Basketball from a
fan’s perspective
Published Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday
Next week
The NBA will kick off its 73rd season next week, for the first time in recent memory there is no preeminent favorite for the NBA championship. The Warriors remain a playoff team beyond earning a berth that’s it. Note I didn’t state they couldn’t win a championship they are just not the favorite. 400 road miles south the two tenants at Staples will also make the playoffs, who wins the championship? In Texas specifically Houston we have the revamped Rockets, the backcourt is certainly full of firepower.
The Rockets makes
the playoffs too, Westbrook’s old team the Thunder miss the playoffs this
season. In the east we have the Bucks,
Sixers, Raptors and Pacers all with the playoffs in mind. We could include the Celtics and maybe the
Nets. Health is clearly a requirement;
the Nets Kevin Durant is missing for the season. Klay Thompson could return by the playoffs to
aid the Warriors. Will the Clippers get
off to a quick start with Paul George sidelined? Former NBA player Matt Barnes claims “It’s
the Clippers championship to lose.”
WOW
Once upon a time other than NCAA Tournament time college basketball on television was limited. At most there may have been 2-3 games a week, one weeknight and two games on Saturday afternoon. The advent of sports channels has greatly expanded the number of games available to most of us. Sunday evening Fox Sports telecasts a game, on Monday ESPN’s Big Monday telecast usually three games are available for viewing. The number of games available on the ESPN Network are uncounted, CBS broadcast and CBS Sports Network count their number. The network plans on telecasting nearly 300 games during the 2019-20 season.
Once upon a time other than NCAA Tournament time college basketball on television was limited. At most there may have been 2-3 games a week, one weeknight and two games on Saturday afternoon. The advent of sports channels has greatly expanded the number of games available to most of us. Sunday evening Fox Sports telecasts a game, on Monday ESPN’s Big Monday telecast usually three games are available for viewing. The number of games available on the ESPN Network are uncounted, CBS broadcast and CBS Sports Network count their number. The network plans on telecasting nearly 300 games during the 2019-20 season.
Long shots to earn a spot
The two athletes profiled are long shots to earn a roster spot, a couple of keys neither was drafted in the 2019 NBA draft. Even more interesting is the contrast in heights, they are likely the shortest and tallest athletes in NBA training camps this fall. We are not exactly sure if Chris Clemons is the shortest however at 5 feet 9 inches that might be the case.
The two athletes profiled are long shots to earn a roster spot, a couple of keys neither was drafted in the 2019 NBA draft. Even more interesting is the contrast in heights, they are likely the shortest and tallest athletes in NBA training camps this fall. We are not exactly sure if Chris Clemons is the shortest however at 5 feet 9 inches that might be the case.
He’s a point guard who played at Campbell
University in North Carolina, Clemons is in the Rockets training camp. Across the nation training with the Celtics is
7-foot 5-inch center Tacko Fall from the University of Central Florida. If you’ve read Words eye view
any length of time he’s been profiled on several occasions. I’m rooting for these two undrafted players
to earn a roster spot because it would become one of those feel good news stories.
Just as this story was completed the
Celtics announced they will sign Tacko Fall to a 2-way contract. Just in case you wondered as I did the explanation
of that type of contract the following explanation is provided. “NBA players on
two-way contracts can earn up to $204,000 instead of the $35,000 G League salary.
It’s not the millions they might get overseas, but it’s worth the financial
sacrifice for some players.” 1.
1. boston.com/sports/boston-celtics2018/07/10/two-way-contracts-nba-celtics
These are not your
daddy’s Clippers
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is dispersing huge sums of money on his team. Several boxes have been checked providing us proof of Ballmer's intention. Signing Kawhi Leonard and Paul George- √ new arena-partial √ , the architectural rendering of the Inglewood arena was presented to the public. The last box is brand new jerseys-√, what is old has become new, hopefully you saw team members on the NBA edition of the SI magazine.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is dispersing huge sums of money on his team. Several boxes have been checked providing us proof of Ballmer's intention. Signing Kawhi Leonard and Paul George- √ new arena-partial √ , the architectural rendering of the Inglewood arena was presented to the public. The last box is brand new jerseys-√, what is old has become new, hopefully you saw team members on the NBA edition of the SI magazine.
I don’t own the rights so I cannot
provide a link, I will do my best to describe them. The jerseys are white with black trim, across the front
are the words Los Angeles in Old English font. This becomes one more
attempt for the Clippers to distance themselves from their Staples Center neighbors. I applaud owner Steve Ballmer; he might not
be able to replace the Lakers in the heart and minds of Angelenos, but he sure
intends for his team to be different.
