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Basketball from a fans perspective

Who suffers the most?

Plenty of folks in Laker Nation will be satisfied with nothing less than an NBA Championship. That will not be me, with their slow start this past season I’m simply happy they earned a playoff berth. In my view there are two franchises that will suffer the rath of fans if they fail to win a championship, the Clippers and the Suns. Because both teams are in the Western Conference, they just might decide who represents the west. Paul George and Kawhi Leonard have played few games together although they have been teammates since 2019.

There have been complaints about AD missing games, George and Leonard exceed AD by a mile. The Clippers have a competent coach in Tyronn Lue but he no longer plays the game he only coaches it. Dwight Powell is a talented player and there are other talented players but the Clippers always seem to come up short. Is this the year they rid themselves of the cloud hanging over the franchise? The Suns are somewhat in the same condition, Chris Paul is so important to this franchise but injuries have impacted his post-season play. Acquiring Kevin Durant should certainly give them an advantage over whomever they might meet.

A revisit

Should UConn be included with other Blue Blood basketball programs? This question has been debated since April 3^rd when the Huskies won their 5^th NCAA Championship. I’ve listen to the arguments by those who have inside knowledge of the game, also I’ve read comments of fans. If we check out the records former coach Jim Calhoun won three in 1999, 2004 and 2011. Another past coach Kevin Ollie won it all in 2014 and April 3^rd it was Dan Hurley. Does the number of wins alone entitle a program to be considered Blue Blood? Although UCLA has won 11 championships, I’ve read some want to discount them because the last one occurred in 1995.

Folks offer a counter argument using the length of time between championships as a judgement of whether the school should be considered Blue Blood. If we use this as our barometer should Indiana be included, they have also won 5 championships but the last in the Bobby Knight era. Jayhawk Nation won’t appreciate this next statement but I must call it as I see it. Kansas has won 4 championships, the most recent in 2022. Around here I’ve heard talk they could have won in 2020 if covid hadn’t force cancellation that year. We can look at this possibility because the Jayhawks were particularly good in 2019-20 but championship quality. That remains a question no one can answer. Until I hear a more convincing argument, I am going to deem UConn a Blue Blood program even if you don’t agree.

No television

The doom and gloom folks want us to believe no one is watching the NBA. They always appear to use television as the barometer and I understand why. I’m not sure where television viewership of the NBA stands however it’s not the single measurement. Let’s travel back in time to the late ‘70’s to early ‘80’s. The NBA had a real problem back then, at that time it was television alone. Fans quit attending NBA games in droves, the reason is the league had a full-blown drug problem with a number of players. Fast forward to the present day as I tried to point out recently television viewership is so fractured now how can “They” tell who is watching what?

We have satellite now and so many streaming services it’s difficult to provide you with a complete list. We are taking the word of the NBA but the league claims it set an all-time attendance record in the 2022-23 season. There were a record 791 sellouts which eclipsed the previous record of 760 set during the 2018-19 season, in addition the arenas were filled to an all-time 97% capacity. All of this is just hot air, we can choose to believe it or not. I certainly can state there are problems inside the NBA, there are problems because people run stuff. My continuing argument, it’s not as bad as many would lead you to believe. Next time you read an account disparaging the NBA check it out with caution.

No need apply

Purdue’s Big Man Zach Edey is declaring for the NBA draft, to bad it’s 2023 instead of 1983. The opening sentence is quite simple, the 7-foot 4 305-pound Edey finds few teams desiring his services. It’s got nothing to do with his ability or potential we are in the era of small ball. Athletes of similar build are expected to play on the perimeter and shoot three’s. Edey is slightly slow of foot but can score and rebound the ball when it’s called for. In addition he plays decent but not great defense, with those negatives working against him there can be only two courses in his immediate future and neither will work in his favor.

Edey is told by NBA scouts he’s a second-round draft choice or he is lacking skill in a particular area which leaves him on the outside. I have concluded (maybe in error) NBA coaches seem unable to mold Big Man play into small ball. I’m not sure if this next statement is correct but here goes. The Warriors drafted 7-foot 240-pound James Wiseman in 2020 with the intention of moving him into their lineup. Injuries early in his NBA career impacted his growth and although he showed promise the Warriors decided to go in another direction. Two months ago Wiseman was traded to the Pistons, he’s shown a degree of promise since the trade. Everything cycles so at some point (I don’t know when) we’ll see a return to Big Man play.

Best basketball team in Missouri

Because I’m a proud member of Mizzou Nation you probably read the headline and came to one conclusion…” He’s talking about Mizzou.” That is not the case and it’s not Saint Louis University, Missouri State or some other program. It’s not even a college program, it’s a high school, Link Academy located in Branson in the heart of the Ozarks. Why do I make this claim, the Link Academy Lions are the 2023 GEICO Nationals as they won the championship finishing the season with a 27-1 record. With a first-year coach the school’s only loss was to Montverde Academy. How was Link able to accomplish this task in such a short space of time, this in only the second year of the school’s basketball program? We’d have to ask coach Bill Armstrong for the answer to that question. Looking ahead I checked Rivals Class of 2024 prospects and several Link athletes are listed.