Basketball from a fan’s perspective
Bad team versus Good team
As an NBA rookie it might be beneficial to be drafted by a bad team. For example, a good team generally has an established starting lineup, this might also include key reserves. The result unless you are a “Magic Johnson or Michael Jordan” chances are you spend your rookie year observing from the bench. If you were to be drafted by a bad team it’s likely you are placed in the lineup day one.
That’s been the case for the Grizzlies Ja Morant, Sunday night Morant recorded his first triple-double which led to a 106-99 win over the Wizards. As this is written the Grizzlies record is 27-26 and in 8th place a playoff position. As for the Bad team-Good team consider this fact, last season the Grizzlies finished the season 33-49. They will eclipse last season’s win total in a few days’ thanks in part to the 2020 Rookie of the Year. I also might add because the Grizzlies were a Bad team, they were in the position to draft Morant.
Officiating
“We’ve taken instant replay and made it too complicated” are the words of Mike Greenberg host of ESPN’s Get Up. He’s correct it doesn’t matter the sport, we’ve allowed officials to sometimes become the decider in the outcome of games, my words not Greenberg. This is the chief problem today in the NFL, MLB and the NBA, even worse the following day league officials admitting an incorrect call was made on a catch or goaltend. Greenberg says, “Look at it once and make the call that’s it.” How many times have we witnessed officials reviewed the same play over and over and over before rendering a ruling? There’s got to be a better method to operate instant replay than what we see presently.
Small Ball
7-foot Tyson Chandler remains on the Rockets roster, Chandler is 37-years old. He’s likely to continue playing reserve minutes but not much more. This turn of events with 6-foot 5-inch P.J. Tucker becoming the starter at center has those in Houston outside of management questioning the move to small ball. Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle writes it might work for a while in the regular season as for the playoffs that might be a different story. Charles Barkley says, “Teams should not double team Westbrook and Harden allow them to score, they would total only 75 points.”
Makes sense that total could likely to win most college games, as for the NBA that’s a different story. The Rockets have become a win now team. None of the major contributors to this team is under the age of 30 years. We can only speculate at this time whether small ball will work, the guess at this point is no. At the end of the season and into the playoffs will be the final test. Sunday night they lost on a last second shot versus the Jazz, a couple of factors the Rockets are 22nd in the NBA in 3-point shooting and in the single win thus far the Lakers had a rebounding edge.
Shooting woes
I’ll save you; Mizzou beat Arkansas 83-79 in OT despite continued poor shooting woes. There are several factors involved in shooting poorly, the chief one taking poor or ill-advised shots. Although as a team they are shooting 40% from the floor generally that’s not been the case in the games I’ve witnessed, they are makeable shots. It would appear assistant coach Chris Hollender has his work cut out for him with this group.
Jeremiah Tilmon is 61% from the floor but plays inside, the same could be said for Reed Nikko (57%). This is about perimeter shooting and the lack of consistency. Not a single Mizzou guard or forward is above 45% from the floor, the 3-point line is even worse. It’s not all doom and gloom the “belly-button” defense Mizzou plays has led to victory, it did on Saturday. Defense is always going to keep a team in the game, but the pressure is certainly lessened by the ability to score baskets.
