Basketball from a fans perspective
I might be wrong
At some point
in December I’m not exactly sure of the date, I pronounced Ben Simmons of the
Sixers 2018 NBA Rookie of the Year. My
assessment might have been premature, a challenger has emerged all the way from
Finland. That’s a little attempt at
humor, Lauri Markannen arrived in the NBA from Vantaa Finland and began play at
Arizona.
Markannen was made
the 7th pick by the Wolves who later traded his draft rights to the
Bulls. The 7-foot power forward moved
into the starting lineup and has been one of the bright spots in an otherwise dismal
season for the Bulls to this point. Markannen
is averaging nearly 16 points and 8 rebounds a game, over the last 10 games his
scoring average has risen to nearly 20 points a game. Even if he fails to win ROY he’s arrived as
an NBA force for the future.
Traded because he’s valuable
This might be
the rarest case of all, an NBA player traded BECAUSE he is
valuable. That is likely the case for
Laker reserve Jordan Clarkson. The
former Mizzou combo guard is the third leading scorer for the team and is a
serious challenger for Sixth Man of the Year in the NBA. His scoring prowess and point guard skills
make him a valuable commodity for several teams. The Lakers intend to trade him to free cap
space for a run at any of the 2018 NBA free-agents. An unusual situation a player traded due to
his value. Wherever this former Mizzou
guard lands I intend to continue following his NBA career.
Is it AAU
A portion of
the barber shop conversation dealt with the number of outstanding freshman this
season. It’s likely someone else will
come to the forefront prior to season end however these are the names the
gathering discussed:
DeAndre
Ayton-Arizona
Marvin Bagley
III-Duke
Trae
Young-Oklahoma
Michael Porter
Jr.-Mizzou
Mohamed
Bamba-Texas
Kevin
Knox-Kentucky
Wendell Carter
Jr-Duke
I pose the
question, is it AAU basketball or just plain talent that’s allowed these
youngsters the ability to make the leap smoothly from high school basketball to
the college level game. Excluding the injured Porter Jr. if I were the coach I
would have no hesitation in giving the ball in a tight game to take “the
shot”. What do you think, are they just
this good?
Far too many games
The legendary
Keith Jackson died recently at 89, the veteran broadcaster did it all, the
Olympics, NBA and college basketball and college football which he was most
known. Before the age of cable/satellite
television there was a requirement for a few broadcasters to handle all sports. We take a right turn and discuss another
aspect of sports broadcasting. I tuned
into local sports talk radio and the discussion centered on those who broadcast
the game. They said: “You turned on a
game and you have no idea who might be working behind the mic.” It’s clear they fail to take into
consideration the explosion of sports television at the time Jackson first
began broadcasting games in 1952.
