Basketball from a fans perspective
The All-Star Game
After three games on the job Cavs Coach Tyronn Lue is the Eastern Conference All-Star Game coach. It certainly sounds strange coaching the All-Stars after less than a month at the helm. The All-Star game is scheduled in Toronto February 16; Lue was announced as head coach of the Cavs on January 23. This set of circumstances occurred due to David Blatt being terminated by the Cavs. The Cavs have the best record in the east which means their coach becomes All-Star Game coach.
Is there enough room?
At some point during the 2016-17 NBA season a statue of Shaquille O’Neal will be erected outside Staples Center, my first thought are they going to be able to find room? Let’s see at present there is boxer Oscar De La Hoya, NHL great Wayne Gretzky and legendary Laker broadcaster Chick Hern. As for the players Lakers Jerry West, Magic Johnson, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar all have statues. You do recognize in 5 years or so Kobe Bryant will be set for the same honor. This is a shared building, NHL hockey, boxing and NBA basketball I have one question. Why are there no statues of any Clipper players?
Bits n Pieces
A different take of a condition, former Pacer and current broadcaster Reggie Miller and I disagree. Awhile back I wrote of my belief Kobe Bryant taking the bulk of Laker shots was inhibiting the growth of the Laker youth. Well Miller disagrees with my view stating; “Who takes the shots if Kobe doesn’t, the youngsters don’t know how to make shots.”
Cheick Diallo might be one and done at Kansas but he would be making a tragic mistake if he leaves early. He would follow in the footsteps of Josh Selby and Cliff Alexander who believed they were ready for the NBA and discovered they weren‘t. Diallo is a 6-9 220 pound shot-blocking small forward who needs work on his offensive game. The youngster from Mali in West Africa has only been playing the game three years.
Fans can be quite expressive in their views and sometimes they often have insight many paid media lack. I was reading an article on Ben Simmons and the writer made a great statement in my opinion. “Any GM that drafts a player over Ben Simmons needs to be fired.” Strong statement by a couple of basketball fans.
In another instance the discussion centered on players from different eras. A fan wrote; “When we make comparisons of past players what’s to say they couldn’t adjust as well.” Makes sense to me, why couldn’t Celtic shooting guard Bill Sharman (1950-1961) make adjustments to defensive specialist Laker Michael Cooper’s (1978-1991) efforts to guard him? We might state Suns point guard Kevin Johnson (1987-2000) could discover some manner to effectively distribute the ball against Steph Curry’s Warriors.
He’s sorta local
Basketball fans in the metro are proud of Tyronn Lue becoming head coach of the Cavs. This is no endorsement he’s going to be successful however we hope that’s the case. Lue is actually from Mexico (MO) a town located 164 miles east of Kansas City. His family moved to the suburb of Raytown when Lue was in high school, he would distinguished himself on the basketball court his junior and senior year at Raytown High School. His college choice was a little different choosing football theme Nebraska over Mizzou (44 miles from Mexico) or Kansas University some 36 miles away.
Although only 6-feet tall he proved he was able to play competitive basketball and would remain at Nebraska through his junior year. He was the 23rd pick in the 1st round of the 1998 NBA Draft by the Nuggets who would trade his rights to the Lakers. He would go on to an 11 year career playing for a number of NBA teams. He began serving as an assistant coach on Doc Rivers staff in Boston and followed him to the Clippers. In 2014 he became a Cavs assistant and the rest of the story you know.
