Basketball from a fans perspective

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Mark your calendar

Mizzou’s Dennis Gates will coach his first Braggin Rights Game on Thursday, December 22nd. The   annual game will be played at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. For those unacquainted the game takes place every basketball season between the University of Illinois and the University of Missouri the two states which share a border. The December game is the 53^rd meeting between the teams, Illinois is the all-time leader with 33 wins versus 19 losses. Despite the heavy favor of Illinois in the series Mizzou’s won three of the last four games.

What now

That might be the question surrounding Talen-Horton Tucker at this time.  Tucker was a second-round pick in the 2019 draft, despite almost missing the draft (46^th) the Lakers securing him in a trade led us to believe the Iowa State guard/small forward was a budding talent. Since that time, we are unsure exactly how Tucker fits into the long-range plans of the Lakers. He is still only 21 years of age despite now having three NBA seasons in his brief career.

The question is raised regarding Tucker for this reason alone, two years ago the Lakers had three untouchables on the roster. They were LeBron, AD and Tucker but that appears to have changed. Several trade scenarios have Tuckers name mentioned in various draft proposals, has time run out for the 6-foot 4 235-pound prospect? Speaking of the Lakers as this was being completed came this word. On the Monday edition I wrote my belief Shareef O’Neal was not ready to play for the parent club, sure enough that is the case. Late Monday afternoon an announcement was made O’Neal has signed with G-League Team Elite.

The Full Monty

This is really no reference to the 1997 hit movie, this Full Monty is a brief profile of Suns coach Monty Williams. The team has agreed on a long-time extension, the coach was in the second year of a five contract. The Suns were treading water at the time Williams took over, they hadn’t drowned but were close. 19 wins the previous season became 39 wins under the new coach, from that point on its been onward and upward. Although the Suns failed to play for the NBA championship for the second year in a row, they actually exceeded their win total.

The Suns went from 51 wins the previous year to 64 this past season. Monty Williams is a player’s coach however don’t allow that statement to fool you, he will confront a player he believes needs correction, ask DeAndre Ayton. He once was head coach of the Pelicans but was fired because the team did not improve under his leadership. Williams also proves to us a firing doesn’t entail the end of the world, just check out his present status. It’s my belief each stop would become a growth life station for the coach. After his firing he became an assistant at Oklahoma City and then Philadelphia prior to taking over the Suns. Monty Williams, a winner in more than basketball.

A record never matched

Whenever we discuss records about to be eclipsed there is always excitement whether it’s an individual or team record. We make note the significance of the accomplishment and it ends there. A considerable number of records exist in all sports, some of which we can loudly proclaim, “That record will never be broken.”    Recently we uncovered one held by former NBA great Hakeem Olajuwon who spent the bulk of his career as a member of the Houston Rockets. The record was set in 1994 and there are several belonging to Olajuwon set that year. The records are not unique it’s the fact they were established in that 1994 season.

NBA MVP

NBA Defensive Player of the Year

NBA Finals MVP

NBA Champion

 In addition to the honors noted above Olajuwon was honored in another area, he was elected to the NBA’s 50^th and 75 Anniversary Team’s.

Bits n Pieces 

Where is he, the “he” in this instance is a reference to 7-foot 3 Kai Sotto, based on reports we read and heard we didn’t expect him to be drafted last month. Despite that belief we expected an NBA team would sign him to a 2-way contract and we’d see him in action in summer play. That didn’t occur either so his effort to be the first native born Filipino in the NBA is sidetracked for a period of time. Sotto represents an NBA change, the modern version has become more suited to stretch four Big Men. Despite the change there is a belief there is room for him at the NBA level. We don’t know this to be a fact however Tacko Fall remains a member of the Utah Jazz, surely Sotto is near the same stage in development. We continue to search for news regarding Sotto and will provide future updates.

The Suns wrote DeAndre Ayton a huge check, i.e., signing him to an extension. Ayton was a free agent and the Pacers reached out to him offering a contract. Rather than allowing him to walk the Suns decided to match the offer assuring number 22 would remain in The Valley of the Sun. The unusual part of the story for me is the set of circumstances. We read there was displeasure with the effort made by Ayton in the playoffs. One report indicates he and coach Monty Williams had a verbal confrontation. That and maybe other issues appear “over” as Ayton has expressed, he is happy with remaining with the Suns. The future of the Suns rest almost entirely on the shoulders of Chris Paul, similar to LeBron he’s one year older. Can Ayton play up to the level of a quality Big Man, we shall see how this turns out next season.

What is an Exhibit 10 contract, since I had no idea didn’t research was required? Perhaps a number of you were familiar with it, as for me and others this is the definition, I was able to locate:

“An Exhibit 10 contract is a one-year, minimum salary NBA contract. The deal has a particular Exhibit 10 attached to it and bonuses come along with it. This attachment is included in the contract after both the sides (team and the player) have agreed to it.”

 “An Exhibit 10 contract gives a franchise the flexibility to convert it into a two-way deal, but the team has to ensure that it happens before the commencement of the regular season. Exhibit 10 deals are usually non-guaranteed, which means the team can waive the player and get the cap hit off their payroll.” *

*https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/what-exhibit-10-contract-nba