Basketball from a fan’s perspective

ROY

This season’s Rookie of the Year race has been interesting. We have Chet Holmgren all 7-foot 1-inch and 195 pounds of the Thunder and 7-foot 4-inch 210-pound Victor Wembanyama playing for the Spurs. Who is probably leading in the vote count on January 19, I would give Holmgren a slight edge. The edge I believe is strictly based on the teams. Last season the Thunder finished close to .500 with a 40-win season as for the Spurs it was 22 wins and 60 losses. Although Holmgren took his rookie lumps he was inserted into the lineup of an up-and-coming Thunder team.

As this is written they have a 28-win record placing the Thunder in second place in the Western Conference. As for the Spurs they are winners of only 7 games while losing 33. Holmgren was added to a team on an upward path in the standings, as for Wemby it was totally different based on the team. The Spurs strictly based on won-loss record are not the worst team in the NBA but they are darn close. We probably haven’t had a ROY race this tight since 2003. If you check out scoring alone it would seem Carmelo Anthony should have been Rookie of the Year over LeBron James. Could we have a similar development by the time votes are counted in May…that’s quite possible.

KenPom

Once upon a time we attempted to determine how good a college basketball team was based on Top 20 ranking, later the number was increased to Top 25. More recently college teams have been evaluated by Quad wins and KenPom, what exactly are we talking about? I’m happy you asked the question because I’m prepared to provide you an answer. In this example KenPom will be discussed other examples will follow later. In addition this is written ahead of Saturday’s action on January 20, this is KenPom’s rating not mine.  Kansas basketball is number 3 in one poll and number 4 in another, KenPom says Kansas is the number 13 team in the nation.

How come the discrepancy in numbers might be your next question. The simple and quick answer is this, “The KenPom ratings are highly influential when it comes to betting on college basketball. In the words of creator Ken Pomeroy, the purpose of this system is to show how strong a team would be if it played tonight, independent of injuries or emotional factors. Without going too far down the rabbit hole, his ranking system incorporates statistics like shooting percentage, margin of victory, and strength of schedule, ultimately calculating offensive, defensive, and overall efficiency numbers for all teams in Division I.” I’m not prepared to defend or to become an advocate of KenPom, this represents just the surface there is more analytical information involved if one intends to utilize it.

Quad wins, what the heck is that all about you ask? This appears to impact the NCAA Tournament only, check this out. “A “Quad 1 win is one of the terms most often mentioned ahead of Selection Sunday. With 68 teams chosen to participate in March Madness, some might be baffled by the words and stats used. So, what is a Quad 1 win? According to Yahoo Sports, the quadrant system helps the selection committee pick teams to make the NCAA Tournament. This is based on NET rankings, which has been an evaluation tool used since the 2018-19 season. A Quad 1 win is considered good, a Quad 4 is considered a bad loss.

Fulfilled the promise

The league was founded in 2001 as the D-League, the D stood for developmental. The league’s first season was 2001-02, in 2017-18 the league was rebranded as the G-League. Gatorade the sports drink entered a multi-year agreement that year becoming the league sponsor. The intent was simple, it was intended to offshoot high school talent making its way to the NBA. 

The purpose was for high school players not desiring college to develop their basketball skills. Since the founding there is no barometer to determine success or lack thereof. Despite no proof the league will continue to be a farm or feeder system for NBA teams. The majority of G-League teams have affiliation with NBA teams. As we look toward the 2024 draft who are the top G-League prospects we should prepare to hear their names announced. At the top of the list is a name mentioned previously Matas Buzelis, he’s a 6-foot 10 207-pound SG/SF. Coming in at second is another familiar name, Ron Holland a 6-foot 8 206-pound small forward, Buzelis and Holland have never been drafted. 6-foot 7 230-pound Cam Whitmore was made pick number 20 in the first round of the 2023 NBA draft, its reported a crowded front court caused the Rockets to believe it would be more beneficial to Whitmore to play in the G-League. 

Number four is also a drafted player, Gradey Dick a 6-foot 6-inch SG/SF was the 13th pick in the first round of the 2023 draft. Rounding out the Top five is Brice Sensibaugh a 6-foot 5 235-pound SG/SF, Sensibaugh was also a 2023 pick he is the number 28 choice. Keep in mind those named only Buzelis and Holland can be drafted the others will simply be called up by their respective teams.

A correction and declaration

First things first, both involve the Clippers and they go like this. The correction, after some adjustment after the trade for James Harden they have played much better basketball than earlier. We’ve seen the Clippers win 16 of the last 19 games played as this was written, that’s an outstanding record. I said at one point they were certainly a playoff contender but not yet championship material. The declaration, Kawhi Leonard affirmed my thoughts. First of all the team signed Leonard to a 3-year contract extension. Despite this fact he indicates the team is not quite there yet, i.e., championship level. One of the difficulties for the Clippers has always been the health of the roster, I must state that at this point. Paul George has missed significant time and we are aware of Leonard’s health issues.

There is the Harden factor that must be taken into consideration as well…not an injury issue but the other thing. In 1897 early sci-fi writer H.G. Wells wrote a novel titled The Invisible Man, the book has become a screenplay for several movies over the decades. Where am I going with this, you know in advance. Harden’s playoff history no matter which team he played for is somewhat checkered. I know what you are saying, “Why not check his stats over making such a statement.” In this instance I believe it’s more than an accounting issue, Harden fails to come up big in the playoffs when needed. In closing allow me to repeat this once again, the Clippers are certainly better than the late November early December version. Despite this fact they must prove to me (and everyone else) they are a championship team.