Basketball from a fans perspective

Published Monday through Friday

You parked in the wrong spot

If you expected the Lakers to be lambasted by yours truly you’ve parked in the wrong spot. If you wish a critical critique of the Tuesday evening events you need to check out Skip Bayless, Stephen A. Smith or another hater rather than Larry Laker. Oh, did you say, “the Lakers suffered a 121-114 beat down by the Warriors” and you have nothing to say? I will return to another statement, “New players in New places” as Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony and others adjust to play on the same page.

There were brief glimpses on Tuesday evening of what we believe the Lakers will eventually play in April (we hope). This is the litmus test, is it December yet, we judge it to be near the end of October? If the Lakers are playing as they did on Tuesday evening, we do indeed have a problem. I will reserve deep criticism until late November or early December that is all. Besides the fact any attempt by me to see the positives will simply be explained away as an excuse…so there you have it. By the way, Steph Curry with a triple-double led the way to the victory along with sparkling bench play for his Warriors.

They got fans too

The Knicks have their share of celebrity fans too. For reasons unknown, we tend to focus on Laker celebrity fans however nightly at Madison Square Garden quite a few can be spotted. The Lakers have actor Jack Nicholson, the Knicks counter with director, actor Spike Lee. Lee can always be spotted in his courtside seat and a story you might not know, he’s from Brooklyn. Don’t ask why he’s not rooting for the Nets. Radio personality Howard Stern is often seen at games the same for Chris Rock and Jerry Seinfeld. Musical talent Alicia Keys along with Katie Holmes and Olivia Wilde are often in attendance. Also seen in the Garden are Tracy Morgan, Jon Stewart, Dustin Hoffman and Ben Stiller. The celebrity crowd certainly matches that in attendance at Staples Center.

The past meets the present 

I hate to be tellin’ tales in school but I told you. Earlier I mentioned the number of fans would become vocal, “Why isn’t __________ included in the Anniversary Top 75 NBA players?” 50 players have been named in two announcements thus far. Relax we have another 25 players to be added to the anniversary team before you begin complaining about missing names. This is the issue for me, one guy complaining about Paul Arizin on the team.

Arizin spent 1950 through 1962 as a member of the Philadelphia Warriors, he played long before my time. He is worthy of being honored despite the fact you never saw him play, someone else believed he was worthy of this honor. Also, Bill Walton’s inclusion is being questioned as well comparing him to players who are yet to be chosen, fact Shawn Kemp might not be selected. Fans need to quite bitching about players of a different era, the game is the game. It wasn’t invented within your lifetime, it existed long before many of you were born.

He finally got the job  

Patrick Ewing is entering year five as head coach of Georgetown basketball. Hoya teams under Ewing have never won more than 19 games and that was only once. It was believed the program might return to its earlier glory with one of the staples of the program as player leading them. That has not been the case to date, Georgetown basketball has barely kept its head above water. Perhaps it’s time for a national coach to take over the program, it was believed John Thompson III would lead the Hoyas to success.

The son of the legendary coach had an impressive record 346 wins versus 193 losses however apart for 2014-15 season the Hoyas winning began to drop and after 13 seasons at the helm III was fired and replaced by Ewing. What’s the problem, has the landscaped changed dramatically in the Big East Conference to the point Georgetown can no longer compete effectively. One thing is abundantly clear, it is too bad Patrick Ewing the coach doesn’t have Patrick Ewing the athlete playing for him. If that were the case the Hoyas would certainly be more successful than to date.

Braggin’ Rights

If you live outside of Missouri or Illinois, the headline above probably means nothing to you. It’s the annual basketball game event held every season between SEC Mizzou and Big 10 Illinois. The Border Battle by Missouri with Kansas also exists with the State of Illinois. This game is held in St. Louis at the downtown Enterprise Arena, why here you ask? The city on the banks of the Mississippi River is about a 2-hour drive from Columbia (MO) and Champaign (IL) home of Mizzou and Illinois.

The two schools first began play back in 1932 although the Braggin’ Rights game only came about in 1980, Illinois leads in victories with 25 versus 15 losses. Despite the record Mizzou’s won the last three matches when played. This year’s game will be played on Wednesday December 22 at 8:00 p.m. Central Time on the Big 10 Network. In addition, sometimes both schools usually have Illinois athletes with Missouri roots and vice versa.