Basketball from a fans perspective   

Published Monday through Friday

No bragging

The LAkers survived on Wednesday evening, they won in an OT game over the Heat 120-117. You will hear no bragging from this corner, no braggadocious on my part until I believe the Lakers play a “complete” game. The LAkers with a 7-win season thus far finds 3 of those wins occurred in OT. I realize the Lakers have been handicapped by injury, but I refuse to use that as an excuse. LeBron or no LeBron this veteran team should play smarter basketball. With two of the losses coming against the Thunder the LAkers must play better. Have I given up, of course not I remain a loyal despite my disappointment in their poor to average play to date?

Letters of Intent

Mizzou announced the signing of two expected prospects for next season and one unknown. Forward Aiden Shaw and guard Christian Jones signed LOI after verbally committing earlier. Jackson Francois a walk-on also signed a letter of intent, now for a little background on these Class of 2022 prospects. Aidan Shaw is a 6 foot 8-inch 190 pound 4-star prospect, he’s a wing who plays at Blue Valley High School in Stillwell Kansas; the city is in metro Kansas City Missouri. Christian Jones is a 6-foot 6-inch 190-pound combo guard from the home of the head coach East St. Louis Illinois, he’s a 3-star combo guard. Jackson Francois is a 6 foot 3 shooting guard, he’s at Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas and is the son of the new Mizzou Athletic Director Desiree Reed-Francois. 

Why is this shocking?

A website (unconfirmed) claims NBA general managers are scared to trade for Nets guard Kyrie Irving. We don’t know if the story is valid but why is this shocking if true. We are not discussing talent; he is among the most gifted players in the NBA it’s the other things. This probably sounds strange in reading due to the stance taken in the past in this blog. There have been individuals earlier who sacrificed their career to make a better world, Curt Flood in baseball is a name that comes to mind first. The difference between Irving and Flood is $$$, the Nets guard is in a secure financial position in the world.

That was not the case for Flood who suffered in two ways, he eventually returned to the game but was nowhere near the player he was on leaving. As for the money he certainly was compensated but probably never made up for the money lost. Perhaps a trade is the answer, Irving sent to a team far from New York City which allows him to play this season. At this point two events must occur to rectify the situation, covid must be eradicated (not likely soon) or Irving is traded. This is also unconfirmed; a fan claims Irving has missed 65% of his team’s games during his career. The question might be how valuable are you in missing that considerable number of games?

Big Man-Ball is no more…kinda

Illinois center Kofi Cockburn declared for the 2021 NBA Draft; the 7-foot 285-pound center would later withdraw his name. Former Kansas center Udoka Azubuike was a first round draft pick by the Jazz in 2020. The 6-foot-10-307-pound Azubuike only saw action in 15 games last season, why it might be as simple as the Big Man is no more in the NBA. The Warriors drafted 7-foot James Wiseman from Memphis however his rookie season was cut short due to injury. Will he be able to move into the Warriors lineup in the 2021-22 season? We’ve covered this subject in the past, but it appears the NBA wants Big Men who can stretch the floor i.e., a 3-point threat. If we look at the 2022 mock draft by two websites it has 10 Big Men centers including Cockburn, they say will be drafted. These are not in any order of draft status:   

Mark Williams 7-foot, Duke  

Ibou Badji 7-foot center, Senegal  

Walker Kessler 7-1, Auburn

Yannick Nzosa 6-11, Congo  

N’Faly Dante 6-11, Oregon.

Ariel Hukporti 6-11, Germany

Hunter Dickinson 7-1, Michigan

Khalifa Diop 6-11, Senegal

Jalen Duran 6-11, Memphis

We have no idea if these traditional Big Men will be drafted or can adapt to the NBA of today. Interesting fact, athletes have continued to grow to considerably larger heights than most it is up to coaches to prepare them to play in the modern NBA.

The unicorn

There I go, using the word I hate in describing a basketball player…Unicorn. Chet Holmgren’s first game was quite outstanding. The 7-foot 1 inch 190-pound (ya, he’s skinny) Holmgren did this, 14 points, 13 rebounds, 7 blocked shots and 6 assists. Sure, the game was played against Dixie State, there are two changes forthcoming for the school. 

The first has already occurred, they have moved from Division II to Division I. Second to that the name will change, the school is found in St. George Utah will soon become Utah Tech. Back to Holmgren as the top prospect in the Class of 2021 he became the highest profile prospect Gonzaga’s ever recruited. Ever seen a 7-foot unicorn (dang I said it again) dribble the length of the court, how about the ability to dribble around his back? There will be a period of adjustment for Holmgren and Gonzaga however he should become a valued member of the Bulldogs.