Basketball from a fan’s perspective

His stat line

Breaking a team record held by Wilt Chamberlain places one in exclusive territory, that’s what’s occurred for the Sixers Joel Embiid. To accomplish this before a national and maybe worldwide television audience is even greater. That’s what Joel Embiid did on Monday evening against the Spurs in Wells Fargo Center, even more remarkable is the Big Man’s stat line. The 7-foot 1 285-pound Embiid did this: 

 

Min      FG%      3P%        FT%   REB      AST       BLK     STL   PF    TO        PTS

37.0      58.5      50         91.3      18.0      5.0        1.0      1.0       2.0    1.0      70

This is different  

Oklahoma City voters approved a plan to build a new arena replacing Paycom Center. Since the affirmative vote last month no additional news has emanated from the mayor’s office or the city council. There are no architect renderings of the arena nor is there an indication where the arena is to be located. It appears this new Thunder arena would be constructed in a downtown location however where is the question.

A little further south, San Antonio to be precise we have a great deal of conversation but not much action. You might remember I’d written business interest believe with the potential talent of Victor Wembanyama attendance would increase at Spurs games especially from out-of-town visitors. San Antonio interests have been even stealthier than Oklahoma City, I’ve searched the net for updates from both locations and nothing exists. I should point out just because there is no news updates fails to take into consideration there might be work accomplished behind the scenes.

Think positive thoughts

Although I’m disappointed in the play of the Lakers Mizzou not so much. I had a concern if the mix of talent was good enough to win in the tough, tough SEC. Early on it appears they have come up short to date. This is not a boo-hoo story rather it’s a standup and cheer report regarding Tiger basketball. The cheer part is looking ahead to next season’s crop of freshman. Let’s check out the Class of 2024 and update it, Mizzou remains a Top 5 in recruiting talent to Columbia. According to 247Sports Mizzou’s dropped a bit from late summer-early fall. For a time Mizzou had the number one class in the nation, since then a slight drop but here they are:

       1.   Duke

             2.   Kentucky

             3.   Rutgers

             4.   Mizzou

             5.   Baylor

As you can see Rutgers moved into the number 3 slot once belonging exclusively to Mizzou. Despite what some might consider a negative I’m okay with the recruiting. Mizzou’s recruited McDonalds All Americans in the past however they have never had a talent gathering similar to what will be in place in August 2024. Let’s take a look again at the names in this group of incoming talent. Annor Boateng, he’s a 6-foot 6 210-pound small forward from Little Rock, also incoming is 7-foot 300-pound Peyton Manning.

Manning is a throwback to a traditional back to the basket center, don’t confuse my statement he’s not Shaq but I believe he could come close if he works. Marcus Allen a 6-foot 6-inch 210-pound combo, also included is 7-foot 3 210-pound Trent Burns plus T.O. Barnett a 6-foot 4 180-pound point guard. There are two questions one for now and one later, in January 2024 will they remain committed until August? The second question will most be able to make the leap from the high school level to the tough SEC. The latter will not be answered until conference play begins next January.

All Star vote

The media was responsible at one point in selecting the NBA All Star team. I have no idea how this was done however at a past date it was decided fans should be responsible for choosing the participating individuals. That’s been the history and for the most part its worked however there have been issues in the past we could consider errors, that is the case here. Voting is still open however if it were closed today Ja Morant of the Grizzlies would be a starter over the Suns Devin Booker.

The problem Morant’s only appeared in 9 games due to suspension, he will miss the balance of the season after surgery. I’ve not checked Booker’s stats however this plain doesn’t make sense. Morant will continue to compile votes while sidelined maybe even preventing Booker from becoming an All Star. This needs to be re-worked by the NBA for this very instance. Without research I’m sure a similar instance must have occurred in the past.

Defensive rating

I have been asking members of Laker Nation the question for the last few weeks, what’s wrong with the Lakers? One individual pointed me in a direction sometimes difficult to determine, a players defensive rating. A player can look great on one play and an opposition screen will make him appear a liability on another. Taking that into consideration I’ve often avoided delving into defensive ratings until now. This particular member of Laker Nation said, “They need a true point guard” while another said, “I never liked him.” As for his statement I didn’t bother to ask what he meant by “I never liked him?”

Both individuals were speaking of Laker point guard D’Angelo Russell, in this age of combo guards is it necessary to have a “Chris Paul” in your back court? Paul is a dinosaur by two standards, his age and the fact he’s a throwback a pass first point guard. As for defensive rating I’m not going to list all just a few, minutes played, blocked shots, field goals taken and made, assists, rebounds and other stuff. Where does D’Angelo Russell rate among NBA point guards? The latest stats indicate Russell is not the best point but he certainly ain’t the worst, he’s number 8 in the NBA. By the way his assists per game fail to lead the league but he distributes 6.1 per game. In conclusion Laker issues are more than D’Lo playing point guard.