Basketball from a fans perspective   

Published Monday through Friday

A petition was begun

Prior to Sunday’s NFL action a select group of “fans” generated a petition on change.org. These special folks wanted the Chiefs to bench starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes. After the Super Bowl loss in February the team has not performed at the level fans expected. No single player is irreplaceable but who these fans were suggesting replacing Mahomes was never made clear. This is a basketball blog why are you discussing the Chiefs and NFL? The single reason, most (including media members) have no idea what it takes to run a professional team. Fans sit in their Lazy Boy recliner drinking alcoholic drinks and believe we have all the answers.

My indignation is aimed at the media as well, for me I rarely watch TNT’s Inside the NBA, ESPN’s NBA Today and NBA Countdown! I don’t make the statement believing I’m all knowledgeable on the NBA or basketball in general, I do it for the fact I want information not entertainment. For me, the game is the entertainment, there is no requirement for me to see Charles Barkley criticized the view of Kenny Smith or Shaquille O’Neal. Give me information I can use which often is lacking in these programs. As for fans, we can fall back on the definition. “A fan or fanatic, sometimes also termed an aficionado or enthusiast, is a person who exhibits strong interest or admiration.”  I hope you focused on the word derived from fan i.e., “fanatic” do you sometimes fit the description or do you know someone that applies?

The experiment is over…

Remember how I expressed my concern with the LAkers trading for Russell Westbrook. A .com site has proposed the LAkers trade Westbrook to the Knicks for a bunch of players. Yes, Westbrook can be a turnover machine at times, but we knew that fact when he was acquired. We’d hope the other things he brings to the table would override that issue, but trading Westbrook is silly. The LAkers are not at the top of the NBA standings but they are not at the bottom either.

Thus far there have been bad losses and OT wins and part of this occurring with no LeBron in the lineup. To suggest Westbrook be traded after 14 games is not only silly it’s stupid. Westbrook’s has produced three triple-double games and barely missed on another four. This member of Laker Nation is not blinded to the turnovers and hopefully that will be addressed once LeBron is able to return to the lineup. Westbrook will not be forced to run the offense as much with the help of LeBron. I continue to claim if the LAkers are playing this poorly by December 25^th radical changes must be implemented. Until then we in The Nation must remain calm.

Kansas City…home of sports architects

Sprint Center (now T-Mobile) was the brainchild of various architects who call Kansas City home. The arena was designed with NBA and NHL hockey in mind, although neither sports franchise exists here the architects do. Besides T-Mobile Center below is a partial list of those arenas with a Kansas City connection.

American Airlines Arena-Miami

Little Caesars Arena-Detroit

Fiserv Forum-Milwaukee

United Center-Chicago

State Farm Arena-Atlanta

Barclays Center-Brooklyn

Wells Fargo Center-Philadelphia

TD Garden-Boston

Ball Arena (Pepsi Center)-Denver

Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse-Cleveland

AT&T Center-San Antonio

Amway Center-Orlando

Moda Center-Portland

As you can see almost half the NBA arenas currently in use were designed or partly designed by a Kansas City based architectural firm. Despite no NBA team architects from the city’s fingerprints are all over arena designs throughout the league.

Now we know the full story

Below is another story about the NCAA which continues to wield its power in a highly unusual manner. The NCAA is upset with the Athletic Department at Oklahoma State due to statements they made which displeased them. As for this account it’s Mizzou basketball and the recent incident where Mizzou guard DaJuan Gordon was forced to sit and couldn’t play in the game against Central Michigan. We had been led to believe the NCAA had forced the former Kansas State guard to the bench.

On Friday Coach Cuonzo Martin explain the details of the suspension. “He played in one game that was certified, Martin said. “Martin said the event in question was sanctioned by the NBA, but not the NCAA.” Martin said neither Gordon nor the Missouri staff knew he was doing anything wrong by playing in the summer league game.” * How is an athlete to be fully aware of all the rules and regulations the NCAA imposes on student-athletes?

*missouririvals.com

The offspring not so well

We believe son’s follow their father’s in the game of basketball. We don’t know whether it’s a force issue or just the desire to do what dad did. The unfortunate, apart from Kobe Bryant and Steph Curry the play of the sons exceeds that of the fathers. In most circles Michael Jordan is considered the best to ever play the game, Marcus and Jeffery Jordan managed to play collegiately but neither came remotely close to the skill level of their famous father. Neither son was good enough to earn a look by an NBA team.

 We could make the same statement for the offspring of Rick Barry; Barry too is enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Jon, Drew and Brent had NBA careers but nothing close to dad Rick. If you are a certain age, you might not remember what a talent Bill Walton was prior to injury. Injury and all without checking we could say his numbers exceed those of son Luke. The career of Tim Hardaway Jr. has been good however it comes in second to dad Tim Hardaway Sr. for most NBA fans. This list certainly is incomplete the idea was to show you several father-son combos who played in the NBA. There are instances the careers of the fathers have been more successful than their offspring.