Basketball from a fans perspective

Published Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday

No surprise

Jayson Tatum was announced as winner of the Larry Bird MVP of the Eastern Conference Finals as his Celtics defeated the Heat in Game 7. Don’t wish this to sound cliché however this was met with the same yawn as the Steph Curry announcement. Tatum declared the MVP of the series certainly was no surprise. No one but Tatum (at least for the Celtics) could have been considered MVP, he was almost solely responsible for the Celtics succeeding in the playoff series versus the Heat.

Get over it!

College coaches always had an advantage, they could leave at any point for greener pastures. This statement applies to football and basketball coaches. So, what occurs, the coach moves from a mid-major to a Power 5 school. This entails more money, more money for that coach and his family but what about the student-athlete? That coach walks out and leaves all the players he recruited to fend for themselves. It might not be as cold-blooded as it sounds but it’s true.

We should point out a significant difference, both LSU and Mizzou (and others) saw their coaches fired. Athletes from both schools left with the coach recruiting them no longer there, that’s a difference. The athlete probably has no desire to play for what might be an unknown coach. We’ve heard a great deal about NIL recruiting and its impact on football and basketball. We’ve also heard from a small number of coaches complaining about Name, Image and Likeness recruiting. They have attempted to point out State U has an advantage over the University of Postotuky in recruiting athletes. Our words for those few cry baby coaches, get over it! We are in a new age…you must learn to adapt.

What’s his name again

His name is Ochai Agbaji and he’s a 6-foot 5 217-pound shooting guard. He played his college basketball at the University of Kansas; we’ve detailed how the youngster was a virtual unknown and now could be a lottery pick in the 2022 NBA Draft in June. The mock drafts change periodically, by the time June 23 rolls around it will have changed once again. As of May 26, nbadraftroom.com projects Agbaji as pick 16 landing with the Hawks. The other mock, nbadraft.net places him at 10 landing with the Wizards, now the question becomes which team? 

The monetary difference between pick 10 and 16 is significant although not monumental. A much larger question, both teams appear to be very solid at the 2 guard with Bradley Beal of the Wizards and Kevin Huerter with the Hawks. There are two possibilities, Agbaji is drafted but a draft night trade sends him to another team. Agbaji is drafted by the Hawks/Wizards, he becomes the first reserve and moves from the bench to relief. Somehow this role as a reserve appears to be unfamiliar territory for the talented Agbaji. In closing consider this fact, as usual this is a projection there is no intent to profess future stardom for him. It is certainly fun to speculate on the future for this youngster.

The numbers don’t tell the story

If we just checked out his scoring (7.5 ppg and 8.7career) we might have difficulty understanding the value of the Warriors Draymond Green. A few have claimed he plays dirty; I respectfully disagree with that view. Let’s just say he is a throwback to an earlier era. The 6-foot 6 230-pound power forward’s overall game often is hidden from most of us. Besides his tough hard-nose defense the other numbers are easier for us to detail, this past season they were 7.2 rebounds and an interesting 7.0 assists per game. The assists place Green above those numbers registered by a group of pure point guards. Green’s usefulness has proven more valuable than the place he was drafted.

Truth is he almost missed the draft period; he was chosen by the Warriors out of Michigan State in the second round with the 35^th pick. As for the shooting in the recently completed season his field goal percentage was a sparkling .525. Any players of the past come to mind when discussing the game of Green? He certainly isn’t the rebounding force Dennis Rodman presented, despite this fact there are other parts of his game that equal or exceed The Worm. He is a better shooter than Rodman when called on and might be on the same level of Rodman with his defensive work. How about a couple of other power forwards, we have Charles Oakley and Anthony Mason as examples? If I am building a team if I have shooters, I will choose Green for his defensive expertise. Who voted Green to the NBA 2^nd All Defensive Team, he belongs on the 1^st team.

It was the anniversary

Recently the anniversary of the greatest shot in NBA history was observed. A number reading this might find this part shocking, in 2002 the Sacramento Kings were quite a competitive team. The Lakers found themselves down 2 games to 1 in the Western Conference Finals. A number might disagree with my take, I believe this to be the greatest shot in Laker history…maybe NBA history. Rather than ramble on check out the video as a reminder to those who might have witnessed the game and play. As for others it might be your first time seeing this video, enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR-BHfvKUQc