Basketball from a fans perspective
“A stopped clock is correct twice a day”
The connection to the above title most of the time I disagree with the basketball opinions of Stephen A. Smith. On occasion he makes a statement I can agree with. He says; “The Warriors are playing at a level to disprove the skeptics. Last season with no Kyrie (Irving) and Kevin Love people believed the Warriors win was confounded by Cavs injuries.”
From my perspective if a team wins they win regardless of my feelings. I can see Smith’s point I’m sure there are a few probably Cavs fans who adopt a wouda, shouda, couda approach to the 2015 NBA Championship. By the way Smith’s predicted the Thunder to beat the Warriors in their February 27th game. This is written prior to the game so we shall witness the outcome together. NOTE: The Warriors beat the Thunder so much for Smith’s prediction.
Euro contingent plus one
Kristaps Porzingis was a surprise pick being drafted so high, his name was not unknown. A number of mock draft sites listed him, I don’t believe anyone had an idea he would adjust to the NBA so quickly but he was not an unknown. I peruse the mock draft sites so I’m not caught “off-guard” with any first round through the middle of the second round. This should not be considered complete there are players who were missed however my hope was to list those with the most upside.
Dragan Bender playing for Maccabi Tel Aviv has already been mentioned because he’s likely to be a lottery pick. Jakob Poelti from Austria is playing at Utah he might not be lottery but is likely to be an early first round pick. Gonzaga’s Domantas Sabonis 6-10 power forward from Lithuania might be a middle first round choice. There are other nations represented on college campuses but this list is not intended to be complete. In addition you might not hear all the names called because some may withdraw their names.
Timothe Luwawu 6-7 guard France
Furkan Korkmaz 6-7 guard Turkey
Zhou Qi 7-1 center China
Isiaia Cordinier 6-5 guard France
Juan Hernangomez 6-9 forward Spain
Petr Cornelie 6-11 forward France
Ivica Zubac 7-0 center Bosina and Herzegovina
Paul Zipser 6-8 forward Germany
Guerschon Yabusele 6-8 forward France
Am I excited?
Not yet, wait for it wait for it is the dialogue of most Laker fans. The 112-95 win over the Warriors was certainly noteworthy; they haven’t beaten a good team in a long, long time. I’m not going to fool myself the Warriors miss a tremendous number of shots something not likely to occur again. The youthful team’s strength is concentrated in the backcourt as evidenced by Jordan Clarkson’s 25 points and D’Angelo Russell’s 21. Julius Randle at power forward is also a keeper as he continues to enhance his game. In a technical sense Randle is a rookie having missed all of last season with an injury. His current 11.5 ppg and 10 rebounds a game bodes well for him. The 6-9 250 pound former Kentucky Wildcat has laid claim to the power forward position.
This trio along with Larry Nance Jr. represents the Laker future. Am I excited, not yet however I believe the team is better prepared for the future with a few moves? 1. Finish the season to secure at least the number three draft pick. This is not a done deal there are factors that could affect how the team completes the season. 2. Securing the draft position draft wisely. 3. Move Jim Buss out of his decision making position. 4. I have gone back and forth on Byron Scott as coach I’m making no call on him leaving or remaining. This is the problem as I see it, Popovich chews out the Spurs and they might say; “Well he’s won umpteenth NBA Championships so he must know what he’s talking about. “ Scott does the same and the players might say; “What has he won as a coach? “
