Basketball from a fans perspective

You are the One

Remember in The Matrix, over and over early Morpheus had to convince Neo “You are the one.” No matter what was said or done Neo didn’t believe until near the end of the movie.  We also might have been skeptical, we knew Giannis Antetokounmpo was extraordinarily talented but only to a point. We must be convinced, we said, “He doesn’t shoot the 3 well”, or maybe this one “Giannis is poor from the line.” Perhaps worst of all this one, “I don’t think he’s capable of taking his team to the championship level.” All that commentary and others went down the drain on Tuesday night as Neo…Giannis prove to all “He is the one”. He went over, around and on top of the Suns defense.

We know basketball is a team game however it certainly helps with a Giannis in your lineup. You may have read or heard these numbers but one more time. In 4 of the 6 games Giannis shot over 60% from the floor while scoring 211 points, he shot 62% in the series. 62 rebounds (10.3 a game), 26 assists and 10 block shots during the series. Remember the mention of his poor free throw shooting, how about 17-19 from the line? A friend pointed out few of the shots taken by Giannis were from distance, which is true, but this is my point. When you are in a zone as Giannis was is it necessary to hoist up 3-point shots? As for my prediction of a Suns win, I missed this one big time but props to the Bucks in winning the championship. The Bucks are winners of their second NBA championship and the first since 1971. In closing don’t allow this to conclude he belongs in the conversation regarding all-time greats. He’s got to do this 3 or 4 more times to be included among that group of players. 

The Hawk & The Doctor

The headline is no reference to a movie old or new; in addition, it doesn’t relate to a television program. It’s what might be a connection between Connie Hawkins and Julius Irving. Hawk grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, Dr. J. was born in East Meadow New York and from the age of 13 grew up in Roosevelt New York, these locations are roughly 25 miles apart depending on address to address. As for the physical part, Hawk stood 6 foot 8 inches while Dr. J. is the same height, both played at 210 pounds. With only 8 years age (1942 vs 1950) difference between the two did it occur? It’s my contention the pre-teen Erving might have witnessed Hawk play at Rucker Park in Harlem or perhaps at a Boys High School basketball game.

As pointed out earlier Hawk’s game was played in rarified air with his flights to the basket for a dunk or put back, wasn’t Dr. J.’s game somewhat similar? Both players had enormous hands allowing them to palm a basketball with their left or right hand. Hawk had already turned pro when he may have witnessed Dr. J. in action at Roosevelt High School or perhaps at UMass. The games of both players are so similar, due to circumstances of the time few of us had the opportunity to witness Hawk in action as we did with Dr. J. The question, did the good doctor pattern his game (to a degree) what he saw in the game of Hawk? Could it have been the other way around, could Dr. J. have influenced the game of the Hawk? This is all conjecture now, Connie Hawkins died in 2017 at the age of 75 from cancer. In numerous interviews we’ve never heard Dr. J. mention the Hawk but surely, he must have seen him play. The Hawk and the Doctor have been enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. 

Bits n Pieces 

In addition to the Bucks win Tuesday also resulted in additional NBA news. Former Yankee Alex Rodriguez and business partner Mark Lore were approved by the NBA Board of Governors regarding the sale of the Wolves franchise. The new owners purchased 20% share of the team Wolves plus ownership state in the WNBA Lynx. According to the information provided Rodriguez and Lore will begin as minority owners of the franchise however they can purchase additional shares in the future should they desire. An additional 20% can be purchased in 2022 and another 20% in 2023, that would make them majority owners of the Wolves. It is unclear for now if they intend to purchase additional shares allowing them 100% ownership. 

The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference might be making news in a different manner. The conference will require all players, coaches, officials, band members and cheerleading teams to be COVID-19 vaccinated at the start of the season. SIAC is a Division II conference, if you are unfamiliar with the conference most of the schools are in the southern region of the nation. Conference schools are Kentucky State, Albany State and Clark Atlanta to name just a few.

Not so fast Kansas Jayhawks it might not be quite that easy. Most are aware Kansas had somewhat of a down year competing last season. Those declaring for the NBA draft decided in favor of returning to school, that’s the good news. The not so good news is south of Lawrence Kansas in Austin Texas. Shaka Smart departed for Marquette but replaced by Chris Beard. Beard always adapt at recruiting at all stops appears to have used his recruiting skill to improve the respectable Texas roster. Transfers along with holdovers and newcomers will see Texas competitive with, you guessed it Kansas.

This is news

You remember Makur Maker don’t you, he was the 5-star prospect who decided to attend Howard University. This was news in the spring of 2020 because the last several years has witnessed few high-profile black athletes attending HBCU schools. Maker said at the time he hoped his enrollment would be a spark for other athletes, that was then this is now. Maker played but two games before an injury and then COVID-19 shut the Howard program down completely.

Fast forward to the spring of 2021, Maker announced he was declaring for the NBA draft. Just recently the 6-foot 11-inch forward announced he was withdrawing from the draft. On Wednesday came word from Maker, he wouldn’t be returning to Howard. The brief explanation his desire to be the top pick in the NBA draft and this would not occur due to no play this past season. Maker indicates if he remained in the draft, he would be a 2^nd round pick. At this point with no further word, we are unsure what the immediate future holds for Maker. Stand by we should receive an update on his intentions in the next few weeks.

Baloney

I listen to local sports talk radio in 5-minute segments, that’s about all I can handle, and this provides you an example why. Driving to work this I turned on the radio, one of the co-hosts was giving the listeners his reasons for believing Giannis Antetokounmpo was a better player than Chris Paul. This had nothing to do with athletic ability rather his perception. This is the manner he explained to listeners, “Paul has moved from team to team while Antetokounmpo has remained in Milwaukee and signed an extension.”

Everything this host stated is true however I beg to differ with his view and the following is my counterpoint(s). I conducted a quick count; it appears Paul has been traded three times in his career. Free agency is one thing being traded is something completely different, I seriously doubt Paul requested to be traded three times…however I could be wrong. As for Giannis with all the talk about him headed to a large market team he decided to remain in Milwaukee and that’s a good thing. If Giannis is this host favorite players that’s okay too but I take issue with the manner he concluded which is the better player.