Basketball from a fans perspective

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WHAT?

Recently it was announced former Nets coach Kenny Atkinson would be hired to replace the fired James Borrengo. The hire was never officially announced and for unknown reasons Atkinson backed out of the arrangement, he would remain an assistant with the Warriors. Yesterday morning came this Twilight Zone announcement, Steve Clifford was named the Hornets new coach. His name sounds familiar, oh that’s why.

After being fired by the Hornets in April 2018 Clifford decided to return because the job was open once again. We cannot presume to know what’s occurring in Charlotte, but it certainly appears quite strange. The Hornets are stating aloud, “We know you couldn’t accomplish the job previously, so we are going to give you a second chance to succeed." Allow this conclusion, Clifford surely is not a terrible guy but how does this transpire? How could Mitch Kupchak and owner Michael Jordan announce this hire without a degree of awkwardness?

Laker Nation

My Lakers remain LeBron led but there is a hint of change with the roster. Change with new coach Darvin Ham and a direction. Part of this began Thursday as the Lakers with no draft picks managed to “trade” their way end to the second round. They chose 6-foot 6-inch guard Max Christie from Michigan State with the 35^th pick. From there the Lakers signed Scotty Pippen Jr. and Cole Swider to two-way contracts. Pippen Jr. is a 6-foot 3-point guard who arrives from Vanderbilt and is the son of the former Bulls great Scottie and Swider a 6-foot 9 sharpshooter from Syracuse. There remain a bunch of moving parts regarding this account, so consider this highly speculative at this point.

Covering Pippen Jr. and Swider first they are headed for the South Bay Lakers however consider Mac McClung spent last season with South Bay and is now on the regular roster. As for Christie, does he remain a member of the team or will he be included as part of a future trade? I have little working knowledge of Christie’s game; an internet search was conducted, and this is what was uncovered. Three .com sports sites which provide draft grades award the Lakers a B- grade for the Christie choice. You can make whatever you wish from the rating, it’s not yours truly. As for the outlook it would appear the Lakers intend to reduce the age range of the present roster. As this account was being completed news broke, Shareef O’Neal son of Shaquille will play for the Lakers Summer League team although there is no mention of a contract.

The NBA Draft on Television

There was a different element to the ABC/ESPN coverage of the NBA Draft on Thursday evening. In seasons past Jay Bilas resident college basketball guru was always quite visible, he was missing but not completely but for a sizable portion of the broadcast. In place of Bilas the network sent in Stephen A. Smith despite his limited knowledge of college and international basketball. The broadcast was simulcast on ABC and ESPN.  

The ABC portion concluded with the first round and then it occurred, the second-round coverage on ESPN alone had Bilas behind the desk and no Smith in sight. Let’s guess this one, the largest group of television viewers are probably those without cable, they are without cable or satellite. Those with the broadcast network only were provided the pontificating Stephen A. Smith for three hours rather than the more knowledgeable Jay Bilas. We guess with the amount of money the network is paying Smith they must place him in front of us constantly despite what many consider limited knowledge of the subject.

I hope this is not me

Fan letters poured into the website I was reading about the Warriors NBA championship. Naturally, I read 3-4 critical of the Warriors, not the championship win but how it was accomplished. One writer said, “The Warriors tanked in order to draft James Wiseman,” curious I looked it up. That would have been the 2019-20 or Covid season, the Warriors finished that season with a 15-50 record. Despite Covid the issue was certainly greater than the plague alone. Kevin Durant and Andre Iguodala had left the team, Klay Thompson would miss the season after an ACL tear suffered in the 2019 Finals. Steph Curry was injured in October requiring surgery, he would play in just 5 of the Warriors 65 games that season.

The Warriors acquired D’Angelo Russell that season, but he was traded in February for Andrew Wiggins. Injuries more than anything else played a major factor in the 2019-20 season for the Warriors, we could fall back on the old adage “Injuries are part of the game” and they are. Those injuries of a major variety can severely impact a team’s fortunes as was the case that season. I have no reason other than the truth in contradicting the letter writer and his view of the Warriors. One more fact, although Wiseman was made the second pick in the 2020 draft, he’s hardly seen the floor. Injuries have seen him play only 39 games in his brief NBA career. I hope my writing does not resemble the letter I pointed out. We have the right to our opinion however I have the right to disagree with yours.

What are they doing?

This is written Friday morning after last night’s draft. In making an assessment for teams we are still trying to figure out what the Knicks are trying to accomplish. You’ve heard the saying, “A stopped clock is right twice a day”, that’s me agreeing with a Stephen A. Smith view. Are the Knicks even trying to field a competitive team after the draft night moves? Veteran Kemba Walker is traded to the Pistons, wait follow the bouncing series of events. The Knicks drafted Ousmane Dieng with the number 11 pick, he was traded to the Thunder for three conditional first round picks from the Nuggets, Wizards and Pistons.

New York then traded the Nuggets first-rounder they received from Oklahoma City, plus four second-round picks, to the Hornets for the rights to Duren, the Memphis center who was picked No. 13 by Charlotte. New York then traded Duren and Walker to the Pistons for a 2025 conditional Milwaukee Bucks first-round pick. Despite all the wheeling and dealing it appears the Knicks have no warm body from the Thursday night draft. Are the Knicks clearing cap space to sign a free-agent or two or is there something else going on? They did sign free agent Jean Montero who last played for Team Elite, he’s a 6-foot 3-inch point guard. Free agency begins July 1 so we shall see what develops.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTmfwklFM-M