Basketball from a fans perspective   

Published Monday through Friday

Would it be any different?

The Warriors arrived in the borough of Brooklyn ready to do battle, they would face the "pre-season" choice for champion Nets in this highly expected match. Somebody forgot to inform the Warriors they were underdogs as they went up, around and through the Nets scorching them for 117 points while surrendering but 99. The usual guys showed up for the Nets, James Harden with 24 points assisted by Kevin Durant with 19 were the scoring leaders. Bruce Brown chipped in with 14 points but that was it from the Nets side, oh I forgot Kyrie Irving failed to score. On the Warriors side Steph Curry led the way with 37 points however four others scored in double-figures as the Warriors team shot almost 52% from the floor.

The Invisible Man (Andrew Wiggins) scored 19 points followed by Jordan Poole with 17. With 12 wins and only 2 losses this Warriors team is the talk of the NBA, we expected them to be improved over last season but not meteoric hot. In closing I hope you caught my slam at Kyrie Irving, he sits when there is no requirement for his actions. Funny all the vitriol aimed at Ben Simmons, and we hear truly little about Irving. Both players sit for distinct reasons, one is viewed as a villain (Simmons) while the other (Irvin) is viewed as the people’s champion in some eyes. Klay Thompson and James Wiseman are close to a return date, with one or both returning to action they can only help the Warriors in their Western Conference pursuit.

He is annoying as hell!

Lonzo Ball has now moved to the Bulls, his younger brother LaMelo is beginning his second season with the Hornets. Melo is coming off his Rookie of the Year honors and just might prove to all he might be the most talented of the three brothers. Middle brother LiAngelo is playing in the G-League, he must have just missed the cut to earn a roster position with the Hornets. LiAngelo too might find himself on an NBA roster one day.

Father of the brothers LaVar has been annoying as hell, but he and Richard Williams share a common trait. Both fathers trained their offspring to immense success and should be due the credit. Williams without any skill in the field of tennis trained daughters Venus and Serena so well they became tennis champions. Although less visible now in the early days Richard was LaVar just not quite as vocal. As for the Ball brothers they are being compensated financially well and the endorsements. LaMelo has signed a shoe and apparel deal with Puma while Lonzo sports Kobe 5 Proto although there is no sign, yet he’s signed with Nike.

Freshman of the Week

Are we over the top on this kid or does he have real potential? The “kid” we are discussing is Emoni Bates Memphis first-year student, he was named American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Week after but two games. The skinny 6-foot 9 talent is yet to be nailed down to one position. Coach Hardaway looked at Bates ability to distribute the ball and thought him a “point-guard.” At this time, we are unsure if he’s a point guard, shooting guard or small forward, his continued development will be the decider.

It should be of note there will be no rush to the NBA for Bates, his age makes him ineligible for the 2022 NBA Draft. Despite this fact he’s not tied at the hip to Memphis, there is the possibility of play in Australia or G-League or something else. On the other hand, depending on Bates relationship to the coach and teammates he might decide to return to Memphis for his sophomore year. Whatever the case we should enjoy this talent and watch his continued development. As we said earlier Memphis basketball is must see basketball this season.

Perhaps they knew something

Let’s begin saying I’ve admired Patrick Ewing from his playing days at Georgetown. This admiration continued onto his NBA career in fact we can say he is the New York Knicks. After Ewing retired from the game, he would become an NBA assistant but that is where the questions began. He’s had four stops as an assistant, but this is the issue, Ewing’s interviewed for head coaching jobs throughout the NBA. He was never hired, and we believed maybe he didn’t interview well or was there something else?

Might that something else be an inability to serve as a head coach despite his personal accolades. Finally, Ewing was hired but it wasn’t at the NBA level, Georgetown where he first came to national prominence hired him. We are now in the 5^th year of Ewing as head coach of the Hoyas, and we’ve seen little upward movement. Check out the yearly win totals since the Ewing hire, the most games won is 19 in his second year. Since then, his teams have won no more than 15 games in any season. So, what should we expect in the 2021-22 season, we need to be surprised the Hoyas should exceed expectations?

The dream continues

We introduced Kai Sotto in this blog two years ago, this 7-foot 2-inch youngster is from the Pacific Island nation of The Philippines. He’s long held the dream to play in the NBA, this dream would carry him to the United States where he began play for The Skill Factory in Atlanta. Later it would be Team Ignite in the G-League as he continued to develop his game, now 19-year-old Sotto is currently playing in Australia. It’s the NBL Adelaide 36ers and Sotto is hoping to duplicate the success of LaMelo Ball.

It’s not the fact he wasn’t a prospect because D-I programs tried to recruit him. Sotto is now a solid 232 pounds and expecting a pro career in the NBA he intends to gain more bulk. Jalen Green and Jordan Clarkson have Filipino heritage however they were born in the United States, Sotto wants to be the first native son to play in the NBA. His journey to Australia rather than a college team offers us confirmation he intends the NBA to be in his future someday.