Basketball from a fans perspective
MVP
Several weeks back I mentioned several weeks back how stupid I believed the ESPN.com story of “Co-MVP’s.” The Spurs Khawi Leonard was mentioned in the account indicated Steph Curry along with Leonard might be considered for co-MVP. Fortunately sanity prevailed, Curry was named MVP for the second year in a row and well deserved. It should be noted his selection was unanimous for the first time in NBA history. Think about some of the giants of the game who never had this honor Magic, Michael, Larry and Kareem are just a few of the names. Leonard is a tremendous talent but certainly not MVP at least this season that honor belongs to Steph Curry alone.
Life goes on
A website (I don’t remember which one) noted Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram were skipping the NBA Draft Combine. In the next sentence they mentioned Jahlil Okafor, Emmanuel Mudiay and one other high profile pick missed the combine last year. It’s my belief any player projected to be drafted in the Top 10 could easily miss the combine and it not affect their draft stock. In any event 70 prospects have been invited to participate in the Chicago event.
The event is more important for players who might be on the periphery and need to demonstrate their skills to an NBA audience. I cite DeMarre Carroll as an example, few outside of Mizzou and Big 12 basketball might have been aware of him. The Portsmouth Invitational Tournament and Draft Combine contributed to Carroll being the number 27 pick in the first round by the Grizzlies. Quite interesting in that 7-2 Chinese center Zhou Qi will be at the combine the only international player.
Bits n Pieces
“In 2014, Jim Buss told his five siblings, including Lakers president Jeannie Buss, he would step down in three years if the team did not reach that benchmark. That expiration date is apparently set for after the 2016-17 season.” Not my words those of the co-owner who made this public promise. As I’ve stated in the past “I’m from Missouri show-me.”
Los Angeles Daily News
It’s always been my belief you must travel two or three years down the road to fully analyze a draft. Some arrive fully prepared to deal with the rigors of the NBA while others require a long and extended trial. As for others it’s just the opportunity to play, imagine a rookie trying to crack the starting lineup of the Warriors, Spurs or Cavs. We are about eight or nine weeks from the 2016 draft and many in the 2015 class have not been fully evaluated.
If we change a few letters one almost becomes the other, I speak of the Thomas’s. The HOF former Piston spells his first name Isiah and the other Isaiah, both were ballers. It was funny the other evening on NBA TV, we had Isiah Thomas describing the best attributes of Isaish Thomas. The elder Thomas stood at 6-1 weighed 180 pounds while the younger Isaish stands 5-9 and 185. Both are point guards but that’s were the similarity ends, Isiah played for the Pistons at a time there was bad blood between his team and the Celtics. The younger Isaish plays for those hated Celtics and mighty well we might state. I’ve never read anywhere you suppose his parents might have been fans of Isiah and decided to name their baby after him?
