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Basketball from a fans perspective

Just thinking it don’t make it right

At least two of our local sports talk radio guys are trying to convince our thinking to their side of the street. The morning host indicated he “was pre-occupied with the Chiefs to note LeBron James breaking Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s point total.” Later and I’m not sure if it was the same day the afternoon guy had a media member on the radio and cornered him with questions. The question, “Wouldn’t it be better if the college basketball season began in January when the NFL season is basically over?” This sports media guy agreed with the idea of changing the college season however later there was one dissenter. Jay Bilas analyst for ESPN college basketball was contacted on a telephone interview on Friday.

Bilas was asked a series of basketball related questions and then the host went there. He closed out the interview asking the same question, “Wouldn’t it be better if the college basketball season began in January.” Bilas didn’t hesitate in his answer giving an emphatic no. Bilas then rattled off a bunch of reasons he believes this type of thinking isn’t possible and then began to explain the why. Kansas City is home of the World Champion Chiefs I believe all of us understand that. They are the most important sports story in this town. The NBA might be a different story, I would dare either of these guys to pose that question to followers of Kentucky, Duke or UCLA basketball. Truth is with portions of our metro extending into Kansas I have serious doubts any professed follower of Jayhawk Nation wants a January basketball start.

The Knicks

Free agency has been responsible for a large degree of player movement, the draft alone will not improve a team. Despite the disclaimer allow this brief assessment of the Knicks. You might realize there’s been little success in attracting free agents. Let’s check out their number one draft picks over the past 10 years, to be fair I am not going to assess any draft picks from the past two seasons. I’m going to look strictly at the years 2013 through 2019, the Knicks were sitting in a position to allow them to pick among the best potential draft picks available. With that said here goes, the top number one draft picks for the Knicks during this period. The Knicks are improved however think where they might be if they had been a little wiser in adding talent. 

2013 Tim Hardaway Jr.

2014-no pick

2015 Kristaps Porzingis

2016-no pick

2017 Frank Ntilinka

2018 Kevin Knox

2019 RJ Barrett

What’s wrong with this picture, plenty so let’s explain. 2014 and 2016 can be excused as the Knicks had no number one pick, as for the other years that’s a different matter. Of the number on this list the only true ascending star is Barrett because he’s the only one remaining with the Knicks. Barrett has clearly demonstrated he’s got NBA talent. As for the others it’s a mixed bag, Hardaway Jr. certainly has talent, but it appears the Knicks must have missed it, he was a roster member yet managed to escape from New York on two occasions. He was traded away and later signed as a free agent, currently Hardaway Jr. is a member of the Mavs.

For unknown reasons after a sound rookie season Porzingis wanted out, meeting with management they honored his trade request, and he became a member of the Mavs. Porzingis was traded to the Wizards where he is presently. Frank Ntilinka arrived as a prospect but never elevated his play, he was stuck in a reserve role with the Knicks and now with the Mavs. Kevin Knox landed after playing at Kentucky, he left the Big Apple two years ago for the Blazers but appears to be a reserve player only. All this movement is not laid at the feet of Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, he was hired in 2020. This simply details for us the Knicks scouting and front office management have performed poorly in the recent past.

Is it just me

NBA Western Conference teams conducted trades with those in the east over the course of time leading to the trade deadline. Why is it my conviction in the west it remains stronger than eastern time zone teams? I’m must omit the Bucks, for some strange reason this Central Time Zone team remains in the Eastern Conference. Let’s check the championship history over the last 10-15 years. 2021 saw the Bucks beat the Suns 4 games to 2, in 2019 the Raptors were winners over the Warriors 4 games to 2.

From 2008-2018 the world saw Eastern Conference teams win 4 championships and the west 8. I believe my addition is correct I didn’t double check, if correct it continues to detail the why. For every Jayson Tatum and Jaylin Brown we have a Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. We could also include Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kris Middleton in the conversation versus CP3 and Devin Booker. Of course championships are not won by NBA All Stars alone, the blue-collar guys provide just as much to victory as the others.

Am I surprised

Gradey Dick was not unknown to me, 2022 McDonald’s All America and 2022 Gatorade Player of the Year. He played high school basketball at Sunrise Christian Academy in Wichita, naturally it was no surprise when KU came calling and he headed for Lawrence Kansas in late summer. As for the surprise, I didn’t know the 6-foot 8 205 pound small forward/shooting guard was just that…a shooter. The numbers (14.7 ppg) will not wow anybody because he’s operating within the confines of Bill Self’s offense. 

How often have we seen a college player increase his scoring once he reaches the NBA? That certainly could present itself in the case for a shooter such as Dick. It’s his shooting percentage which I found surprising, 42.7% from the three-point line alone. Then Dick’s name began appearing on mock draft sites, like a snowball rolling downhill his stock continue to rise among NBA scouts. Now Dick is listed on most mock sites, in several he’s listed as a lottery pick. This is what I uncovered in four mock sites, two of them place Dick at 12 one had him at 8 and the last one at 5. Don’t be surprised to hear the commissioner announce his name in the June draft.