BASKETBALL FROM A FANS
PERSPECTIVE
How tall…. that tall
There are other examples, 7-foot 1-inch Shaquille O’Neal matched against 7-foot 6-inch Yao Ming comes to mind. This is a more recent example of a height difference between two extremely tall guys. Former Houston Cougar Hakeem Olajuwon standing 7-feet tall was posed next to 7-foot 6-inch Tacko Fall.
The television camera pointed out Tacko was clearly a head taller than Olajuwon. Probably one of the few times Olajuwon was forced to look up at someone. We could make the same comment regarding Shaq and Yao at the time they faced one another. The jury is till out regarding an NBA career for Tacko, a Warriors type team might sign him as a defensive specialist.
There are other examples, 7-foot 1-inch Shaquille O’Neal matched against 7-foot 6-inch Yao Ming comes to mind. This is a more recent example of a height difference between two extremely tall guys. Former Houston Cougar Hakeem Olajuwon standing 7-feet tall was posed next to 7-foot 6-inch Tacko Fall.
The television camera pointed out Tacko was clearly a head taller than Olajuwon. Probably one of the few times Olajuwon was forced to look up at someone. We could make the same comment regarding Shaq and Yao at the time they faced one another. The jury is till out regarding an NBA career for Tacko, a Warriors type team might sign him as a defensive specialist.
An enigma
Everyone has one, you know them, don’t you? That co-worker who arrives at work and you have no idea what to expect of him. One day he’s good-humored and pleased, he’s prepared for the day whatever the outcome. On other days he arrives, sits at his desk and moves at a snail pace all day long. Questions to him are met with curt and short responses. He provides his fellow co-workers little help whatsoever. He’s got the blues and you can’t figure out why, you reach the point you begin to say, “is it worth it.”
Everyone has one, you know them, don’t you? That co-worker who arrives at work and you have no idea what to expect of him. One day he’s good-humored and pleased, he’s prepared for the day whatever the outcome. On other days he arrives, sits at his desk and moves at a snail pace all day long. Questions to him are met with curt and short responses. He provides his fellow co-workers little help whatsoever. He’s got the blues and you can’t figure out why, you reach the point you begin to say, “is it worth it.”
That’s Laker Nation for much of the
2018-19 season, most were probably not expecting an NBA championship in year
one of LeBron. They were expecting to
earn a playoff berth, that’s highly unlikely.
At this point there is a question which is the worst team in the
NBA? Is it the Knicks or the Suns,
unfortunately this version of the Lakers has lost games to both teams? What do
you do, you prepare for the NBA draft, free-agency and summer basketball? That’s all there is in early March with the
playoffs only a remote possibility.
No excuse
Mizzou won a game, they beat South Carolina 73-68 breaking a 4-game losing streak. Despite the win the boo-birds are out in force. The complaints revolve around the team as much as coach Cuonzo Martin. I admit I’m only familiar with Martin from his coaching stops and even not closely. When it became apparent Mizzou require a coaching change there were a few names mentioned.
Mizzou won a game, they beat South Carolina 73-68 breaking a 4-game losing streak. Despite the win the boo-birds are out in force. The complaints revolve around the team as much as coach Cuonzo Martin. I admit I’m only familiar with Martin from his coaching stops and even not closely. When it became apparent Mizzou require a coaching change there were a few names mentioned.
Bruce Pearl was one of the names
mentioned as a possible hire and later we begin to hear the name Cuonzo
Martin. His bio indicated only one
losing season at Missouri State, Tennessee and Cal, we believed he’d be a good
hire based on his past record. He’s a
good at recruiting talent but is not an in-game coach. For me I’m too engrossed in games to note a
coach’s substitution of players or what defensive scheme there in. I could mention injuries however that would
be making an excuse.
Magic missed this one
I remain confident in Magic Johnson however he missed this one, I’m referring to the Lakers trade of D’Angelo Russell. Since the trade I haven’t seen enough of Russell to make a judgement of his defensive game. Russell’s offensive game is clearly above that of Lonzo Ball. His improvement was noticed by fans and the league, he made the All-Star team for the first time in his short NBA career. He’s scoring nearly 21 points a game for the Nets along with 7 assists and 4 rebounds a game, great numbers for a point guard.
I remain confident in Magic Johnson however he missed this one, I’m referring to the Lakers trade of D’Angelo Russell. Since the trade I haven’t seen enough of Russell to make a judgement of his defensive game. Russell’s offensive game is clearly above that of Lonzo Ball. His improvement was noticed by fans and the league, he made the All-Star team for the first time in his short NBA career. He’s scoring nearly 21 points a game for the Nets along with 7 assists and 4 rebounds a game, great numbers for a point guard.
These are the words of Magic June
2017. "D'Angelo is an excellent player," Johnson said Friday when
the Lakers introduced their top
draft pick, point guard Lonzo Ball, at their practice facility. "He has
the talent to be an All-Star. We want to thank him for what he did for us. But
what I needed was a leader. I needed somebody also that can make the other
players better and also [somebody] that players want to play with."* I was on board with the trade initially believing Magic had
working knowledge of the issues, now I'm not so sure.
*ESPN.com
