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Basketball from a fans perspective

“It’s pathetic if you can’t shoot 70 per cent from the line” 

Rick Barry (89.3 per cent career)

Vegas…

Yesterday you read an account of NBA arenas, planned arenas were also mentioned in the story. You might have noticed Las Vegas was mentioned and that probably caused you to question why. “Las Vegas has no NBA team, why is it included in a list of proposed arenas?” Allow for a quick explanation, the city is on the NBA’s radar for expansion only behind Seattle. There’s been not one shovel of dirt turned over although Tim Leiweke CEO of Oakview Group indicates his company is budgeting $10 billion for an arena, hotel, gaming and entertainment district.

The chief reason I believe this project will be completed is that Leiweke claims Oakview will require no public funds for the project. If you’ve read this blog any length of time you are aware I have issues with billionaire owners asking taxpayers to build palaces for exclusive use of their teams. Anytime I read discussions similar to that of Leiweke I become excited. As for competition can Las Vegas support these franchises. I speak of the NHL Golden Knights, NFL Raiders and maybe major league baseball in the future. I cannot address that question then again it appears Leiweke’s group appears confident in its plan and intends to follow through.

A warning…be carful

You might believe folks giving you advice have your best interest at heart, but do they always? I’m unsure if I mentioned this, shortly after the mid-point of last season the Lakers acquired Jarred Vanderbilt in a trade. At the time I figured it was just a move the team felt was needed, later the 6 foot 8 Vanderbilt proved to be one of the catalyst leading to a deep playoff run by the Lakers. Similar to the role Michael Cooper played with the Showtime Lakers there was little requirement for Vanderbilt to score. He was to provide lockdown defense to the opposition which he accomplished impressively. Over the summer the Lakers offered and Vanderbilt signed a 4-year $48 million contract, this includes a player option in year four.

In conclusion everyone is pleased…well maybe not everyone. Former Laker guard and annoying pest Patrick Beverley began stirring the Kool-Aid without knowing the flavor. Beverley claims Vanderbilt should have waited until next summer when he becomes a free agent, he could have signed a $65 million deal. There are several things wrong with this picture. First of all I would guess consulting with his agent Vanderbilt believed the time was right. The extension is guaranteed, I’d hate to see if occur but what happens if he is injured this season…bye-bye to any contract. Second, Beverley is not in any team’s front office, he’s coming up with a figure that cannot be documented. Third, I’m going to borrow the LaVar Ball line, “Beverley needs to stay in his own lane.” In closing there are reports Vanderbilt is 6 foot 11, he won’t deny nor confirm that to be correct.

What to expect

Colleges have been open about a month, the football season has begun in earnest. Naturally my thoughts are on basketball specifically at Mizzou. The Mizzou website has been updated with photos of all the athletes on the roster and this fan has questions. Last season was a full-blown mystery, Dennis Gates was new, the athletes were new, the offense was new. For the 2023-24 season I can state the only change is the coach, I now have a good idea of the Gates style. As for the athletes this is going to be a mixture, the coaching staff reached out and secured several players in the transfer portal i.e. veteran players. At the same time there are incoming freshman who must adapt to play at the college level. 

The concerning piece, will these moving parts be able to form a cohesive and effective working unit? I certainly am not prepared in September to answer that question. What do I want, an effective Mizzou team able to compete in the tough SEC? Knowing Gates as I believe I know by now they will play defense that’s a recognized fact currently. The one area I need to see improvement more than any is rebounding the basketball. I could return to last season’s stats for proof of that fact but it’s not worth the effort. Let’s just say despite the 25-win season Mizzou often found itself outrebounded in the majority of its games. As for the headline, I expect, no hope the team is competitive in the 2023-24 season. None of the pre-season polls has Mizzou close to being selected for the NCAA Tournament, maybe that’s a good thing in a manner of speaking.

A cryptic statement

Is James Dolan about to divest himself of running the Knicks? As most are aware especially those in the Big Apple a number of Knick fans have been upset with his ownership for years now. For most of us we haven’t heard a great deal from Dolan until his statement of last week. It certainly is dangerous to enter someone’s mind however let’s dissect his comment. “The Knicks and Rangers are near and dear to my heart, I don’t really like owning teams.” He went even further calling team ownership “kinda sleepy,” what the heck is he saying? For those of you who work in the field of economics probably find Dolan’s statement even more confusing.

Although I faced mandatory courses in micro and macroeconomics it was never my strong suit and my work career didn’t call for a heavy emphasis. 1. “In the 24 years that Dolan has been CEO of Madison Square Garden Sports Company, the parent company that owns the Knicks, the Knicks have made the playoffs just eight times, advancing past the first round only three times. They’ve gone on two separate playoff droughts that lasted six and seven years each.” With this sort of history it’s understandable why Dolan might be bored. However much of the Knicks poor play over that period might be blamed on the CEO of MSG. Over the 24 years a parade of head coaches and front office officials have come and gone, I don’t know if this is a fact or not Knicks ownership certainly has appeared chaotic at times. 

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