Basketball from a fans perspective   

Published Monday through Friday

A bad rap

Andrew Wiggins arrived in the NBA with a question mark. An acquaintance and a KU fan made this statement, “Wiggins is playing to not get hurt.” He was referring to his one and done season as a member of the Jayhawks. Wiggins was made the top choice in the 2014 draft by the Cavs although he never wore Wine & Gold. His rights were traded to the Wolves and although he put up good numbers with the Wolves there was an issue. Karl-Anthony Towns was reported to be upset with Wiggins at a time due to his play. In 2020 Wiggins along with others was traded to the Warriors where he continues play to the present.

Is he simply a misunderstood player, allow this example from another sport? The Royals once had an outfielder Amos Otis who displeased fans with his play. Fans said, “It appears he never hustles” although his play in center field was always outstanding. After Otis suffered an injury crashing into a fence, he avoided running into them thereafter which further supplied evidence. Perhaps the problem with Wiggins he might be too smooth, his effort might appear to be moving at 70% because he’s so silky. Maybe it might be unfair for me to even mention the issue with Karl-Anthony Towns. We are yet to read or hear of a coach complain about Wiggins poor play.

The Nuggets are a mess

Before Nugget Nation gets upset, I’m not disparaging your team. The headline simply points to the fact it’s going to be difficult to compete this season based on injuries plus health and safety protocols. We begin with Jamal Murray who was injured last season. We have no idea when Murray will return to action, on top of that the news about Michael J. Porter. The Nuggets forward is to undergo back surgery and will be out probably through the end of the season. We can also add the name of P.J. Dozier to the list of Nuggets missing in action. Now comes news Bones Hyland and Austin Rivers have entered the leagues health and safety protocols. Coach Malone might not be aware on a nightly basis who might be available to play.

Is the Russell Westbrook experiment over?

The above was a headline in one of the NBA sites I read. Laker basketball in early December is nowhere close to what we believed it would be. Accusing fingers are being pointed in the direction of point guard Russell Westbrook for the team’s poor play, is the criticism fair? Allow me to survey points I believe are key to this puzzle and the belief this Westbrook experiment is far from over. How would an Alpha like Westbrook be able to adapt his game to that of the Lakers in just 23 regular season games?

Injury, suspension and now the possibility of COVID has seen LeBron in only 11 of the 23 games the Lakers have played thus far. Is the shooting of Westbrook questionable, maybe? He is shooting 45% from the floor and 31% from three, his FG percentage is up a little and 3-point shot down a tad from last season. If this defense of Westbrook appears to be an excuse that is not the intent, with a third of the season complete I’m far from ready to write the acquisition of the mercurial point guard as a failure. Westbrook leads the NBA in triple-double with four in this early season.

Mizzou took on the chin again

I no longer am optimistic; this Mizzou Tiger team is just what we see. Last night they were beaten by Liberty University 66-45 and once again turned in another dismal performance. They shot 29% from the floor, 16% from 3, they did shoot better from the free-throw line at 82% but 19 turnovers just ain’t gonna cut it. Get this they outrebounded the Flames and registered more offensive rebounds. Sometimes things you know are pointed out to you and you have an ah-ha moment. Mizzou has 9 new players plus 4 transfers, that’s a total of 13 players which makes a new team and that is the crux of the issue. There is no method to duplicate game conditions in practice as much and as hard as they might work. Sidebar, prior to the game one of the websites listed the Pythagorean wins for this game. How about the good old eye ball test rather than an analytics approach. 

Jazz

I’m curious, I question the amount of jazz being played in Salt Lake City? Not on the internet or someone’s record collection but actual jazz clubs. How did Jazz become associated with the NBA team in Utah? We must return to New Orleans and the beginning, in 1974 an expansion franchise was awarded the City of New Orleans. Naturally with the city’s rich musical history particularly with jazz that would become the nickname of the NBA team. The owners even traded for Pistol Pete Maravich who set scoring records while enrolled at LSU.

In addition to wanting a winner the owners hoped this local talent would put behinds in the seats. The history says there were a myriad of problems which did not make for a good fit in the city. In addition, Magic Johnson would have played for the Jazz if they had not traded the pick to secure Gail Goodrich, the Pelicans might have never been born if this history had occurred. In 1979 the team was sold to Salt Lake City interest where they are to date. An interesting sidenote, when the Hornets moved from Charlotte to New Orleans, they tried to buy back the name Jazz. Ownership said no way the name belongs to us although we are in Utah. So thus ends the brief history how an NBA team in Utah is nicknamed Jazz.