Basketball from a fans perspective
“I’m from Missouri”
Doc Rivers assessment of the Clippers in the Yahoo Sports piece was interesting; I’m not going to critique the piece. I will simply remind you of the headline above part of the motto for the State of Missouri. The complete motto reads; I’m from Missouri you’ll have to show me states; “I’m extremely skeptical you’ll have to prove it.” I would expect a sitting coach to defend his or her team I would expect Rivers to do that. If I had Doc sitting next to me I’d simply say okay prove it.
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Your legacy
Our past efforts become part of our legacy be it good or bad, we hope well. It was pointed out this is Carmelo Anthony year five in New York City. What is his legacy as a member of the Knicks? It will not matter if LeBron James never wins another NBA Championship his legacy will state he won two NBA Championships. In addition it will state he is one of the all-time great NBA players. Kobe Bryant love him or hate him he’s a five time NBA Champion, its funny I read letters from fans giving every Laker on the team credit for the championships except Kobe.
Sorry buddy it doesn’t work that way you might hate Kobe but you cannot ignore the championships. How about others, Patrick Ewing was never able to lead the Knicks to a championship yet will go down in history as one of the all-time great NBA centers. The same might be stated for Charles Barkley who never won a championship. Barkley the “mouth that roared” stood 6-4 and ½ but was one of the greats at rebounding for his height. Barkley averaged nearly 12 rebounds a season for his 16 year NBA career. Those are but a few of the players that stand out but there are numerous others omitted or overlooked in this short account.
What to do?
The 2016 NBA Draft might be the most critical in Laker history; at the rate they are losing they should finish with the third worst record. Simply stated they maintain the draft choice rather than surrendering it. Kobe Bryant will be in the rear-view mirror as the Laker sedan speeds down the road. I cannot determine the depth of the team until it’s complete. Jordan Clarkson is established at the shooting guard, D’Angelo Russell is likely the starter at the point and Julius Randle is the power forward. Small forward and the center position are unfilled however at least one could possible be finalized.
The experts indicate the Lakers will chose Duke small forward Brandon Ingram, then again they could fool us similar to last year. The NBA Combine and individual workouts will be the deciding factor but just pretend both have occurred. There is thin 7-1 Dragan Bender playing at Maccabi Tel Aviv or 7 foot Jacob Poelti at Utah, another large body to consider is Maryland’s Diamond Stone also 7 feet tall but even a larger body at 255 pounds. I have no idea if any of the prospects mentioned has an NBA future, see the confusion on my part? In addition all will have an adjustment period to NBA play.
No question for me
Steph Curry is having one of those historical years in the NBA. There is mention of him being named most improved player. I say that’s foolish, Steph was remarkable last season as his Warrior team won the NBA Championship. To say he’s “improved” over last season that’s debatable. Blazer C.J. McCollum would be a much better choice, in case you are not familiar with him a brief update. McCollum is a 6-4 shooting guard and he was drafted in the first round from Lehigh University in 2013.
His first year in the NBA he scored 5.3 ppg, last season he raised his shooting a bit to 6.8 ppg. This season he and Damian Lillard have formed one of the most dangerous scoring backcourts in the NBA. McCollum at this writing is scoring at a 20.9 per game clip with a PER of 17.75. I’m going to attempt to include PER (Player Efficiency Rating) going forward. As a reminder this is a measurement devised by John Hollinger to determine a players value to his team, the NBA average PER is 15.0.
