Basketball from a fans perspective   

Published Monday through Friday

Memorialized

We don’t cover the woman’s game in this blog very often, it’s not a chauvinist thing its simple. This writer is not as comfortable discussing the game as he is the men's. Despite this fact there are occasions when we must acknowledge an individual or team. Over the weekend came word Lusia Harris died at the age of 66, for those unfamiliar with her just a few notes. Harris playing at Delta State was almost solely responsible for the woman’s game changing and coming to the forefront.

Without Harris there might not be the WNBA or play in Europe for women. How good was Harris, she remains the only woman ever drafted by the NBA? In 1977 the New Orleans Jazz drafted her with we believe the intent to add her to their roster. Needless to say, she never entered the NBA but briefly played professional basketball. Honors, Delta State Hall of Fame, the first woman enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame. Those are just a few of the honors accorded Lusia Harris, a basketball pioneer and the reason the woman’s game has reached its current level, R.I.P. to this basketball pioneer.

My apology

For Nuggets Nation and fans of Nikola Jokic allow me to apologize. Last Friday the exploits of the Sixers Joel Embiid for the last week or so were place in front of you. Near the end I said, “Jokic is the reigning MVP however Embiid might be on an equal plane this season.” Nikola Jokic a.k.a. The Joker was shortchanged by yours truly, he is having another MVP season despite the fact the Nuggets are missing Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr.

We can debate the best center in the NBA however this fragment is clear, the Joker is the best passing Big Man in the NBA. If we check the numbers his 7.5 assists per game places him in 9^th place in the NBA exclusive company for a guy 6 foot 11 and 284 pounds. The 8 in front of him are all point or combo guards, truth is his assist totals are higher than several point guards. His other numbers speak volumes too, nearly 26 points and 13.9 rebounds a game. The Joker exceeds Embiid’s assists 7.5 to 4.2. Now fans of Embiid don’t shoot the messenger I am only looking at stats, it is up to you to debate who is the NBA’s best center.

The coach is hot

Pre-season polls placed Memphis in the Top 25, since those lofty projections the Tigers have come down to earth. We’ve mentioned wunderkind Emoni Bates adjustment (plus his injury) to college basketball has slowed his development. It must be pointed out Bates should be in the spring semester of his senior year of high school. It’s not only Bates, but the team also comprised of freshman has stumbled as evidence of their most recent game. Thursday evening Penny Hardaway’s team was a loser 70-62 to conference rival SMU.

The coach went off on reporters in his post-game press conference apparently tired of responding to his belief many of the questions were not valid. It sounds as if the losing streak has impacted Penny’s vocabulary too as the public witnessed profanities spread throughout the post-game press conference. “The Top 4 scorers have not played together in any of the team’s last 7 after all played in the first 10.” Memphis at full strength has beaten a number of competitive teams and they share the same theme with Mizzou. Just like Mizzou Penny has a team comprised of mostly freshman attempting to make the adjustment from high school basketball to Division I. Later the coach would apologize for his profanity laced press conference. 

Haters be hatin’

I took on the role of defending the late Kobe Bryant, I wasn’t asked to do this but there was a reason. I believed much of the critical remarks read and heard were bogus. “He shoots too much” or “He’s not a team player” or other disparaging assertions made about him. There were a million more folks who loved Bryant over the haters, the problem…the yellers and screamers often took over. After Bryant’s 20-year career concluded in 2016 many of the haters disappeared. They didn’t go away, it’s my belief with no “public” Kobe Bryant the remarks were no longer valid.

They (whomever THEY are) began a search to find a replacement for the ilk they often aimed at Bryant. Within a brief period, the haters uncovered a target, it would become LeBron Raymone James Sr. Unlike Bryant the civic stance often expressed by LeBron made the target on him even larger. He plays NBA basketball at an exceptional level into his late 30’s an accomplishment few have been able to achieve. Before you come to the wrong conclusion ponder this, LeBron is not perfect he’s a human being. His presence causes the media to seek him out and often his view differs from yours. Don’t forget this particularly critical issue, LeBron is entitled to his opinion on a subject matter even if you don’t agree with it.

He’s good

Try as I might no doubt I miss local talent, which is the case with KU’s Ochai Agbaji. We mentioned earlier how Agbaji had flow beneath the radar of most college coaches. If not for the fact he wanted KU’s Bill Self more than the coach wanted him this account would have taken a different direction. In his junior year, the 6-foot 5 215-pound guard is clearly the leader on this KU team. Did anybody have an idea three years ago we’d be looking at Agbaji as a first-round draft choice? The issue for him now is to be drafted by the “right” team, what does that entail? An NBA team Agbaji can be inserted into the starting lineup immediately, if he drafted by a veteran team, he won’t receive the opportunity to play immediately. The most recent example might be LaMelo Ball with the Hornets.