Leave it to the “experts”
I’m going to allow you to listen to game analysis by those on ESPN, Fox Sports and other sources. All I can simply state is from a friend. He told me on Sunday; “Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are very good but they are not championship players.” The Thunder with a 3 games to 1 lead allowed the Warriors to win three straight and a 96-88 victory in game 7.
There is a lesson here
Kansas City can’t figure out what to do with Kemper Arena former home of its NBA team, Big 8 post-season tournament concerts and the circus. As I’ve mentioned the building has been used sparingly in recent years do to the Sprint Center dominance. Sprint Center located in the Power & Light District in downtown Kansas City (MO) is more convenient to and from the arena than Kemper ever was. In any event Los Angeles has figured out what to do with a little used arena they decided to tear it down. The Sports Arena once served as home for the Lakers, Clippers and UCLA basketball prior to Pauley Pavilion. The Sports Arena opened in 1959 is being demolished in order to build a soccer arena for the city.
NOTE: Not a done deal however prior to publication of this story a proposal was approved by the city. The arena would become a mixed use venue for amateur youth and adult sports. Restaurants would also be part of the refurbish.
Can’t shoot free-throws
Does a Hack a Shaq strategy work successfully? Shaq hasn’t played since 2011 however whenever a player is intentionally fouled the broadcast media continues to refer this strategy as “Hack-a-Shaq. “ I’m asking the question but have no answer just an opinion. First off unlike others I don’t subscribe to the belief of many especially in the media it slows down the game. I maintain the poor free throw shooters can defeat the strategy by simply hitting their free throws. You say easier said than done baloney, I’ve witnessed too may poor at the line become better shooters. Can DeAndre Jordan 43.0% Andre Drummond 35.5% Dwight Howard 48.9% and others improve their poor free-throw shooting?
Of course they can, I believe they could shoot 60.0% which ain’t good but far above their present numbers. Rick Barry in the Hall of Fame is critical of poor throw shooters. Barry has good reason for his take on the issue of free-throw shooting, his career numbers in the ABA and NBA over 14 seasons was 89.3%. In the 1978-79 NBA season Barry shot 94.7% from the line, he shot his free-throws underhand. Barry calls Jordan pathetic because he won’t change to the under hand shot. Andre Igouodala could also stand to raise his free-throw shooting, his first year in the NBA with the 76ers he shot 74.3% from the line. He reached a high of 82.0% his third year in the NBA. Since ‘07-‘08 his free throw shooting has been on a steady downward trend, this past season he shoot 61.4% from the line.
It’s not too early
How about looking ahead to the 2016-17 college season. Which teams are expected to be near the top of the heap? This is ESPN’s Top Five best of the best for the upcoming year of basketball:
1 Duke
2 Villanova
3 Kentucky
4 Kansas
5 Louisville
I decided to check ESPN’s 2015-16 pre-season list for a comparison.
The front number is pre-season and the number in parenthesis is the final ranking.
1 Maryland (12)
2 North Carolina (2)
3 Kentucky (16)
4 Virginia (5)
5 Kansas (3)
This is not intended as criticism; there are far too many variables to accurately forecast a season running from November through early April. Key injuries, academics, suspensions and even coaching changes could severally affect a team’s performance.
