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Basketball from a fans perspective

Double minded

Brandon Miller should not be damned for life, he made a tragic mistake. He supplied a gun which was used in the murder of a 23-year-old mother, this small child will grow up without a mother. Miller is a year out of high school which says he’s probably no more than 19-years old. We certainly all make mistakes as youth some of the mistakes are more serious than others. Some mistakes lead to the taking of an innocent life.

The timing says suspension, but the regular college season is over, should he be suspended for the NCAA Tournament? From all indications there are no legal charges pending despite the circumstances of the crime. Every NBA mock draft site indicates Miller should he declare is projected somewhere in the 3-6 range i.e. lottery territory. I will repeat what I wrote earlier, financial compensation is certainly no substitute for the loss of a parent, despite that fact Miller should be advised to consider this recommendation. As I indicated earlier this is but a small penance compared to losing a life.

What he said

“Now that he no longer lives off his athleticism, Westbrook’s poor decision making is more noticeable than ever.” Not my words but those of former NBA player turned analyst Richard Jefferson. What do you think, is Jefferson correct in his observation? Westbrook is now 34-years of age certainly not old; LeBron is still playing outstanding basketball at age 38 so what’s the difference. This is me and not Jefferson, it seems at times Westbrook over penetrates which tends to cause TO’s or missed shots.

When Darvin Ham took over the team almost from the beginning, he decided the Lakers would be better served with Westbrook playing with the second unit and it did work for a time. Westbrook continues to be one of the speediest guys in the game, but he’s got to have slowed a bit and maybe that’s where his game has betrayed him. He was never a great shooter even in his Thunder days, but his speed ensures he could dominate. I was curious how Westbrook would work out with the Clippers; the jury is still out on this one and I will continue to monitor his effort the balance of the season.

This is puzzling

You might have read the same piece I did, the Deadspin article focused on the Nets Ben Simmons. We knew the story on Markelle Fultz, he suffered an injury which impacted his ability to shoot the basketball. What happened to Simmons is a mystery to all, lets return briefly to the past. Simmons a “Magic Johnson” type point guard at 6 foot 10 was projected to be an NBA star before he stepped on an NBA court. Arriving from Australia Simmons played his freshman season for LSU, we knew early on his shot from more than 15 feet was suspect.

That’s okay we rationalized, he plays lockdown defense is an adept passer, he doesn’t have to be a great shooter. How about a shooter period, if we look at his first few years after his 2016 draft you will note his field goal percentage is .500+. If I were a betting person, I could safely conclude the vast majority of his scoring consisted of dunks and layups, few are probably jump shots. He demanded and received a trade; the Sixers traded him for James Hardin. After the trade I believed he’s ready to play now that he’d “escaped” Philly, well guess what that didn’t help either. I have no medical training as I’ve often stated but there must be something cerebral that’s caused Simmons to fall into this void. How do you go from playing at a higher-than-normal skill level and then poof it’s gone with a little more than a snap of the finger. The Deadspin article questioned Simmons NBA career might be over, I have my doubts on that.

Wonder if

All season the University of Houston Cougars have been at the top of the pile or near it. In a little over a year they along with UCF, Brigham Young and Cincinnati will join the Big XII Conference. This focus in on the Cougars and the question is asked, will they be prepared to play in this highly competitive conference? I happen to believe this is the strongest basketball conference in the nation and the Cougars along with the others will certainly be challenged on the court. If this appears to disparage the American Conference that is not the case, I’m quite sure the basketball is just as competitive.

It’s my belief the Cougars have not seen the level of competition until they face Big XII teams on a regular basis. As for the others I’m more familiar with the University of Cincinnati and its basketball rich history. UCF has former Duke player turned coach Johnny Dawkins; he’s got a .602 winning percentage. Mark Pope had several years in the NBA as a player before becoming a coach. BYU is his second stop as a head coach and he’s a .689 percentage at the school. With the anticipated departure of Texas and Oklahoma and these additions this 10-team conference will become an 8 team conference briefly before reflecting 12 schools once again.

Divided loyalty

Sports loyalty generally lies with a single team, that doesn’t mean you can’t root for more than one team. As an example I have serious doubts if you will find fans who root fervently for the Lakers and Clippers. Entertainer Billy Crystal is a fan of the Clippers but how this came about is quite unique. He claims early in his career tickets to Laker games were impossible to acquire. The Clippers not very good in the 1980’s and tickets were plentiful. Crystal affiliated himself with the Clippers where it continues to this day. 

They are fans of one team or the other, we could make the same statement about New York City and it’s teams. The Knicks most famous celebrity fan Spike Lee claims an allegiance to the borough of Brooklyn, at the time the Nets moved from New Jersey to Brooklyn the prevailing thought he’d change teams…not so. Lee’s loyalty continues to remain with his beloved Knicks. This issue only exists for municipalities with more than one major league professional sports team. Portland, Salt Lake City and Orlando’s NBA teams have little if any competition for the sports dollar.