Published Daily  

Basketball from a fans perspective

Love and Happiness

This certainly didn’t exist yesterday in Minnesota, Rudy Gobbert and Kyle Anderson got into a physical confrontation. In the end Gobbert hit Anderson and this takes place on the bench for the fans and a television audience to witness. That wasn’t the end of strange events, Jaden McDaniels upset on a foul takes out his frustration on a wall in the tunnel breaking his hand. Suffering a broken hand McDaniels will be unable to play in tonight’s game.

As for Gobbert he was told to go home and on Monday suspended for the play-in tournament. So in conclusion we have the Wolves missing two key players for the post-season. If the Wolves lose to the Lakers tonight, we can point at Gobbert and McDaniels as a basis. As for the punch by Gobbert this is the second incident I’m aware of this season. You might remember awhile back Draymond Green sucker punched teammate Jordan Poole. As the song title might indicate, Love and Happiness is not always reserved for teammates, even they can sometimes become targets.

I just don’t know

The 2022-23 Lakers are an enigma to me, in what areas have they fooled me…how about ALL! I held a conversation Sunday with a friend, since I wasn’t at home it was necessary to track the score of the Laker-Jazz game with my iPhone. Of course that’s the most difficult manner because all you are able to see are the score of the game changing. The Lakers had a lead then the Jazz came back…the lead would be extended and it was close again until the very end. The final score read Lakers 128 Jazz 117, after returning home I managed to view the game I’d set my DVR prior to leaving. Yes, the Jazz had put up quite a battle despite not having a few regulars in the lineup, what occurs now?

The win was the 43^rd a number just a few short weeks ago I believed totally impossible. The February 9 trade deadline witnessed the Lakers making trade moves which have proven beneficial. As an example, since then in 26 games played, they have been winners in 18 of them since the trade deadline. With no help from other NBA teams the Lakers find themselves in the Play In Tournament. They will now serve as host for the Wolves on Tuesday. The rest especially for LeBron and AD would be helpful but as former Jets coach once said, “You play to win the game.” A 2-win 10 loss start certainly didn’t aid the cause at the beginning of the season so it becomes now or never for them. This team could flame out in the PIT or win the 2023 NBA Championship.

Kansas basketball  

It would appear Bill Self and the staff have their work cut out for them next season. There are 5 Jayhawks entering the transfer portal, in addition we find Gradey Dick and Jaylin Wilson entering the NBA Draft. Of those leaving, guard Joseph Yesufu saw the most action, playing nearly 13 minutes a game. There are four highly touted freshman who will begin play in October, that helps except they must adjust to Division I play quickly.

Despite what might appear to be a doom and gloom account that is not the case. Mizzou, Kansas State and others provided proof there is talent available in the portal. The trick is to locate talent which might work best for your roster. In this instance I can speak to that regarding Mizzou over some other programs, I am excluding those who played for Gates at Cleveland State. The easiest method to explain several adapted sooner than others, given time Kansas basketball should be okay. With that said it’s certainly far too early in my view to project them as Big XII regular season champions. The Big XII is certainly competitive, you might remember the Jayhawks failed to win the post-season tournament.

Coaching moves

At the end of the NBA season management often decides to make coaching changes. Frequently this entails coaches being terminated or taking new positions and that is the case here. There might be others on the way, however the first occurred in Houston and Detroit. Nothing official, this is based on what I’ve read, there is general dissatisfaction with the lack of progress for the Rockets. This was aimed at Stephen Silas who held the head coaching job for three seasons, there is no idea yet who replaces him.

Technically Silas wasn’t fired, the team announced, “His contract wouldn’t be extended.” As for the Pistons the coaching move was a little more tranquil. Dwane Casey, hired in 2018 moves into the front office of the Pistons, no word on his replacement although two names have been mentioned. Rumored names are Ime Udoka former Celtics coach, another name cited was Jerry Stackhouse. Stackhouse is currently head coach at Vanderbilt but once played for the Pistons. The moves by the Rockets and Pistons are the first two coaching moves, however, don’t be surprised if there are others forthcoming. One of these changes might involve termination and the other a resignation. 

Bits n Pieces 

Hy Vee Arena in Kansas City has been placed on the market. The building once home to the Kansas City Kings, Big 12 Tournament basketball, concerts and other events was not used much after Sprint (now T-Mobile) Arena was opened (2007) in the Power & Light District. The City of Kansas City owned the arena until 2017 but that would change when Wichita developers purchased the arena and turned it into a multi-use arena with youth basketball courts and other sports usage areas in the building. Why the sale now, the owners indicate they were waiting for covid relief funds which never came their way. Just in case you are interested the arena built in 1974 but refurbished in 2017 is on the market for a reported $32 million.

Heat forward Udonis Haslem retired on Sunday; he did this after a 20-year NBA career. In addition at the age of 42 he managed to score 24 points in 25 minutes in his last game. Haslem becomes the oldest player in NBA history with his scoring total. Most interesting is the fact he was never drafted, Haslem (born in Miami) played his college basketball at the University of Florida. In 2002 NBA scouts at the time must not have been impressed, not a single team drafted him. The Heat signed him as a free agent where he’s remained since then. Haslem’s been a 3x NBA Champion for the Heat, with that I could say the NBA will miss you.

I’m not a fan of Austin Rivers, I’ve long believed although good enough to play at Duke his NBA career has been underwhelming. Without offering you proof it was my belief he was in the league somewhat due to dad Doc Rivers then Clipper coach and player personnel director. That’s up front now for the issue at hand, Bronny James. The son of LeBron has a NIL in place paying him large sums of money, whose complaining about that fact? How about Austin Rivers who benefited by playing for his father and certainly earned more in income than Bronny. In addition, why is there so much hatred aimed at Bronny James by Rivers and others?