Basketball from a
fan’s perspective
Ol Skool
Jason “White Chocolate” Williams had his best years in the NBA as a member of the Kings although he played for several NBA teams. His playground style game was electrifying, some might debate how effective his game translated to the NBA. Former NFL wide receiver Randy Moss at 6 foot 5 inches out leaped most of the defensive backs attempting to cover him. Imagine this, Williams tossing alley-opp passes to Moss while high school teammates.
I’m the lone soul
I believe I’m the only person in the nation maybe the world unimpressed with the game of Thunder guard Russell Westbrook. I didn’t say he wasn’t talented his game bothers me on so many other levels. He appears to be so concerned with triple-doubles it seriously impacts his game. In addition, I’ve witnessed instances 7-foot Steven Adams has moved in order to not impede Westbrook from grabbing the rebound. We get it the first time around, no one since the days of Oscar Robertson had recorded a triple-double over the course of a season. I was a skeptic; I didn’t believe he could accomplish the task. Westbrook proved me wrong and that’s okay, allow me to ask the question.
I believe I’m the only person in the nation maybe the world unimpressed with the game of Thunder guard Russell Westbrook. I didn’t say he wasn’t talented his game bothers me on so many other levels. He appears to be so concerned with triple-doubles it seriously impacts his game. In addition, I’ve witnessed instances 7-foot Steven Adams has moved in order to not impede Westbrook from grabbing the rebound. We get it the first time around, no one since the days of Oscar Robertson had recorded a triple-double over the course of a season. I was a skeptic; I didn’t believe he could accomplish the task. Westbrook proved me wrong and that’s okay, allow me to ask the question.
What have the
triple-doubles accomplished except to look good on Westbrooks resume? This is a recent example, he scored 20
points, but it took him 23 shots as he grabbed 20 rebounds along with 21
assists. The world was raving about the
game only Wilt Chamberlain had such a game, bet Wilt didn’t take 20+ shots to
score 20 points. The Thunder are no
closer to winning an NBA championship than ever. We know for a fact a championship team is
more than a single individual, that individual can contribute to the upward
mobility of a team. That player must be
willing to sacrifice something Westbrook seems to be unable or unwilling to
accomplish. One of my friends said, “He’s a talent but if I were starting a
team, I certainly wouldn’t begin it with him.”
This is different
If you haven’t read it allow a brief explanation. ESPN.com’s basketball recruiting page contains a column titled: RecruitingNation Class Rankings. Year after year the list gives us an indication by number which schools have recruited the top prospects in the nation. There are school’s that occasionally contain high profile prospects while others never make their Top 25 list. Kentucky, Kansas Duke and several others earn a spot on the list season after season.
If you haven’t read it allow a brief explanation. ESPN.com’s basketball recruiting page contains a column titled: RecruitingNation Class Rankings. Year after year the list gives us an indication by number which schools have recruited the top prospects in the nation. There are school’s that occasionally contain high profile prospects while others never make their Top 25 list. Kentucky, Kansas Duke and several others earn a spot on the list season after season.
It’s the middle of
May 2019 as this is written and missing from the list are the Kansas
Jayhawks. Rivals.com places a number on Kansas, they have the incoming list
ranked 49th in the nation.
Imagine that an incoming cast of Kansas prospects holding that position in the
nation. For the first time in recent
memory the incoming number are not highly ranked McDonald or Rivals
talent. What in the world is going on
with the program? Could prospects avoid
Kansas figuring a penalty is forthcoming from the Adidas fall-out? You know me by
now, Captain Speculation.
He made a huge mistake
D’Angelo Russell made a huge mistake; he betrayed the trust of a Laker teammate. Russell turned 23 in February, he was a ripe old 20 or 21 when the incident took place. Others might question me regarding this statement life circumstances forced me to become mature as a 20-year-old. I don’t believe I’m the single one, I’m likely one of several million, lets state Russell was not one of them. Magic Johnson made a huge mistake too; he traded the young point guard believing he wasn’t the leader for the Lakers.
D’Angelo Russell made a huge mistake; he betrayed the trust of a Laker teammate. Russell turned 23 in February, he was a ripe old 20 or 21 when the incident took place. Others might question me regarding this statement life circumstances forced me to become mature as a 20-year-old. I don’t believe I’m the single one, I’m likely one of several million, lets state Russell was not one of them. Magic Johnson made a huge mistake too; he traded the young point guard believing he wasn’t the leader for the Lakers.
The Nets are liable
to not advance in the playoffs however they did earn a place something the
Johnson led Lakers were unable to accomplish.
Perhaps Russell will never lead the Nets to championship contention,
perhaps he’ll never earn another All-Star honor. Perhaps Lonzo Ball is a better defender but
this we know for a fact Russell can outshoot Ball any day of the week and twice
on Sunday. Did Magic Johnson make the
trade due to a youthful indiscretion?
Although Magic is no longer making decisions drafting Ball and trading
Russell might become his epitaph the brief time he was president of the
Lakers.
Draft Combine
The annual NBA Draft Combine will be held next month, May 15-19 in Chicago. There are two reasons I believe a prospect attends, there might be more however these are off the top of my head. A. He’s likely a second-round draft pick and hopes to move into the first round. B. His name is not listed anywhere so he attends to prove his skill set indicates he’s got NBA potential. There might be other scenarios but those are the only two that come to mind. Athletes with “inside-information” rarely attend the gathering for fear a poor showing will cause their stock to slide downward. I could only come up with two, do you think there might be more?
The annual NBA Draft Combine will be held next month, May 15-19 in Chicago. There are two reasons I believe a prospect attends, there might be more however these are off the top of my head. A. He’s likely a second-round draft pick and hopes to move into the first round. B. His name is not listed anywhere so he attends to prove his skill set indicates he’s got NBA potential. There might be other scenarios but those are the only two that come to mind. Athletes with “inside-information” rarely attend the gathering for fear a poor showing will cause their stock to slide downward. I could only come up with two, do you think there might be more?
