Basketball from a fan’s perspective

Did you read this?
“Shaq says he wouldn’t develop a three if he played in the league today.  I’m not gonna do what everybody else does. Everyone else is gonna have to try to stop me. … You don’t want that funk down low.” If you had an opportunity to see the younger version of Shaquille O’Neal, you fully appreciate and understand his statement.  Only a few tough and brave souls challenged him in the area immediately around the basket.  He once pulled down an NBA backboard causing the entire stanchion to collapse while he was a member of the Magic.  Keep in mind this occurred long after collapsible rims were in place, just shows you the brute force Shaq often attacked the rim.  I’ve stated this previously, I miss the days of center play.  A 7 foot center shooting 3’s is not for me even if they are dead eye shooters. 

I don’t watch it
One of the local stations runs a program titled “Locker Room” on their lineup.  I could be mistaken but I thought it was just about the NFL Chiefs.  In any event she had them run a clip of the program on the 10:00 p.m. news.  The person talking was unfamiliar to me, but this is the basis for my writing.  He said, “Kansas didn’t have any players selected in the draft so that’s a good thing, they can return to school.” 

Well that’s not exactly a positive in my book, Mizzou’s Jontay Porter wasn’t drafted either.  I certainly don’t believe Jontay or those Kansas reports not selected are viewing their current status as a positive.  It’s likely NBA scouts and front office people were unable to project Jontay or the Kansas players as NBA worthy, just my thoughts don’t make it correct. 

Who is he?
The Lakers traded their number 4 pick in the 2019 draft in the Anthony Davis exchange, they had no second-round pick until they swung a trade.  They selected Talen Horton-Tucker from Iowa State with the 46 pick, he’s a 6-foot 4-inch 235-pound combo player.  He’s likely to play shooting guard although he’s got a 7-foot 1-inch wingspan plus Kawhi Leonard size hands.  Thus you understand why he might be considered for two positions. 

Now for a little more detail his field good shooting was only average from the floor.  Horton-Tucker is not a particularly sound free-throw shooter averaging somewhere in the 60% range, with the description what does Horton-Tucker bring to the Lakers that makes him a valuable acquisition?  He’s got an NBA body; he’s hardly going to be man-handled wherever he is on the floor.  It appears the Lakers might play him some at the small forward position. There you have it, all I can gather regarding Horton-Tucker in 9 sentences, sure hope he can play.

Skyhook
The headline refers to the patented hook shot of Kareem Abdul Jabbar.  He didn’t invent the hook shot nor was he the first to ever shoot it.  It became perfection for him a shot that none of the opposition could block.  Where did the term originate you ask, former Bucks broadcaster Eddie Doucette is credited with it?  In those days’ broadcasters were not seated court side as they are today.  He says he first used it in a double-overtime playoff game against the Celtics in 1974.  In the balcony broadcasting the game Doucette said; “sitting at that level it appeared the shot was coming out of the sky.” 

The shot won the playoff game for the Bucks and the rest is history.  It’s interesting it’s claimed no opposing player of that era including Wilt Chamberlain ever blocked the shot.  Did Kareem miss, of course he did but the accuracy and distance he was able to score baskets was amazing.  In those days the NBA was far rawer than now, opposing centers would utilize all manners of physical effort some legal and much of it illegal (if they could hide it) to slow him down.  No one to this day has been able to duplicate that shot.  We witness jump hooks day in and day out but nothing resembling that skyhook.  The game’s changed but I wonder if one of today’s centers perfected it what might occur, interesting thought. 

Ball in the family
There will be another Ball in the NBA in 2020 and it appears he’s talented.  The youngest son LaMelo is projected as a first-round pick on two mock draft sites nbadraft.net and nbadraftroom.com.  You remember the story; he was headed to play college basketball however that was far fetched.  No way would the NCAA deem him eligible after playing at the pro level in Lithuania. 

We can look at Enes Kanter now with the Blazers, originally, he attempted to enroll at Kentucky.  Memory says it was discovered “he was paid” and the NCAA declared him ineligible.  The youngest Ball sibling has continued to grow, he now stands 6 foot 7 or 6 foot 8 depending on your source but weighs a lean 180 pounds.  One mock site nbadraft.net has Ball as the number 3 pick while nbadraftroom.com has Ball at 22.  “He doesn't defend very well and will have to give better effort on that side of the ball, but he's got the tools” says nbadraftroom.com.