Basketball from a fans perspective   

Monday through Friday

Team Europe vs Team USA

I saw this on a .com site and thought it posed an interesting question. We realize NBA players from Europe have faced Team USA in the Olympics since the Dream Team first played in 1992. This would not be an Olympic event rather the teams would be paired against one another for bragging rights. Who do you suppose might win in this matchup of the NBA’s best?

Team Europe

Luka Doncic-Slovenia

Giannis Antetokounmpo-Greece

Rudy Gobert-France

Nikola Jokic-Serbia

Bojan Bogdanovic’-Bosnia and Herzegovina

Team USA

Steph Curry

James Hardin

LeBron James

Kevin Durant

Anthony Davis

To be honest in a 7-game series I would be unsure who wins. I can see advantages on both sides for these teams, what do you think?

The Logo

Jerry West in the Lakers front office was responsible for assembling a great deal of talent in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s. Much later we read he was the driving force in signing 17-year-old Kobe Bryant. After working out Bryant he was determined to acquire his services, of course the balance of the story is known. Recently we discovered West was not particularly thrilled with Magic Johnson, it was said West was unsure if a 6-foot 9-inch guard could play in the NBA.

Instead of drafting Magic West wanted the Lakers to draft 6-foot 4-inch Sidney Moncrief who became an All American twice while playing for the University of Arkansas. Several reading this account might be unfamiliar with Moncrief’s name, just a few notes to provide depth. Moncrief spent 11 of his 12 years in the NBA as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks and his final with the Hawks. How good was Moncrief, he’s been enshrined in both the Naismith and College Basketball Hall of Fame? So, this still proves us proof, although West had reservations about Magic’s ability his sharp eye for talent informed him Sidney Moncrief was a potential NBA gem which he did become.

Why?

I was discussing this matter with a friend of mine; he doesn’t follow the NBA as closely as me but is a sports fan. I made this statement, “Why must 25-year old’s declare a player of their grandfather’s generation unworthy?” In this instance I speak of the NBA’s 75^th Anniversary team and other instances of player comparisons. This person or persons has decided a player of their generation is omitted from the anniversary team and surely someone who played in 1953 can’t be as worthy. In this one area I side with the younger generation, the athletes of today regardless of the sport are better conditioned and receive superior training and nutrition to those of yesteryear.

Athletes NBA players included are certainly swifter and stronger than many of those of the past. Despite this statement and we have no provable method it’s my belief Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor and others could hold their own with any number of today’s athletes. Of course, this would not apply across the board many NBA players in the 1950’s and 1960’s would not be able to contend with the players of today. The players of this generation are more athletic and much more nutritionally sound. Anniversary team’s aside how about a one-on-one comparison, “Michael Jordan is better than Kobe Bryant who is better than LeBron James.” What a ridiculous argument, we have players representing three eras who careers overlapped at a point. They never played one another in their prime so the argument becomes ludicrous, I’m stopping at this point I hope you see this issue as I see it.

The Thin Man

In the 1930’s Hollywood turned out a series of comedy-mystery movies with the title “The Thin Man.” Despite me hanging the name “Thin Man” on Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren that might not be the continued story, we saw video of him lifting weights. He is attempting to add weight to his 194 pounds, but perhaps added weight might not be as necessary as we might believe. Holmgren just might be okay with just a few more increased pounds added to his thin frame. We can look at Kevin Durant or Anthony Davis as examples. KD was 215 pounds when drafted he now checks in at 240, AD weighed 222 pounds on his NBA arrival, he’s now up to 253 pounds.

Holmgren is still growing into his body so we should expect he will add additional pounds. As for the most recent game against BYU saw Holmgren fill the box score with the following stat line. He scored 20 points pulled down 17 rebounds dished out 6 assists and blocked 5 shots. Holmgren did all this while shooting 64.3% from the floor and a sparkling 40% from the 3-line. Rather than then titling him the Thin Man he might be the latest unicorn when he arrives in the NBA soon. What exactly is the definition of a unicorn, I decided to turn to dictionary.com. The definition says much about Holmgren, “A person or thing that is rare or highly valued”, that sounds about right to me.