Basketball from a fans perspective
Surprises thus far
The Clippers and Thunder are 5-1; the Cavs are 6-0 not surprising to begin the season. On the negative side, the Pelicans stand 0-6 the Mavs (1-5) and Wolves (1-4) are a little surprising. Anthony Davis has gotten off to a spectacularly great start but his Pelicans remain stuck in mud unable to gain any traction. The Pelicans finished last season 30-52 so a much better start was expected. In closing I must include my Lakers in the surprise category, I wanted improvement and thus far (4-3) have received it. Check back with me at the end of December on this one.
Another Curry
Younger brother Seth is playing for the Mavs now. Isn’t it interesting Steph matriculated at Davidson while younger brother Seth played at Duke under Coach K.? What am I trying to prove you ask, doesn’t matter where you play if you have talent it will display at the NBA level. For all you folks who believe I’m critical of younger brother Seth that’s not the case, it’s a talent issue.
The Invisible Man
In the H.G. Wells novel the main characters name is Griffin, in the 1897 story he experiments with chemicals which cause him to become invisible. That’s not the same for Oregon Coach Dana Altman we can see him clearly. The difference despite 27 years of coaching he’s a name likely left out of the equation when a discussion ensues on quality coaches. If you check his record he’s been a winner despite criticism. It appeared he’d turned around the Kansas State program but failed to raise to the level of Kansas.
Inheriting a bad K-State program he was only given fours years in my view not enough time that’s all allowed him. Altman journeyed to Mo Valley Creighton where he coached from 1994 to 2010 where his teams won 20+ games in 11 seasons. Same story after being hired at Oregon and last year his team finished 31-7 and 1st place in the Pac 12. The Ducks made the NCAA Elite Eight before bowing out, they are favored in the conference for the 2016-17 season. Next time in your discussion of coaches you need to include Dana Altman in the conversation.
Purchase your playoff tickets
The Lakers make the playoffs, Lakers make the playoffs! On the ESPN.com NBA page the Lakers are in 7th place which would earn them a playoff spot in the tough Western Conference. Just kidding folks the Lakers are likely two years from the playoffs. After the Sunday win against the Suns the team stand 4 up and 3 down. This time last year the Lakers stood 1-5. The latest power ratings from NBA.com have the Lakers penciled in at the 11th best team in the NBA. The chief concern to date from this fan’s view is team defense, Nick Young (imagine this) is leading the way for the young team.
He’s no longer Swaggy P. to me the new and improved version plays both sides of the court. Is this why Byron Scott continues to fuss over his firing, could he foresee this team turning the corner? I would my prior statement in the realm of maybe. Much as I loved “Showtime” Byron Scott I grew to have issues with “Coach” Byron Scott. Perhaps a number of the Laker youngsters especially D’Angelo Russell had issues with Scott’s coaching provisions. I’m not on either side but remind you of the old adage. A team having problems between a player(s) and coach who is the one usually fired?
