Basketball from a fan perspective

Sadness in the NBA

Legendary Celtic player and coach K.C. Jones died on Friday; he was 88-years old.  Playing for the Celtics back in the glory days he, Sam Jones and Bob Cousy were part of the legendary NBA Championship backcourt.  As additional details are made available expect to read an additional account in Sunday's Words eye view.   

Look what I discovered

My wife and I were driving home, and a tune came on the radio.  A portion of the lyrics sung by the artist contained the words “24 seconds” and it caused me to think, “I told my wife, as much as I know about basketball and especially the NBA, I have no idea how the league arrived at a 24-second clock?”  Well, I had to discover the answer, for many of you too young the leagues not always operated with a clock. 

“The NBA introduced the 24-second shot clock during the 1954-55 season to speed up the game.  The number 24 was devised by Syracuse Nationals owner Danny Biasone, who divided the game’s 48 minutes into 120, the average of 60 shots per team in games played from the previous three seasons.”   Like anything else over time, the average number of shots has probably varied up or down however the NBA continued to use the 24 second shot clock as it’s barometer. 

ESPN.com

Bits n Pieces 

By now you are aware the Clippers spoiled ring night for the Lakers, the Staples Arena co-tenants won the opening night match 116-109.  Even funnier is one of the ESPN guys announcements ahead of SportsCenter and I paraphrase, “The Clippers made the Lakers sit up and take notice, stay tuned for details.”  I laughed out loud when I heard his comment, this was Game One.  There are 71 more games to play and rest assured the Lakers wanted to win but consider this fact.  Didn’t the Clippers win their first match last season against the Lakers, wonder how the 2019-20 NBA Championship concluded?    

James Harden continues to expand his list of possible destinations; added to his wish is Boston and Portland.  It would be difficult for me to envision him in the same backcourt with Dame Lillard, after all matching him with another talent appeared to cause him a problem.  Earlier he announced he was okay with playing for the Knicks or Sixers, it appears “The Beard” is willing to play almost anywhere except Houston.  Most of the games we saw Harden dominated the basketball despite the presence of Russell Westbrook last season.   

This disclaimer up front, this is certainly no prediction of future NBA stardom.  The Warriors James Wiseman got off to a good start in his first regular season pro game.  The 7 foot 1 Wiseman in 24 minutes was 7-13 from the floor, he pulled down 6 rebounds and scored 19 points.  The leader of the team Steph Curry indicated the rookie had a good game.  Wiseman might have had the best start of any rookie thus far. 

Why must you do it, you know what I’m referring to?  A story on the NBA or sports in general, your response is to write a letter which has 0 connection to the account in front of us.  I’ll give you an example, a company ad featuring rings in the likeness of those awarded champions.  The first letter read; “What about honoring the troops who are serving.”  Nothing wrong with the statement but what does that have to do with the subject at hand?  “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing”-Steven Covey

Now we understand

Aminu Mohammed attends a Springfield MO high school, based on that fact alone there was a glimmer of hope the 5-star prospect might choose Mizzou.  After all Springfield is but a short 162-mile journey to Columbia home of Mizzou.  Mohammed made his decision known, he committed to Patrick Ewing and Georgetown basketball.  The verdict might have not been that difficult for Mohammed, we discovered after his commitment he’s from Washington D.C.

How he managed to find his way to Springfield MO and attend Laboratory School remains a mystery.  Perhaps someone in Springfield or D.C. knows the story in detail.  As for the numbers Mohammed is a 6-4 200-pound shooting guard, Mohammed is rated the number 15 prospect by Rivals.com in the Class of 2021.  In any event he remains one of several talented athletes we remain anxious to see in action at the collegiate level.