Basketball from a fans perspective

Lakers fire Scott
At approximately 10:15 Central Time Sunday evening I noted several websites were reporting the Lakers had fired head coach Byron Scott.  No details were announced from the front office at the time of this news.  Who replaces Scott you ask allow me to delve into my life.  This is a sometimes conversation with my wife “What do you want for dinner?”  My response; “I don’t want A, B or C.”  I informed her I didn’t want rather than what I did.  That’s the case for me I can provide you several names I don’t want as head coach.  No Jeff Van Gundy or George Karl, I’m not sold on Luke Walton despite his record during the absence of Steve Kerr.  The Wizards have already hired Scott Brooks so I’m safe here, please no Mike’s either Brown or D’Antoni.

I’m sure there are others I’m probably omitting but that’s okay you get the idea.  Despite laying out plenty of negatives I have a good short list; Kevin McHale (former Celtic player) would never take a job with the Lakers.  I still like Mark Jackson who was the true architect in re-building the Warriors.  Kerr won the championship I’m not taking anything away from him just calling it as I see it.  How about a true teacher Hubie Brown, I like David Blatt despite being dumped by Cleveland.  I wonder if Phil Jackson has a desire to return to the coaching ranks.  Finally this pure second-guessing on my part, if the Lakers intended to fire Scott why wait until after Tom Thibodeau takes another job?  Does this continue to the trend of an inept operating front office led by Jim Buss?

Why
A number of early entry prospects indicate no desire to hire an agent.  Simply stated they can attend NBA workouts and determine where they fit in the draft.  As for a number of others they become head-scratchers and you wonder why.  The list of those hiring agents is too extensive to list a number never truly escaped from the bench.

Despite limited playing time (and numbers) they are attempting to gain a roster spot at the NBA level.  I guess in a manner of speaking we cannot blame them the lure of financial reward is far too great to pass.  Hopefully those daring enough to hire an agent are reasonably sure of being drafted.  The door is closed on these prospects returning to college so if it’s not the NBA it’s the D-League or possibly Europe.

Twitter
I have no idea if Jack White from Canberra Australia can play; the 6-7 forward is on his way to the U.S. this fall.  After visiting Gonzaga he announced his intention to play for Duke on his twitter account.  White’s not the first to use social media to announce his intentions it’s just different.  At one point you might have seen the prospect sitting at a table with his parents and maybe his high school coach.

On the table in front of the microphone would be a number of baseball caps representing the college of his choice.  When making his announcement there might be hesitation as his hand hovered over a cap.  He’d finally chose one cap place it on his head and state; “I’ve decided to attend_______university.”  I guess just using your twitter account might be easier and less
nerve-wracking.

Injuries
We hope our favorite player or team suffers no injuries, in sports injuries always lie beneath the surface.  That’s case facing the Warriors and Steph Curry.  I would hope they are able to defend the championship with a full team.  We have no method of measuring but we can always ponder the question.  What happens in 2015 if Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving had been healthy and available against the Warriors.

"Failure does not come from losing, but from not trying"-Larry Brown