Published Monday thru Friday   

Basketball from a fans perspective

 “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”

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The starters

I read this statement quite a time ago, “It’s not important who starts the game it’s more important who’s on the court at the end.” I’ve always taken that statement to denote being named to the starting lineup is not that important. On the other hand maybe it is critical based on Darvin Ham’s announcement on Saturday. Most were made aware of four of the five starters, could it be Austin Reaves who spent major minutes after the trade deadline last season. On the other hand it could be one of the new guys, and that would indeed be the case. The Lakers head coach named Taurean Prince the 5th starter for now and this should be interesting in more ways than one. Despite the Spurs having 7-foot 4 Victor Wembanyama in their lineup the Lakers just might have the tallest starting lineup in the association.

At center will be 6 foot 10 (or 11) Anthony Davis, Jarred Vanderbilt is injured and there is a question if he’s in the starting lineup on Tuesday. In any event he is likely to be replaced by Prince as the starter at power forward and he stands 6 foot 7. LeBron James is the small forward at 6 foot 9 while D’Angelo Russell is the point guard standing 6 foot 4. As for Reaves as the shooting guard he’s 6 foot 5, this leaves D’Lo as the “shortest” in the Laker lineup. Also Laker front court reserves are 6 foot 10 Jaxson Hayes, 6 foot 9 Christian Wood, 6 foot 8 Rui Hachimura, 6 foot 8 Cam Reddish and maybe 6 foot 11 Colin Castleton. As a team they must shoot better from three, that’s the key despite a perceived height advantage.  

Wemby

The NBA exhibition season is now complete, tomorrow the “real” NBA begins. I thought a check on Spurs Victor Wembanyama’s progress might be good at this point. Wemby played in four games, his numbers were not outstanding but interesting. In last Friday’s game against the Warriors he scored 19 points and registered 5 blocked shots. In all four games Wemby scored 77 points shooting .568 from the floor, he blocked 11 shots for a 2.75 a game average. In his game against the Warriors it’s no telling how his presence might have influenced shot attempts.

I remember one shot attempt in particular, I believe it was Jonathan Kuminga of the Warriors. Seeing Wemby closing on him Kuminga shot a high arching shot over the outstretched arm. The only downside to the limited time Wemby was on the floor was his three-point shooting, he didn’t shoot particularly well from distance. This certainly is no indication of future NBA success just the views of a fan. I’m going to approach the upcoming season for Wemby in the same manner as most rookies. I truly hope he is successful for several reasons. The chief one…I believe Wemby will be a beneficial addition to the NBA and continue enhancing the profile of the league.

It’s a pride thing

Depending on where you sit there might be a differing view. Jayhawk Nation can convince itself there was little if any punishment from the 2017 FBI investigation. Bill Self was forced to sit down for two early games last season. The Final Four now excludes the Kansas finish, in addition the games in which Silvio De Sousa played were removed from the record books. With that change Kansas basketball was reduced to second place in all-time NCAA win totals behind Kentucky.

This from Bill Self last week during media day, “I think my reputation has been tarnished immensely” his words not mind. For unknown reasons the NCAA through the IARP decided to not punish Kansas to the degree the charge warranted. 5 level 1 violations which are reported to be the most egregious were wiped away in a flash. The basis why I believe it’s a pride thing for Kansas basketball is the IARP could have dealt a tremendous blow to Kansas basketball. For unknown reasons they, through the NCAA, decided otherwise.

He did it again

Once again former NBA player Gilbert Arenas turned podcaster presents us with another impossible. This time he’s got Kareem Abdul Jabbar matched against Shaquille O’ Neal. Arenas claims the match would be a chihuahua against a pit bull, of course Abdul Jabbar being the chihuahua and Shaq the pit bull. Abdul Jabbar is 7 foot 2 and weighed 225 pounds at his heaviest, Shaq stood 7 foot 1 and 325 pounds roughly 100 pounds more than Abdul Jabbar. This must be the basis for Arenas believing the Laker Big Man superior due to the weight difference compared to Abdul Jabbar. My question for Arenas is how come you believe Abdul Jabbar would be over in a corner cowing with the thought he must face Shaq. Allow me to clue you and Arenas what might occur. 

Arenas seems to believe the bully basketball played by Shaq would be more than Abdul Jabbar could manage. Back in the day Abdul Jabbar faced plenty of heavyweights nightly. Wilt Chamberlain was moving toward the end of his career, despite this fact the 7-foot 1 275 pound could dish out his share of punishment in the paint. In addition there was Bob Lanier who was 6 foot 10 but packed 250 pounds on his frame. Also on Abdul Jabbar’s watch, Moses Malone (260 pounds) and for a brief time Hakeem Olajuwon (255 pounds). In the list of great centers I’m unsure where I might place Shaq however no doubt he was a force. This also says Abdul Jabbar would not have backed down facing him. Oh I forgot you must discount this rant, Arenas believes since I didn’t play in the NBA I have little opinion.