Published Monday thru Friday   

Basketball from a fans perspective

“Push yourself again and again. Don’t give an inch until the final buzzer”

Larry Bird  

James Harden

I arose this morning to read this unconfirmed report, I believe it to be correct. By the time you read it from other sources I’m sure it will be affirmed. Once again James Harden has managed to extricate himself from another team. What is the count now, let’s see it was Thunder, Rockets, Nets, Sixers and now Clippers. On paper I can state the Clippers were talented previously but they raised it a step up with the acquisition of Harden.  The only problem is NBA games are not played on paper they are played on a basketball court.

The mix of Westbrook, Leonard and George now adds Harden to the mix, can they play as a team is the question? I’m going to hold my assessment on this move for now by standing on one of my favorite sayings. “I’m from Missouri, you’ve got to Show Me”, Tyronn Lue will be forced into overtime managing this collection of talent and egos. Please take note I make no claims about the lack of ability my question remains can this collection of athletes work in harmony as a team? Better yet, will there be enough basketballs for this revised Clipper team to advance. This becomes the second Harden-Westbrook paring, it began while both played for the Thunder and later were teammates with the Rockets.

A new job

Some might remember the Bob Huggins story from late last spring, the former West Virginia coach either resigned or was terminated. The basis for the misleading statement is how this came about. After being suspended for a DUI the university received a fax claiming “I’ve resigned” or something similar. Later Huggins claimed he didn’t send it, he implied his wife had signed the resignation letter and faxed it to the university.

Huggins stated he would sue WVU forcing the school to return the job to him. In between time the university hired a head coach replacing Huggins. That was the last we heard from Huggins until this announcement. The hall of fame coach intends to join the broadcast crew of Full Court Press a weekly college basketball program focused on WVU basketball. The news release indicated this is not a new thing Huggins held a similar post back in his days with the University of Cincinnati. We must guess this ends the story of Huggins and WVU basketball and all parties appear to be content.

A trade

Maybe we could say the Hornets and Clippers made questionable decisions. The Hornets made Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the 11th pick in the first round in 2018, later they traded him to the Clippers. After playing as a rookie with the Clippers an opportunity to acquire Chris Paul made him expendable in their eyes. There were a bunch of moving parts in the trade but essentially it boiled down to Chris Paul for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in a July 2019 move.

Paul is headed to the Hall of Fame after he retires but there was no NBA Championship for the Clippers. After a time with the Suns Paul’s now moved on to the Warriors, as for Gilgeous-Alexander his star continues to shine. He’s now entering year 6 and he justifies the shrewd trade made by the Thunder, this despite the fact he’s only 25 years old. From his first season with the Thunder up through this past season his numbers have continued to increase. Last season Gilgeous-Alexander scored at a 31.4 per game clip placing him number 4 in the NBA.

The upsets continue

How about this one, Louisville found itself a loser against Kentucky Wesleyan. Thus the upset trend continues in the collegiate exhibition season. Earlier I reported St. John’s upset by Pace University and number one pre-season Kansas upset by Illinois.  As for the Louisville-Kentucky Wesleyan game it was a 71-68 win for Wesleyan. Not an exhibition game but Mizzou has Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Monday, hopefully the outcome will prove to be successful.

Who started the conversation

This was a short workplace conversation, Keenan ask me “Do you think Russell Westbrook is going into the Hall of Fame?” I paused for a moment as I reflected on his NBA career, I then said “Yes.” He is destined for the honor although there are questions. Despite his talent he was not a good fit for the Lakers. Perhaps it was the injuries suffered by AD and LeBron during the nearly two Westbrook seasons or something else. Defenders will claim “He never had both Laker stars in the lineup on a consistent basis,” they also point to his stats during his time with the team. Although questions exist every season at training camp the atmosphere appears much smoother this time around.

Someone in management must have decided it would be good to pick up Patrick Beverley and add him to the mix…Big Time mistake. Beverley and Westbrook had feuded in the past, why oh why did Laker management believe this was a promising idea. Of course we know what occurred. Injuries and other issues the clubhouse seemed to change at the trade deadline last season. The Lakers never played .500 ball with Westbrook in the lineup, in February he was traded to the Jazz. In another February trade Beverley was sent to the Magic. As you are aware the rest of the story the Lakers began playing better basketball and even played for the Western Conference crown. As for Westbrook now a member of the Clippers he will continue to play at a mercurial pace, one day we’ll here he is a candidate for the Naismith Hall of Fame.