Basketball from a fans perspective
The combine
We’ve heard some negative comment on the NBA Draft Combine it was Kevin Durant followed by Kentucky Coach John Calipari agreeing with the statement. Its possible Durant might have ill feeling about the combine based on reports. It was announced Durant couldn’t bench press 185 pounds at the 2007 combine. As for 2017 he said; “If you’re guaranteed to be a 1st round pick why show up?”
The ESPN opening was quite interesting. Over Durant’s photo were the words Too Thin, then a shot of Isaiah Thomas with the words too short. Finally a shot of Step Curry with the words too small beneath his photo. So there you have it, some guys might have a requirement to attend the combine to prove they are not too thin, too short or too thin.
What could have been?
Life sometimes deals us a bad hand; the Celtics are in the playoffs. They have a nucleus of talented young players but what might have been is mind boggling. Yahoo NBA page published an account of 7 NBA players who died too soon; the Celtics had two of the seven. Maryland forward Len Bias was the second pick in the 1986 draft, Bias had star written all over him. He was a 6-9 210 pound small forward. Bias in celebratory mode partied with friends and took a fatal overdose of cocaine the same night he was drafted; he was 22-years old. The next season (1987) the Celtics drafted Reggie Lewis from Northeastern University.
Lewis as a reserve took awhile to ascend to the top of the rotation; in 1992 he became an NBA All Star. Lewis suffered sudden and fatal cardiac arrest during a pick up game in July 1993. Bias and Lewis were small forwards so one would have been forced to change positions but just think about the possibilities. A number of other factors contributed to the successive losing records of the Celtics. They might not have won if they had both in the lineup however they certainly would have been better than the prevailing record. The Celtics would not have a winning record until 2001-02.
AARP
For those reading this outside the country allow a brief explanation. AARP is the initials for the American Association of Retired Persons. It’s an organization with services specifically for retired persons. Now that’s out of the way allowing me to explain. Prior to Game Six at the AT&T Center the television camera captured a Spurs fan carrying an AARP sign.
The bottom portion contained the photos of Manu Ginobili (age 39) Tony Parker (34) and a third Spur which I couldn’t see. It could have been Pau Gasol (36) Joel Anthony or David Lee (both 34). The Spurs are an old NBA team yet continue to win and win and win. As this is written Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard both on the sidelines with injuries they are performing a beat down on the Rockets. The Spurs won the game 114-75 and the series 4-2.
Croatian Connection
Ivica Zubac has the size (7-1 240 pounds) and he has the desire. The question remains is he the Laker center of the future? It’s clear the Lakers believe he is the future, is he going to make fans forget Chamberlain, Abdul Jabbar or Shaq? I doubt that but I believe 2017-18 will show even more improvement in his play. The biggest take-away for me he is defensive minded, his offense is work in progress as his total game.
The Lakers don’t need Zubac to score they need him to block shots, clog the lane and snatch rebounds. Last season the Lakers had problems scoring but for the most part their problems were defensive. I hope Zubac plans on Summer League play, the only advantage Mozgov has at this point is a larger contract I could foresee Zubac in a role similar to Marc Gasol of the Grizzlies. Imagine this Zubac loves being a Laker; he’s been a Kobe and Laker fan since he was a child.
