Basketball from a fan perspective

Give the man credit! --- Thursday morning, I arose and the first letter I read, some joker claimed Tyler Herro was shooting in an “empty gym.”  The rookie shooting guard came off the Heat bench scoring 37 points helping lead the Heat to victory over the Celtics.  The 6 foot 5 Herro was not only hot but accurate shooting 66.7% from the floor.  

The 20-year old has been overlooked playing in the shadow of Jae Morant and Zion Williamson in the race for rookie of the year. By the way it doesn’t matter if Herro is shooting in American Airlines Arena or an arena in Lake Buena Vista Florida, the important issue is scoring the basket.  You might disagree on my take at times and that’s okay.  I hope I never make a dumb statement about someone “shooting in an empty gym.” In closing his shooting led to the Celtics finding themselves in a 3-1 hole.   

The legend of Drazen Petrovic---His NBA career was cut short by a tragic automobile accident at the age of 28.  Petrovic was drafted by the Blazers in 1989, this was a period Euro players were yet to prove they had the skill to play at the NBA level.  Petrovic from Croatia was already a professional by the time he arrived in the NBA having played 10 years in Europe.   

His time with the Blazers was not fruitful and he found himself on the bench as a reserve.  A trade was arranged sending him to the New Jersey Nets.  With the Nets his NBA career began to flourish with the trade.  Petrovic’s last two seasons proved to all he belonged in the NBA as his numbers increased substantially over his Blazer production. 

The guy was an iron man, the story is told he sprain his knee and was given months to rehab.  Working at his own pace Petrovic rehabbed his knee and only missed two weeks.  Petrovic died in an auto accident on the Autobahn June 7, 1993 in Germany, while a passenger.  Many believe Petrovic was on the road to NBA stardom when the tragic accident took his life at such a young age. 

What does the future hold? ---This is written prior to the NBA Championship; at this point it is unclear if the Lakers win or lose but it is being written anyway.  For Laker Nation, the window is closing for LeBron James, there is more NBA in his rear-view mirror than his windshield.  What occurs for the future of the team, finishing above .500 for the first time in years playing for the Western Conference Championship, how do the Lakers continue the winning ways?   

The question is somewhat difficult to answer at present, this is a veteran team built to win right now.  As for the future only, Kyle Kuzma stands out as a youthful keeper the balance of the roster will be history in 2-3 years.  Most of the youth was traded to acquire Anthony Davis, at this point a worthy move.  The roster is Kostas Antetokounmpo the 6-10 younger brother of Giannis, he’s only 22 years old.  Next up center Devontae Cacok who is 23 and a 6-8 center and Talen Horton-Tucker a 6-4 19-year old shooting guard.

There are veterans in their mid to late 20’s who might remain on the roster after LeBron retires.  All the draft choices didn’t evaporate in the AD trade so talent could be added via the draft.  The one thing we have no method to determine is free agency, LeBron arrived in this manner.  Could there be another LeBron type athlete available as a free agent?  The future for the Lakers remains somewhat clouded but optimistic.  So, this blueprint for the future is presented to Laker Nation for review. 

Have you seen them, or heard them? ---While watching a college sporting event it is entirely possible you heard an electronic whistle and didn’t realize it.  We cannot provide you a time and date however battery-operated whistles begin to make their way into organized sports in the last two years.  Several high school officials in football and basketball have begun utilizing them, the whistles pre-date Covid but make sense on a hygiene level. 

The common whistle in use today utilized by most officials is in the mouth, when blown saliva droplets are spread throughout the air.  The electronic whistle prevents this from occurring, it is held in the hand by a game official the only requirement is to push a button to signal a stoppage of game action.   The whistles are powered by an ordinary household battery which makes them inexpensive to operate.  As for the purchase price they a single whistle runs around $25.00 which exceeds the old fashion whistles.  Will the electronic whistle eventually come into common usage, that question remains unanswered for now?