Basketball from a fan’s perspective

What do you think?

I read a story I’d like to share, a writer indicated commissioner Adam Silver was an exceptional leader. He was not greeted in the same manner of the NFL’s Roger Goodell or baseball commissioner Rob Manfred. Generally it appears when Silver is introduced to the public he doesn’t hear the chorus of boos the others received. Silver performs a similar role as the others, he works for the owners. He does represent the league but it’s ownership he’s beholden to. Silver worked in a number of capacities for the NBA since his 1992 hiring. In 2006 he became chief operating officer and deputy commissioner, when David Stern retired in 2014 Silver was named commissioner. Maybe the baptism of fire he underwent cemented a different view for fans over the others.

In the same year he took over operation of the league he forced then Clippers owner Donald Sterling to sell the team based on racist remarks he’d made. To compound this move Silver placed a ruling in effect which banished Sterling for life, he could never associate himself with the NBA in any capacity. For those who don’t remember the events allow a brief explanation. The NBA took away the Clippers from Sterling’s ownership however he was paid market value for the team. I cannot be for sure but guess its more than the one event that’s painted a positive for Silver with much of the public. The next extensive venture will be NBA expansion, in the fall or winter 2025 Seattle and Las Vegas will likely be awarded franchises. Beyond that its unclear for me the direction of the NBA however unlike the view expressed by Stern any additional expansion will be to Canada or Mexico it will not be Europe.

I know, some of you are sick of this

At the beginning this is a Victor Wembanyama story, if you are one of those in the headline you can stop at this point. First allow me to defend my position, this is not the long-ago NBA. A rookie such as Wemby cannot arrive on the scene and instantly make his team a playoff contender. Let’s conduct a study of two All Star caliber players, both names are familiar to you, one from the past and the other remains active today.

In the 1992-93 season the Magic were 41-41 in Shaquille O’ Neal’s rookie season, the following year they were 50-32 and a playoff contender. As you can see there was improvement however they were not immediately a championship contender. The 2003-04 Cavs recorded a 35-47 won-loss record in LeBron’s rookie season, the following year they improved to 42-40 finishing two games above .500. As you can see neither of these perennial All Pros were able to reverse the fortunes of their team in a single season. There are certainly others however these two were the first that came to mind. Let’s check out the 2022-23 Spurs won-loss record, it was much worse than what the Magic or Cavs registered, the Spurs were 22-60 prior to Wemby’s arrival. In his Thursday night game (a loss) Wemby’s line read 19 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals and 5 block shots. The 5 blocked shots added to Wemby’s league leading NBA total.

“With the 500th rebound of his career Victor Wembanyama becomes the third-fastest player to total 1K+ points, 500+ rebounds, and 150+ blocks in their career. The only two players ahead of him are David Robinson (47 games) and Shaquille O’Neal (43 games).” I should be noted Wemby accomplished his number in 50 games. Finally consider this fact height alone fails to make someone outstanding at rebounds or blocking shots, however it details effort and a work ethic.

*SI.com fastbreak

This is my list 

I’m unsure about you but this college basketball season has been topsy turvy. We are fast approaching March, the NCAA Tourney is yet to begin but I’m confused. Who wins it all the first Monday in April, I have no idea however I can make a few guesses. I could begin with the defending NCAA Champions UConn Huskies, they are in my first 5 of contending teams. Besides the Huskies the Houston Cougars have probably been one of the more consistent teams this season. We cannot omit Purdue, the Boilermakers could go all the way to the championship as well.

Those are the top candidates to win it all, how about the second tier of teams? That would include the Kansas Jayhawks, Duke Blue Devils, Carolina Tarheels and Marquette Golden Eagles. I could add Arizona, Tennessee, Baylor and Iowa State. The NCAA Tourney always contains a Cinderella team, Florida Atlanta surprised all of us and so did Loyola Chicago. If we look way back the most improbable champions might have been North Carolina State in 1983, that team finished with a 26-10 record and 8-6 in the ACC. Another was the Kansas Jayhawks in 1988, they finished with a 27-11 record and they were only a 9-win conference team. As you might see there are a number of viable candidates who could win in 2024.

Beneath the radar

Usually NBA mock drafts contain large numbers of international players, most of us are unfamiliar with the names come draft time. What about an American most don’t know, we could say he’s flown “beneath the radar” for most of us.” Part of the reason for his potential hidden talent Cody Williams plays at Colorado. Colorado’s record as this is written is decent enough, they have 17 wins while losing but 9. Their record is respectable but not one that’s going to be mentioned on SportsCenter much.

At this point I must say I haven’t seen the 6-foot 8 190-pound Williams in action as this is written, I’m dependent on the words of others who indicate he’s got an NBA future. Similar to others in the past Williams has been in the top five all season, the latest nbadraft.net places him in the top slot. I will continue to follow his progress, based on this position I have serious doubts we might see him in action outside of Colorado games. Although he’s got a low profile he might decide to skip the NBA Draft Combine in May since it appears he’ll be picked in the top 10.