Basketball from a fan perspective
There
is no return
The Bucks need not
look toward the door, in the words once used by Rick Pitino. “Oscar Robertson and Lew Alcindor are not
walking through that door”, the Bucks now find themselves in an 0-3 hole losing
115-100 to the Heat. The team with the
best regular season record in the NBA is losing, it might not be the next game
however the Bucks have two chances to win this series slim and none and slim just left town.
No
argument this time around
All post-season NBA
awards seem to create an argument, that certainly is the truth regarding Rookie
of the Year. In 2018 Ben Simmons was
announced as the winner, many including Donovan Mitchell believed he should
have claimed the prize. The reason,
Simmons drafted a year earlier was forced to sit out an entire season. Technically his rookie year was his sophomore
year in the NBA, in 2019 the argument was rekindled. Luka Doncic was named Rookie of the Year, after
a slow start the Hawks Trae Young began to assert (maybe adjust) to NBA play in
January.
By the end of the
season many believe his rookie year was comparable to Luka Doncic. 2020 would be different, Zion Williamson
received all the publicity headed into the season however an injury would
sideline him until January, by this time his former AAU teammate Ja Morant was
miles in front of Zion. Then we had the pandemic
which interrupted play near the end of the regular season. Although Zion had a decent rookie season it
was not enough for him to overcome the lead Morant had established. So, for the 2019-20 season your NBA Rookie of the Year is the Grizzlies Ja Morant, congratulations.
Don’t do it
What might look
enticing on the surface might not be quite true, that is the case for Giannis Antetokounmpo. He will be a free agent after the season and
basketballnetwork.com posed the question, “Would he be a good fit for the
Warriors?” I did not read the article
but formulated my own thoughts, the headline is simply dealing with the talent
issue.
My view has more to
do with how it looks rather than talent.
On a Warriors team with all individuals healthy Giannis would be an
excellent fit. There is an issue with
Giannis moving to the Warriors, remember a guy named Kevin Durant? Many accused him of aligning himself with a
championship team, he did not raise the level of play only adding depth to the
Warriors. That might indeed be the case with Giannis, nothing to do with his skill set rather it is the team.
Why
Why must Stephen A.
Smith become the story rather than reporting it? I realize you do not have the answer, neither
do I. After attempting to cease
commenting on ESPN’s know it all I am forced to provide a counterpoint to his
rant. His rant was caused by the Nets
hiring unproven Steve Nash as their head coach.
Smith went on record indicating it was “a white privilege hire”
considering Nash had no prior head coaching experience.
Doc Rivers was hired by the Magic in 1983, the Pacers hired Isiah Thomas in 2000, this was followed by the Nets and Avery Johnson in 2010 and Jason Kidd in 2013. In 2014 Phil Jackson hired Derek Fisher as
head coach of the Knicks. The names
all former NBA players are black, all had NO HEAD experience when first
hired. Systemic racism exists throughout
much of American life despite the disbelief of many. In this instance Smith was incorrect and as sometimes has become the norm makes himself part of the story.
Can we
blame him?
The Nuggets Michael
Porter Jr. blames the Clipper medical staff, he blames them for the Clippers
not drafting him. The Clippers had the
12th and 13th pick in the 2018, they traded the 12th and made
the 13th pick their own. As
for the 14th pick that would become the Nuggets and their selection of Porter
Jr., however the Clipper medical staff believed he would never play in the
NBA. Consider the fact Porter Jr. played
but three games while at Mizzou prior to heading off to the draft. Rest assured the young man was probably upset
with his late selection however the Clippers medical staff had a clear reason for the decision they rendered.
