Basketball
from a fan’s perspective
I’m not holding my
breath
Although it’s been a short time it seems like months since the Darren
Collison announcement. The veteran point guard who
retired suddenly last season has hinted of a desire to return to the NBA. Reports were the Los Angeles native was
looking at either the Lakers or Clippers.
He’s got a connection with both teams, he played for Laker coach Frank
Vogel in Indiana and Collison once played for the Clippers.
Low and behold he shows up at Lakers-Rockets game seated next
to owner Jeanie Buss, still no commitment from him. It’s now being reported Collison is “talking to his agent.” Here goes, I
believe Laker fans have waited at the altar far too often recently. This member of Laker Nation says, if Collison
signs that’s great, he will be a welcome addition. Should he decide in favor of the Clippers so
be it, I’m not holding my breath on this one.
Sexy
Over the last few years it’s been the Splash Brothers from
distance, butter. The combo of Steph
Curry and Klay Thompson are almost machine like. This season the Lakers have become sexy with
the lob pass LeBron to AD, plus the 3-point shooting of the team…sweet. Giannis Antetekounmpo couldn’t throw the ball
in the ocean; he can shoot the 3-point shot now which makes him that much more
a threat. Euro Step James Harden’s
Rockets can be placed in that category too, the man of many shake and bake
moves.
There are other teams omitted but you get the general
idea. Wanna know who’s not sexy, how
about the Raptors? They might be
considered a 21st Century version of the Spurs, all the Raptors do
is win games. They do it without
a great deal of fanfare, in fact did you notice something. Several believed once Kawhi Leonard departed
for a big payday the Raptors would slide downward. Well there is no Leonard but no matter at
least to this point, this is certainly not claiming they will repeat as NBA
champions however they have a great opportunity. Sometimes sexy ain’t all it’s reported to be,
what do you think?
“I’m from Missouri
you’ve got to show me”
Because I was born and raised here, I have permission to use the
old headline adage. Okay Westbrook your
41 points led the way and were a determining factor in beating my Lakers on
Thursday night. Let’s see your Rocket
team with its Lilliputian lineup continue to win in this manner. I didn’t have an opportunity to see the game
only highlights and reading the box score.
The Rockets managed a decent rebound total however the Lakers still
topped them in that department.
This is a bold experiment by D’Antoni, newly
acquired Robert Covington standing 6 feet 9 inches is the tallest Rocket however
he’s not in the starting lineup. The
Rockets don’t employ a center in the traditional sense, Danuel House Jr. is the
tallest starter at 6 foot 6 inches. As
with many other moves we must wait until the end of the season to determine if
this “small-ball” lineup truly works. I
know Rocket fans are chomping at the bit waiting to laugh at me should this
work.
Zion watch
Can Zion Williamson play the power forward position in the
NBA? It was mentioned the difficulty he
experienced in his match against Giannis Antetekounmpo recently. The 6-foot 11-inch Giannis clearly had a
height advantage over the 6-foot 6-inch Williamson. History tells us there was another smallish
power forward who played the game at a similar height and weight, his name Charles
Barkley. Barkley played his way into the
Naismith and College Basketball Halls of Fame.
Is there pressure on Williamson, of course however its always
been there since that first high school YouTube video. We are but 8 games down the road from his January
NBA debut, he is a fascinating talent. Pending
superstar, too early to tell, this I believe given time he will continue to
raise his level of play. All we need to
do is check out his teammate Brandon Ingram.
Ingram’s been on a steady rising plane and a reminder again. This Laker fan was more concerned about
giving up Ingram in the AD trade than Lonzo Ball.
