Basketball from a fans perspective

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It’s never okay

Jayson Tatum played his high school basketball on the other side of the state. My fellow Missourian is the glue that holds this Celtic franchise together. I like Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown both talented players for the Celtics. Despite the fact I like Tatum and the others I cannot in good conscience root for them over the Warriors. The answer is simple, they are Celtics…no true Laker fan could ever ROOT for the Celtics to become champions of anything let alone in the NBA. The main explanation is simple, the Celtic and Laker franchises have won more championships than any other in the history of the NBA. The total is 17 championships for both franchises.   It's easy to understand Laker pride here, it says, “The Celtics cannot have more championships than us.” This rivalry between the two franchises are steeped in NBA history.

The teams have faced one another an NBA record 12 times with the Celtics leading in championship wins. In the past how many times did the Bill Russell led Celtics beat my Lakers? In the more recent past, it was Larry Bird and Kevin McHale and yes even Bill Walton. In the new century it was the Celtics besting my Lakers 4 games to 2 in 2008, the Lakers would return the favor in 2010 beating the hated team from Beantown 4 games to 3. You’ve just read a brief history for the animosity that exists between the Celtic and Laker fan base. Both sides believe strongly in their teams and would never, ever root for the other to win. I hope this brief explanation makes it clear why it’s never okay to root for the Celtics to win. In the meantime, Celtic fans reading this are loudly proclaiming “Our Celtics are playing for an NBA Championship where are your Lakers? I can say you won that argument, there is no defense offered.

We don’t know  

As player after player signs on the dotted line for Mizzou came this response from a fan. “Mizzou looks like a Horizon League team but must compete in the SEC”, clearly, he not impressed with the Dennis Gates hire nor his recruiting effort. His observation is certainly understandable based on the recent past. I can defend Gates in this manner, as a new hire recruiting had to be done quickly. Mizzou only lost one senior, but the firing of Cuonzo Martin caused all but three roster members to leave. I can’t blame the players for leaving the coach who recruited them is no longer there.

Back to Gates a moment, we are sure his recruiting knowledge lies with Cleveland State and the Horizon League that’s where he came from. In addition, those non-conference opponents of his program none from Power 5 schools might have also been familiar to him as well. I’m really unsure if any coach might be capable of walking in the door and immediately begin attracting McDonalds All Americans to his team. Give the coach time, I can say in earnest we may not be able to judge him after one year on the job. The truer test will be the 2023 recruiting class, we can make a better judgement regarding his recruiting over this spring and summer and into the fall.

We have no idea

I’ve been a longtime fan of former Celtics coach Brad Stevens; it was somewhat surprising when he was “kicked upstairs” and replaced by Ime Udoka. Udoka has the Celtics on the cusp of playing for the 2022 NBA Championship. Perhaps if we check Udoka’s bio, we discover why he is been successful to date. He went undrafted in 2000 although he managed to play for a total of 9 minor pro teams over a 12-year playing career.

In the NBA Udoka would play parts of seasons for the Lakers, Knicks, Blazers, Spurs, Kings and back to the Spurs again. As you can see, he must have maintained a packed suitcase with all those moves. In the two stints with the Spurs Udoka must have done something to impress Gregg Popovich because he was hired as an assistant coach in 2012 and remained in that capacity until 2019. From there it was an assistant for the Sixers and Nets prior to being hired last season as head coach by the Celtics. We have no idea what the future holds for Udoka however it certainly appears bright for him as a head coach.

The 1983 NBA champions

My Lakers were good back in 1983 but they couldn’t match the Sixers that season. That Sixer team won 65 games in the regular season; in the playoffs they swept the Knicks 4-0. They went on to beat the Bucks 4 games to 1 in the conference finals. During the season they had beaten the Lakers twice and the NBA championship would be no different, this Sixer team swept my Lakers 4-0. What was the composition of that Sixer team you might ask? At small forward was Julius “Dr. J.” Irving, at power forward was defensive whiz Bobby Jones. The post position was anchored by Moses Malone who was a terror scoring and rebounding the basketball. At the point was Maurice Cheeks who would later become a coach and the shooting guard was Andrew “Lights Out” Toney.

Those were your starters, but the Sixer bench was just as capable with guys like Marc Iavaroni and Clemon Johnson along with Clint Richardson playing valuable minutes. How good, four of the starters on that Sixer team are enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame. Dr. J., (1993), Moses Malone (2001), Maurice Cheeks (2018) and Bobby Jones (2019). Even the coach was enshrined, Billy Cunningham (1986) as a player. As for the other starter Andrew Toney these are the words of Pat Williams general manager at the time. Toney’s career had been cut short due to chronic foot injuries after 7 seasons. Williams said, “If not for injuries Toney would have been a Hall of Famer.” “Charles Barkley stated that Toney was the best player he ever played with.” This represents one more reason Philly fans have a love affair with their NBA teams, depending on one’s age they have witnessed outstanding basketball and teams over time.