Basketball from a fans perspective

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“The straw that stirs the drink”

We are using a baseball quote to describe NBA coach Steve Kerr. The quote was based on comments made by Reggie Jackson to the media while he was a member of the Yankees. It’s a simple explanation it is meant to imply “A person who stimulates or inspires a group.” We believe the quote certainly fits Kerr on a number of levels. Many of us claimed “He took over a playoff team, it was easy to win championships.” It’s a little more involved than simply having immense talent on a team, that coach (or manager) on a professional level must be able to inspire and direct a team to play beyond its ability at times.

On Thursday evening we heard this comment by one of the television crew, “This Warriors team might not be the most talented of the bunch” and that certainly might be true. Kevin Durant “walks” on and walks off this team yet they continue to win. The team suffers with Klay Thompson missing two seasons, yet he returns and plays a vital role. His was not the only injury however it might have been the most impactful. Kerr’s now won a total of 9 championships, 5 as a player and 4 as a coach. As for the belief he’s done little coaching we can only look at two of his former coaches…Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich. PJ took over a Michael Jordan team and led them to multiple championships. We can make a similar statement regarding PJ’s time with the Lakers.

Later Kerr would end his time as an active player under another legendary coach Gregg Popovich of the Spurs. There is no doubt Kerr is his own man however he's refined his coaching preparation playing for two Hall of Fame coaches. Next time someone mentions Kerr has talent surrounding him with the Warriors just remind them how difficult it is for a professional coach to massage 14 egos and have all dialed into winning for the team. In our discussion of All-Time great NBA coaches Steve Kerr’s got to be included in the conversation now in leading his Warrior team to their 4^th championship in the last 8 seasons.

The best of the best

If you have the answer good for you, I didn’t. Which NBA team has the best home attendance, is it Los Angeles (Lakers or Clippers), Knicks or Philly? On the other hand, it could be New York or Chicago both with large metro populations. If you answered yes to any of those cities, you are wrong but so was I. The winner, drum roll please (use your imagination) …. it’s the Dallas Mavericks. According to franchisesports.com the Mavs have finished at the top of the list in NBA attendance every season since 2009.

What is it that draws fans to American Airlines Center in droves continuously? According to information researched the Dallas-Fort Worth metro is the 4^th largest population in the nation but certainly not the largest. As for the answer there probably is no one response but certainly winning has to be a contributing factor. Since 2009 the Mavs only registered three losing seasons, they only missed the playoffs four times so that’s part of the story. The game we attended in Dallas last season saw my family members along with 20,000 others to see the Mavs play the Wizards.

AD

The 6-foot 10 253-pound Anthony Davis is an incredibly talented player BUT! He might be among the best power forward’s in the NBA if he could remain on the court. We see him in action at the University of Kentucky, the Pelicans and Lakers which clearly provided us evidence. As for the question, the talented AD cannot seem to remain healthy for an extended period of time. For two consecutive seasons he played 75 games that’s it, prior to and immediately thereafter periods of missed action due to injury. We are at a time players are not expected to play 82 games and that’s okay.  

Extended periods missing from the lineup makes for a question by all concerned. It says, it’s tough to defend the talent of an athlete who makes irregular appearances in the lineup, how valuable can that athlete be? What prompts this account you might ask, AD himself, he informed several in the media he’d not picked up a basketball in two months. His statement upset a number of folks in Laker Nation. His career numbers, nearly 24 points and 10 rebounds a game along with 2 blocked shots a game provide us proof of his talent. There is a desire for much of Laker Nation for AD to be a vital contributor to Laker success. Is AD injury prone or is there something else going on with him?

“You suppose they might forget?”

These are not good times for the NCAA, the governing body has seen much of its strength eroding away. Name, Image & Likeness was passed by several state governments, instead of being the leader the NCAA simply became a follower. The organization has been holding the issue of improprieties over the head of Bill Self and Kansas basketball for several years. At some point early in 2022 the NCAA announced punishment would be administered to Kansas “as soon as the NCAA Tournament concludes.”

It might be considered strange Kansas won the NCAA basketball championship in April over the Carolina Tarheels. It’s now been 10 weeks and counting since the end of the college season and we are yet to hear anything from the NCAA. We have concluded with its authority lessened perhaps they must believe there is no requirement for any further action. With all the activities related to the college game perhaps they believe we might have forgotten they once announced a ruling was forthcoming. Guess what, a few of us haven’t forgotten? We are among a group of folks who’d like to see the Jurassic NCAA cease to exist.