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Basketball from a fans perspective

Don’t poke the bear

LeBron James claims he’s got no time to pay attention to the rhetoric of Dillon Brooks. You might believe that statement I happen to disagree with it, it’s my belief LeBron hears all and sees all. “It’s not my first rodeo” was the follow up statement provided for us to mull over. After the game on Inside the NBA Shaq made this statement, “Brooks said he wasn’t going to respect LeBron till he scored 40 points on him, well 20 and 20 is 40.”

As for Shaq his math was slightly off, the box score actually read 22 points and 20 rebounds. AD didn’t shoot the ball particularly well scoring but 12 points, his 4 blocked shots give him a total of 19 for the series so far. The Grizzlies could have won this game, they remain quite a competitive team. The final score in the OT read Lakers 117 Grizzlies 111. The teams return to Memphis for a Game 5 match on Wednesday, it will be available on TNT unless you live in the area. The question, do the Lakers close it out or will the home team return to Game 2 form? We must wait for the outcome this evening to discover.

Undrafted NBA talent

We’ve discussed the NBA Draft from the college and international perspective. There must be an understanding that all talent doesn’t necessarily arrive in the “front door,” a number come in through the side door i.e. undrafted. Probably the most visible undrafted talent currently is guard Austin Reaves. His story has been detailed numerous times since he signed with the Lakers three years ago. Udonis Haslem of the Heat is retiring after a 20-year career in the NBA, he was a free-agent signing.

Over the years a number of incredibly talented players made a name for themselves in the association despite not being drafted. One even managed to be enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame, that would be Ben Wallace who spent his most productive years as a member of the Pistons. Another name from the NBA’s past John Starks was a standout guard for the Patrick Ewing Knick teams. Avery Johnson, when there were pure point guards, did just that. He was a key to much of the playoff and championship success of the Spurs. Although he’s not currently an active coach there are two coaching stops on his resume. Just a few past and present NBA veterans who arrived in the league undrafted.

Gates brothers

It’s possible Dennis and Armon Gates might see each other a little more often. It won’t occur this upcoming season but it should thereafter. After four years at Oregon the younger brother of Dennis was recently hired as an assistant by Oklahoma head coach Moser. According to information uncovered Armon only spent a year in Eugene Oregon, prior to that it was four years in Nebraska as Doc Sadler’s assistant.

There were two or three other coaching stops for Armon prior to him taking the Nebraska job. As this is written allow me to point out Oklahoma will soon be moving into the SEC where brother Dennis is serving at Mizzou. This is going to be quite interesting with the brothers facing one another in a sibling rivalry. Reports indicate Armon is an excellent recruiter so that becomes the second area. Can you imagine the brothers in the same airport maybe seeing the same player a day or so apart? Stuff like that only occurs in movies not in real life, or could it?

It's too bad

Coaching the Clippers is like playing basketball with one hand tied behind your back. You are able to see the floor, you are fully aware of the in-game adjustments required. Despite the best efforts to make adjustments and sub players and do the other stuff your team still winds up losing Game 4. The difficult part of this equation to discuss Lue has $1.5 million in salaries (Leonard & George) per game between the two but they are generally seated nearby to Lue unable to play.

Paul George is out with injury and so is Leonard, however he becomes a whole other story. Keep in mind both players are injured which prevents them playing. Lue is coaching his rear end off and has no evidence to provide proof of his effort for you. The Clippers still have an opportunity to win Game 5 but hardly the series. Who becomes the culprit should they lose this playoff series, is it Coach Lue, Kawhi Leonard or Paul George? Owner Steve Ballmer is certainly not receiving his money’s worth from this team.