Words eye view

Basketball from a fan perspective

Are we in a state of panic yet? 

The Lakers suffered another loss on Wednesday versus the Jazz.  The blowout win by the Jazz led to the Lakers being saddled with a 4-game losing streak.  Does the losing streak concern me, the simple answer is of course it does?  The fact that Anthony Davis and Dennis Schroeder are out of the lineup concerns me just as much.  An examination of the losing streak notes the Lakers lost games to the Nuggets, Nets, Wizards and Jazz. 

Apart from the Wizards all the teams mentioned earned playoff berths in 2020.  As for the Wizards they arrived in Los Angeles with a 4-game winning streak, the Wizards were hotter than the planet Venus.  Is this an excuse for the Laker losing streak…perhaps it is but I don’t think so?  Consider this prospect, if the Lakers are perennial losers with AD and Schroeder in the lineup on a regular basis, I can say yes…it is officially time to panic. 

Jobs, there are jobs

If you want a job it appears, there are many available, in this instance the reference is D-I basketball coaching jobs.  According to cbssports.com there are 11 jobs requiring a head coach.  Unlike them I have no intention of publishing a “job in jeopardy” type story.  Hopefully, these coaching jobs will not be recycled in the manner of   Coach B., he is terminated at State U. and then is hired by AM&N.  This practice serves no purpose and fails to move a quality assistant coach into a fulltime job as head coach.  Granted many schools are just like the NBA, they want a coach with a veteran pedigree.  

The G-League & the NBA draft 

The G-League will play but 15 games in the bubble, recently we had an opportunity to witness Team Ignite in action.  Ignite is the team mostly comprised of high school talent, most were probably headed to college until the opportunity to begin a professional career was presented to them.  How does this effect the NBA draft, we might pose the question? 

We can check out nbadraft.net for an early response, the site list Jonathan Kuminga a 6-foot 8 inch forward as the potential 2^nd pick in the 2021 draft.  The 5^th pick is listed as Jalen Green a 6-foot 6-inch shooting guard, the 31^st pick in the second round is 6-foot 5-point guard Daishen Nix.  Keep in mind this represents an early assessment, other G-League players might come to the forefront in the weeks ahead.  Most are likely to remain with Team Ignite and improve their skill next season. 

How do you coach a Big Man? 

Mizzou was able to secure the services of 7-foot 3 245-pound Jordan Wilmore.  He’s not Cuonzo Martin’s type of player so most of Mizzou Nation was caught off guard.  Wilmore’s played minutes in but 5 games thus far this season, his situation is different from Jeremiah Tilmon.  The 6-foot 10 260-pound Tilmon was given extensive minutes in his freshman year although he was extremely raw, finally in his senior year his skill has risen exponentially. 

It’s taken Tilmon three and a half years to develop his game.  As for Wilmore most didn’t expect him to replace Tilmon in the lineup but we believed he might gain minutes.  Thus far the minutes even with Tilmon sometimes in foul trouble have been few.  We pose the question are there any Big Men camps or better yet are their coaches to tutor the Jordan Wilmore’s of today’s basketball?  At this point allow me to stop and state my position, I have problems with Big Men shooting from 3-point range.  We are not going to return to the traditional back to the basket type center soon however it’s my belief it’s coming I’m just cannot place a time.