Basketball from a fans perspective
“The thrill of victory…and the agony of defeat”
In 1961 the ABC Network premiered a sports program titled the Wide World of Sports. Jim McKay had an opening line that’s become historical. “Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sports…the thrill of victory…and the agony of defeat…the human drama of athletic competition…This is ABC’s Wide World of Sports.”
The “thrill of victory”… a basket by Swaggy P. with 5 seconds on the clock winning their game against the Thunder. “The agony of defeat”…the next night being run over by the Warriors “truck” 149-106. The Warriors with 47 assists on 53 baskets says it all, not much to add. As for the Lakers Swaggy P. he went from “hero to zero” scoring a mere 8 points in the loss.
Hold on a moment
I made a mistake of epic proportions the other day when discussing Russell Westbrook’s assault on a record. The report was the NBA’s triple-double record, I’m sure you caught my error didn’t you? LeBron James is the current ACTIVE leader in triple-doubles not the ALL-TIME leader. The current all-time leader is Oscar Robertson, the Big O is in first place with 181 triple-doubles.
In second place is Magic Johnson with 138 and Jason Kidd with 107. Wilt Chamberlain is fourth with 78 followed by Larry Bird at 59. One other point LeBron will celebrate his 32nd birthday at the end of December and will continue to pile up triple-doubles total for the remainder of his career. Although Westbrook might appear to be closing in on LeBron that might not necessarily be the case at least until LeBron decides to retire.
www.basketball-reference.com
Bits n Pieces
I say upfront this is unfair on my part, we almost always state Player A reminds
us of Player B. Sometimes it their shot often it’s just their own court demeanor. Okay now that I’ve made my excuse for Laker fans remember Nick Van Exel? Maybe it’s because both are left-handed, maybe it’s their fearless manner on the basketball court. Maybe it’s because the Lakers had been down for a few years and Nick “at Night” changed the fortune and direction of the team. Finally it’s probably might hope lighting will strike again, Russell will lead the Lakers back to the Promised Land.
What about Nerlens Noel you ask, trade rumors continue to circulate regarding the Sixers power forward-center. One of the reasons is the emergence of rookie Joel Embiid who’s been sidelined two seasons. The negatives have been a list of injuries and a limited offensive game. As for the injuries Noel played in 75 of the 82 games in 2014-15, last season saw he play in only 67 games. A surgical procedure has curtailed him thus far this season but is expected to return shortly. We might question what the Sixers expected when they drafted Noel, his offensive game was limited at Kentucky.
I was shocked at the time I first heard the nickname of Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, he was dubbed the “The Greek Freak.” Freak has several definitions according to Dictionary.com in fact there are six definitions for the word. This is the definition that best speaks to Antetokounmpo; “Any abnormal phenomenon or product or unusual object; anomaly; aberration.”
This 6-11 222 big man is as smooth with the basketball as any 6-foot point guard check out these numbers. 22.8 points, 6.7 assists and 8.7 rebounds which are point guard numbers not that of a small forward.
This is one of those records that are difficult to comprehend, thanks Fran Fraschilla for pointing it out. Up to November 19 Bill Self teams have sustained 9 losses in 14 years at Allen Fieldhouse, that figures to about one home loss every two years. Talk about home court advantage that might exceed Calipari, Coach K. and Jim Boeheim or several others. Without research I would believe the late John Wooden at UCLA would be the only coach who might have exceeded or equaled the record over the same time frame.
