Basketball from a fan’s perspective

Haters be hatin’
Just a short time ago Laker haters were belly laughing at the dysfunction that appeared to exist in the team’s front office.  Magic Johnson’s sudden resignation followed up by him blasting Pelinka in an ESPN morning program.  There was laughter by all, after the acquisition of Anthony Davis the laughter ended.  As this is written we are on the cusp of a Kawhi Leonard decision, the following email response is most definitely a Laker hater.     

“What are they trying to do monopolize all the talent” which is probably funnier to me than the initiator of the letter.  I have no idea if Kawhi chooses the Lakers and neither does this writer.  The Lakers front office made/makes mistakes, I remain skeptical of Rob Pelinka however he’s in place and I’m not.  We don’t know if there is one person or several persons calling the shots now, all we in Laker Nation can do is relax and see what unfolds. 

“Mighty Casey has struck out”
A few might be unfamiliar with the headline; it refers to an old baseball poem however the “struck out” part might apply to the Knicks.  We now read Knicks owner James Dolan was unwilling to sign Kevin Durant due to the risk of the Achilles injury.  Fans of the franchise are bummed out however consider this.  KD will miss the 2019-20 season, when he does return will the old version be evident? 

Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan added to the Nets roster is good but a championship team, maybe with Durant in the lineup.  Knick fans are likely not impressed with the second-tier free agents signed.  Reggie Bullock, Bobby Portis, Taj Gibson and Julius Randle are an interesting group of signees.  All might not be lost in the Battle of New York City; the Knicks will be a better team.  They will not earn a playoff berth and Knick fans will continue to be upset with the effort of this front office. 

UCLA dominance
From 1966 through 1975 UCLA won 8 NCAA championships, the most games lost during that period was 1974 when they were defeated for the NCAA championship in the semi-finals.  That year witnessed the Bruins lose a total of 4 games; teams might lose that number in a conference season.  College basketball will never witness domination like that again and the reasons are simple.  The college game has risen in popularity that many coaching legends of the past would wonder at the sight.  Many will claim UCLA had an advantage with businessman Sam Gilbert alleged to have paid several players under the table.  No proof ever existed only speculation of his misdeeds. 

It’s difficult for me to believe John Wooden was aware of improprieties and simply chose to ignore them.  Records inform us UCLA cornered the market on talent, Kentucky, North Carolina and others were competitive on the basketball court but always managed to come up short tournament time.  Was this domination by UCLA a good thing, depends on who is leading the discussion? 

As an example, one season Southern Cal had one of the best basketball programs in the nation.  The NCAA tournament was structured different back then, in 1971 Cal won 24 games and lost 2.  The 2 losses were against you know who, back then only champion teams played in the tournament meaning UCLA.  What about the NIT you ask, even that tournament was much smaller than now, and Cal received no invite?  There you have a team losing only 2 games all season forced to sit at home.  UCLA’s dominance was good and bad, it placed college basketball into the national spotlight, but the tournament would become passe. 

How deep…oh that deep! 
Mizzou’s 2019-20 roster is now complete, this will be coach Cuonzo Martin’s deepest teams since his arrival at Mizzou.  The coach in Rock M. Nation claims he could play up to 10 players this season.  The first area is that of the big men, starter Jeremiah Tilmon is 6 foot 10 and 261 pounds.  Backing Tilmon is Reed Nikko also 6-10 and 240 pounds, newcomer Axel Okongo is 7 feet tall and checks in at 240 as well. 

With Tilmon’s propensity to foul he’s got 10 fouls backing his 5.  The backcourt is likely to consist of the Smith’s (no relation). Dru 6-3 at the point and Mark 6-5 at the shooting guard.  Freshmen Tray Jackson or Kobe Brown will see playing time although at what forward position is undetermined at this point.  This account is certainly not complete there are additional parts to the 2019-20 roster.  With such a deep team much is expected of this seasons Mizzou team.   

NBA Summer
Free agent news aside the calendar turns from June to July, NBA Summer League play begins at Salt Lake City, Sacramento and Las Vegas.  The games in SLC are played at Vivint Smart Home Arena home of the Jazz.  The California Classic will be held at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.  The games in Sacramento will feature three California teams (Lakers, Warriors & Kings) plus the Heat. 

Las Vegas games will be the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion on the campus of the University of Nevada Las Vegas.  Most athletes are rookies and second year players, for those who can’t get enough basketball we’ll have NBA basketball for the next two weeks.  If you are not in the areas mentioned television partners ESPN and NBA TV will feature games nightly and on weekends.