Basketball from a fans perspective

MVP

It’s MVP time again, the NBA announces its Most Valuable Player. One athletes been named MVP in two leagues the first and only time in history this has occurred. Who is this unique individual, its none other than Julius “Dr. J.” Erving? For the record Erving was American Basketball Association MVP in 1973, 1974 and 1976. While playing for the Sixers the incomparable Dr. J. was named MVP in the National Basketball Association in 1981. With only the NBA in existence now this feat could never be repeated although this is a trivia question. You can try this on your friends. “Who was the only basketball player to win the MVP in two different leagues?”

This is interesting

Mizzou’s Dennis Gates has a tough job on his hands, he must revitalize the basketball program. For the naysayers among you ponder this number…5. There are 6 new coaches in the SEC, Gates and 5 others jockeying for wins in the powerful SEC. We have no idea what prevails however of the 5 schools LSU might have been the best however we cannot state that at present. After Will Wade was fired came mass defections. What does that say for Mizzou, there is likely no SEC crown for Mizzou however just 5-6 conference wins could turn things around significantly? Don’t rush off considering this a precursor of the SEC race in 2022-23…just saying change is very much in the air in this conference. It should be interesting for Mizzou and 5 other SEC teams with new head coaches in place.  

The celebration

The Wolves have been roundly criticized for their end of game celebration in beating the Clippers. Unlike Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley who were seen and heard laughing at the celebration this is my brief explanation. The Wolves made the playoffs in 2018 and were defeated by the Rockets 4 games to 1. We must travel back to 2004 before we witness another Wolves team in the playoffs. That season the Wolves were good winning two playoff series before they were defeated by the Lakers.

We only record 7 other seasons beyond that date the Wolves were good enough to earn a playoff berth. This dates back to the teams founding as an expansion team in the 1989-90 season. When you earn a playoff berth and win a celebration might be in order. What might appear funny to the TNT crew is understandable by this writer, I believe. For those who might be unfamiliar with my position I watch no pre or post game television. Perhaps the TNT crew made amends for their laughter, in any event it was not funny to me.

Europe’s best

I’m unsure if we could locate the first European player in the NBA or the year. Despite these unknown dates we can state they have become a presence. Over the years several of these European athletes have become NBA Champions, Toni Kukoc, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker and Pau Gasol. The NBA announced it’s All Time NBA European Team, most of those named have been profiled at one time or another in Off the Dribble. What do you think of these teams, anyone omitted?

All Time European First Team

Dirk Nowitzki-Germany

Giannis Antetokounmpo-Greece

Pau Gasol-Spain

Tony Parker-France

Luka Doncic-Slovenia

All Time European Second Team

Nikola Jokic-Serbia

Toni Kukoc-Croatia

Drazen Petrovic-Croatia

Peja Stojakovic-Serbia

Arvydas Sabonis-Lithuania

10-15 years from now we might be able to add additional names, the 2022 NBA mock draft lists the names of 6 Euro prospects.

Smaller is better

For a number of unknown reasons many of us believe bigger is always better. There might be circumstances where that view might not always be the most advantageous. Allow a brief explanation, university’s across the nation began a campaign of building larger and larger arena’s for their basketball team. Examples might be The Dean Dome at North Carolina with a seating capacity of 21,750 or Rupp Arena home of the Kentucky Wildcats. Rupp holds 23,500 but none compared to Syracuse and its Carrier Dome with 33,000 for basketball. For those who might be unfamiliar it should be pointed out Syracuse football is also played in the Carrier Dome.

Recently we heard a discussion indicating schools were exploring construction of smaller seating capacity arenas. Hinkle Fieldhouse home of Butler University holds 9,100 and Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium contains seats for 9,314. Both arenas were built prior to this new outlook, how did this new vision come about? It’s believed smaller buildings create a more rousing sound for the home team over the larger arenas. At present there are no arenas of the smaller seating capacity under construction however we’ll keep an eye on this for the future. There is one other consideration regarding smaller arenas. Small-scale arenas with reduced number of fans decreases the amount of revenue a university might generate. On the other hand, a consistent winner similar to Duke basketball since the arrival of Coach K. could be a different matter. The concept of building smaller arenas must be based on the state of affairs. We certainly wouldn’t expect Allen Fieldhouse with its 17,000-seat capacity to be replaced by an arena capable of accommodating 10,000.