Basketball from a fan’s perspective

He’s got a job

Technically Jason Kidd already had a job, he was on the staff of the Lakers that is until Friday. Early Friday afternoon he was named head coach of the Mavs replacing the departed Rick Carlisle. In addition to the Kidd announcement the team also revealed Nico Harrison has been brought on board to run basketball operations and serve as general manager of the team. Back to Kidd a moment, this is his third head coaching position, he’s been at the helm at Brooklyn and Milwaukee prior to this hire.

Although I have been clamoring for fresh blood so far, the Celtics have been the only one to make a bold move with the Ime Udoka hiring. The Pacers went with the “safe” guy in hiring former Mavs coach Rick Carlisle who resigned earlier. It’s being reported for Mavs player Dirk Nowitzki and Luka Doncic campaigned for Kidd to be hired. There are head coaching positions to be filled in Orlando, Washington D.C., Portland and New Orleans. 

Don’t believe everything you read

The numbers on the Hawks Trae Young indicate he stands 6 foot 1 and weighs 180 pounds. I have serious doubts if either number is valid, I believe he’s shorter than the listed figure and might be closer to 160 pounds. Despite this fact there are at least two areas I have no doubt, despite his stature Young is fearless, and he is a deadeye shooter at times beyond the arc. Young’s not the second coming of Steph Curry (who is) yet but he’s on the road. His stature reminds me and maybe others of Allen Iverson. Don’t you find it interesting the two best players in the 2018 draft were traded for one another?

What do we know about Ime Udoka?

The first thing we might note Udoka played for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, he spent most of his time as a reserve player. He would go on to play for several other teams and then came retirement. Udoka would return to San Antonio and become an assistant coach for Popovich, he worked in San Antonio for 8 years prior to a move to the Sixers in the same capacity.

In 2020 Udoka was hired as an assistant to Steve Nash with the Nets and from there you have his brief but nearly complete history. Udoka’s resume looks good however there is a key here, Udoka becomes the “new” guy. He’s not a coach who was fired or resigned at one franchise and showed up at another (see Rick Carlisle). Also, on the good side Udoka has a good team with the Celtics, not a great team but certainly good. These Celtics are playoff quality so that’s certainly a good thing, hopefully Udoka will be able to hit the ground running and maintain that Celtic pride. 

Should I Stay or Should I Go

Darling, you got to let me know

Should I stay or should I go?

If you say that you are mine

I’ll be here till the end of time

So you got to let me know

Should I stay or should I go? 

That’s the 1^st verse of the 1981 hit by the Clash Should I Stay or Should I go, I’m going to apply it to the Lakers Andre Drummond. Before we investigate this case allow me to state up front, Drummond should only be retained if the $$$ are spot-on. He’s no different than anyone else in the association he wants to get paid. Now that’s out of the way lets proceed, since the Lakers have been eliminated, we have received mix messages regarding the Laker post man. Half the populace wants to get rid of him the other half believe he deserves a second look. In this instance that second look entails training camp with Anthony Davis and LeBron James available.

The critics claim “Drummond didn’t do this, or he couldn’t do that.” We also heard “Drummond clogged the lane not allowing Anthony Davis room to operate.” This is not stating those issues raised didn’t exist a training camp might have alleviated some of this. Drummond is not a prolific shot blocker however he certainly was better than Marc Gasol. There was no argument regarding his rebound totals, they were far superior to Gasol. There are two areas the veteran Gasol performed better, his 3-point shot and passing skills. We have no idea what occurs in the future but this I believe. If the Lakers decide to go in another direction, I’m okay but this post player must have the skills of Drummond/Gasol.