Basketball from a fans perspective

Published Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday

Load management plus injuries

On Sunday I wrote of the NBA west and the outlook for the upcoming season. A YouTube account caught my eye recently and I believe it’s worth a few words so here goes. Skip Bayless said the Clippers were disrespected not being including in the Christmas NBA schedule. I then listened to the words of his co-host Shannon Sharpe, he said Kawhi Leonard hasn’t played ____ number of games since his NBA Championship season with the Raptors. I left the number blank because I don’t remember the count, this required a lookup to determine the total. With the Spurs, Raptors and Clippers Leonard’s not come close to playing a full season in 10 years of NBA play.

As for Sharpe I must provide a correction to a portion of his statement. The record indicates Leonard played 74 games with the Spurs in the 2016-17 season, as for the championship season with the Raptors he played 60 games that season. Leonard’s two seasons with the Clippers are 57 and 52 games, do you see a pattern here? I have no hidden agenda I’m simply pointing out what Sharpe mentioned and what is a recurrence. It’s my contention the Clippers only go so far without Leonard in the lineup. Paul George is certainly a talent but he’s not on the same level. I’m quite sure some of you especially those in Clipper Nation will see this as a “Hate Leonard” story. That is not the case I’m simply reporting on his past history, hopefully his season is complete culminating in an NBA Championship.

The non-conference schedule is out

Mizzou released the non-conference portion of the 2022-23 schedule, this is not in order of dates just an account. The first game Dennis Gates coaches will be against Ivy League Penn, and it’s scheduled Friday November 11 in Columbia. Mizzou will play Wichita State at Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas at home and UCF in Sunrise Florida. The Annual Braggin’ Rights Game against Illinois will be played in St. Louis at the Enterprise Center, this one is scheduled for Thursday December 22.

Also on Mizzou’s schedule is Iowa State, Coastal Carolina and SIEU. For the first time in memory Mizzou will face an HBCU school other than in NCAA Tournament play. Mississippi Valley State will be the opponent in Columbia on Sunday November 20. SEC conference play will be released later, this last bit of information by ESPN tourney Guru Joe Lunardi shocked me out of my seat. Lunardi places Mizzou as an early bubble team to earn a berth in the tournament, keep in mind this means absolutely nothing, but it is interesting, nonetheless.  

What do you think?

My view is probably different than most on this subject. We are discussing those who made it in the NBA versus those who are simply titled a bust. Allow a brief explanation and two teams, the Blazers and the Cavs. LaRue Martin is 72-years old now, in 1972 the Blazers made him the first pick in that year’s draft. You might remember reading about him in this blog earlier, in any case it was a different era regarding scouting back then. In spite of scouting Martin try as he did, he was just unable to adjust to NBA play. Instead of Martin the Blazers could have chosen Bob McAdoo, Paul Westphal or a guy by the name of Julius Erving all enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame. The 1975-76 season would be his last in the NBA, he failed at the NBA level however we can say his life outside of basketball has been successful.

The saga of Greg Oden’s been documented in the recent past, in 2007 with all the hype surrounding his play at Ohio State the Blazers made him the number one pick in that year’s draft. Unlike Martin years earlier who failed to adjust his play it appeared Oden had the tools…injuries impacted his career to the extent he left the NBA after 2016. There is one more team for us to check, the Cavs of Cleveland along with DaJuan Wagner and Anthony Bennett. Believe it or not Wagner once scored 100 points in a high school game. At Memphis playing for John Calipari Wagner would score over 20 points a game and his coach believed he was ready for the NBA. His rookie year with the Cavs Wagner managed to score a modest 13 points a game and though his shooting percentage was low (37%) he was on the road to NBA success.

The next two years would witness Wagner struggle with injuries and lucrative colitis which eventually caused him to have half his colon removed. Wagner would miss the next season attempted a comeback with the Warriors but never returned to form. In 2013 Anthony Bennett was the heir apparent next NBA star while playing at UNLV. Bennett was made the number one NBA pick in 2013 by the Cavs but that was the high point. He averaged 4 points 3 rebounds in 13 minutes a game play that season. After a couple of NBA stops, Bennett has continued play in Europe. In closing we’ve detailed four players two for the Blazers and two for the Cavs. Not a single player is a bust, we all have value it’s just a fact. A number of athletes fail to generate an NBA career due to talent while injuries impact the potential capability of several others. There are other teams containing similar scenarios our examination was the Blazers and Cavs only. 

Don’t believe everything you read

The headline doesn’t apply to what you might read here. Just joking, try as I might on occasion stories have been published in Off the Dribble containing incorrect information. This is a partial correction to an earlier interpretation regarding Bronny James, the son of LeBron is receiving offers to play in college. The latest is reported to be from Penny Hardaway and his Memphis team. 

Earlier there were two HBCU schools, North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central with proposals for the 4-star athlete. Also offering a scholarship for the 6-foot 3 190-pound combo guard is Oregon, Ohio State and Southern Cal. If I discover the error(s) I will do my best to correct it (or them) and not “bury” the correction. It will be interesting to discover what school Bronny decides to attend. Oregon is reported to be in the lead for his services however I believe there is an outside chance the youngster heads for Memphis, stay updated on this one.