Basketball from a fan’s perspective

They did everything well except….

I only read the headline not the complete account, Steve Nash says, “The Suns could have been the Warriors before the Warriors.”  He was referring to those high scoring Suns teams.  Nash is a Hall of Fame player, those teams of Nash, Shawn Marion, Amar’e Stoudemire and others did everything well except play defense.  

Mike D’Antoni has coached the Suns, Lakers, Knicks and now the Rockets. 

In all those stops his teams have never been known for their defensive prowess, emphasis has always been on the offensive end of the court.  This latest bold experiment playing “small ball” will be interesting, can the Rockets successfully compete for an NBA championship playing a small lineup?  Time will be the test for this D’Antoni team. 

NBA ready

Several NBA scouts who witnessed Emoni Bates in action pronounce him ready for NBA play in 2022, that’s the year this sophomore graduates high school.  As been mentioned on several occasions the belief is the age 18 rule and 1-year after high school graduation will have been repealed.  The 6-foot 9 razor thin forward is averaging 30.3 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals per game for the season. 

Bates plays for Lincoln High School in Ypsilanti (Mich.) and a recent game was classic.  This past Tuesday versus Chelsea (Mich.) Bates scored 63 points and grabbed 21 rebounds in a 108-102 double OT win over Chelsea.  We are approaching the end of the high school season, its likely unless you live in Michigan there will be no opportunity to see the youngster in action.  I had hoped the management team at ESPN would have decided to televise one of Lincoln’s game however that doesn’t appear to be the case. 

Quality wins

Mizzou’s record is confusing if we check the opposition through February 18, the Tigers are 13-13 yet have beaten each of the teams below.  Check the current won-loss record of the opposition Mizzou has beaten this season to date.  

Southern Illinois 15-12

Temple 13-12

Illinois 16-9

Florida 16-9

Arkansas 16-9

Auburn 22-3

Auburn certainly is placed at the top of the list however Arkansas, Florida and Illinois could also be considered worthy opponents.  If only Mizzou had played better against several other adversaries. 

He’s out for the season

The Warriors announced Klay Thompson will miss the balance of the season.  As for Steph Curry management might want to consider shutting him down as well.  The Warriors have only 27 games remaining on the schedule, if they were playoff bound it might be a different story.  This is not an intent to tank but the season was practically over when Steph suffered his injury.  Even without Kevin Durant the Warriors were expected to compete in the 2019-20 season but that’s not been the case.    

Charles Barkley 

I’ve said as a joke I listen to every other sentence Charles Barkley utters on TNT.  On a serious note I often disagree with several of his takes on issues however he does have an advantage. An advantage over whom you ask, those guys in the media who just talk incessantly, to me they often appear to say, “How controversial or loud can I be?”  I might not agree with the view Barkley provides me and others however there is a vast difference. 

He and other former NBA athletes played the game at a high level.  They might not always be correct in their observations and views, but they have been there, done that.  Jason Whitlock played college football, ditto for Stephen A. Smith in basketball.  Have you ever stopped to consider if they had been that talented, they would have played in the NFL or NBA?  Unfortunately, the media types with little if any athletic skill seem to be like the empty wagon.  Have you heard the adage, “An empty wagon makes the most noise?”