Basketball from a fans perspective
“Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me”
Every heard the old idiom above? Well it certainly applies to yours truly. The “Fool me once” belongs to the Thunder, the “fool me twice” fits on me. Two teams I said would not emerge from the Western Conference one I said would be the Clippers---check. The other team was the Thunder---check, hold on a moment there. I thought Russell Westbrook plays out of control, he still does but boy is he fearless. He and Kevin Durant have won this series over the Spurs a team I believed they couldn’t beat. As for the Thunder what can I say; I totally missed the boat on this one. Still a team game and the New Zealander Steven Adams was just as important. I believe at the beginning of the season Enes Kanter was the starter at center and Adams was back-up.
Adams is never going to be confused as the second coming of Kareem, Shaq or some other offensive center of the past. The guy hustles grabs rebounds and is a general nuisance to the opposition. I love the line used by Neil Everett ESPN Sports Center, when the game was still in doubt Tim Duncan driving toward the basket. His shot was blocked by Serge Ibaka and the ESPN commentator used the term “Serge protector.” Coach Billy Donovan made a superb adjustment to the NBA over his counterpart with the Bulls. As for the Spurs they won 67 games during the season and only lost 15. The Thunder won two games at AT&T Center the home arena for the Spurs and were 40-0 at one point in the season.
True
As many are aware heights and measurements are always conducted at the NBA Draft Combine. One of the more interesting stories was that of Kentucky’s Tyler Ulis, he measured
5-10 and 149 pounds. The writer of a story claims; “His weight concerns several NBA types believing the long season will wear him down.” We have no method of projecting “wear and tear” on the body of an NBA player. Added to that we have no proposal indicating Ulis is talented enough for a career in the NBA. This I know (and so should the writer) there were others who preceded Ulis much smaller in stature and weight. After their names and stats are the years they played in the NBA.
Spud Webb 5-7 132lbs 1987-2002
Muggsy Bogues 5-3 137lbs 1985-1998
Earl Boykins 5-5 135lbs 1999-2012
Webb, Bogues and Boykins and others faced the same problem, the game always remains a Big-Man’s test. The aforementioned players had to prove they could compete at the NBA level. As for Ulis the same task is in front of him, prove to skeptics he can play competitive high level basketball.
Speaking of the NBA Combine
I still haven’t figured this one out, why does the NBA measure guys’ length with and without shoes. My Nike’s don’t cost $200 dollars however I got my tape measure out cause I need to know. My shoes added about 1.5 inches to my height. Now I’m a flat 7 feet instead of 7-1, just kidding folks I’m nowhere close to 6-3.
This move caught us off guard
We knew the open jobs in the NBA we counted all except Orlando. Scott Skiles appeared to be “safe”, safe until he abruptly resigned on Thursday. I’ve not read anything but the headlines as I write this I have no idea why Skiles dropped a bomb on us. Stay tuned for additional details, looks as though we can add the Magic along with the Kings, Rockets and Grizzlies searching for a coach.
What‘s best
The Cavs are sitting waiting for the conclusion of the Raptors-Heat series. The question has been asked since the NBA first began playoffs. Is it best to sit and wait or begin the next series almost immediately? We’ve read and heard teams sitting become stale and miss the competitive nature of game action. On the other hand several teams in the past have gone into the next series with little or no rest and never missed a beat. Average age and a veteran presence probably impacts a team just as much, in conclusion there is no one answer
