Basketball from a fan’s perspective

“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts”  John Wooden  

Don’t do it

The Suns clinched a playoff berth Wednesday evening, the first in 11 years.  They beat the Clippers 109-101 led by point guard Chris Paul.  This teaches us a lesson some were already aware, don’t do it.  We should never underestimate the impact of a quality point guard on an NBA team.  These same Clippers recently acquired Rajon Rondo for that very reason.  As for the Suns the playoff berth wasn’t Paul alone, but he might be the main difference maker in this Suns team versus last season.

Here I go with my revisionist history, the date was December 8, 2011.  The Hornets (Pelicans now) had traded Paul to the Lakers however NBA commissioner voided the trade in the “best interest of the NBA” on that day.  Imagine 26-year-old Paul in the same backcourt with 33-year-old Kobe Bryant, the playoff drought for the Lakers that existed might never have occurred with this backcourt in action.  That Laker team would finish the season with a 41-25 record, just imagine what they might have accomplished with a Chris Paul distributing the basketball.  

The nerve of this guy

Georgia coach Tom Crean is one of the names we’ve heard for years, he’s been the head man at several college programs across the nation.  Ask Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell his opinion of Crean, he’s liable to be diplomatic but not me.  This is the reported story, while Crean was head coach at Indiana he was recruiting Mitchell.  Mitchell decided in favor of Louisville over Indiana, the response by Crean.  “You will never make it in the NBA”, talk about your words coming back and biting you in the butt.  In fairness to Crean it was said Mitchell was not highly recruited coming out of high school.  

Can he play?

The YouTube highlights failed to paint an accurate portrait for us; in this instance the subject at hand is Pelicans forward Zion Williamson.  I remember we first began seeing amazing dunks while the 6-foot 6-inch phenom was in high school, my chief concern all we saw in these videos were the dunks.  I said to myself, “This guy must develop a game other than dunks”, once he arrived in the NBA, we discovered his game.  He’s still not a great shooter from distance however that can be developed.  Around the basket we see him contest the ball and score numerous times on put backs of his and teammates. 

As for the dunks they are still part of his repertoire as an NBA pro, the difference we know he can do more than one thing i.e., dunk the ball.  Zion will continue to refine his game if he is able to remain healthy.  There are many who believe he needs to lose weight; they claim his height and 284 pounds are too much of a detriment to his continued play at a high skill level.  I will leave the weight issue to his training staff and Zion; I refuse to venture into that area.  My last concern is simple, why certain members of the media point to their belief Zion should be playing somewhere other than the Crescent City?  These are the same voices we heard regarding Dame Lillard of the Blazers. 

Contract extension

In news of no great surprise the Lakers will offer coach Frank Vogel an extension this summer.  At the time the team was exploring coaching choices I don’t remember offering an opinion however I didn’t want the front runner, Jason Kidd.  There was concern on my part about his resume.  Then word came Vogel was the leading candidate and then he was hired.  I breathe a sigh totally unfamiliar with the coach except during his tenure with the Pacers.  After leading the Lakers to the 2020 NBA championship I thought this is the guy.  He’s a player’s coach and remains in the background unassuming.  Whatever the Lakers decide to pay him this member of Laker Nation is solidly in his corner.      

They love to hate

It seems the NBA always contained several players that were hated by fans.  The term is used loosely despite the vitriol aimed at these players they were of the superstar variety.  The level has been increased in this day of social media.  We must journey back in time, if we check the record books the name Wilt Chamberlain occupies volumes of scoring records yet numbers of fans claimed they hated him.  He was criticized for not winning more championships, it was said by groups of fans Chamberlain was selfish and was only concerned about himself.  Chamberlain when compared to his rival Bill Russell said, “He (Russell) had better teammates than me.” 

For unknown reasons, the success of the Bulls and Michael Jordan never ranked remarkably high in the hate category.  Once Kobe Bryant arrived on the scene, he became the new target for haters, we heard all of them.  Thanks to social media several of the stories we heard were just that…. stories.  “He’s trying to imitate Michael Jordan” was one of the many.  Then it occurred, Kobe retired, and the hatred dried up like a prune.  With no Kobe there must be a new target of focus and LeBron was just a budding superstar for a while, the move to Miami changed all that.  He won championships yet the hatred continued, what’s most interesting in all three cases they were winners.  Chamberlain didn’t win as many championships as folks believed he was capable but there were two.  As for the others Kobe won 5 championships and LeBron is at 4 and counting.