Basketball from a fan perspective
Who the heck are these guys?
There
must be a bunch of guys in Laker jerseys masquerading as the real team. These phonies sure do not look like MY LAKERS,
can we state the restart of the season has not been good for them. Sure, they have clinched the number one seed
in the west but that is not going to do much based on playing in “neutral”
Orlando. The Saturday afternoon loss to the Pacers left the Lakers with a 3-game losing streak, they are 5-5 in their last 10 games.
Wow, bad news
Wow, bad news
It
appears Sixers point guard Ben Simmons is done for the season; he will undergo orthoscopic
surgery on his left knee. Simmons
suffered the injury in Wednesday’s game versus the Wizards. We have no method to determine how the Sixers
might have finished the season, with no Simmons available it is a shame. On the other hand, the belief is if the
Sixers can advance deep into the playoffs Simmons might be available, hopefully that might be the case.
The trade
Mavs
guard Luka Doncic is even better in his second NBA season. The big guard (6 foot 7 and 230 pounds)
raised all his numbers over his rookie year.
Watching him sometimes it is difficult to believe he is only 21-years old;
his game resembles that of a veteran athlete.
You know the story, in the 2018 NBA Draft Doncic was made the 3rd
pick by the Hawks. With the 5th
pick the Mavs would choose point guard Trae Young.
The draft
rights were exchanged with Doncic headed to Dallas and Young to Atlanta. Doncic was named Rookie of the Year although
many stated they believed the honor belonged to Young. Doncic is third in the NBA in assists with an
8.8 per game average, as for scoring he is nearly 30 points a game. Think the Mavs made the better trade acquiring
Doncic, wait for a profile of the mercurial Trae Young in a later edition of Words eye view?
Smooth as silk
Jamaal
Wilkes is enshrined in the Naismith and College Basketball Hall of Fame. Wilkes was nicknamed
silk because he was so smooth, did not matter if it was shooting or
defending. The problem, Wilkes played
for the Lakers at a point they were loaded with stars. Surrounded by Kareem, Magic, Michael Cooper,
and others it is easy to see why his name is lost in the annals of NBA and
Laker history. Wilkes was a 4X NBA
Champion and 2X All Defensive Second Team, where did it begin? As a youngster Wilkes then known as Keith
took up the game at a young age. On the
playground he often found himself matched against taller older players.
Due
to his shot often being blocked Wilkes began positioning the ball above his
head and taking the shot. Like Kareem
and his patented sky-hook Wilkes shot although unorthodox was impossible to be
blocked. At UCLA he joined Bill Walton continuing winning basketball by the Bruins. In 1974 the Warriors made Wilkes the 11th pick in the first round, he would play for the Warriors from 1974-1977. In 1977 Wilkes signed a free-agent contract with his hometown Lakers were his career continued to excel. As for retirement Wilkes has served in a variety of fields after he left in 1986. Below is a video of smooth as silk Wilkes in action and that strange looking jump shot.
