Basketball from a fan’s perspective

Dolan needs to go…immediately
NOTE:  This is a revision to the account below, when I arrived home from work on Friday it was announced the Knicks had fired David Fizdale.  This is not exactly shocking news, but the problem of this team is more than the head coach.  Former NBA player turned studio analyst Kendrick Perkins had this to say, ‘Fizdale was set up for failure from the jump.’  Somebody other than me said, ‘You think this firing fixes the Knicks problem?’  As for the original column it’s like one written a few years ago.  See this Laker fan questioned whether owner Jeanie Buss was interested in a winning team. 

I don’t remember all the details however the proposal was Ms. Buss sell the Lakers.  The Forbes value of the team was provided and how much the Buss family could make by selling the team.  My column had no power other than to register my view of the Lakers.  I don’t know the Knicks in the same manner I do the Lakers, but a similar situation exists.  The team has fallen deep into the nethermost region of the NBA’s lower ground floor.  Everything has changed over the years for the Knicks. 

Coaches have been hired, fired and replaced by another.  New GM’s and vice presidents of basketball operations have replaced others serving in that capacity.  What’s remained the same…. owner James Dolan.  On the outside Dolan would appear to have a hands-off approach, it might seem he’s allowing the basketball people to run the franchise.  Remember the Wizard of Oz, he was behind the curtain running the show.  Is that the case with the Knicks, is Dolan simply fooling the public? 

OG (Old Guy)  
Nate “Tiny” Archibald has been profiled before however there is a reason for a re-visit.  Former NBA player and Hall of Fame member Isiah Thomas was discussing Archibald on NBA TV one evening.  He made a statement which caused me to say…hmmm.  Thomas says, “Archibald was the first combo guard in the NBA.”  Keep in mind players of that era along with being 6 foot 1 were distributors, they ran an NBA team’s offense they were never the focal point of a team’s offense.  Archibald changed all that. 

The 1973-74 season witnessed the 150-pound Kansas City Kings point guard lead the NBA in scoring (34 points per game) and assists (11.4) a feat no NBA player had ever accomplished then and into the present.  Several Celtic fans of that era might remember Archibald the distributor rather than Archibald the shooter.  He could always shoot he changed his game to fit those Celtic teams of the early to mid- 1980’s.  I’m going to give Steph Curry his accolades, but he wasn’t the first nor was Russell Westbrook.  The first combo guard in the NBA was Nathaniel “Tiny” Archibald from the South Bronx of New York City.        

The world is ever changing 

NCAA now says it’s okay for athletes to be financially compensated, change number one.  LaMelo Ball and RJ Hampton are both playing in NBL in Australia, likely they will be 2020 NBA draft picks.  Change number two these two are probably the last to depart for Australia or anywhere else in the world.  By the time we reach 2021 the NBAPA will vote in favor of change, high school players will again become eligible to play in the NBA.  We’ve gone back and forth on this issue, at the time it was first implemented NBA teams were daring, they drafted players without very little scouting. 

Mistakes were made, there were few Kevin Garnett’s or Kobe Bryant’s.  The system became more relevant in later years, better methods of scouting were implemented.  Kids were not drafted just because their uncle informed them, they had game, think I’m kidding.  That scenario occurred for one potential draft prospect.  In future instances athletes will continue to leave college after their sophomore or junior year, it’s believed the number of freshmen leaving school earlier will decrease significantly. 

Yao

It’s now been 8 years since Yao Ming last played in the NBA, several cynics claimed he'd never earn a spot in the NBA despite his 7-foot 6-inch 310-pound frame.  The Rockets with the top pick in the 2002 draft made no secret they intended to draft him.  Among Yao’s skeptics were writer Bill Simmons, Dick Vitale and even Charles Barkley.  All would later be forced to admit they were wrong; Yao Ming could play and more importantly exceptionally well. 

Yao had several post moves around the basket, perhaps the most noteworthy the hook shot.  With the ball clearly above most defenders there was no method to block it other than with Kareem push him off the block.  Injuries would ultimately cut short a brilliant NBA career, in 2011 he retired from the NBA and returned to China.  2016 would witness him enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame with that year’s class.  Once again, the skeptics raised their heads questioning the why. 

They had to be reminded it’s the Naismith Hall of Fame and does not belong to the NBA exclusively.  Yao’s body of work on the International stage certainly impacted voting.  The words of Shaquille O’Neal fit here as well.  He’d only been in the league for a short period when he was announced as one of the Top 50 players in the NBA’s 50-year history.  Shaq’s response was classic, ‘I didn’t vote myself on the team.’  The same could be said for Yao Ming and his Naismith Hall of Fame selection, he didn’t vote for himself.