Basketball from a fan perspective
We get it
There are issues upsetting to many of us, often
these are matters which affect us directly or indirectly. With basketball and other sports, it is sometimes
a slightly different matter. Allow a brief explanation, basketball player Sam
Smith voices his opinion of an issue outside the sport of basketball. You are offended because 1. You do not agree with his view and 2. He
should be more concerned with basketball than the issue he voices his
opinion.
We are about to welcome you into the 21st
Century, if this position expressed by several athletes concerns you it might
be best if you discovered another sport and the reason is clear. You might not agree with their stance however
athletes will continue to address social and societal issues facing the nation
and the world. You can continue to enjoy basketball and tune out the chatter or simply discover another sport to follow, I am out.
The Wolves
Coach Ryan Saunders and GM Scott Layden have a decision
in front of them, they must put their heads together along with the scouting
staff to decide on the choice. As you
are aware the Wolves won the lottery ensuring them of the first pick in the
2020 NBA Draft. With no consensus number
one who do the Wolves choose? For them
will it be the best fit or the best available athlete? Let us explore this issue briefly, it appears
D’Angelo Russell is listed on the depth chart as a point guard all though else
where he is shown as a shooting guard.
Could or would the Wolves plug in LeMelo Ball
at either guard position? On the other hand,
they could pick Georgia shooting guard Anthony Edwards which leaves Russell at
the point. James Wiseman might not be a choice
because the Wolves have Kat at the center position although it is possible, he
could be moved to the power forward. We
could foresee Dayton’s Obi Topping or Deni Avdija from Israel at the small
forward becoming the pick. There might
be someone we overlooked however the names mentioned appear to be the clear
leaders. One of the names mentioned would be the top pick, on the other hand there is the possibility the pick is made and then traded.
Sometimes less is more
Several Laker fans were likely in a huge funk after
the game, the team was losers to a good Blazer team in their first playoff game
100-93. What might occur in Game Two, most
Laker fans had no idea although they hoped play would be better. The game was different, LeBron shoots a poor
36% from the floor scoring 10 points yet they were able to blow out the Blazers
111-88.
The Lakers played lockdown defense on the
Blazers as they only scored 40% from the floor while the Lakers were at nearly
48%. Did I mention Anthony Davis, AD
scored 31 points and pulled down 11 rebounds?
Wonder when the last time JaVale McGee tied Anthony Davis for scoring honors. Reading my review of the game a fan pointed
out “A win is a win; I will take it.”
The Lakers won a playoff game for the first time in 8 years, most did
not realize it had been that length of time.
Best center all-time
For nearly 100 years professional basketball
has been played. Despite that fact we
can look at 1946 and forward for our purpose, who is the best center all-time
in that period? A list of names will be
provided, and it is up to you to determine the order.
George Mikan
Hakeem Olajuwon
Wilt Chamberlain
Shaquille O’Neal
Bill Russell
Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Jack Sikma
Robert Parrish
Basketball
before football
No argument on my part, the NFL is far more popular
in America than the NBA, worldwide however is a different story. The European
version NFL Europe lasted from 1991 to 2007, although it certainly appeared to
be popular, we never heard any talk about an NFL franchise being placed in
Europe. The nearest we have come is an
occasional exhibition or regular season NFL game being played. We might question exactly what has the NBA
done? It is a far different issue; NFL
football is only played once a week its easy peasy to schedule. NBA basketball is more complicated often
playing 3 or 4 nights during a week.
In addition to the scheduling issue there is also
a time and distance differential with the Nets playing a Paris team. Finally, the NBA probably has no desire to
impede on the Euro game so what is left?
Until we have speedier transportation there is always the Western
Hemisphere Mexico City as an example.
The NFL has scheduled games south of the border but so has the NBA. The metro contains 21 million citizens, in
addition NBA games have been a constant sell out. Finally, a key factor is time zone. As this is written it is 8:37 p.m. Central
Time in Kansas City (MO), it is 8:37 p.m. Central Time in Mexico City, I rest my case.
