Basketball from a fans perspective

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Naismith Hall of Fame festivities

On Saturday September 11 the 2021 Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony will be held. If you are not close to Springfield (MA) you can view the events on NBA TV at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time 6:00 Central. The event will be larger this year due to the pandemic, last year’s ceremony was cancelled. Instead of one class there will be two, the class of 2020 and 2021 will be enshrined at the same time. Several outstanding former players (NBA & college) along with coaches and contributors will be honored. This is a basketball occasion to not miss, plan on viewing it if you have the opportunity. 

Do the voodoo that you do!

If you believe last season was going to become the norm for John Calipari and Kentucky well that is not quite the case. Did you really think Kentucky was going to lose its place recruiting the top-notch talent here and abroad? Sure, last season was highly unusual for Calipari and Wildcat basketball. In this instance our discussion centers on Shaedon Sharpe, he’s Rivals number one prospect in the Class of 2022. Sharpe is a 6-foot 4-inch 180-pound shooting guard who hails from Glendale Arizona, he attends Dream City Christian Academy. At this point the commitment is only verbal, but Sharpe is unlikely to change his mind, after all this is Kentucky basketball. 

Highly unusual

Naismith Hall of Fame inductees will have experienced an outstanding college, Euro or NBA career. If it is a professional career in Europe or the NBA, they will have been at most a first round draft pick. What if they were not drafted at all, that was the case for Ben Wallace. Wallace would arrive in the NBA in 1996 as an undrafted free agent. He began as a member of the Bullets/Wizards moved on to the Magic. The Magic traded Wallace to the Pistons where he distinguished himself.

If we checked the career numbers of Wallace, they are not noteworthy, it was his defense and rebounding that aided the Pistons in playing winning basketball while he was in Detroit. His twin effort was key to the Pistons winning the 2004 NBA Championship. Wallace was four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and five-time NBA All Defensive First Team and once NBA All Defensive Second Team. The list of accolades doesn’t stop there but we wanted to give you an idea how valuable he was to the Pistons and a brief snapshot of why undrafted Ben Wallace is being elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame. 

Must see college basketball

We know the Lakers and Nets are must see basketball this fall and winter.  How about the college game, there is must see basketball there as well? Likely at the top of everyone’s list will be the Memphis Tigers. Penny Hardaway lost talent from his NIT Championship team but has recovered effectively. Jalen Duran along with wunderkind Emoni Bates says basketball should be very entertaining in zip code 38152. 2021 runner up Gonzaga is also prepared to do battle in the upcoming season. They secured the rights of 7 foot 1 Chet Holmgren the top high school prospect in the nation.

The west coast time zone might be a problem for those of us in the Midwest and east coast zones to witness Gonzaga in action. Baylor will be displaced by Kansas as Bill Self has his Jayhawks primed to return to the top of the Big XII and secure a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament. Expect to see the Bruins of UCLA to excel along with a return of Duke basketball. This being Coach K.’s swan song expect the Blue Devils to “Win one for the Gipper” although that quote reflects football…you get the idea. Juwan Howard’s move into the coaching ranks proved much smoother than most believed possible.

Expect to see his Michigan Wolverines near the top of the Big 10 Conference again and an invitation to the Big Dance. Also, in the Big 10 Ohio State and Purdue will be tough matches for all foes. We mention Alabama and our mind immediately says, “Bama football”, that is not always the case now. Coach Nate Oats has Crimson Tide fans thinking basketball too. If your favorite team was omitted, it was due to limited space and nothing more. There are likely a few teams who’s sparkling play will cause us to sit up and take notice, in addition a “Jae Morant” will likely emerge from a school and his play will amaze the college basketball world.

The Warriors future

On Sunday we wrote of the Warriors and their basketball fortunes related to the upcoming season. Missing in the critique is a more detailed look at the prospect of the Warriors. We can speculate in the long run they might be in better shape for the upcoming future than the Lakers, Nets and Suns. We have no crystal ball nor the ability to peer into the future but consider these points. It is impossible to predict draft picks, trades, free agency or injuries but ponder this.

Steph Curry and Klay Thompson have at least 2-3 good years remaining maybe more. We could make the same statement regarding Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins. This veteran presence plus the development of James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody. You realize of course this critique is based on a bunch of stuff that is pure speculation. We have no idea the future path of the Lakers, Nets and Suns. Perhaps the Lakers, Nets and Suns continue signing free agents at a record pace and maintain a winning tempo. In addition, left out of this discussion is the Bucks, Celtics and Clippers fortunes and others.