Basketball from a fan’s perspective

Thanks

I was traveling over the weekend, it was my hope to continue publishing. The trip was last minute there was no possibility to notify you in advance. I discovered it’s no easy task to publish Off the Dribble remotely. I hope it caused as little problem for you as it did me, again thank each of you for being loyal to this effort.

Bits n Pieces

The NCAA Selection program is over, did your favorite earn an invite? If they did are you okay with their seed? The next few weeks are going to be the most interesting time for the college basketball season. Understand this, you will hear some relatives, friends and acquaintances claim this is the best time of the year for college basketball. Please don’t pay any attention to them, they have made other assertations that are incorrect too.

Another milestone event for phenom Victor Wembanyama, he’s played an NBA season so he’s no rookie for me. Recently Wemby registered his 200th block and 100th made three for the season. Of course he continues as the NBA’s shot block leader. He becomes only the second player in NBA history to accomplish this double-double. The first player to accomplish this deed was Raef LaFrentz who played in the NBA for a number of teams from 1998- 2009.

That wild left-handed game winning running shot by Kyrie Irving over The Joker probably caused some curiosity, I know it did me so I did some investigation, he actually is right-handed although when in elementary school he claims teachers would make him write with his right hand. Irving asserts although he’s a righty he’s actually ambidextrous. I don’t own the rights to the video so you must check it out on YouTube or ESPN.com’s NBA page. The basket gave the Mavs a 107-105 win over the Nuggets.

I wanted to detail for you a couple of fix’s the NBA needs and these are television related. We first saw this with the paring of analyst Jeff Van Gundy along with Mark Jackson and Mike Breen the broadcast voice. Breen calling the game had the most airtime which was expected, it seemed to me Van Gundy and Jackson were always vying for time with Van Gundy seeming to have the most airtime. We don’t require a triple mic broadcast. As for the NBA blackout rule consider this bit of history. In the past before the NFL rule was eliminated teams had a 150-mile blackout radius. Kansas City fans could not see the Chiefs home games, okay that’s understandable. Why in 2024 Kansas City fans cannot see Nuggets or Thunder games when those teams play at home, Denver and OKC are further than 150 miles from Kansas City.

Laker rookies

Despite front office changes over the years the Lakers have been good. Good at assembling talent, I make this statement despite the fact all for a number of reasons failed to remain with the team. Once again Kobe Bryant is left off the list for one reason, he didn’t play a great deal his rookie season with the Lakers. As for the others it was a far different story, It begins with Elgin Baylor. How good was Baylor he was NBA Rookie of the Year in 1959 for the Minneapolis Lakers. He would become the first star with the move to Los Angeles.

This next player wasn’t named Rookie of the Year however the logo Jerry West would become the first home grown Los Angeles superstar. Next up the Lakers drafted a 6–9-point guard named Ervin Johnson in 1979, he was nicknamed ‘Magic’. James Worthy would also be given a nickname, the 6-9 Worthy was anointed ‘Big Game’ because he always came up in the clutch, he was drafted in 1982. Over the next few decades Laker fans would see ‘Nick’ at Night Van Excel, D’ Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball. Many of those named would be traded while others like Russell would be re-acquired. The Lakers have no monopoly on talent however several of the players named have contributed to wins over the years.

What about him?

We are coming up on the NCAA Tournament, a national championship is within Zach Edey’s view. As for a future in the NBA that might be another story, despite another outstanding season of play there remain questions. You might remember I wrote of the words of an NBA scout, he said “If this was 15-20 years ago Edey would be a top pick in the first round.” Of course with offensive schemes changing over the years there is not the requirement for a traditional Big Man as there once was.

I am a party of one but I have difficulty believing a team is willing to pass on developing talent because it might not agree with their scheme. One of the key issues for Edey, they claim he doesn’t stretch the floor. Edey has no outside range and that is a key issue. Will some NBA team take a chance on him, as this is written I’m unsure. If I were an NBA coach I’d take a chance. Andy Katz writing for NCAA.com rates Edey the top college center in 2023-24. The Athletic places Edey at the top of their list as do several others. We are left with maybe he is versus maybe he isn’t. This we can be assured of, if there is no NBA future Edey has potential playing pro basketball somewhere.