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Basketball from a fans perspective

It’s that time of the year again

The college basketball season ended with UConn winning the NCAA Championship on April 3. There will be a number of college players choosing a school, in addition the transfer portal work is yet to be complete. There is college basketball and amateur news but it slows at this point. On Sunday the NBA ended its season although there remains the playoffs, draft lottery, the draft itself. Certainly cannot forget NBA free agent signings beginning July 1 but NBA news becomes slower too. What does that entail you ask, well Off the Dribble production slows as well? At this point I’m attempting to decide the weekly publication schedule. I’m unsure if it becomes a Monday through Friday or a Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday periodical.

More than just him

An NBA viewer said, “We should put some respect behind Russell Westbrook’s name. He helped the Clippers lock up the 5^th seed and finished the season 11-5.” No argument from me on this matter, however I’d like to offer this tidbit. No one player is responsible for a team’s record, it remains a team game. The number of minutes one plays can drastically affect performance if not in tune with his teammates. In addition major injuries can also impact on a team’s performance. As for the Lakers they finished with the second-best record in the NBA with an 18-8 and earned a 7^th place seed. You can draw your own conclusions this is my belief. Unless I gain insight to additional information, I’m going to say I respect Westbrook. At the same time I believe he was a contributing factor to the poor play up to the trade deadline.

His body betrayed him

In 2007 Greg Olden had NBA All Pro stamped on his forehead. How good was his potential, he forced Kevin Durant into second place in that year’s draft? Oden’s single season at Ohio State solidified what many scouts and front office people believed about the 7-foot post player. The Blazers holding the number one pick chose Oden and from that point on he suffered injury after injury after injury. Finally in 2012 the Blazers gave up and decided to wave Oden, he would later sign a one-year contract with the Heat. Consider this fragment of information out of 328 Blazer games Oden was only able to see action in 60 of them.

I located a YouTube video referring to Oden as a bust which I believe is far from the truth. Over time a number of players such as Hasheem Thabeet (2009), Anthony Bennett (2013) would qualify as busts. These two and several others were not good enough to play at the NBA level. Oden’s case was far different, he had all the tools, injuries severely impacted his hope for an NBA career. After a couple of off the court issues Oden returned to Ohio State and completed his degree. He is currently an assistant coach at Butler University working for his former Ohio State Coach Thad Matta. The brief history of Greg Oden who failed to impact the game as many hoped most of all one Greg Oden.

Transfer Portal

These are the words of a friend, “I like the transfer portal because players are ready to play.” He went on to discuss the adjustment period required for freshmen players which is true. Sometimes a number are prepared for the change while others it might take the season or maybe their sophomore year. Our discussion centered on Mizzou basketball and the number of transfers would prove key to the success. Mizzou basketball was not the only program to benefit from the transfer portal, just the one nearest to my heart. As an example I don’t remember the name but I know you heard the same account I did.

An athlete traveled from junior college to a Division I program and transferred to one of the teams in the Sweet 16. Not all transfers proved beneficial, I must admit as much success as Mizzou experienced there was one portal player who provided little help. Kansas State certainly benefited from the play of Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson in their deep NCAA Tournament run. Let me not kid you, teams must continue to recruit high school talent even if it’s only for a single season, however transfers have certainly proven their value and will continue to do so. The only remaining question, why was it really necessary for transfers to sit out a semester in the first place?

2023 NBA Draft

The teams qualifying for the lottery are complete with the end of the 2022-23 NBA season. The lottery order itself will not be determined until May 16. The Athletic has determine each team’s odds to secure Victor Wembanyama or the top pick.

  

  1.Pistons (14%)

  2.Spurs (14%)

  3.Rockets (14%)

  4.Hornets (12.5%)

  5.Blazers (10.5%)

  6.Magic (9.0%)

  7.Wizards (6.8%)

  8.Pacers (6.8%)

  9.Jazz (4.5%)

10.Mavs (3.0%)

11.Thunder (1.8%)

12.Magic (from Bulls, 1.7%)

13.Raptors (1.8%)

14.Pelicans (0.5%)

A couple of thoughts, the Pelicans certainly were not rooting for the Lakers. This has nothing to do with playoff implications rather a regular finish. The Pelicans probably liked what they saw with the 2-10 start by the Lakers since their first-round pick was conveyed to them through the AD traded. They lose in the Wembanyama sweepstakes that’s for sure. I mentioned previously the top pick (in my view) should go to the Pistons or Rockets.