Basketball from a fans perspective
He said what?
My friend Stephen A. Smith has done it again, I’m unsure how these subjects become topics of discussion this is one of the latest. On ESPN’s First Take Smith said; “If Stephen Curry wins an NBA Championship this season he could surpass Michael Jordan.” Smith left himself an out in a sense he said the Warriors had to win the 2015-16 championship. I’ve become a cynic with a number of the sports stories floating about and this is one of them. There are obstacles in Curry’s path that could impact 7 championships even winning a second this season. The guy is a light outs shooter but consider the Warriors at this point are built to accentuate Curry’s proficiency. What occurs with the Warriors should Draymon Green or Klay Thompson leave in free-agency?
Andre Iguodala and Andrew Bogut are 31 years old, Leandro Barbosa is 33 and Shaun Livingston is 30, do you see the direction I’m headed? I’m not a doom and gloom guy but an injury to a key player could derail any championship aspirations. The Spurs, Clippers and Cavs are ageing but can you imagine a young 76er (speculation on my part) Laker or Celtic team rising to replace the Spurs, Clippers and Cavs. I’m not going to flat-out state 7 championships can’t be accomplished lets just say It’s highly doubtful. In closing I hope this doesn’t appear a hater generated commentary, I believe a number of sports discussions are useless unless the objective of the discussion might be obtainable. This one certainly calls for a great deal of dominos to fall into place.
Better things to do
The annual Braggin’ Rights game between Big 10 Illinois and SEC Mizzou is sold out except in 2015. Scottrade Center in St. Louis has a capacity of nearly 20,000 for basketball but only 14,456 souls were in attendance. With both teams treading water thus far it’s likely difficult for fans to be energized about the game despite a 35 year history. With two days remaining before Christmas maybe fans had better things to do last minute shopping as an example. Mizzou fell behind early and trailed by as much as 20 points before mounting a furious comeback eventually falling 68-63. The final score made the game appear closer than the actual outcome. As for attendance the figure represented the second lowest in 27 years.
"Escape from L.A."
If you have read Words any length of time you recognize I’m a movie buff. In this instance I’m referencing the 1996 John Carpenter directed movie Escape from L.A., this was second installment based on the Snake Plissken character. This time the setting was Los Angeles, see it on video I can’t give away the entire movie. There might be a number of Clippers wanting to “Escape from L.A.” Leading off might be Paul Pierce, he’s at the end of a Hall of Fame career and home is Los Angeles. Perhaps he wanted to retire an NBA Champion in his home town which appears unlikely this season. Lance Stephenson arrived with baggage and by all indications has been a good citizen. The problem so far he’s not been the player he was several years back with the Pacers. Josh Smith wore out his welcome with the Hawks, played in Detroit, then Houston and signed over the summer with the Clippers. It’s reported Smith’s had disagreements with the coaching staff and his Clipper teammates. A team thought to be deep in talent is talented however the talent is not as deep as we were led to believe.
Directing traffic for this band of Mysterians is Glenn “Doc” Rivers. Rivers is held in high esteem in some circles as a coach after all he’s got an NBA Championship on his resume. I had to include this letter; “can someone please get doc rivers some players? Gosh, this guy can’t get a break with this lineup.” Someone needs to explain to the writer Doc is the general manager too he can secure any players within the Clippers cap space. All is not lost the Clippers will make the playoffs are they capable of advancing to an NBA Championship? As this team is presently constructed it’s highly unlikely, their starters match up with the upper echelon teams of the NBA but the bench remains a question mark. This is a down year at Staples Center for both residents however the Clippers do have an edge, oh well there’s always next season both. NOTE: By the time you read this it’s likely the Clippers have beaten the Lakers on Christmas Day, does this win solve the problems of this team, I doubt it.
