Basketball
from a fan’s perspective
Marc Stein
Many remember Stein from his days at ESPN, he now works for
the New York Times. With the decade
close the columnist selected stories, he believed noteworthy. I’d like to provide my own input regarding
two of the stories and add one that was omitted. Item 1. The train wreck that
became the Knicks during the decade, Stein indicates they won 319 games while
losing 484. Knick fans were aware of
that fact, you want to know what continues to amaze me out here in the middle
of the country?
The resiliency of Knick fans, they slap down $$$ year after
year to see the worst team in the NBA. Adam
Silver is not going to perform a “Donald Sterling” because thus far James Dolan’s
done nothing to embarrass the NBA. The
owner has only been an embarrassment to Knick fans. Item 2. A trade that was voided, as a Laker fan I can
never forget this. Chris Paul was a
Laker for 24 or so hours, former commissioner David Stern decided he wouldn’t
approve the trade in the best interest of the NBA.
A reminder at that time the NBA had stepped in taking over
the operations of the team. Although the
GM authorized the trade Stern said no, could the Lakers fortunes have not been
so bleak if Paul was on board? This
Laker fan would like to believe that would be the case, to compound the issue
Stern never offered an explanation other than “The best interest of the NBA.” Item 2a. His name was mentioned earlier, Donald
Sterling being forced to sell the Clippers has got to be in the list of top NBA
stories of the decade. We can probably
count on one hand the number of times an owner’s been fired by a pro league.
Have we moved into a different realm?
‘I’ve got mine you’d better get yours’ apparently is the
thought of many. It seemingly doesn’t
matter if you cheat, lie or steal to obtain IT!
Example the news story regarding Kawhi Leonard’s uncle, I’ve yet to read
a fan letter stating it’s okay the attempt at getting rich(er) from the labor
of his nephew. Just as sure as this is
being written over the next few days we’ll come upon a letter or series of
letters defending the uncle’s action if they are valid.
We read letters defending fans who attack players verbally
from the comfort and safety of their $500 seat. Many of us see no problem even at
the time the authorities deem the behavior abnormal. A number have no problem with bullying those
who disagree from the safety of their laptop.
Don’t misunderstand there’s nothing wrong with peaceable dissent. We cannot abuse players with expletives
unless they have done something besides scoring a basket or snatching a
rebound. I’m finished, you can continue
reading or complete whatever task was in front of you.
The Eastern Conference
I’d mentioned the Sixers are my second favorite team, it also
helps they play in the east. They only
face my Lakers twice a year, but you know in advance who I’m rooting for. Expected to be the top team in the east thus
far we’ve witnessed a downward slide by the Sixers. Memory says last season they were a one or
two seed in the playoffs, if the 2019-20 season ended today, they would enter
the playoffs as the 6th seed.
Fans of the team or those with more opportunity to see them play what’s
wrong?
Before you answer allow me to inform you of one flaw. Joel Embiid needs to quit taking 3-point
shots, at 7 feet and 280 pounds he could dominate play on the inside if he
desired. Both Charles Barkley and Shaq
have been critical of Embiid’s play. “He’s the toughest player in the league to match
up with,” Barkley said of Embiid on TNT, “but we don’t talk about him the way
we talk about Luka
[Doncic], Giannis [Antetokounmpo], Anthony Davis, James [Harden].
We don’t ever say that about him. It’s frustrating for me, because I picked
the Sixers to get to the finals....” *
*Inquirer.com
Snake bit
The term doesn’t apply to a snake bite, it’s associated with
bad luck. A friend identified as a
Mizzou fan has indicated he believes the sports program is ill-fated. I’m not going to discuss football; this is a
basketball blog. A series of unfortunate
or sometimes unplanned incidents have led Mizzou to this point in time. Example agree or not long-time coach Norm
Stewart was forced out in 1999. Mizzou
was 731-375 in his 38 years at the helm, who replaced him? Politics were part of the reason Stewart was retired.
The former AD interviewed Quin Snyder (now Jazz coach) and
Bill Self who was the Tulsa coach at the time.
Bad choice, in hindsight yes but how could anyone know? Snyder was the lead assistant for coach K.
and Self was coaching a mid-major. Mike
Anderson arrived cleaning up the mess left in the wake of Snyder. He turned the program around, in 2009 Anderson
wanted a raise and Mizzou complied, he signed a 7-year extension and once the
Arkansas job opened in 2011 Anderson was gone.
Frank Haith was hired from Miami and he was a winner however he would
resign in 2014.
Later Mizzou self-reported for improper proceedings occurring
during Haith’s time. Haith’s sudden
resignation left Mizzou with no coach; the AD decided in favor of Kim Anderson
a former Mizzou player who was a winner at Division II University of Central
Missouri. Anderson certainly could coach
however it appeared he was over matched at the Division I level in the area of
recruiting. Anderson was terminated in
2017 replaced by Cuonzo Martin. The jury
is still out regarding Martin however that’s the coaching history, snake bit I don’t
think so.
