Basketball from a fans perspective
He’s proven his value
Jamal Crawford just turn 36 but it seems like he should be age 46 or 50. It just appears he’s been around the NBA forever. He was the 8th pick in the first round by the Cavs, since then he’s played for the Knicks, Warriors, Hawks and Blazers. Crawford’s been a key to much of the Clipper success over the last four years. He holds a unique distinction he’s been selected NBA Sixth Man of the Year three times.
His career has been instant offense off the bench for these teams he’s had a distinguished NBA career. His scoring average of 10.7 points per game in his third year has remained the lowest since becoming a regular contributor. Crawford is one of those guys who could shoot lights-out with little if any warm-up. Can he continue to produce at a high level might be the question? Playing limited minutes off the bench he could play until he’s 40.
The best big man
NBA TV analyst Dennis Scott was a teammate of Shaquille O’Neal. Naturally there would be bias as to who is the best. Rick Kamila NBA TV host asked Scott who was the best? Scott provided the following and in order:
1. Kareem Abdul Jabbar
2. Bill Russell
3. Shaquille O’Neal
4. Wilt Chamberlain
5. Hakeen Olajuwon
This is Scott’s list what do you think? Is this close to yours or do you re-arrange the players or even add to it? Do you add George Mikan, Patrick Ewing, and Willis Reed or Moses Malone or somebody else.
Bits n Pieces
I’m optimistic for the 2016-17 season, the chief reason the Lakers have a number of “new” moving parts. New coach, new players the only problem is they are really young. The roster currently averages 26.4 years of age but that is really misleading. There are at least two 30-something players who are likely gone prior to the season which will lower the teams average age. Hopefully the veteran presence of a Luol Deng and Jose Calderon will defray youthful play.
The Super Bowl has always held the highest sports television audience. Recently I read Super Bowl television viewership had actually been exceeded. I always believed the NFL Championship game would draw the largest audience. Not so the event was actually an NBA played November 9, 2007 the combatants were the Houston Rockets and the Milwaukee Bucks. Yao Ming faced his fellow countryman Yi Jianlian for the first time in the NBA. The Rockets won 104-88, with Yao scoring 28 points and grabbing 10 rebounds while rookie Yi scored 19 points and pulled down 9 rebounds. According to USA Today the Chinese audience was estimated between 100 to 200 million viewers.
He probably wouldn’t pay any attention anyway. Stephen A. Smith has difficulty believing any words except his own. Listen up to these words of wisdom from former Spurs center David Robinson. He said he believes the Warriors might have a smaller window to win it all than a number of people believe. Robinson questions if the Warriors can maintain their core players under contract. He always says “This might not come together as quickly as people might believe.” He reminded us the Heat won championships but nowhere near the five or six projected.
Three brothers in the lineup and the school finished 35-0 winning the state tournament. That’s the story for Chino Hills in Chino Hills (CA) about 36 miles from the Staples Center. Leading the way to a championship the oldest brother Lonzo Ball is a 6-6 190 pound now enrolled at UCLA. Returning to defend the school’s title younger brothers LiAngelo and LaMelo, LiAngelo is a 6-6 235 pound shooting guard/small forward while LiAngelo is a 6 foot (and still growing) guard. The two younger brothers are also headed to UCLA.
