Basketball from a fan’s perspective

Is this the year

The Clippers are the hottest team in the NBA, I can make that statement now. You might remember back in December I decided they might have a tough time earning a playoff berth, the Clippers have laughed at my projection by rattling off something like a 25-5 record. If we look at the standings in the west prior to the Thursday games we find the Thunder, Wolves and Nuggets all have 35-16 records, the Clippers are 34-16.

Despite the west being a tight and competitive race the Clippers will not be required to face all three teams above them in the playoffs. The only question remaining is health, that’s been the Achilles heel of this team since the arrival of The Claw and Paul George. If the Clippers go into the playoffs healthy can they win it all? Other than health will the reserves led by Russell Westbrook be able sustain themselves in the playoffs? In closing allow me to remove my foot from my mouth, next time I will be a little more careful before pronouncing doom and gloom on a team.

O Canada

This news is certainly not shocking, Canada the nation we share a northern border has sent 27 players to the NBA. The number might seem insignificant however that represents the largest of any nation in the world. It seems every NBA team has an outstanding Canadian player, I believe the best right now is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander point guard for the Thunder. Gilgeous-Alexander at 25-years of age is one of the number providing proof the youthful growth of the NBA, this 6-foot 6-inch point guard hails from Toronto. In Denver we have NBA champion Jamal Murray, a 6-foot 4-inch guard and outstanding talent, he’s 26-years old and is from Kitchener a city in southeastern Ontario.

The Rockets have small forward Dillon Brooks the favorite player of LeBron James, Brooks stands 6 foot 6 and 225 pounds. We could also include in our account Andrew Wiggins of the Warriors, Luguentz Dort Thunder guard and RJ Barrett who now plays for the Raptors. Don’t consider this list complete by any means, it represents just a few of the 27 Canadian players who impacted their teams and the NBA. I’m quite sure the number will only grow in the future. What’s that you say…hockey is the national sport of Canada? That statement might be correct, hockey is the number one sport. We must consider a fact, basketball is making huge strides as more and more Canadian kids arrive at American schools and the NBA.

DPOY

Just in case a few might misunderstand the headline it’s Defensive Player of the Year. Wemby might not win the award but he should receive some votes, let’s check out some of the others. I believe my timeframe is somewhere after Christmas, that’s when I first declared Victor Wembanyama 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year. His offensive numbers have continued to climb, as the calendar turned to February with only Chet Holmgren of the Thunder remaining in serious contention for the honor.  Wemby has played 7 less games than Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert yet leads him in blocked shots 138 to 133 as this is written. Keenan said this after reading, “That certainly indicates effort on his (Wemby’s) part.

As for assists, that is a work in progress, centers rarely produce point guard numbers yet Wemby’s is nearly tied for second place although it is unclear if that is the case. The only area I see needs improvement is his field goal percentage, Wemby is shooting at 46.4% which isn’t terrible but could be improved.  The other qualifiers for DPOY are a little more difficult to determine. The NBA uses the following: “Defensive Player Rating= (Players Steals*Blocks) + Opponents Differential = 1/5 of possessions – Times blown by + Deflections * OAPDW (Official Adjusted Players Defensive Withstand).” I hope you are able to understand the measurement the NBA uses to determine the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year.

Bits n Pieces    

Is he going to be NBA ready, I speak of Emoni Bates currently playing for the G-League Cleveland Charge. Bates play has been outstanding with the exception of his recent altercation. Is he ready to compete, after all this is the NBA or No Boys Allowed. He must step up his game considerably to compete and to remain at this level. He’s “toothpick” size at 6 foot 9 and 190 pounds but so was a guy name George Gervin. Before you run and tell someone I’m comparing Bates to Gervin that is not the case, physically they are about the same size. I thought at first he should have remained at Eastern Michigan however on second thought no. I had an opportunity to view all the team games last season and they had no one except Bates. He was forced to take the majority of shots snatch most of the rebounds…you get the picture I hope.

The Big XII Conference is the strongest basketball conference in the nation, you might ask the question who is in second place? Who is in second place, well it ain’t the ACC, Big East Conference or surprisingly the Big 10. The football dominant SEC now can lay claim it is just as competitive top to bottom as any in the nation in basketball. Once the conference was dominated by Kentucky basketball but that in no longer the case we can look at Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn along with Texas A&M all quite good basketball programs.   

It's likely I might be the only one in the nation with this longing. College basketball is missing two of its most dynamic color analysts, Dick Vitale and Bill Walton. I realize a number of folks complain about the two but I enjoy them, as for them being sidelined Vitale has dealt with health issues. At this point I’m unsure if we’ll see and hear him describe “He’s a PTPer tonight, baby” which translates to a prime-time performer. One of many phrases uttered by Vitale or this one, “He’s an aircraft carrier” which is a team’s Big Man. As for Walton follower of the Grateful Dead, I am unsure of his status he’s been missing from ESPN telecast. One of his favorite descriptions of a play, “Throw it down big fella” a Big Man dunking the basketball. Yes I miss both of them providing commentary while watching college basketball this season, I sure some of you don’t.