Words eye view

Basketball from a fan perspective

Great White Hope part II

The second portion of this account indicates we might have been looking in the wrong direction.  Instead of looking at American schools hidden in plain site was the inclusion of more and more Euro athletes.  As you are aware the influx of Euro players has accelerated over the last several years due to their skill level increasing exponentially.  It wasn’t fair but the first few Euro players arriving on these shores were busts, they couldn’t play the game at the level they exhibited in Europe.  For these reason’s Euro players were looked at suspiciously at first.  We did this despite the fact we could point toward several black and American white players who didn’t make it in the NBA, they could be termed busts.

One name who made it early was Drazen Petrovic’ a Croatian player drafted by the Blazers in 1986.  Traded to the Nets in 1991 his NBA career begin to improve to a high skill level; he was killed in an automobile accident at the age of 28 in 1993.  Petrovic’ was on the road to NBA stardom at the time of his death and was unable to fulfill the promise many of us envisioned. We didn’t know much about Dirk Nowitzki when he was drafted except, he was from Germany.  Fast forward and we discover he became a 30,000-point scorer in the NBA, 14x All Star, 12x All NBA and 2011 Finals MVP as he led the Mavs to the championship. 

In 2017 we began reading reports on Luka Doncic a Slovenian forward/guard, in the June 2018 draft with the number 3 pick the Mavs chose Doncic.  2019 NBA Rookie of the Year, a strong candidate for MVP in the 2020-21 NBA season.  We close this by including The Joker, Nikola Jokic Nuggets center.  The Serbian Big Man is a walking triple-double a threat be it from the 3-point line or quick pass to a streaking teammate.  The white superstar players have been here all along hidden in plain sight, Dirk will be enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame just as soon as he’s eligible.  He will not be the last Euro player to be honored in this manner.  This is certainly not complete there are several other Euro players who could have been profiled, those covered are most noteworthy in this writers’ view.   

Seismic jolt

Just in case you felt the seismic jolt simply stated relax it was me, I have stated on more than one occasion I listen to about half of the comments by Charles Barkley.  The other day he made a disparaging comment regarding today’s NBA and its players, Barkley mentioned specifically the 3-point shot.  The following words are mine not his, I watched a portion of the Nuggets-Lakers game on Thursday. 

The Nuggets take 3 point shot after shot after shot.  I believe we all of us understand the advantage offensively with making the shot however if you are not sinking them consistently your team usually winds up on the losing end.   Rounded up the Nuggets shot 29% from 3, did it have a direct effect on them losing the game? 

We can debate that issue however I tire of witnessing a break and with no opposition beneath the basket the shooter stops at the 3-point line.  He takes the shot if he makes it that’s great…if he misses…well.  In the Warriors-Mavs game the same evening the winning Warriors took 43 shots and 51% from the floor in the 147-116 win.  You be the judge, I’m out. 

I agree

De’Aaron Fox has only been in the NBA since 2017, despite his youth he believes the All-Star Game and his words “Is Stupid.”  Originally the game was cancelled and several weeks ago we began hearing it might be played.  Rather than Indianapolis it would be played in Atlanta.  All-Star weekend has taken over for me over the game, 3-point shootout, slam-dunk, and skills competition.  The game has become secondary in my view but back to why I agree with Fox. 

We are still in the middle of a pandemic; a limited number of fans are allowed at present to attend regular season games.  Will fans be allowed to see the game in person, in addition what about the other concerns.  Will socially distancing, mask wearing, and other COVID-19 era concerns be addressed if fans are in the building.  Prior to this report we read the NBA went through a period where there were no NBA players tested positive.  In the end these are not ordinary times, no need to any risks to infect players.  UPDATE:  As this was completed and before publishing LeBron James added his voice to the subject.  “I have zero energy and zero excitement about an All-Star Game this year.”