Basketball from a fans perspective   

Published Monday through Friday

“I’m back”

The Lakers beat the Nets on Tuesday night 106-96, Anthony Davis returned to action after missing 17 games. Was AD responsible for the win, hardly because he scored but 8 points with 2 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. The win placed the Lakers at .500 again with a 24-24 record besting the Nets who now have a 29-18 won-loss record. With the game being played at Barclays Center there was no Kyrie Irving, he remains unable to play home games for the Nets, this will be my last This will be my last mention of the unvaccinated one unless it involves play.

James Harden led the way for the Nets registering a triple double with 33 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. With Kevin Durant sidelined Harden was the only offensive weapon for the Nets. With AD back in the lineup are the Lakers prepared for a stretch run the last portion of the season? The question similar to others will remain unanswered for a while, consider this fact. The Lakers were not exactly sitting the world on fire prior to the AD injury, those in Laker Nation are expecting improvement. As for me I’ve adopted the state motto, “I’m from Missouri you’ve got to Show Me.” That’s where the Lakers stand in my book, they remain my team for life, but I expect better play than what I’ve seen this season. Later you will read an account on my grand plan to “fix” the Lakers.

Don’t slay the messenger     

Before we discuss this matter, whether you agree or not the basketball program at each of these institutions has been cited for improprieties by the NCAA. The AP poll places Auburn number one, Arizona three and Kansas five in its Top 25 poll. Let’s check the record, December 10, 2021 “In a case of corruption in men’s basketball, the NCAA largely accepted penalties Auburn imposed on itself after a former assistant coach funneled money to players. Bruce Pearl, the coach of Auburn men’s basketball, was suspended for two games on Friday.” As for Arizona, “Charged with 9 violations in Notice of allegations” the SI headline read. “Five of the charges are Level One violations. Penalties could include multi-year postseason bans and a full-season suspension for Miller.”

The announcement regarding Arizona was published was October 25, 2020. For Kansas basketball it read, “KU received its original notice of allegations on Sept. 23, 2019, as the NCAA Enforcement staff charged the athletic department with seven violations: five for men’s basketball and two for football. Each of the basketball charges were Level I-or the most severe. KU was also cited with lack of institutional control.” All the programs have been identified as guilty of violations yet will likely be in the field invited to the NCAA Tournament. There are coaches throughout the nation with no hint of violations yet because their programs have not succeeded, they are likely to be fired after the season is complete. Do I sound bitter, I hope not but it is time we quit saluting programs for their success when there are background issues? This is written by me however the quotes are from media sources.

Captain Jack

No, this is not a critique of Captain Jack Sparrow and Pirates of the Caribbean. Rather this Captain Jack spent his career in the NBA and his full name is Jack Sikma. Sikma was drafted by the Seattle Sonics with the 8^th pick in round one of the 1977 NBA Draft, he would finish his career with the Bucks in 1991. Now it is difficult to describe his game, he was actually the precursor to Big Man (he was 6 foot 11) shooting from three.     The NBA 3-point line was added in the 1979-80 season, although the 3-point shot was fairly new it was Sikma and not Dirk Nowitzki who perfected it and he would become the first Big Man to shoot it with success.

Sikma had more than 3-point capability as evidence by scoring over 17,000 points during his NBA career. Where did it begin, he arrived in the NBA from Illinois Wesleyan College then a Division III school? Sikma distinguished himself being named All American in 1975, 1976 and 1977. We always talk about centers being poor at the line, which was not the case for Sikma. Lifetime from the line saw him shoot nearly 85%, in the 1987-88 season Sikma was a sizzling 92% from the line. No Hack a _______ here, teams had no desire to place him on the line. Sikma was inducted with the Class of 2019 to the Naismith Hall of Fame.

Canada in the NBA or…

From all indications Toronto in the NBA has been successful, as for the Vancouver Grizzlies less so. The expansion Raptors began play in 1995, the Grizzlies also began play that year. From that point it was onward and upward for Toronto, for Vancouver it was a move to Memphis in 2001. There is no intent to lookback as to why the Grizzlies left for greener pastures but look toward the future. Will the NBA return to Vancouver, Montreal or some other Canadian city? The NBA is looking to expand and finances aside it would be a slam dunk to add a franchise in the same time zone as American cities. This scenario is the basis why European expansion is out of the question in my view. Even with supersonic transportation the time zone issue makes extension to Europe impossible for the near future.

Back to Canada a moment, could interests in Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa or some other city might desire an NBA franchise? This is written by someone who’s only visited Canada once, I have no idea of the basketball interests. This part I know, the Toronto metro is a hot bed for high school basketball but what about the balance of the nation? We checked out the northern border, what about our southern boundary? Exhibition and regular season NBA games have been played in Mexico City in the past. Our Latin American neighbor has a population in excess of 21 million people so attendance should be no problem, the finances would appear to be viable as well. As for both nations the question, is there a grass roots effort to secure an NBA team? We have no answer to that question at the present time.