Basketball from a fans perspective

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Shut up Draymond

I like the Warriors Draymond Green; despite this statement I believe there are times he just needs to shut up. There is no reason for him to comment on a subject unrelated to himself or the Warriors. This is an example, Laker guard Austin Reaves stated his desire to rid himself of the nicknames “AR-15” and “Hillbilly Kobe.” At this point Green decided to weigh in on the subject although it’s not about him. “Brother, you haven’t done enough in your career to be shedding nicknames that people give you.”

With the number of AR-15’s used in violent actions Reaves doesn’t wish to be associated with it although 15 is his jersey number. As for “Hillbilly Kobe”, he claims a coach at Oklahoma hung it on him. He wanted to drop it in deference to the late Kobe Bryant, as for the hillbilly part every white guy from Arkansas is not a hillbilly. I could see how that might be offensive to Reaves. I guess Green must have forgotten about his former teammate Kevin Durant. One of the nicknames hung on Durant was “Slim Reaper” which Durant said he hated. Have you heard anyone use that recently when Durant’s name is mentioned? As LaVar Ball would say, "You (Draymond) need to stay in your own lane." 

Only 2 maybe 3

There are only 2 basketball stories maybe 3 I’ve grown tired of. The first is reading the claim of a Steph Curry and how he would match up against a point guard of the past, that is impossible to determine. That former NBA guard is 86 years old now, I exaggerate so you see how impressed I am with those accounts. Number 2 on the list is every day since the end of the season it seems a steady barrage of stories indicating “The Lakers are exploring trading XXXXXX for XXXXX”, every day it’s a different player and different team in the discussion.

As much as I want the Lakers to make a move that appears improbable for now, why are we continuing to speculate in this manner? First the trade with the Pacers is on, in the following days we read its off. The Lakers will have Kyrie Irving, Buddy Hield, Myles Turner, Patrick Beverly, Jordan Clarkson and Malik Beasley added to their roster…but wait there is more. The name Cam Reddish has also been mentioned along with that of Julius Randle and others. There have been more names added to the Lakers roster than space available, please stop this is driving me bonkers.

Kansas City in the NBA

It would seem going back several years there’s always been an NBA player or coach from the metro Kansas City area somewhere in the league. That scenario remains ever present in the NBA of today, the latest names to add to the number are Ochai Agbaji who played at Oak Park HS and at the University of Kansas. Agbaji is a member of the NBA Cavs, teammate Christian Braun from Blue Valley Northwest HS and the NBA Rockets. Braun was a teammate of Agbaji at the University of Kansas but there are others. Ish Wainwright Raytown South HS, Baylor and the Suns and teammate Landry Shamet Park Hill HS, Wichita State and the Suns.

Willie Cauley-Stein is currently a member of the Sixers, he played at Olathe Northwest HS and the University of Kentucky. Also included in our account is Alec Burks Grandview HS and the University of Colorado, Burks currently is a member of the Pistons. On the outside hoping to earn a roster spot are Jacob Gilyard Barstow HS and Richmond University and Jeriah Horne also Barstow HS and Tulsa University. Undrafted the pair played NBA Summer League for the Warriors and Kings, respectively. In the coaching ranks we have Tyronn Lue Clippers head coach, Raytown HS and Nebraska. His assistant Larry Drew played at Wyandotte HS and the University of Missouri. Hopefully, I haven’t overlooked any active player or coach.

You can only see so much

If you read or heard Rudy Gobert or Draymond Green were outstanding NBA players, you would agree. You might concur with this statement because annually the two earn defensive honors in the NBA. That is the problem for much of basketball, on the offensive side we can see proof of value. “Jack is averaging 30 points a game” or “Jack is shooting 60% from the floor” or “Jack snatched 20 rebounds during the game.” Those stats and others are readily available for us basketball fans to see. The defensive effort of a team or player is often more difficult to verify, another example. It was said at the time he played “Magic Johnson was not a good defensive player but plays good team defense.”

On the other hand, Gary Payton was nicknamed “The Glove” because as an individual he was a great defender. Back to our view, it doesn’t matter if we attend the game or see it on television it’s pace is so fast, we often missed stuff. In addition, 99% of the time the camera is focused on the player dribbling the basketball and the defender. It’s nearly impossible to see defensive facets of the game ahead of time, the pick or steal of the ball. Former Knick point guard and now broadcaster Walt Frazier was a great defender. He admitted while in college one semester grades caused him to be ineligible to play. His coach still had Frazier on the court but informed him “You need to concentrate on defense.” Playing tough hard-nosed defense is certainly not going to place you in the public’s eye as if you were a scoring champion. Defense indeed wins championships we only need to ask the 2022 NBA champion Warriors.