Basketball from a fans perspective

I’M BACK!

No, I can’t do that…that’s the line used by Michael Jordan when he un-retired. He retired from the Bulls to play baseball but returned to play again for them again. I didn’t retire, just took a Thanksgiving break. I hope that if you observe the holiday had a good one. Well back to the work at hand reporting and commenting on the game we love…basketball. 

Coaching your alma mater

It’s difficult coaching college basketball, it might be even more difficult as an alumni of the school. We could ask Patrick Ewing that question. In any event I’m watching an interview with Indiana coach Mike Woodson. The former NBA player groomed his basketball skill while a student and athlete at the University of Indiana. This interview got me to thinking, Woodson is not the only one, there are numerous coaches who played for a school and later returned to coach their alma mater. This list should not be considered complete nor all of the names presently coaching:

Patrick Ewing Georgetown

Matt Painter Purdue

Anthony Grant Dayton

LaValle Jordan Butler

Jamie Dixon TCU

LeVelle Moton NC Central

Penny Hardaway Memphis

Fred Hoiberg Iowa State

Juwan Howard Michigan

Chris Mullen St. John’s

Wemby’s lamentation

The stat line read 22 points, 15 rebounds along with 3 assists on .538 from the floor for Wemby. A for Chet Holmgren it was 18 points, 13 rebounds and 2 assists on .454 shooting. The outcome was different for each, Wemby was a loser while Holmgren was a winner. The winner-loser thing was figuratively speaking of course, there might be other rookies but these two are the leading candidates for 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year. The question for you is, does one have an advantage over the other, I believe that to be the case. I just read a letter, a fan claims Holmgren isn’t a rookie since he was drafted two years ago.

Sorry Charley that is not the case, he played 0 minutes as an active player so that makes 2023-24 his rookie season too. You might remember back to 2018, Ben Simmons was named Rookie of the Year although Donovan Mitchell expressed the belief it should have been him. Simmons drafted in 2017 missed what would have been his rookie season. One more thought, should Holmgren win the honor over Wemby is it because he plays on a better team? We can say the Thunder are an ascending team, their blend of youthful talent has seen them rise in the won-loss standards for the NBA. As for Wemby the Thunder are a young team as well…even younger than OKC, is Wemby handicapped by Holmgren playing for a better team? 

Upset alert

This story is an old news reading by your Monday reading but I felt it worth discussing. The top team in the nation the Kansas Jayhawks lost their first game of the season. The Marquette Eagles devoured the Kansas Jayhawks 73-59, for those unfamiliar with mascots the Jayhawk is a bird. It’s only the second half of the game I actually witnessed. The explanation is simple, my Lakers were playing the Utah Jazz beating them 131-99.

The Jayhawks play at times appeared out of sync, was it Marquette’s defense and hot shooting or simply poor execution by the Jayhawks or a combination of all and maybe more. I didn’t see the kerfuffle between Bill Self and Shaka Smart, if you saw the game you have a better idea of the sequence of events over me. In any event I’m sure all in Jayhawk Nation were displeased with the outcome however its not the end of the world. Despite the mediocre display last Tuesday the Jayhawks are still odds-on favorite to win the Big XII Tournament again.

“He’s easy”

Those were the words of Mavs owner Mark Cuban in describing Kyrie Irving. At times during Irvin’s career he’s drawn the ire of fans and sometimes teammates, he’s been a real enigma. Before I delve into this further allow me to say Irving is an extremely intelligent dude. Don’t confuse the social media version of Irving we often seen over the past two years or so. He’s often been judge on this aspect which has overshadowed his play on the court at times. Playing for the Cavs and later the Celtics he appeared immature to a degree, I’m going to attribute it to his youth.

It’s clear at least for now there appears no issues on the Cavs, he’s blended well with Luka Doncic.  His play against the Lakers resulted in a win for his Mavs team. The Lakers had come roaring back from a huge deficit, the winner of this match was in doubt as the game continued to change hands. Irvin’s clutch 3-point basket proved to be the winner which led to the 104-101 victory. My confidence in his play could prove detrimental for me, Irving just might disappoint however I don’t believe that might occur.