of a 3-point basket and shot clock.” Maravich did have advantages that aided his shooting at the time; the first may have been the time period he played (1967-1970). In addition he played for Press Maravich his dad at LSU. I’m unsure of this but Pete might have been one of the first high profile athletes to have his father as his college coach.
For youngsters Maravich freshman numbers didn’t count in his totals because in those days freshman were ineligible, For these purposes all four years are provided; he scored 43.6 as a freshman. Look at these scoring numbers during his remaining years, 43.8, 44.2 and 44.5. We can debate his field goal percentage as the highest he shot from the floor was .452 in his freshman year. The difference no shot was out of range for him, the unfortunate portion I haven’t read or heard of a method to calculate how many of his shots would have been 3 point baskets.
This is different
The Lakers announced they signed rookie Jonathan Holmes from Texas, this is different move on a number of levels. The 6-9 small/power forward was listed as a second round choice in mock sites DraftExpress.com and NBADraft.net. Despite being on the radar of NBA scouts Holmes didn’t hear his name announced in either round. Holmes good quality summer league play was likely the basis for the Laker signing. Surprise number one Holmes didn’t play for the Laker Summer League team it was the Celtics; secondly the Lakers signed him to a multi-year contract.
Signing Holmes for more than one-year must be an indication Laker management must see potential in the young man. Another athlete who missed the 2015 draft is 6-4 guard Michael Frazier. Frazier was also signed to a multi-year contract. Late Monday evening the Lakers announced guard Marcelo Huertas had agreed to a one-year contract. The 32-year old Brazilian has spent the last four years with FC Barcelona. These moves could be strictly for training camp but on the other hand it’s possible the Laker brain trust has something in mind yet to be revealed.
