Basketball from a fans perspective

Isn’t this interesting?

It seems daily we read an article of another NBA team reported to be interested in acquiring Ben Simmons. There is at least one key question, if half the reports are accurate, we are utterly amazed. If this guy is as flawed as many claim why are there various NBA teams supposedly attempting to trade for him? A friend claims he believes the issue(s) are between Simmons and Joel Embiid. We knew at the time Simmons arrived in the NBA there was little range on his jump shot, he’s become a “Wilt” in shooting his jump shot or free throws.

You might remember reading of the legendary Wilt Chamberlain, he could score the ball better than any player of his era, the free throw line would become his kryptonite.  For Simmons, his kryptonite is any     shot from 10 feet out and the free-throw line. Those are the negatives, lets briefly check out the positives. Simmons is a good defender, and his passing skill is on the same level or above most NBA point guards. How is the Simmons issue resolved, it’s clear he’s worn out his welcome in Philly, a trade must be arranged and Joel Embiid ain’t going anywhere? Simmons NBA career can be resurrected provided he’s traded to the “correct” team. You note that team remains unnamed.     

He’s the first 

Mizzou and Cuonzo Martin received their first commit for the 2022 college basketball season. Giving his verbal okay to attend Mizzou on Friday was Christian Jones a 6-foot 4-inch combo guard. Jones hails from the coaches fertile recruiting grounds, he attends East St. Louis HS in East St. Louis Illinois. Jones is unranked in the Class of 2022 however apparently, he’s not exactly an unknown, there are 6 schools with offers for him to attend. DePaul, Denver and Southern Illinois University represent part of the number recruiting Jones. This early in the process he always has time to change his mind since his commitment is verbal at this point. Although Jones is from the Illinois side, this is part of the St. Louis metro which is the area the head coach has his connections.

This is different

We are witnessing the play of Big Man DeAndre Ayton of the Suns in the playoffs. In this new age there are few quality post players, it’s my belief they are OUT THERE. They just haven’t been developed, one of those I believe shows promise is the Warriors James Wiseman. In his rookie year injuries impacted his development, he is probably looking toward the 2021-22 NBA season. The change in the game just details Big Men are not being schooled, athletes haven’t ceased growing to 7 feet.

One of those budding talents is Kofi Cockburn of Illinois. He scored at nearly an 18-point 10 rebound clip this past season, at some point after the conclusion of the season he submitted his name for the NBA draft. Although this 7-foot 285-pound center remains NBA bound this week, he announced he was placing his name in the transfer portal. This is the most telling portion of the story, don’t be shocked if Cockburn transfers to Kentucky. Reports indicate two former Illinois coaches are now on the staff of John Calipari. We shall monitor this matter closely to see if it becomes Kentucky or the NBA for the Big Man. 

Unfulfilled

There are occasions a player arrives on the NBA scene with little if any fanfare. Later we “discover” he can play at this level effectively. That might apply to Blazer guard Dame Miller, Weber State basketball is a hidden gem in college basketball. No doubt Dame arrived in the NBA as a hidden talent. That was not the case for Greg Oden, his 7-foot height and 273-pound frame certainly kept him from being hidden. He was Defensive Player of the Year and Consensus 2^nd Team All American in 2007 at the University of Indiana. Limited offensively it was believed he would gain that skill once arriving in the NBA. One NBA scout compared Oden to “The second coming of Bill Russell”, that reflected the belief of many throughout the NBA. 

The promise would be unfulfilled, injuries would impact his game severely. We might consider knees his “Achilles heel”, once his knees gave way, he was a shell of his former self. He would drift from the Blazers who made him the first pick in the 2007 draft to the Heat and finally the Jiangsu Dragons in the Chinese Basketball Association. No longer left with the ability to play basketball at a high skill level Oden returned to Ohio State to complete his degree. In 2019 Oden graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sport’s industry. A plethora of injuries forced him from the game he showed such promise, hopefully he in reading this will understand. It’s not a criticism it is intended to detail the unfulfilled expectations by Blazer fans and others after 2007.

They are bonding

It was interesting, reading the account Klay Thompson gave of James Wiseman. It seems the Warriors guard invited Wiseman aboard his boat, and they sailed around the bay recently. It’s hoped both injured Warriors should be ready for the 2021-22 NBA season, Thompson to prove he’s still got it and Wiseman to demonstrate he belongs in the NBA. At draft time last season several might have believed the former University of Memphis center was not ready for the rugged play of the NBA after but 3 collegiate games.

The 7-foot Wiseman did have an up and down rookie campaign prior to an injury, he would be sidelined after a point for the balance of the season. Just checking his numbers, we discover in 39 games Wiseman scored at nearly 12 points and 6 rebounds a game, he would be a starter in 27 of those games. What do we project for Wiseman’s future is the question? Although he was limited to just a few games at the University of Memphis, he was a double-double performer there. This is all speculation at this point it is up to Wiseman to prove he belongs in the NBA; we have a belief he is capable but it’s on him to prove it.