Basketball from a fans perspective   

Monday through Friday

It went down

The next few days will see volumes printed about the James Harden-Ben Simmons trade. The talking heads on television will spend literally hours discussing the trade and its aftereffects, how about this bit of thought from a basketball fan. It is far too early to determine a winner in this trade however this is exactly what I am going to attempt. I’m not going to hold you captive to the end but declare the Sixers the winner and I’ll explain. Simmons might be a better passer, but he can’t do what Harden can…score the ball.

I’ve been rather critical of Harden because his numbers across the board were down but were they down for a reason? Was he upset with the continued time off of Kyrie Irving and the teams dependence on Kevin Durant? Did the absence of these two play a role in Harden wanting to move? There are volumes of questions that will probably never be answered. As for Simmons I love the talent he brings to the floor minus his shooting woes. At the beginning of the season, I believed Simmons would eventually return to the Sixers after pouting for a while. November became December and then January, by the middle of the month I felt sure Simmons had no intention of returning to the Sixers. Once he arrives and begins play for the Nets will he be ready for action, that question is an unknown until we see him play. The only advantage Simmons has at this point is age, he’s only 25 years old versus 32-year-old Hardin, in addition the latter has plenty of NBA mileage on his body.

Over time you will read additional accounts on this trade, we should mention the other players  changing zip codes. From the Sixers to the Nets are Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first round picks, headed from the Nets besides Hardin veteran Paul Millsap. A key to this trade we might not know or perhaps forgot the Sixers GM Daryl Morey was the GM in Houston and had a player named James Hardin. Finally, Hardin would have become a free agent after the season and maybe the Nets believed they might not be able to sign him…. speculation…speculation and more speculation on my part.

Two Number One’s

For the first time in a while, we have two number one team’s. No, they are not tied as occurred previously we have number one’s in two different polls. The AP Top 25 has Auburn at one and Gonzaga at two, the Coaches Poll places Gonzaga number one and Auburn two. Is one poll more dependable than the other, you are the judge to answer that question, this is what we’ve heard. The AP Poll is comprised of the media voting while the Coaches Poll is what it claims to be. Coaches (we don’t know how many) across the nation vote on the top teams. Personally, this is just a beauty contest, the important poll is the one on the second Tuesday of April. The NCAA Championship would have been play the previous night and we’d know which team is actually number one.

Restoration 

The title might be a stretch, but you get the idea, this is a change which is a restoration. Staples Center will undergo renovation, how soon, that is yet to be formally determined. Earlier you read a construction update on the Clippers Intuit Dome, part of this might be impacted by this planned building. Staples Center (I know that’s no longer the name) is now 23-years old, with the planned move by the Clippers a remodel is in the works.

The problem, Staples has one of the busiest calendars there is, four professional teams the Lakers, Clippers (until 2024), NHL Kings and WNBA Sparks. In addition, when this project was first proposed the pandemic shut down activity. We fail to mention the numerous concerts and other events that clog the calendar. Construction must be accomplished similar to Madison Square Garden and maybe other arenas, most of the work must occur during the summer months. We are not going to detail the work areas but just provide you the reader an indication change is in the future. By the way Crypto.com Arena doesn’t flow with many of us.

Who is he?

The last few years we’ve heard television studio hosts plus play-by-play announcers mention the name KenPom in relation to college basketball time to time. What is KenPom and what is the basis for the term might be your question? His name is Ken Pomeroy and he’s created the statistical measurement we now refer to as KenPom. Although he is connected to basketball you might be surprised to read, he’s not actually a stat guy.

Pomeroy earned an undergraduate degree at Virginia Tech and a graduate degree in atmospheric science from the University of Wyoming. So, the man who provides us statistical information on college basketball is actually a trained meteorologist. In fact, his bio indicates he worked as a meteorologist for the U.S. Government in that role for a time before quitting to work on his website full time. Pomeroy now list his occupation as college basketball statistician and columnist. I thought it might be interesting to read of the one person who’s become the source for crunching the numbers as it relates to college basketball.