Basketball from a
fan’s perspective
Published Monday through Friday weekly
Many claim
The Hawks Trae Young should have been the 2019 Rookie of the Year rather than Luka Doncic. After a relative slow start from January through the end of the season Young played at an accelerated pace. He managed to finish the season scoring 19.1 ppg along with 8.1 assists. The only negative might have been his field goal percentage, it wasn’t terrible but could stand improvement. As for the 2018-19 season Young’s gotten off to a fast start, he’s scoring 34 ppg and 9 assists a game. As for the field goal percentage its 51.5% after 3 games detailing an improvement over the 41% his rookie year.
The Hawks Trae Young should have been the 2019 Rookie of the Year rather than Luka Doncic. After a relative slow start from January through the end of the season Young played at an accelerated pace. He managed to finish the season scoring 19.1 ppg along with 8.1 assists. The only negative might have been his field goal percentage, it wasn’t terrible but could stand improvement. As for the 2018-19 season Young’s gotten off to a fast start, he’s scoring 34 ppg and 9 assists a game. As for the field goal percentage its 51.5% after 3 games detailing an improvement over the 41% his rookie year.
We cannot always project movement from
college to the NBA however we shouldn’t be too shocked except for one guy. The former Oklahoma Sooner led the nation in
scoring and assists a feat no player had ever accomplished. All the Hawks require is surrounding him with
additional talent and then the Hawks can really begin to soar. As for the one guy, he was the local fired
sports talk host who made disparaging remarks about Young while Trae was at
Oklahoma. This former radio guy is one
of the chief reasons I quit listening to sports talk radio.
What’s a mid-major?
This might appear a repeat account and it is in a sense, we’ve discussed on more than one occasion the term mid-major and why it’s an untrue account of college basketball. Once an athlete proves he can play at a high skill level does it matter if he begins his play at a so-called mid-major school? We can site plenty examples of present day and past players; we might begin our report with the name of Kawhi Leonard who arrived in the NBA from San Diego State.
This might appear a repeat account and it is in a sense, we’ve discussed on more than one occasion the term mid-major and why it’s an untrue account of college basketball. Once an athlete proves he can play at a high skill level does it matter if he begins his play at a so-called mid-major school? We can site plenty examples of present day and past players; we might begin our report with the name of Kawhi Leonard who arrived in the NBA from San Diego State.
NBA scouts uncovered C.J. McCollum at
Lehigh University, his backcourt mate Dame Lillard at Weber State. We could include Butler University’s Gordon
Hayward and Steph Curry who attended Davidson in the number. Paul George came to prominence while at
Fresno State while Paul Milsap grew his game at Louisiana Tech. Hassan Whiteside is a former member of
Marshall’s Thundering Herd and one time NBA MVP Derrick Rose played at Memphis prior
to the NBA.
We could check out a few Hall of Fame
players beginning with Celtic great Larry Joe Bird from Indiana State, Dwayne
Wade was a Marquette Warrior prior to gaining fame with the NBA Heat. Jack Sikman was inducted into the Hall of
Fame in early September; he arrived in the NBA from Illinois Wesleyan. Few were familiar with Central Arkansas prior
to Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen who once played there. None of the athletes profiled arrived in the
NBA from Power Five conferences. Still
in all several current players and the Hall of Fame members all played at mid-major
schools.
Change agents
You can laugh at me later; I believe there are two keys to Laker success this season. No, they are not named LeBron or Anthony, the names are Dwight Howard and Danny Green. We know the story on Howard, he’s moved from team to team since he left the Lakers. Once Boogie Cousins went down with injuries Howard and Joakim Noah both worked out for the Lakers. This writer with no input campaigned for the Lakers to choose Noah over Howard.
You can laugh at me later; I believe there are two keys to Laker success this season. No, they are not named LeBron or Anthony, the names are Dwight Howard and Danny Green. We know the story on Howard, he’s moved from team to team since he left the Lakers. Once Boogie Cousins went down with injuries Howard and Joakim Noah both worked out for the Lakers. This writer with no input campaigned for the Lakers to choose Noah over Howard.
I believe I said Howard might be better offensively,
but Noah wouldn’t bring the drama signing Howard. He convinced management and in turn convinced
me. If his Sunday evening game against
the Hornets is an example of his Laker future all I can say is “bring it
on.” As for Green he appears to be that
spot up shooter the Lakers need with skillful passers LeBron and AD on the
frontline. Notice I didn’t say
championship, but I do believe Howard and Green will aid the Lakers to gain a
playoff berth.
Winter
We probably have typical Midwest weather in Kansas City hot summers, as for winter that’s another matter. The average winter temperature is supposed to be 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 Celsius) which isn’t bad. On occasion there are extended periods in the teens and below zero although they generally are not long lasting. Snow, we probably received more snow on average than we did when I was a child.
We probably have typical Midwest weather in Kansas City hot summers, as for winter that’s another matter. The average winter temperature is supposed to be 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 Celsius) which isn’t bad. On occasion there are extended periods in the teens and below zero although they generally are not long lasting. Snow, we probably received more snow on average than we did when I was a child.
We can have an accumulation of 5 inches of
snow and the temperature not warm enough to melt any of it, we could have
another 3-4 inches later in the week dumped
on top of that already on the ground.
What’s good about winter in Kansas City, nothing except for
basketball. Technically basketball is
played year-round but you get the idea.
As the calendar moves toward the end of this year the game, we love high
school, college and the NBA is ever present.
I don’t remain mad forever
Unless you steal my money or disparage my family, I’m easy. I will forgive you for what I believe to be errors in judgment or action. With that allow me to say the Magic man has moved back into my good graces. I was upset with Magic Johnson first for resigning at a time I believed he was in charge. Soon it was an appearance on one of the morning ESPN programs. Magic blistered the Laker organization with his views before a national audience.
Unless you steal my money or disparage my family, I’m easy. I will forgive you for what I believe to be errors in judgment or action. With that allow me to say the Magic man has moved back into my good graces. I was upset with Magic Johnson first for resigning at a time I believed he was in charge. Soon it was an appearance on one of the morning ESPN programs. Magic blistered the Laker organization with his views before a national audience.
He led many us to believe the Lakers were a
dumpster fire, we discovered quite a while ago he was unable to coach more recently,
we discovered he couldn’t effectively run the Laker front office. The surprise for many of us Magic’s generated
large sums of money from his entrepreneurial enterprises since his NBA
retirement. His play on the court led to
several Laker championships over the years.
The Magic man is just that, someone I cannot hold a grudge. Upset at him yes but I don’t remain mad
forever.
