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Basketball from a fans perspective

Bits n Pieces

Russell Westbrook traded to the Jazz is reported to be weighing his options. Jazz management indicates they are committed to playing younger players, is there a need for a 34-year-old Westbrook? A number of teams are buying out the contracts of veterans obtained in trades. There is a report the Clippers have reached out to him, although I remain unsure if this is tampering it still makes sense for Westbrook. There would be no requirement for him to move his family to Salt Lake, everybody remains in Southern Cal.    

The basketball season concluded early for New Mexico State this season. In fact this past Sunday the university suspended the men’s basketball program. The basis for the suspension involves a hazing and sexual assault against a team member implicating 3 members of the team. How this event will eventually unfold is unclear at this point since the charges if true must be decided in a civil court. NMSU up through last week had 9 wins and 15 losses and, in the WAC, they had 2 wins versus 10 losses in the WAC. There are 6 conference games remaining on the schedule plus a post-season tournament.

I’m unsure of the why, maybe it was the fact the NBA point total record was broken by LeBron James recently. You can find the article it and read it for yourself I’m not going to attempt to detail it, Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s made the claim there could be multiple G.O.A.T.’s in the NBA. I certainly have no intention to speak for anyone reading this however I’ve grown tired of the back-and-forth conversation. How can we compare Jerry West to Steph Curry, they play generations apart. Second to that what do we use as a barometer of measurement to determine their greatest? Is it MVP awards, NBA championships or something else?

If I said Alabama sports the first name that might come to mind is the late Bear Bryant football coach. Maybe the current football coach Nick Saban but a new name associated with the school might be just as widespread. Allow me to introduce to some Nate Oats Crimson Tide men's basketball team. Oats Alabama team is the AP number one team in the nation this week. This is the first time Alabama has reached this point since the 2003 season.

Has the nickname “Street Clothes” now been passed on the Pelicans Zion Williamson? He’s out once again and it appears he will be sidelined for several weeks maybe up till early April. Will that allow enough time for the Pelicans to earn a playoff spot? The latest is a hamstring injury, according to reports Williamson aggravated it while attempting to ramp up. We continue to harp on his weight versus height, I’m beginning to wonder if that might be part of the problem. His ankles or knees appear in conversation regarding his series of injuries. 

He's back

A player was traded due to his immaturity, that would appear to be the case. D’Angelo Russell played but one season at Ohio State but believed he was ready for the NBA. He was made the second pick in the 2015 draft by the Lakers and in his rookie year Russell earned a spot on the NBA All-Rookie second   team. His sophomore year would see his field goal percentage dip slightly, but his scoring went up to 15.6 a game, decent for a combo guard. Then it occurred what I mentioned earlier the maturity issue. Rather than keep an indiscretion to himself he did a TMZ on a Laker teammate which caused clubhouse turmoil. June of 2017 witnessed Russell and others traded to the Nets, from there it was to the Warriors in a trade. I believe to this day the clubhouse incident was the key factor in Russell being traded.

From the Warriors, he found himself a member of the Wolves, this portion of his NBA career contained moves, but I never read of complaints from coaches or teammates. February 9 the Lakers re-acquired Russell in a trade along with several others. Other than the single incident with a teammate no longer in the NBA I don’t remember any other issues. Apparently, the Lakers believing the same had no difficulty with making the trade. Despite the number of moves Russell’s numbers have remained steady plus he’s a good three-point shooter. If there are no other issues, he could prove to be a valuable addition to the Lakers in this stretch drive for a playoff berth. The one area I’m never sure I can comment is defense, is Russell a good defender? I will leave that question to the analytic guys to determine.