Basketball from a fans perspective
Not that Yogi, the other one
It seems like Yogi Farrell has been at Indiana for 6 or 7 years. Of course that’s an exaggeration however the point guard is now in his senior year and the NBA possibly awaits him. There are a number of negatives in front of the Indianapolis native that say “He can’t play in the NBA.” The first obstacle is his size, at 6-0 178 pounds he might be considered too small for the NBA. The second might be his shot; his field goal percentage isn’t sparkling kind of like a Rajon Rondo. Working in Ferrell’s favor is his leadership at the point.
About the nickname, his given name is Kevin however mom hung Yogi on him as a baby. If you thought it was for the late baseball great Yogi Berra you are wrong. In 1958 the Hanna-Barbera Studios created a cartoon bear and named him Yogi Bear (probably a take on the baseball player). Yogi Bear lived in Jellystone National Park and was always searching the park to devour the contents of picnic baskets. Kevin’s mom claimed as a baby he ate “everything” in sight so she nicknamed her son Yogi.
Who advances?
A number of folks say I’m too tough on the Clippers. I’m only attempting to point out its going to be very tough to advance in a tough Western Conference. As I indicated earlier the Clippers will be a playoff team it’s advancing to play for the championship I question. Who stands out right now, the Warriors are playing at a greater level than last season. How about the “old” Spurs who always are lying in the weeds waiting to pounce?
The Thunder after a period of average play appear to be primed for a run. The balance of the field in the Western Conference is a mix bag, Dallas, Memphis, Houston and Utah. As this is written the Mavs are the only one of the aforementioned teams above .500. It’s unlikely the Spurs and Warriors play one another in the first round so matchups will impact any team advancing out of the West. Which team plays for the NBA Championship your guess is a good as mine with one exception I don’t believe that team will be the Clippers however.
Great expectations
This is not intended to be a first hand account I didn’t see the game from the beginning. I’m disappointed with the action on the court I’ve witnessed so far by LSU too many turnovers. The addition of Ben Simmons and an outstanding freshman class I believed we’d all see better play from LSU than we’ve seen so far. The LSU Tigers non-conference schedule has certainly been a bumpy road. ACC Wake Forest would be a tune up for SEC Conference play beginning next week; the Tigers have Wake Forest at their place.
You might believe this would be advantage Wake Forest playing at home, I don’t think so. I don’t believe any of us expected LSU to be a Top 25 team or compete for a national championship expectations were higher than what we’ve seen so far. Perhaps it’s me not giving Wake Forest enough credit tonight for playing an impressive game. Final score read Wake Forest 77 LSU 71; the Tigers go into conference play with a record of 7 wins and 5 losses.
The entertainer
This past Sunday Meadowlark Lemon died at age 83. He was the Harlem Globetrotters for a significant number of years, the team and he would become good will ambassadors of basketball world-wide. I didn’t know until his passing Lemon turned down a baseball contract to play for the Trotters, R.I.P. Meadowlark Lemon.
Well---maybe
Breaking the NBA won-loss record set by the Michael Jordan Bulls was a topic of discussion early on. The rapid pace set by the Warriors made for the topic valid. With no Curry in the lineup last night the Warriors lost to the Mavericks, the Mavs won 114-91. I’m terrible with numbers but believe this correct the Warriors now have a 29-2 record. That would leave 51 regular season games remaining; the Warriors must play at a .862 clip (44-7) in order to win 73 games. Can they break the NBA’s all-time won-loss record you might ask? Yes, this is certainly more feasible in my mind than Curry winning 7 NBA Championships.
