Basketball from a fans perspective
Published Monday through Friday
Part Deux
Despite his tenure with the Knicks Phil Jackson’s legacy is sealed. 11 times the former Bulls and Lakers coach won championships; only the late Red Auerbach of the Celtics can be part of the conversation. Although PJ had no front-office experience in 2014 when he was hired I believed in his ability to lead. This is written prior to the press conference so I could be off-base but these are points I see. Maybe the job of re-tooling the Knicks was too difficult for him to handle. I find it difficult to believe PJ didn’t devote enough time to the job. Finally the insistence by PJ Knick coaches run the Triangle Offense.
We heard from "yelling" Stephen A. Smith regarding the Jackson firing. Naturally Smith is pleased with the move however I’ve got a question for him. Does he believe potential free agents will be headed to the Knicks in droves now that Jackson is no longer there? The Knicks have the same problem Smith claims the Lakers have; bad teams don’t attract quality free agents. While Smith is dancing in the streets he seems to have forgotten James Dolan remains the owner. Until we witness a true turn around in performance NYC will remain the home of the Giants, Yankees, Mets and tourism.
Another blockbuster move
It’s not July yet the opening date of free-agency frenzy, the first big move didn’t come through free-agency but rather a trade. (Don’t count Phil Jackson because it was no player movement). Chris Paul to the Rockets for Patrick Beverly, Lou Williams, Sam Dekker and a draft choice. The trade is not finalized yet but all indications point to the fact it’s a done deal.
Once the season begins the Rockets will have Paul at the point and James Harden will return to the shooting guard. Patrick Beverly is a better defender than Paul but certainly lacks the skill of Paul in running an offense. Was this the first move, what about free-agents Blake Griffin and J.J. Redick, how about center DeAndre Jordan. The NBA season will be interesting in Clipperland and Houston.
There are times
Do you remember the first time you witnessed LeBron James in a high school game. In an earlier time it might have been a young Kobe Bryant or Kevin Garnett, they demonstrated their games were superior to their high school competition. That’s me and Zion Williamson the soon to be 17 year old. ESPN awards him 5-stars and list him the number two prospect in 2018. Rivals give him 5-stars and they also rate him at two.
Williamson is a 6-7 230 pound forward, his height says small forward however 230 pounds says power forward how about a forward for now. Williamson from Spartanburg (SC) has offers from a number of programs across the country far too many to count. Williamson’s game is one of power dunks from video I’ve witnessed they detail very little outside game. I’m not saying he doesn’t have an outside game in his repertoire it seems power dunks make better video.
Why?
I wonder at times why people are so negative; to prove their point they offer an unconnected occurrence for their belief. Here I go again; I have no idea if Magic Johnson can turn the Lakers around. My first word is give him a chance if he fails as Jim Buss did then fire his @##***. A writer claimed he couldn’t believe Magic could return the team to its previous glory. He used two examples of failure as a basis for his anti-Magic discussion. The writer pointed to Magic’s tenure as Laker coach and the time period he served as a television analyst.
Guess what fans neither of those examples of “failure” have any connection to building a basketball team. If we travel back to 1994 Magic took over the Lakers replacing Randy Pfund and Bill Bertka. I’m unsure if there was ever any attempt by him to remain in place as head coach. As for the analyst position he just many have not been cut out for that role. This former player might know the ABC’s of running a team but not have the ability to communicate that fact to a television audience.
