Basketball from a fans perspective
Finland in the house
Despite what you might believe Lauri Markkanen will not be the first NBA player from Finland. I check the records there have been two other players from that northern nation. The 7-foot Markanen is a projected lottery pick so it’s understandable he’d leave Arizona after but one year.
Where do you recruit?
The other day a conversation was held on the blue-blood college programs and where they secure talent. California with its vast population and talent UCLA has the entire state to recruit. Kansas with smaller populace than all the schools must recruit nationwide. Although the population is larger Kentucky also recruit’s the country. North Carolina and Duke with talent and a large population is able to recruit a great deal of its team from within the state. What do you think is this belief valid?
Coach of the Year
Warriors Coach Steve Kerr called Mike D’Antoni Coach of the Year, if you remember last week I said D’Antoni was MVP. I made the statement based on the Rockets improved play over last system, the finger in this instance can be pointed at the coach. The roster has changed but not substantially so it’s D’Antoni’s offense and “The Beard.” James Harden has experienced an MVP year in part due to his talent and the balance D’Antoni’s offense.
In exclusive company
The McDonald’s All-Star game is just that---a game. In addition All-Star games are played for fans not much structure to them. The assembly of talent has little practice time to truly become a “team.” Michael Porter Jr. (Mizzou) was selected game MVP for the Wednesday evenings Chicago game.
I checked the list of McDonalds MVP’s over the years, a number have faded into oblivion however several became valuable NBA talent. In 2014 Jahlil Okafor was MVP, in 2013 slam dunk specialist Aaron Gordon. How about Kevin Durant in 2006 or LeBron James in 2003, we could travel back in time to 1995 to locate a Kevin Garnett. How about these names, in 1991 it was Chris Webber and 1989 Shaquille O’Neal were named game MVP‘s.
NBA Expansion
We’ve discussed expansion in Words on several occasions. It’s possible now that the CBA is a signed agreement. It’s possible at a future date the NBA could add two teams. If expansion comes it will be two teams for obvious reasons, balance. There are 30 NBA teams why add a single team requiring an unbalanced schedule. We’ll move the Grizz into the Eastern Conference and the Bucks into the Western Conference but those are considerations once expansion is complete. I located 5 on-line stories regarding NBA expansion, most contained the same list of cities. The candidates for expansion:
Louisville
St. Louis
Seattle
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Anaheim (CA)
Hampton (VA)
Austin (TX)
Mexico City
Virginia Beach
Pittsburgh
Chicago
Cincinnati
Vancouver
New York
Seattle is certainly the leading candidate, which leaves one other city which one is it? The NBA wants to expand in a market where success of a franchise is almost guaranteed. That could be Chicago with the population and interest; would the Bulls ownership be willing to share the market with another? New York has two NBA teams; consider the city once had three baseball teams. The Greater Mexico City population is over 21 million folks and the NBA might desire to return to this Canadian city again so Vancouver? Las Vegas is home to the NBA Summer League but has no other professional teams; the gambling issue appears to be in the rear-view mirror.
