Basketball from a fans perspective

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This was different

The college basketball landscape was quite different in the 2020-21 season. It wasn’t just the pandemic that affected play but play itself. Surprise, surprise the NCAA tournament was Kentucky-less if there is such a word. For the first time it seems in ages John Calipari and his Kentucky Wildcats were nowhere to be found near the top of the SEC standings. Fact is Mizzou in a tepid season (8-8) finished ahead of Kentucky (8-9) can you imagine that? There were reasons why this anomaly occurred and there is no need of a re-visit, let’s just state Big Blue Nation is expecting no repeat of this past season.

The program might appear its being re-built from the ground up, there is but one senior on the roster and he hardly played. The new transfer rule allowed Coach Cal to work his magic. Kentucky has 4 transfers with experience, also arriving in Lexington are two 5-star and one 4-star prospect. This might appear a gamble, can the transfers adapt to the coaches system, will these “rookies” be able to make the leap from high school basketball to that of Division I. This is a team comprised of freshman, sophomores and juniors that will begin play in the fall and winter. Rest assured unless we are mistaken there will be no repeat of the 2020-21 season for the Wildcats.

A fix is needed 

After viewing the Netflix documentary Untold: Malice in the Palace it is time for a fan code of conduct. As you are aware the 2004 rampage began with Pacer and Piston players however several fans were participants in the altercation. This past season with fans allowed in NBA arenas across the nation several incidents of bad behavior by fans occurred. More than a few fans have this mindset “I paid for my ticket, or I pay your salary so I can do or say anything I desire.” Well, that view is incorrect, one cannot base their behavior on perceived rights. Purchasing a ticket does not afford you that privilege.

Imagine this meeting that player in a restaurant or on the street, bet your bottom dollar there would likely be no attempt to attack them physically or verbally. That type of mentality is not okay, we cannot do or say anything we wish because we might believe “it’s our right.” We read the instances occurring this past season fans have been given lifetime bans but that is likely an ineffective measure. What prevents these folks who refuse to conform from using a ticket website or having a friend make the purchase for them? Facial recognition inside arenas is probably not in use therefore there is no effective method to keep these bad actors from attending games. One thing for sure this has got to stop no matter how its handled going forward.    

Bits n Pieces 

We must find a replacement for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, he played the bulk of minutes at the two for the Lakers. He’s been traded what do we expect now, who takes over at the two? The cast of characters is quite interesting based on the number of free agents signed plus at this point one hold over. In no order we have Kendrick Nunn, Malik Monk, Wayne Ellington, Kent Bazemore and Talen-Horton Tucker thus far. The Lakers experienced such a dearth of three point shooting the prospect with the best shooting percentage might earn the minutes but even that might be misleading. Coach Vogel with his emphasis on a defensive presence might be willing to sacrifice the shooting for defense. An example might be a 32% shooter might get more play over a 40% shooter who might not be a good enough defender.

Three websites name the Brooklyn Nets as the top power team for the 2021-22 NBA season. Most important as we witnessed was all parties to remain healthy. The trio of Durant, Hardin & Irving are key to success of the Nets however one player might be more valued than others. We believe that player to be point guard Kyrie Irving. Fully healthy Irving is one of the best, injured well you know the story there. The injuries are key, research indicates since college Irving has missed 27% of his games. On average he misses at least 10 games a season. The talent of Kevin Durant is evident, the same could be said for James Hardin but Irving is the key.

It’s just me, I’m the guy who’s grown tired of several media members especially those who cover the world of college and professional basketball. They often become the story rather than the basketball account they are covering. No need to name them you are aware of the names. I provide you my opinions often but there is a key difference. I don’t believe I’ve ever claimed my view was the only one for you to consider, it’s always my hope you formulate your own assessment of the subject matter. I listen and read to be informed hopefully this blog has been seen in that manner.

Basketball hotbeds

Where is high school basketball king, in this instance we are not discussing the IMG’s or the Montverde’s of the nation. We are considering metro areas and states that have large numbers of high school talent. Large population areas certainly are a contributing factor to the wealth of talent an area might produce. This is in no order so please don’t confuse that with the reading. A number might disagree with this but it’s my belief we must begin with Texas specifically the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston metro, they have   produced large numbers of college and NBA talent over the years. Where did this talent matriculate, at the high school’s and none of the academy’s throughout the nation tailored for basketball?

I once made this statement at a point, Shaka Smart is hired as the coach for Texas. “There is no requirement for him to recruit outside the State of Texas.” This proved partially correct although he’s now left Smart’s teams did not reach the level expected by me. We move from the State of Texas to a city, Chicagoland. The metro in the past and up to the present continues to produce talent, how about the name Isiah Thomas from the past and Anthony Davis from the present. Those two are just a number who honed their talent in a Chicago area high school. Southern California specifically the Los Angeles area is still a hotbed for producing talent…The Claw, Kawhi Leonard along with Russell Westbrook and James Hardin. Including Toronto Canada in this count might be surprising shocking to you. No less an authority than Fran Fraschilla claims “Toronto has some of the best high school basketball around.”

We tend to overlook New York City somehow which is a mystery. In recent years there’s been no Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Dr. J. or Connie Hawkins come forth. That does not take into consideration there still is exceptionally good high school basketball played there. The numbers might be smaller however Atlanta has produced its share of talent as well, we could go back to Walt “Clyde” Frazier up to Dwight Howard as examples. As for Florida it’s difficult for this observer to pin-point talent the cities and state have produced, so much of the talent we see play at IMG Academy, Montverde and others comes from other parts of the country and world. At this point I’m going to stop, rest assured I’ve offended by not mentioning their city or state. This was intended as an impartial glance and certainly not intended to be a complete work.