Basketball from a fan perspective

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Too many moving parts---Far too many stories surrounding the 2020 NBA Draft to cover in detail.  With that said I decided to concentrate on my favorite team.  The Dennis Schroder deal was finalized, the Lakers pick up the 27-year old veteran point guard.  He is expected to replace Rajon Rondo who may not return however that is unsure as this is written.  With the 1^st round choice gone in the Schroder trade what do the Lakers do with no second-round pick?  They will make a deal for Xavier Simpson a 6-foot point guard out of Michigan. 

Simpson was passed over in the draft however the Lakers must believe he’s got ability.  I am not familiar with his game so his stats at the university is all I am able to check, his assists and even rebounds look good for a guard his size.  The only negative he is a poor free throw shooter, poor in the fact he shot .590 from the line, he should be at least a .750 from the line at a minimum.  This concludes Laker news on the draft, next up free agency which starts tonight at 6:00 p.m., teams can sign players beginning Sunday November 22.   

Defending him--- The resignation of Gregg Marshall is bad for Wichita State in several ways.  The chief one is the success the coach and school experienced over his tenure at the university.  Several letters arrived either supporting former Coach Gregg Marshall or tough coaching in general.  Without going into details demanding coaches in all sports have existed since the beginning of time.  Physical abuse by a coach is a different matter, it should never be tolerated on any level. 

At least one writer attempted to point out these athletes are Generation Z and don’t recognize the value of discipline.  If the report of abuse is true, I would ask the writer which choke position is his preference, immediately under the head or slightly lower.  Marshall’s top assistant Isaac Brown was named interim head coach, with college basketball beginning in less than two weeks there certainly was no time to begin a search.  The former assistant is 51-years old and has served as an assistant at Louisiana Tech, Arkansas State, Arkansas, and South Alabama.  Best guess, Brown will have a “trial by fire” opportunity to determine if he is head coaching material.    

Again---If it seems I'm talking NBA basketball there is a reason, NBA training camps open December 1.  The 2020-21 NBA season begins December 22, most NBA teams missing the playoffs have not played competitive basketball since March 12. Those teams earning playoff berths played into September and October, the Heat and Lakers completed championship play on October 11. parts of this swift start have not been ironed out however travel is an issue.  This is the projection and not official, back to back games in Los Angeles and New York or nearby cities would be played differently.   

if a team visits Los Angeles they play the Lakers one evening and the following night the Clippers.  The same scenario would occur with teams playing the Knicks and Nets.  The Texas Triangle of Dallas, Houston and San Antonio would continue, in addition east coast corridor teams would see changes too.  NBA teams have opened their facilities for up to 10 players to work out at one time provided they have undergone COVID testing.  There are other forthcoming changes which will be implemented that remained unanswered but will surely occur.  As soon as these are announced you will be advised.  This is the shortest period between seasons for any professional sports teams. 

Remember when---Awhile back you might remember a story regarding Jay Scrubb.  He’s a 6-foot 5-inch shooting guard who played for John A. Logan Community College in Illinois.  It was mentioned he was being discussed in connection with the NBA Draft.  Well low and behold on Wednesday night it occurred, Scrubb was the 55th pick drafted in the 2nd round by the Nets, his rights were later conveyed to the the Clippers.   

This is certainly no declaration of pending stardom however it is noteworthy, for the first time in 15 years a player was drafted in the NBA from a junior college.  How he arrived at Logan CC is interesting, it was reported he hope to attend a D-I school however his GPA was not satisfactory.  Scrubb hoped to raise his grades and then head for a 4-year school.  Somewhere along the line he decided the NBA rather than another school was in his future, turns out he was correct.