Basketball from a fans perspective
The fat lady ain’t singing
She is not singing but is certainly tuning up for the finale, boy did someone miss this. With a 118-94 victory the Thunder take a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference Finals. Somebody I know quite well predicted weeks ago the Thunder would not get past the Spurs, this same person also predicted the Warriors would represent the Western Conference for the NBA Championship. I guess maybe I---hmmmm “he” should stick to making calls on something he knows well.
No for the following reasons
I speculated at one point the Lakers drafting Dragan Bender with their pick. I’ve now changed my view for a number of reasons. 1. Although Bender is 7-feet he’s is a power forward at 220 pounds. 2. We don’t know if he’s the future or not but Julius Randle is implanted at the power forward. 3. Talent is not the issue Bender appears talented enough unless he’s prepared to play center its no for the Lakers. 4. Smokescreen planted by the Celtics or another team to cause confusion. 5. Ben Simmons/Brandon Ingram are the top prospects in this draft not Bender.
Again
Once again I was surprised, Toronto 105 Cleveland 99, we have a series tie 2-2. Sorry Raptor fans I believe you have a very good team however I don’t believe they are capable of winning this series. On the other hand I could be wrong; I’ve missed predictions in the past we shall see.
“Should I stay or should I go”
In 1982 the Clash released a tune which became a hit; “Should I stay or should I go”. That might also become the declaration of Kentucky’s John Calipari, the coach declared he intended to retire at the school. Can you believe no future NBA or no move to another college for the coach. He’s a “youthful” 57-year old so there certainly is no rush by the administration to advocate retirement. In this instance and a number of others there are factors at work we cannot see.
It’s not likely to occur but the school could ask Cal to leave if the program is not competitive. Don’t think so fans, alum and administration influenced former Coach Tubby Smith to “leave” despite winning an NCAA Championship. It’s reported many fans had issues with the recruiting stance of the former coach. It was a different time but it’s believed Smith refused to recruit players he believed were one and done candidates. Smith wanted athletes he believed would remain in school at least three years.
Revise please
The NBA Draft lottery was first held in 1985 and the Knicks with the winning selection would later pick Georgetown center Patrick Ewing. The balance of the story is Knicks history. Prior to 1985 the team with the worst record would automatically be awarded the number one pick. If two teams were tied a coin flip would determine the draft position. A coin flip allowed the Bucks to select Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul Jabbar) and the Suns losing the coin flip chose Neal Walk.
The lottery was instituted even back then a concern existed teams might lose on purpose in order to benefit their draft position. As for the lottery it’s changed a bit from that first year. It‘s weighted now the worst a teams record is the more ping pong balls are placed in the hopper. Sounds fair except the 76ers have made a mockery of the lottery and the draft in recent years. Philadelphia has three picks in this years draft; they had five picks in the 2015 draft. In 2014 they also had six picks I didn’t go back any further than 2014.
The 76ers won exactly 10 games while losing 72 in the 2015-16 season, I believe we could foresee them falling into the lottery however they could have selected an entire team with the number of picks over three years, is there any progress on the court? General Manager Sam Henkie is gone and well he should collecting draft picks and failing to improve the team. This is not me alone I listened to former NBA player Brian Scalabrine discuss the NBA Draft and the need for revision.
Scalabrine said; “Why should a team spend little money on developing a team and be rewarded with a lottery pick at the end of the season?” His words not mine but I agree with his take on the issue 1000%. Scalabrine says; “A team just missing the playoffs should have first crack at college talent they would have a real opportunity to improve their position and record.” What do you think, is Scalabrine correct? Maybe his method might not be the best revision but think of other methods to improve.
