Basketball from a fans perspective
Me, Myself and I
Was the title of a 1999 movie comedy starring Rachel Griffiths, my version is me, Larry Laker and I. As I’ve often stated my staff is limited I cannot publish at the level of ESPN, Fox Sports or CBS Sports Network. My blog is always a day after events which is a concern that cannot be helped. Despite this I hope you will continue to read Words eye view, thank you.
Can you say even?
Who would have thunk it, the Lakers have the same won-loss record of the Thunder. The Lakers beat the Thunder at home 111-109 and both teams now stand 8-7. I’m going to refer to him by his former name, with seconds remaining on the clock Swaggy P. “intercepted” a pass intended for teammate Lou Williams. The Lakers were down 109-108 he took the shoot and sunk a 3-point basket with 5 seconds remaining in the game. The Thunder took a time-out however everyone in Staples plus the television audience were aware who would take the shot.
Ball is in bounded and Westbrook took a desperation 3-point shot which missed. The Lakers beat the Thunder for the first time in like forever. Even more amazing just for yours truly, I believed and wrote at some point in August or September Nick Young was gone. I thought the coaching change plus his desire to play little defense we were counting down, I missed this one badly. Even funnier on one of the Laker fan sites they are arguing back and forth if Young traveled while gathering himself for the winning shot, officials didn’t call it why argue about it?
Dinosaurs you say
Where are they, you know those folks who claim the game has changed? It certainly has changed however I’m referring to those who claim the traditional Big Man’s game is extinct as dinosaurs. The retirement of Tim Duncan plus the eroding game of Dwight Howard have also been factors in believing there is no requirement for an effective offensive center----wrong! Last Thursday it was 7 foot Karl-Anthony Towns matched against 7-2 Joel Embiid.
On Monday it was Joel Embiid versus 7 foot Hassan Whiteside of the Heat. Whiteside might have won the battle scoring 32 points 13 rebounds and 2 blocked shots but Embiid won the war scoring 22 points 5 rebounds and 1 steal as his Sixer team won 101-94. A number of NBA teams the center is not an integral part of the offense, the Clippers call on DeAndre Jordan to score however his forte is defense, rebounding and clogging the lane.
The same statement could be made for the Warriors Zaza Pachulia who is even a lesser part of the Warriors offense. We are not going to return to the days of Chamberlain, Russell or Shaq with a team’s offense running through the center. The stretch fours are still going to take a back seat for this dinosaur, I prefer genuine center play. We will continue to see talent develop in the key for now and into the future.
It’s finally over
Fans of the Bulls are well acquainted with the annual “The Circus Trip. “ Every season the Bulls must vacate the United Center while Ringling Brothers Circus occupies the building, NBA teams are on the road all the time but two weeks is nowhere near the norm. My read indicates the circus has pre-existing contracts which were left-over from the Chicago Stadium days.
The Bulls (and Blackhawks) have been tenants of the UC since it opened 22 years ago. As for the change maybe its society changing views circuses don’t draw the crowds they did once upon a time, they will be moving to a smaller capacity building than the 22,000 seat UC. The 2016-17 is the last circus trip and one more note this annual trip has never been favorable even when the Bulls had super teams.
