Basketball from a
fans perspective
I confess
This is going to be shocking to many of you, I watch summer basketball but not with the same interest of the regular season or playoff basketball. The reason is simple, many teams’ rosters are packed with names unfamiliar to me. Yes, I check out the Lakers from start to finish excepting the 10:30 p.m. start time of a few games. I cannot stay up till 12:30 or near 1:00 a.m. to the games conclusion.
As for others I’ve seen the
Knicks Kevin Knox, Trae Young of the Hawks and guard Collin Sexton of the
Cavs. I almost forgot I’ve seen DeAndre
Ayton and Mo Bamba a couple of times since summer league play began. The one disappointment is Luka Doncic will
not play, I was certainly looking forward to seeing the youngsters game. Summer league is not a true test, that begins
in late October. At the same time, it
does allow us to see many of the newly drafted players in a different
environment.
He might miss the cut
I have no ability to peer into the future, at the same time I’ve mentioned this previously. We must wait until January or February to determine a rookies ability, even one year might not be enough time to fully evaluate talent. What am I talking about you ask? Trae Young is the athlete in question, how does one decide he’s not NBA ready without seeing him in action. I’m going to return to the statement made by a scout.
He might miss the cut
I have no ability to peer into the future, at the same time I’ve mentioned this previously. We must wait until January or February to determine a rookies ability, even one year might not be enough time to fully evaluate talent. What am I talking about you ask? Trae Young is the athlete in question, how does one decide he’s not NBA ready without seeing him in action. I’m going to return to the statement made by a scout.
He said, “They (other NBA
teams) want be able to throw those junk defenses at him.” The secondary issue, Oklahoma basketball
other than Trae Young was not very good, a local radio host even accused Lon
Kruger of “Just collecting checks and not doing much coaching.” I find that statement appalling and one thing
for sure, he’d never make a similar statement regarding Bill Self. If fact the cloud hovering over Kansas
basketball this host has been critical of the administration but hardly a peep
about Self.
She laughed at me
In between bowling I asked our resident Bulls fan if she was satisfied with the Bulls draft choice. She shook her head yes and then offered this tidbit. “Looks as though Carmelo might be headed to the Rockets.” I said, “That’s okay I don’t want him on the Lakers.” She laughed at me, “Didn’t you say the same thing about LeBron James.” She was correct, I did make the statement about LeBron, for the 99th time it was not a talent issue. I believe Carmelo to be a very talented player however unlike LeBron his skill level has diminished in my opinion. The Laker youngsters might defer to LeBron and hinder their development. My hope is this change will not hinder their NBA growth
She laughed at me
In between bowling I asked our resident Bulls fan if she was satisfied with the Bulls draft choice. She shook her head yes and then offered this tidbit. “Looks as though Carmelo might be headed to the Rockets.” I said, “That’s okay I don’t want him on the Lakers.” She laughed at me, “Didn’t you say the same thing about LeBron James.” She was correct, I did make the statement about LeBron, for the 99th time it was not a talent issue. I believe Carmelo to be a very talented player however unlike LeBron his skill level has diminished in my opinion. The Laker youngsters might defer to LeBron and hinder their development. My hope is this change will not hinder their NBA growth
I will reserve my thoughts and judgement for awhile
This will be published after the NBA Championship is complete, its written May 29th. After the playoff series versus the Celtics a local sports talk radio host decided, “In my eyes LeBron has surpassed Michael Jordan.” Only in one instance did he attempt to prove his point by commenting on skill. His commentary became a point-counterpoint argument. “Michael’s not a nice guy, coaches teammates and opponents will testify to that, LeBron walks off the court picks up his kids he’s a family man. What’s not to like about LeBron James is the question?”
This will be published after the NBA Championship is complete, its written May 29th. After the playoff series versus the Celtics a local sports talk radio host decided, “In my eyes LeBron has surpassed Michael Jordan.” Only in one instance did he attempt to prove his point by commenting on skill. His commentary became a point-counterpoint argument. “Michael’s not a nice guy, coaches teammates and opponents will testify to that, LeBron walks off the court picks up his kids he’s a family man. What’s not to like about LeBron James is the question?”
I could go on, but I hope
you get the point, I’ve grown so tired of these types of discussions. This host is probably in his late 40’s or
early 50’s so he never witnessed Oscar Robertson. He inferred watching games of Robertson on
ESPN Classic his teams “were on the level of Sue Bird’s WNBA teams.” First, these types of arguments (or
discussions if you prefer) are never decided.
If you have 10 friends who claim LeBron is the greatest ever I can
locate 10 of mine who will argue the opposite.
I guess these make for a radio audience but frankly they fail to impress
me.
