Basketball from a fans perspective
I'm shocked
A friend informed me this morning; "I'm going home and watch the Lakers and Warriors." I said; "Why bother I can give you the score ahead of time, the Warriors will score 130 points and the Lakers will score 90 maybe 100." As I returned home I watched the
pre-game portion and then said to myself; "Why waste my time watching my team lose again." I woke up turned the television on and almost fell out of bed, Lakers 112 Warriors 95. I've got to watch it tomorrow on NBA TV since I didn't see one minute of the game. I sure hope George doesn't remember our conversation from earlier today and calls me tonight.
Okay we believe you
I’ve mentioned on several occasions I believe the Blazers Damian Lillard plays with a chip on his shoulder. Ignored when he was drafted out of Weber State, snubbed as an All-Star this year I could go on and on. His team lost against the Raptors but Lillard’s game was certainly worth note. Lillard scored 50 points shooting .571 from floor and .462 from the 3-point line; did I forget his .923 from the free-throw line and 5 assists?
Forbes
The financial magazine listed the top 50 sports teams’ net worth. It included all the worlds’ sports franchises for 2015 NFL, MLB, NHL, soccer and others. Real Madrid was number one however the others were surprising. Would you believe the list contained 10 NBA franchises? This certainly was surprising news to me. The Lakers were the highest tied for sixth place, the Knicks were eight. Chicago’s Bulls were tied for 14 and the others were ranked down to the Mavs tied for 49th place.
A Kansas (City) connection
Ishmail Wainwright is not a well known name he’s a junior at Baylor University. Wainwright played a portion of his high school basketball at Raytown South in Raytown (MO) a Kansas City suburb. He left here to complete high school at Montrose Christian Academy in Rockville (MD) believing this move would raise his game. He would commit to Baylor and the rest is history, as for the connection. On the eve of the Kansas-Baylor game Wainwright announced “I have a Kansas connection.”
His grandfather Maurice King played on the same Kansas team with the legendary Wilt Chamberlain.” Wainwright’s grandfather had a brief NBA career playing for the Celtics and Chicago Zephyrs. He also played for the Kansas City Steers of the ABL. After King’s basketball career was complete he went to work in the private sector working for Hallmark Cards, King died in 2007 at age 72. NOTE: The Zephyrs would later move to Baltimore and be re-named the Bullets and is today’s Wizards franchise.
He was special
The parents must have loved the Pistons Isiah Thomas or maybe it was just accidental. In any event the Celtics Isaiah (note the difference in spelling) is a 2016 All-Star despite being the number 60 (and last pick) in the 2011 draft. Thomas faced the same questions about his game as under players under 6 feet. The 5-9 point guard proved immediately he could play at the NBA level. Thomas in his sixth year his lowest ppg average was his rookie year with the Kings at 11.5, in addition he’s not just a scoring machine.
His assist average has continued to rise and this year so far he’s at 6.8 assists per game. Thomas left the Kings in a sign and trade deal to the Suns. The Celtics would acquire the diminutive point guard in a trade which provided questions. The Celtics would appear overloaded with point guards, it’s likely one or more will be moving on. I doubt seriously if Isaiah Thomas is the player moving.
Is this really an issue?
There are times our expectations are beyond the ability of the player based on circumstances. I’ve mentioned on several occasions the concerns express by the media and basketball fans the Lakers had made a mistake drafting D’Angelo Russell. “He wasn’t adjusting to like in the NBA” was among the more tame comments made about his ability. Nobody bothered to point out Russell was a teenager with one year of experience at Ohio State.
We could make the same statement regarding Ben Simmons, this time it’s not his shooting or lack of aggressiveness. LSU will miss the NCAA Tournament and it was pointed out; “This will be the first time an NBA number one draft pick will have not played in the NCAA Tournament.” No matter how good Simmons is or for that matter anyone else it’s still a team game. LSU teammates must bare a portion of the blame alone with Coach Johnny Jones for the Tigers failure to reach the NCAA.
