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Basketball from a fans perspective

Everyone has a plan…

I’m unsure if former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson originated the statement however, he’s been given credit. He once said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” The Lakers didn’t actually punch the Warriors in the mouth however they managed to take Game 1 of the series 117-112. This highly contested game saw the Warriors jump off to a lead and the game had all the ingredients of a classic match. As expected, the Warriors strong suit (3-point shooting) was evident as Steph Curry and two others managed to sink 6 3-point baskets each.

Kevon Looney outplayed the Kings Domantas Sabonis in their recent series, in this game Looney was matched rebound for rebound against AD. In fact AD succeeded in filling up the box score with an outstanding game of 30 points, 23 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocked shots. The total for AD is now 18 blocked shots in 7 playoff games, talk about guarding the paint. In 44 minutes of action he registered but one TO for the game but he wasn’t playing alone there was help by teammates. LeBron didn’t shoot the ball particularly well but managed 22 points and 11 rebounds. D’Lo scored 19 points in addition to several key baskets, Dennis Schroeder emerged from the Laker bench contributing 19 points including 2 key free throws which led to the final score. Jordan Poole had taken a desperation 3-point attempt which could have tied the game, with the shot missing the Dubs were forced to foul Schroeder.

Since I’m a numbers guy look at these numbers, the Lakers shot better from the floor (46.7% to 40.6%) however the Warriors were better from three (39.6% to 24%). As for tonight it’s anyone’s guess; however I expect the Dubs to come out breathing fire. They lost their home court advantage something most of them probably didn’t expect. Steph Curry and the company remain quite threatened so expect full scale warfare this evening. The Warriors remain a very dangerous team, the win was a good one for the Lakers however it fails to resolve a series. The Lakers are the number one defensive team after the NBA trade deadline, don’t allow anyone to convince you there is no defense played in the NBA.

MVP…MVP

We couldn’t be upset with a Philly crowd if they began chanting MVP…MVP. After all, they do have the NBA MVP for the 2022-23 NBA season. I’m unsure if this was Joel Embiid's best NBA season however it was the season, he managed to win the coveted prize. I’ve told the story previously; Embiid was not the starter at five when he first arrived on the campus in Kansas. He was raw but when he was on the floor the budding talent was quite evident. After becoming the starter and showing improvement Embiid wasn’t able to finish his freshman season, he would suffer a stress fracture in March. 

This injury would become the first of several Embiid would suffer over the next few years with the Sixers. Because Embiid was so inexperienced, I believed he required additional coaching. I hoped he would return for his sophomore year but that would not occur. Embiid declared for the NBA Draft and the rest of the story is NBA history, he was made the third pick in the first round of the 2014 draft. Last September Embiid originally from Cameroon became an American citizen. Embiid becomes the 5th Sixer in the team's history. The others are Wilt Chamberlain, Moses Malone, Julius "Dr. J" Erving along with Allen Iverson. 

I hope his NBA career is not over

I’m not a hater here…at least, I hope I’m not. The Grizzlies Dillon Brooks had in my estimation a terrible playoff series. I’m not sure which was the most ineffective…his mouth or his play on the court. In any event it appears the Grizzlies are not anxious to re-sign him, there are reports he might no longer have a job period. Friends I’ve said on more than one occasion Brooks ran his mouth far too much aimed in the direction of LeBron James. James is 38-years old so I’m sure he’s heard commentary nearly as bad from other opposition players over his career. I said it before and will repeat it, Brooks is one of those guys who loves to run his mouth. It’s okay until you are unable to deliver which clearly occurred in the Grizzlies series against the Lakers. Hopefully some NBA team can utilize his services for next season and maybe the year after that.

Ice water in his veins

Warriors guard Jordan Poole is being criticized in some circles for taking the shot. Admit it, if we’ve watched Warrior games any length of time, we've seen Poole make similar shots from distance before. Besides the fact I remember reading this from the late Bill Russell. When I read his autobiography in a portion, he was discussing the Celtic playoffs. He said all season long players would be griping about playing time and their lack of opportunities to shoot.

Russell claimed once the Celtics got into the playoffs all that changed, it was a different matter. Due to the substantial nature of the game Russell said, "The guys who did the greatest amount of complaining about shots passed on opportunities, they were afraid to shoot the ball for fear of missing." We know that is not the case for Jordan Poole, he certainly has ice-water in his veins. If Poole had made the shot and tied the game, he’d be hailed as a hero, because his shot missed, we find several who became faultfinders.