Words eye view

Basketball from a fan perspective

LeBron doesn’t require my help

He stands 6 foot 8 and 250 pounds, I’m a little guy but here I go.  By now you are aware of the incident occurring in the Laker game with the Hawks on Monday.  I’m not referring to the Laker win it’s the other thing, the confrontation with the fans.  At a point, a female fan seated courtside took off her mask and appeared in a heated discussion with security.  This woman and her husband along with two others were later asked to leave the premises. 

I am unsure at what point the woman went on Instagram and posted a profanity laced tirade (which she later apologized) for what she believed were her actions.  I’ve read several letters from “fans” critical of LeBron but here I am defending him.  It doesn’t matter if it was LeBron or the 12^th man on an NBA team, $1,000+ seats fails to allow you to say any and everything to a player.  She claims her husband was doing nothing out of the ordinary in heckling LeBron’s game.  We’ve had privilege fans in the past who believe their money allows them free reign to act a fool in a public arena.  I can only speculate at this point if alcohol might have been a contributing factor. 

Big 12 basketball

My favorite team now plays in the SEC, despite that fact I reside smack in the middle of Big 12 country.  I don’t believe anybody would argue with me at this point, the Big 12 is the strongest basketball conference in the nation.  For several years, the ACC or Big 10 even the Big East at a time ruled the nation’s basketball courts but no more. 

If we believe in polls the latest Top 25 contains 7 Big 12 team, our count of Big 10 teams stops at the number 5.  As for the ACC there are only three teams listed.  Probably the most interesting portion of this account is the location of the Kansas Jayhawks.  Usually sitting in the top spot that honor now belongs to Baylor with possibly Texas coming in second.  The Kansas Jayhawks are in currently in 5th place in the Big 12 as this is written.   

Missed free throws

Rick Barry in the Naismith Hall of Fame has an issue with missed free throws, Barry puts it simply, “It’s a free throw, nobody is contesting your shot.”  The bulk of Barry’s career was spent in the NBA although he did play in the ABA too.  Barry shot .880 in 226 ABA games; in 794 NBA games it was .900.  His overall professional total is a sizzling .893 from the line.  Think good free throw shooting is no big deal consider this.  How many times did your favorite college team miss the front-end of a 1 and 1?  Traditionally Big Men have been poor from the line going back to the time Wilt Chamberlain played, in 1,045 games Wilt shot .510 from the free-throw line. 

You might really find this interesting, in Wilt’s 100-point scoring game he was 28 for 32 from the line.  Shaquille O’Neal larger than life on occasion was often criticized for his poor attempts from the line, how do you think “Hack-a-Shaq” came into existence.  Opposing teams would foul Shaq on purpose forcing him to the line where he missed more than he made.  Even more interesting his defense mechanism kicked in and he would say “I make em when they are needed.”  Technically that statement was not true, for his career Shaq was better than Wilt but not by a great deal, Shaq was .540 from the line in 1,045 NBA games. 

It’s my belief a professional basketball player should shoot no less than .750 from the line.  An excuse often heard regarding Big Men is the size of their hands, that is pure baloney…Charles Bassey 7-foot Western Kentucky player shoots .738 from the line.  Jack Sikma a 6-foot 11-inch center back in the day shot a blistering .850 from the line.  Current Laker Big Man Anthony Davis is a career .802 shooter from the line.  As you can see the size of your hands have little to do with your ability to shoot free throws.  Shooting from the line is the same as anything connected to basketball…practice, practice, and more practice.