Basketball from a fans perspective

“We’d be going on if Kawhi was healthy”

By the time this is read you’ve had plenty of time to digest the results of Wednesday night’s Suns victory, these are but a few more. As for the headline those are the words of Clippers shooting guard Paul George after the loss on Wednesday evening to the Suns 130-103. Okay PG let’s play “What if”, the Lakers are healthy could the Clippers have beaten them in a 7-game series? Lost in all this are the moves the Clippers made at the end of the season attempting to avoid the Lakers. We can offer you no proof, just like PG’s statement we can’t prove our testimonial is any more complete than his.

Moving on, the Suns particularly Chris Paul performed as expected. The road in front of the Suns was clear all that was required seize the moment which they accomplished, especially Paul. After scoring but 10 points in the first half of the game he exploded for 31 in the second half. The Suns can now rest, Devin Booker’s nose can heal, and they can wait for the winner of the Hawks-Bucks series. Looking toward the future for the Clippers there is a possibility Kawhi Leonard will require off-season surgery. This is speculation however if that issue should prevail will he be ready to play? In addition, can the Clippers re-sign Reggie Jackson who certainly came to the forefront in the playoffs.  

Bits n Pieces

Will Mac McClung “play” his way into the NBA? We cannot answer the question at this point but a brief return to the past. McClung would break the Virginia high school scoring record of a guy by the name of Allen Iverson. The 6-foot 3 guard would spend a single season at Georgetown and one at Texas Tech. After a back-and-forth decision it appears he’s in the NBA draft for good, he’s got no intention to return to school. Although he was invited to the NBA Draft Combine McClung’s name doesn’t appear on any mock draft sites. To compound the difficulty, McClung’s a shooting guard in a point guards body. In addition, his shooting hasn’t been eye popping at the collegiate level, we shall see what develops for his future.

Could the third son arrive in the NBA next fall? That’s just a hint currently as the Hornets are working out LiAngelo Ball the middle brother. Unlike older brother Lonzo and baby brother LaMelo the road’s been a little more difficult for him. LiAngelo has bounced around a bit, he even was signed by the Pistons for a while but never earned any playing time. At 6 foot 5 and 215 pounds he’s certainly got the size for an NBA shooting guard however teams have found him lacking. Is this Charlotte story an effort by LaMelo to get his older brother into the NBA? The question cannot be answered as this is written however LiAngelo might have portions of his game requiring work. We shall see if all three brothers are eventually sporting NBA jerseys. 

I believe we all might be waiting for the follow up, would a black player affirm the Scottie Pippen statement. Robert Horry, the maker of clutch shots voiced his opinion. Horry said he didn’t think Phil Jackson was racist. He claims the only questionable event he remembers was during a huddle. The coach used the term master in connection with events of the game and the timeout. Horry indicates he questioned Jackson who apologized saying his words may have been lost in translation. We are stuck with the words of Pippen and a partial rebuttal by Horry.

Reservations   

Wait and see, I witnessed Oklahoma State’s Cade Cunningham at least 3 times during the season. From my perspective his games were only average but wait there is more. I continued to see his name in the Top 5 of prospective draft choices for 2021. After the collegiate season ended Cunningham rose to the top spot and remained in that position over the last several weeks. Then I thought about Terry Porter, at the time Wisconsin-Stevens Point was at the NAIA level.

A friend had witnessed his play in the annual tournament held in Kansas City, he informed me “This guy is going to be an NBA player.” Porter would go on to have a 17-year career in the NBA along with several coaching stops after retirement, he’s now head coach at the University of Portland. Later this same friend witnessed St. Louis University’s Larry Hughes and declared him a budding star. I saw him play later and let’s just say I wasn’t impressed. He went on to a 13-year NBA career despite me holding reservations about his ability, maybe that should be applied to Cade Cunningham.