Basketball from a fans perspective

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Family Feud

Many world readers of Off the Dribble might not be aware of this information so I am going to provide it for them. In America we have a long running television quiz program titled Family Feud, it’s been on the air 23 years on one of the networks or in syndication. The current host of the program is entertainer Steve Harvey, his job in moderating the program is to ask the contestants a series of questions matching the response from the studio audience. Two families compete to win prize money and generally speaking its entertaining because families often provide strange and unusual answers.

We have a real-life Family Feud occurring on the basketball court, it just might be 9-10 times worse than the television version. This one pits a son against his mother, the Mavs Luka Doncic is suing his mom Mirjam Poterbim over control of his brand. According to reports we read Doncic’s filed a petition with the United States Patent & Trademark Office cancelling the ‘LUKA DONCIC 7’ trademark. He gave his mother permission during his 2008 rookie year to file the patent, Doncic claims he’s contacted his mother in writing to give up the rights to no avail. The television quiz program one family is a loser hopefully Doncic and his mom can come to a successful resolution to this matter.

Please quit!

It’s not going to do any good but I’m asking anyway, please quit interviewing him. The him in this instance is disgraced former official Tim Donaghy, I’ve grown tired of reading headlines containing his name. For those who might be unfamiliar with him from 1997 until 2007 he was an NBA official. Why is he not working now, I’m glad you ask the question, he was caught in a gambling scandal and forced to resign. How serious was the charge, Donaghy would serve prison time for his part.

Donaghy was betting on NBA games some of which I believed he might have officiated. He was committed to prison for 15 months served 11 and then after violating parole was incarcerated again, he’s been out since 2009 but remains a convicted felon. If Donaghy was offering information regarding gamblers anonymous or some other like organization okay. All he’s offered to date are accounts of activities while he was an NBA official. On the surface he appears to be one of those guys who thinks he’s smarter than everyone else which might be the case. In closing I just hope the media would just stop talking to this guy. 

Everyone is not coaching material

Magic Johnson was a Hall of Fame player in college and the NBA. Despite the fact Magic knew the game backwards and forwards he was a terrible coach, Magic the coach failed to equal Magic the player. If you believe I’m only picking on Magic lets, check out others. Sticking with the Lakers how about the Logo Jerry West, an NBA success story on the court…as a head coach that was a different matter. Leaving the Lakers, we could look toward Isiah Thomas who spent his playing career as a member of the Pistons. The coaching record for Thomas, 187 wins and 223 losses. The jury remains sequestered in the case of The Nets v Steve Nash. Nash took on the role of head coach with no prior experience. As a two-time MVP I believe we can place superstar behind the name of Nash.

Of all the former coaches that moved into the coaching ranks Larry Joe Bird might have been the best of the bunch. Depending on who you read, many claim it was the Pacer assistants who allowed Bird great success, he finished coaching with 147 wins and only 67 losses. It’s been my belief for years superstar coaches have unreal expectations; they expect their teams to be a reflection of themselves. This is often not the case as most players rarely reach the expected level of the superstar coach. There are always exceptions, but as we proceed consider a couple of points. Lenny Wilkins is the all-time winner with over 1,300 wins but do we consider Wilkins a superstar player? Celtic K.C. Jones was vital to the success of the ’60 Celtics but certainly not a superior player, Jones was a very good coach. We could also include Kevin McHale in our count since he registered over 200 + wins, McHale was a good player but superstar player? Just our brief look at quality coaching wins which includes a limited number of superstar players of the past.

The number is 2009

2009 is the year the Lakers drafted Patrick Beverley; I don’t remember much because he was the 42^nd pick in the second round. I don’t even remember if he came to training camp that first year. He would play in Ukraine, Greece and Russia before signing with the NBA Rockets in 2013. Over the next few years Beverley would play for the Rockets, Clippers, Wolves and finally back to the Lakers. The guard had been traded to the Jazz but that’s not where he’d begin the 2022-23 NBA season, for Beverley it was starting over. The Lakers traded Talen-Horton Tucker and Stanley Johnson to acquire him, and the question might be why at age 34. Beverley is a defensive specialist who like Dennis Rodman and Bruce Bowman attempts to make life miserable for opposing players.

Okay, absolutely no one shuts down an NBA player but if you can force them to take more shots to hit their average you’ve, done your job. That’s the role Beverley has accepted, he’s embraced it to the point he might be the top name on most teams enemy list. What if he’s the top name on a teammate’s list, that’s what’s now occurred. In acquiring Beverley, it’s been documented he and Russell Westbrook had issues in the past. Can they manage to place aside their differences is the question in order to win? Someone pointed out to me at one time the late Billy Martin managed the Yankees he and star player Reggie Jackson often butted heads. This friend went on to point out once the game began the drama between the two was over, paramount to both was the Yankees winning. I certainly am not stating this match can work, remember I’m the guy who said Westbrook would adjust.