Published Daily  

Basketball from a fans perspective

Are they making a move

I wouldn’t suggest this become the norm; the Lakers allowed the Mavs to race out to a 27-point lead. This meant an uphill effort all afternoon was required as they were able to win the game 111-108. LeBron James didn’t have a great shooting game but managed to score 26 points along with 8 rebounds. The key I believe was AD with 30 points 15 rebounds and 3 blocked shots as he came up big in the win. Newcomer Jarred Vanderbilt at the power forward scored 15 points but pulled down 17 rebounds.

Dennis Schroeder dished out 8 assists and scored 16 points. For the Mavs The Don led the way with 26 points, Kyrie Irving didn’t shoot particularly well but managed 21 points and 11 rebounds. At the end of the game we might ask the question, are the Lakers making their move at this time? Check out the loss column, they have 32 losses but are only 3 games behind the Clippers and Suns both with 29. The Suns are in the 4 slot and the Clippers sitting at 5 in the playoff race, that should give you proof of the tight Western Conference race.

This is the year

If you are a fan of Nikola Jokic a.k.a. The Joker don’t read this. I love The Joker, but this is the year he comes in second place in the MVP voting. It has nothing to do with him playing a lesser role for the Nuggets, in fact they might be the best team in the Western Conference. I think this year’s MVP belongs to Sixer Joel Embiid; his numbers have been outstanding for years. We know the story; basketball is still a team game, and the Sixer Big Man needs his teammates to play at a high level. In a recent contest against the Grizzlies Embiid didn’t shoot particularly well but still managed to score 27 points.

His stat stuff also included 19 rebounds 6 assists and 6 blocked shots in the victory. The one area I’ve long believed Embiid fails to be credited is his skill at passing the basketball. He’s averaging 4.1 assists a game this season, the only center exceeding Embiid in this area is The Joker. On the other hand Embiid beats out Jokic in blocked shots, in fact he is number 6 in the NBA in that area. Rest assured several reading this have probably decided “You haven’t given us one significant detail to prove Embiid is the MVP over The Joker.” That’s okay it’s probably only fans of Embiid who are likely to agree with my take. If you think the other guy is still MVP that’s okay too.

I wish I could remember

Don’t you find it interesting at times the evidence used to prove your argument? I cannot tell you the beginning only the ending, I heard a discussion on sports talk radio recently and the guy used Alex English to provide his evidence. I thought it odd because that’s a name from the past we hear very little. This host claimed, “English scored a bunch of points for a team (Nuggets) that wasn’t going anywhere.” First off, the guy who made the statement must be an uninformed youngster. Students of the game are aware English had more than a pedestrian NBA career.

Allow me to briefly provide bio information for those unfamiliar with English.  He was drafted by the Bucks in 1976 but saw limited play, he signed as a free agent with the Pacers unpleased with the limited time with the Bucks. In the middle of the 1979-80 season English was traded to the Nuggets, it was there his NBA career would blossom for the next 9 years. He closed out his NBA career with one season with the Bucks but that was only a thumbnail sketch of Alex English. He concluded his career with 25,613 points scored and a 21.5 point per game average. He would be enshrined in the Naismith and College Basketball Hall of Fame an honor bestowed on a limited number of players.

Bits n Pieces

The enigmatic Russell Westbrook, no denying he’s talented but it’s the other “things.” Example in his debut with the Clippers he scored 17 points and dished out 14 assists, that’s the good. As for the bad, it was 7 TO’s and 6 fouls ending his time on the court. The good numbers would say he’s bound for the Naismith Hall of Fame, as for the bad numbers…I will leave that up to you. There is no intention to say this is what he said however the words of Anthony Davis are quite interesting. Without calling out any names he mentioned how the atmosphere in the locker room has changed since the trade deadline. Was he discussing Westbrook, you become the judge?

I make the statement all the time, you are always entitled to your own opinion. I am going to challenge you when you make an incredibly dumb statement. Want a few examples, “LeBron paid for Bronny to be a McDonalds All American.” But wait there are more…how about this one. “Victor Wembanyama needs to gain weight to play in the NBA, they will break him apart.” This last one, “The outcome of NBA games is fixed.” With the last one I say prove it, we heard this all the time and there is never anything but caw-caw to back it up.

Every time I check the box score or see Michael Porter Jr. in action, I lament what might have been. The very talented wing is averaging 17 points a game in the NBA for the Nuggets and has been a key contributor to much of the success of the team. Porter Jr. was a McDonalds All American Cuonzo Martin recruited for Mizzou I believe the first. This talented wing would lay the groundwork for future success of the Mizzou program the only probably it never occurred. An injury caused Porter Jr. to miss his entire freshman season. My hope that he would return in fall were dashed, in the spring he announced his intention to declare for the NBA draft, who knows what the Mizzou program might have been.