Basketball from a fan’s perspective

They did it again

The Bucks would be the opponent, early on I’d read LeBron wouldn’t play. A bum ankle would keep him sidelined, what could occur? The Lakers on the road minus their leader what should I expect but a loss only that’s not what happened. In double overtime the Lakers won the game 128-124. Can I say this was a team effort…yes I believe that would be an appropriate statement. AD played 52 minutes in the game scoring 34 points along with 23 rebounds and 4 blocked shots however there was help.

Austin Reaves registered a triple double with 29 points 14 rebounds and 10 assists, D’Lo also scoring 29 points and 12 assists. Rui Hachimura registered a “quiet” 16 points but also contributed 14 rebounds. Can we state this was truly a team victory, I think that would be correct. The effort put forth in this game by the Lakers wasn’t necessarily shocking but certainly surprising for me. Down by 19 points twice, this might provide you an idea why I am unable to gauge this Laker version so far. This is what I should do, sit back and enjoy what’s left of the Laker season and playoffs, yes I think that will be the plan.

Bits n Pieces

Bob Kurland was omitted from the list of early Big Men which I wrote of on Saturday. Kurland played at Oklahoma A&M (Okla. State) from 1941-46, he stood 7-feet and 220 pounds. Unfortunately, I could locate no scoring or rebounding stats for him, after college he never played in the BAA nor NBA but must have compiled some impressive credentials. He spent his pro career playing for the Phillips 66ers one of several AAU teams active in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. Kurland was a 3-time AAU Champion and six times he was an AAU All American. He would be enshrined in the Naismith and College Basketball Hall of Fame.

I’ve had several opportunities to see Purdue’s Zach Edey in action. I continued to question why he’s not considered a legitimate NBA Draft pick. Read that again, I didn’t say lottery it was draft pick. He is not the swiftest guy up and down the court that is the truth, this is the portion I’m having difficulty with. I believe and I could be wrong he’s got 0 range on his shot therefore all the reports state “he’s not a legitimate draft choice.” 

In the NBA teams will not toss ‘junk defenses’ at him as we see at the college level. Play in the NCAA Tournament should aid his cause, besides the fact his imposing size. At 7 foot 4 and 300 pounds he blots out the Sun. The latest nbadraft.net places Edey in the middle of the second round, nbadraftroom.com list him in the middle of the first round. Finally tankathon.com has Edey as the third pick in the second round.

There’s been little news on arena construction updates so I began a search. I found news from Oklahoma City regarding the planned arena to replace Paycom Center. You might remember last December voters in the city approved the plan for a new arena. Although no area location has been mentioned there have been updates on cost and additional related information. The minimum construction cost is projected to be $900 million, Thunder ownership has pledged $50 million toward the project. The arena has a planned opening for the 2029-30 NBA season. The Thunder make a commitment to remain in the city for the next 25 years, the year 2050.

Congratulations are in order

At the high school level its acknowledged in 2024 Cooper Flagg is the best in the nation. The 6-foot 9 200-pound small forward is listed as the number one prospect in the Class of 2024 by Rivals, 247 Sports, On3 and others unnamed. He attends Montverde Academy in Montverde Florida and is headed to Duke in the fall. On Wednesday Flagg was named the 2024 Gatorade Boys Basketball Player of the Year. This is a huge honor in this aspect alone, Yahoo Sports claims there are 500,000 high school players across the nation who qualified for the award, to be honored in this manner indicates Flagg must be good.

This award places Flagg in some exclusive company, check out this list. Past winners include Karl-Anthony Towns, Jayson Tatum, Kevin Love, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. In the State of Missouri the winner is Jadis Jones New Madrid County Central HS, New Madrid Missouri. As this is written Jones has made no decision regarding a college. In Kansas the winner of Gatorade Player of the Year is TJ Williams who attends Wichita Heights HS, Wichita Kansas. Williams is remaining at home committing to Wichita State. I’m including Arkansas in the count, Annor Boateng receives the honor and is headed for Mizzou in the fall. A brief look at a few of the Gatorade Player of the Year honored.

This is the explanation  

Stories have circulated for a while regarding the disproportionate number of free throws the Lakers take versus other teams. Is there a conspiracy at work here from the NBA along with its game officials? The numbers don’t lie, they do indeed shoot more free throws than the second-place team. Besides a conspiracy the question might be asked…why? I’m unsure about you but I’m not a conspiracy theorist. I’m uncertain how anything can be proven if we look at the number of fouls. After all fouls (or the lack of) are at the discretion of game officials.

Consider this fact, this Laker team (and maybe last season too) don’t attempt a substantial number of three-point shots in the same manner as other teams. For the most part the Lakers shoot in and around the basket certainly inside the three-point line. What might occur for a team with a perimeter game? Laker shooters are often fouled in and around the basket, even taking shots inside the line leads to a greater opportunity for the opposition to foul. Don’t misunderstand, there are instances I’m sure game officials have “swallowed” their whistles or didn’t see the play clearly. Just to clear this up Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports is to be thanked, he’s the one who pointed this out in an attempt to clear the confusion.