Basketball from a
fan’s perspective
I showed you mine, show me yours!
Without listening to or reading any of the sports experts I provided you my first five picks for the 2019 draft. I want to look at my Lakers specifically and the choices for several websites. Despite my belief in a big man it appears journalist don’t subscribe to my view. You might remember I said Texas center Jaxson Hayes or Bol Bol Oregon center.
I checked several mock draft websites, unless the Lakers trade the pick it appears most of the sites agree who the Lakers choose. As an example, nbadraftroom.com says the Lakers will pick Jarrett Culver Texas Tech shooting guard which agrees with nbcsports.com, tankathon.com and sbnation.com. CBSsports.com says its DeAndre Hunter Virginia forward which agrees with bleacherreport.com. and Yahoo.com. Finally, a different viewpoint, sportingnews.com has the Lakers choosing point guard Darius Garland Vanderbilt.
One more lottery story
I was asked by an NFL fan “Why does the NBA conduct a lottery?” We can lay the blame on the Houston Rockets, it’s their fault. See in 1983 they drafted 7-4 Ralph Sampson who became Rookie of the Year, he had an outstanding career before injuries impacted him. Sampson’s All-American numbers at Virginia led him to be enshrined in the College Basketball Hall of Fame. Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon also had a sterling college career, his at the University of Houston. Everyone believes the Rockets had no desire for Hakeem to leave Houston if they could fix it. Even with Sampson on the roster the Rockets were a below .500 team. Late in the 1984 NBA regular season the Rockets were playing the Kansas City Kings and on the road to the worst record in the NBA.
At some point in the 3rd quarter Bill Fitch then head coach began pulling his starting team with the Rockets holding a 16-18-point lead. Now we know that’s not an insurmountable lead for an NBA team even a bad Kings team. It was reported the coach never returned his starters to the floor and the Kings prevailed. The Rockets would finish with the worst won-loss record thus allowing them to draft Olajuwon. The very next season the lottery was instituted to address teams tanking, the lottery Knicks drafted Patrick Ewing being the top prospect in 1985. Can I provide proof the Rockets lost that game on purpose…I certainly can’t? It’s one of those conspiracy stories that continues to circulate about the NBA. You know the “bent” or “frozen card” in the hopper that allowed the Knicks to draft Patrick Ewing. Despite a lottery system being implemented the conspiracy theorists continue to scream “fix” for the ’85 draft.
I was asked by an NFL fan “Why does the NBA conduct a lottery?” We can lay the blame on the Houston Rockets, it’s their fault. See in 1983 they drafted 7-4 Ralph Sampson who became Rookie of the Year, he had an outstanding career before injuries impacted him. Sampson’s All-American numbers at Virginia led him to be enshrined in the College Basketball Hall of Fame. Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon also had a sterling college career, his at the University of Houston. Everyone believes the Rockets had no desire for Hakeem to leave Houston if they could fix it. Even with Sampson on the roster the Rockets were a below .500 team. Late in the 1984 NBA regular season the Rockets were playing the Kansas City Kings and on the road to the worst record in the NBA.
At some point in the 3rd quarter Bill Fitch then head coach began pulling his starting team with the Rockets holding a 16-18-point lead. Now we know that’s not an insurmountable lead for an NBA team even a bad Kings team. It was reported the coach never returned his starters to the floor and the Kings prevailed. The Rockets would finish with the worst won-loss record thus allowing them to draft Olajuwon. The very next season the lottery was instituted to address teams tanking, the lottery Knicks drafted Patrick Ewing being the top prospect in 1985. Can I provide proof the Rockets lost that game on purpose…I certainly can’t? It’s one of those conspiracy stories that continues to circulate about the NBA. You know the “bent” or “frozen card” in the hopper that allowed the Knicks to draft Patrick Ewing. Despite a lottery system being implemented the conspiracy theorists continue to scream “fix” for the ’85 draft.
This town ain’t big enough
That was the line uttered in many a 1950 Western movie. The sheriff or a good guy would inform the villain “This town ain’t big enough for the both of us.” It was an implied threat someone had to leave. Entertainer Ice Cube said essentially the same thing when appearing on ESPN’s “The Jump.” He said “The Clippers don’t have a chance to take the city. I’ve been saying this since ’84. They need to just go, and I think Seattle really loves basketball.” Well I’m not too sure I agree with Ice Cube, let’s check further.
That was the line uttered in many a 1950 Western movie. The sheriff or a good guy would inform the villain “This town ain’t big enough for the both of us.” It was an implied threat someone had to leave. Entertainer Ice Cube said essentially the same thing when appearing on ESPN’s “The Jump.” He said “The Clippers don’t have a chance to take the city. I’ve been saying this since ’84. They need to just go, and I think Seattle really loves basketball.” Well I’m not too sure I agree with Ice Cube, let’s check further.
The Clippers made
the playoffs after missing last season, they were eliminated but the future
holds potential greatness. In the great
north is local guy Kawhi Leonard, he might yet prefer to play in Southern
Cal. Which team holds more promise for
the future the Clippers or Lakers? Kevin
Durant, Kyrie Irving and other high-profile candidates are waiting in the
wings. On the other hand, perhaps Ice
Cube is correct, despite missing the playoffs for the 6th straight
year in the minds of SoCal it remains the Lakers. They have become an institution no matter how
dysfunctional they appear in recent years.
This is different
Bill Self like Cuonzo Martin is on the recruiting trail. For unclear reasons, pure speculation on my part as to why, we checked the Top 25 recruiting programs across the nation and Kansas was missing. 247Sports.com published their list of programs and Kansas is listed as number 31. A further surprise Mizzou is 34 on the list, I cannot remember a point in time the two former rivals were so close in recruiting talent. Kansas basketball is always light years ahead of Mizzou but not this year so far.
Bill Self like Cuonzo Martin is on the recruiting trail. For unclear reasons, pure speculation on my part as to why, we checked the Top 25 recruiting programs across the nation and Kansas was missing. 247Sports.com published their list of programs and Kansas is listed as number 31. A further surprise Mizzou is 34 on the list, I cannot remember a point in time the two former rivals were so close in recruiting talent. Kansas basketball is always light years ahead of Mizzou but not this year so far.
