Basketball from a fans perspective

Gilbert Arenas talks a great deal

Former NBA player Arenas almost always riles me up with some of his takes. The latest one, “The NBA owes Allen Iverson an apology regarding practice.” Some might not be aware of the history Iverson then with the Sixers was criticized by the media and a number of fans for missing practice. Iverson did go on to play in the game that night, without checking I’m unsure if the Sixers fined him for missing practice. Fast forward to the present, Arenas was discussing load management in the NBA which certainly is present today. The argument by Arenas “the NBA should apologize to Iverson,” I hope Arenas ain’t holding his breath because it’s highly unlikely to occur.

Larry Brown was the Sixer coach at the time and he’s been long gone…truth is I don’t believe the same management owns the Sixers today as back then. No doubt load management is a sore subject with a number of NBA fans I can agree with Arenas there. Despite the fact I just alluded to it was a different time, things change. There once were laws in this country in the early days of automobiles that a person must proceed in front of the vehicle to warn drivers of horse drawn carriages an automobile was coming. I would suppose with no walker in front a driver could have received a ticket, once the law was rescinded I wonder if the driver who received a ticket was later given an apology. As usual Arenas manages to take up a cause the is impossible to resolve.

How to win a game

I have long held the belief youthful teams must learn how to win a game. I realize the statement might sound a little strange however it simply states “The ability to close out a tightly matched game. The veteran Bucks beat the Spurs 125-121 on Thursday evening, they were able to win the match because unlike the Spurs they were accustomed to the drill. The Bucks knew how to win a close game, Charles Barkley might have said it best. “The Spurs were running around” describing the fact the youthful team was unsure how to proceed.

That certainly sounds like a strange statement but that is the case for a young team, I could offer the Pistons as an example. As noted the Pistons recently experienced a 28-game losing streak. Victor Wembanyama celebrating his 20th birthday had a good game but not enough to aid his team to a win. The numbers 27 points 9 rebounds on 55.6% shooting along with 5 blocked shots, Wemby continued his lead as the NBA blocked shot leader. There was a magnificent block by Wemby late in the game where he went up against Giannis. As the game was being decided scrambling for the ball the double-teamed Wemby was able to toss a pass to Tre Jones who missed a wide open 3-point shot.

Basketball in the Gateway of the West 

St. Louis has no basketball team now but that’s not always been the case. The city’s actually had two in the NBA and one ABA team, let’s look back in time to the history. Most are probably unaware St. Louis was an inaugural team in the Basketball Association of America. The Bombers as the team was known began play in 1946, the merger in 1949 saw the Bombers move into the newly created National Basketball Association. The team was a winner in the 1947-48 season, finishing in first place they played for the 1948 BAA Championship but lost in the semi-finals. 1949-50 would be the last season for the Bombers, along with 6 other teams they went out of business. Ed McCauley would later distinguish himself as a member of the Celtics however he first began play with the Bombers. The history is unclear why they ceased operations, the city would remain without professional basketball until 1955.

In 1955 the Hawks would arrive from Milwaukee and begin play, later they would make in my opinion a trade which will go down in the annals of NBA history. They held the draft rights to Bill Russell but traded him to the Celtics to acquire McCauley and Cliff Hagen. No requirement to detail how that particular trade impacted Celtic and NBA history. It was said the arrival of the NHL Blues were a contributing factor to the Atlanta move but that might be only partially correct. Then owner Ben Kerner wanted a new arena which apparently was not in the offing, he sold the team to an Atlanta group thus the move to Georgia occurred in 1968. The Spirits of St. Louis only lasted two years, 1974 to 1976, because there was merger talk the Silna brothers owning the team believed the city would be returning to the NBA. That would not be the case as The Spirits were one of the teams not included in the merger. Thanks to a television deal the Silna brothers became richer although St. Louis would never see NBA basketball again. So the brief history of our neighbor to the east and its professional basketball teams.

Have you noticed

Remember all the talk we heard prior to the start of the season regarding Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren being too thin. Wemby (210 pounds) and Holmgren (195 pounds) were going to be eaten alive by NBA play. Then a strange thing occurred, these two adjusted their game for the rough and tumble play, both Big Men have held their own up to the time this is written. If we look ahead toward the 2024 draft there appear to be a number of other Thin Men attempting to join the association. 

Aaron Bradshaw is 7-1 but only 225 pounds, then we have Alexandre Sarr who is also 7-1 but only 205 pounds. Tyler Smith from the G-League is 6-11 and 215 pounds while Bobi Klintman from Sweden stands 6-11 and 225. There is no doubt the weight issue can affect a number of prospects. Despite this fact there is no requirement to decide everyone is not equipped to play in the NBA. If these and others don’t earn a place in the NBA I have serious doubts if their weight is a factor in them earning a roster position.   

The hype machine

I’m anxious to see Cooper Flagg in action for Duke next fall. Flagg becomes the latest in the hype machine, that player the media says, “You’ve got to see this guy play.” Although Kobe Bryant and others left high school for the NBA the hype machine was not in place at the time, we could say that applied to Kevin Garnett and others as well. The world wide web plus instant video wasn’t in place, we knew the Kobe’s and the Kevin’s but unless you lived in the area you never had an opportunity to see them play. At that time the McDonalds All American game was about your only opportunity to see them in action.

I believe LeBron James might have been the first, ESPN was in place by then and one of his high school games was a national telecast. Back then you could go directly to the NBA which is what he accomplished later being drafted by his hometown Cavs. That was over 20 years ago however there have been others, some didn’t succeed at the level we believed possible. We became acquainted with Zion Williamson while in high school, Jae Morant enrolled at mid major Murray State. A few players fell by the wayside maybe falling victim to the hype machine, Emoni Bates comes to mind although it appears the hype might have gone overboard with him. Anthony Bennett had one season at UNLV allowing him to become the top NBA Draft pick in 2013. Despite his number one ranking we soon discovered he couldn’t play successfully at the NBA level.

These prospects capable as they appear become media driven, I could look at Victor Wembanyama as an example, Two years ago I was familiar with Wemby as were a number of others, naturally I had no idea if he was NBA ready but here’s the series of occurrences. His Metropolitan 92 team traveled to the U.S. last fall and played G-League Elite, after two games the hype machine went into overdrive regarding Wemby. As I began this I’m looking forward to seeing Flagg at Duke and some other hype driven future basketball player. With the web plus the demands of social media we have a hype driven sports world.