Basketball from a fan’s perspective

 “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."         Benjamin Franklin

Poke the bear

Recently one website pointed out the Knicks have the same won-loss record as the defending champion Lakers. It certainly is true, but do we bother to look beneath the surface? Is this an honest effort or simply an effort to poke the bear? If you are not familiar with the term allow me to provide you the textbook definition. “To do something that might provoke someone into becoming angry or causing problems. Individuals often use this in the negative statement don't poke the bear.”

Laker coach Frank Vogel refuses to address the issue, he will not use injuries as an excuse but that’s not my plan. It was once said the NBA needed a successful team in New York City, we’ve discovered that’s not a requirement. On the other hand, the renewed play evident by the Knicks is impressive. Is it safe to assume the Knicks have not experienced near the number of injuries suffered by the Lakers? 9 weeks for AD and 6 weeks for LBJ missing in action, that might sound as if it is an excuse, guess what….it is. Final fact, there is not a single team in the NBA that would be able to play at a high skill level considering the number of games the Lakers two stars have missed. As the season concludes and the playoffs begin the ultimate answer will soon be known.

This is interesting

Covid kept the Raptors grounded in the United States rather than their home in Toronto. Unable to travel back and forth between the two countries a decision was made to search for a U.S. location. Several American cities including my hometown Kansas City were under consideration, ultimately the choice was made in favor of Tampa which made sense on several levels.

Tampa Florida is an Eastern Time Zone city while Kansas City is Central time. Flights from Kansas City to New York, Boston and other east coast locations would likely be a greater expense, that might have impacted the final decision. Now the bad part of the story, after playing the 2020-21 season in Tampa it is being reported Raptors players and management cannot wait to extricate themselves from Tampa. Why did things go south during the season, we have no idea? Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports reported this story, he indicates fans were booing the Raptors at times. 

Profiled

We profiled the athletes who left the Mizzou program through the transfer portal.  What about those arriving via the portal plus incoming freshman and the remainder of the roster.    

Portal transfers

Ronnie DeGray 6-foot 7-inch combo forward-UMass

Amari Davis 6-foot 3-inch combo guard-Green Bay

DuJuan Gordon 6-foot 4-inch combo guard-Kansas State

Jarron Coleman 6-foot 5-inch point guard-Ball State

Incoming freshman

Anton Brookshire 6-foot point guard

YaYa Keita 6-foot 9-inch inch center

Travon Brazile 6-foot 7-inch forward

Sean Durogordon 6-foot 7-inch forward

Kaleb Brown 6-foot 6-inch shooting guard

Returning 

Javon Pickett 6-foot 7-inch shooting guard

Kobe Brown 6-foot 7-inch forward

Jordan Wilmore 7-foot 3-inch center

As you can see this is a new Mizzou team, where they fit in the SEC and overall is an unknown factor at this stage. Currently it appears Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee will be intact. I never want to count out a Kentucky team coached by John Calipari; in conclusion, it would appear the SEC will be as competitive as always. Several teams surprised this past season, is it Mizzou’s turn to spring a surprise? 

Ben Simmons is not Magic Johnson

The headline above is not shocking nor revealing for that matter, we know the Sixers point guard is not on the same level of Magic Johnson but consider this bit of information. His coach Doc Rivers is the one who raised the issue recently, we know Simmons does everything at an exemplary level except distance shooting. He’s got no range and discussing the 3-point shot for Simmons just forget about it. Rivers points out Magic was not good from 3 and he is correct except for one fact. If you check out the last three years of play Magic turned into a reliable shooter from distance, not great but good. One more issue to cover, free throw shooting, Simmons is not a good free throw shooter Magic was.