BASKETBALL FROM A FANS PERSPECTIVE
No love for the Big Man
Joel Embiid questioned during an NBA TV interview made the statement above , it’s true if you think about it. Wilt Chamberlain once said, “Nobody roots for Goliath” and it just might be accurate. Although the game remains tailored for Big Men they are excluded when it comes to marketing a product. Doesn’t matter what type of merchandise, it could be basketball shoes, soft drinks or McDonalds Big Macs.
Joel Embiid questioned during an NBA TV interview made the statement above , it’s true if you think about it. Wilt Chamberlain once said, “Nobody roots for Goliath” and it just might be accurate. Although the game remains tailored for Big Men they are excluded when it comes to marketing a product. Doesn’t matter what type of merchandise, it could be basketball shoes, soft drinks or McDonalds Big Macs.
The movie roles have been questionable as
well, remember Roger Murdock a.k.a. Kareem Abdul Jabbar in Airplane or Shaq in Kazaam? I could bet money you never witnessed the
Spurs David Robinson or Tim Duncan hawking a product. We could make the same statement about greats
of the past, Bill Russell, Moses Malone and others. I guess the marketing folks believe someone
even 6 foot 8 is a better spokesperson for their product than a 7-footer.
I’m defending LeBron
The potential 2019 top draft pick Zion Williamson had two guests in attendance at a recent Duke game, LeBron James and his agent Rich Paul. We live in a different age, almost immediately tongues began wiggling, “They (LeBron & Paul) were there to recruit Williamson to Klutch Sports.” Neither LeBron or Paul has me on speed dial, I’m unsure they even talked to the Duke phenom especially Paul.
The potential 2019 top draft pick Zion Williamson had two guests in attendance at a recent Duke game, LeBron James and his agent Rich Paul. We live in a different age, almost immediately tongues began wiggling, “They (LeBron & Paul) were there to recruit Williamson to Klutch Sports.” Neither LeBron or Paul has me on speed dial, I’m unsure they even talked to the Duke phenom especially Paul.
If Williamson had been contacted by Paul
it certainly would affect his amateur status.
As for LeBron he took it one step further by mentioning Shaq and Iverson
had attend his high school games. A week
or so ago I wrote of the belief in conspiracies by many. Should Williamson “sign” with Klutch the visit will be the basis, this despite the
fact we have FB messenger, email and other methods of guarding a secret
arrangement.
Coaching can be a detriment
If I said Kentucky basketball your first thought, it might be Wildcat basketball and and one of the numerous players John Calipari has sent to the NBA. It might be shocking but in 2019 the most popular player in the State of Kentucky doesn’t play in Lexington he plays in Murray Kentucky and his name is Ja Morant. The 6-foot 3-inch point guard has leaped from a relative unknown to the possible number two pick in the NBA 2019 draft. From what I read about coach Matt McMahon his story sounded familiar to one I’d heard previously.
If I said Kentucky basketball your first thought, it might be Wildcat basketball and and one of the numerous players John Calipari has sent to the NBA. It might be shocking but in 2019 the most popular player in the State of Kentucky doesn’t play in Lexington he plays in Murray Kentucky and his name is Ja Morant. The 6-foot 3-inch point guard has leaped from a relative unknown to the possible number two pick in the NBA 2019 draft. From what I read about coach Matt McMahon his story sounded familiar to one I’d heard previously.
Our trainer was a former track coach, he
told us once he had a natural 100-meter dash sprinter in high school. He began attempting to train him in various
aspects of the race and guess what…. he said his student began running slower times
after his coaching tips. Here’s what
McMahon said about Morant, “Part of
coaching him, (Morant) I think, is
staying out the way just letting him orchestrate the flow of the game.” It’s likely McMahon still runs the team but
he’s simply pointing out Morant is a natural needing little coaching. Coaching can be a detriment to him.
SportsCenter and YouTube video fails to
fully focus on the talent of Ja Morant.
Murray State has few opportunities for a national audience, Thursday
evening was quite different, there was an ESPN2 audience. The opposition was arch rival Austin Peay, one
of the NBA mock draft sites referred to Morant as a “Taller Iverson, Turbo
D’Angelo.” Morant didn’t shoot an especially
high percentage, he often faced two or three defenders at times. Despite the tough defense Morant managed to
score 32 points with 7 assists and 2 rebounds leading to a 73-71 victory. There were no fantastic dunks likely due to
the Austin Peay defense.
Judged
on a trade
We listened to a discussion of Hawks
rookie Trae Young. Up front let’s say
the Hawks are terrible, they need more than Young to help them. With that statement out of the way the
trade. The Hawks drafted Luka Doncic,
the Mavs then drafted Young and the players were traded for one another. Likely Doncic will be named Rookie of the
Year but what about Young? Will Young’s
career forever be tied to Doncic and is that fair?
Whoever said life is fair but consider
one fact. Young is experiencing a good
rookie season, as this is written he’s scoring 16.9 ppg along with 7.6 assists. His field goal percentage .406 is not
particularly good however consider this fact.
Jason Kidd shot .385 in his rookie year, Russell Westbrook .398. This is no declaration Young will duplicate
the career of either player however it points out a fact. Improvement is highly possible and likely for
Young; his rights were traded for Doncic but don’t judge his career based on a
draft night trade
