Basketball from a fan’s perspective

No NFL for him

DJ Burns Jr. has played quite well for NC State especially in the NCAA Tourney. He led the way on Sunday as his team eliminated Duke 76-64, Burns scored 29 points in the victory. Burns Jr. is a Big Man, he’s got 275 pounds packed on his 6-foot 9 frame and today I read an article that caused me to laugh out loud. Burns Jr. is not listed on any NBA mock draft sites, someone suggested he might look at the NFL as a lineman.

That’s out of the question in my view, lineman are in the neighborhood of 300 pounds. Gates appears adept at catching passes in the post, how about doing that in the NFL as a tight end? My mind travels back in time to Antonio Gates. Gates played football in high school but not college at Kent State, there it was basketball. Gates was told he probably wouldn’t make it in basketball standing 6 foot 4 and 255 pounds so it became football. Undrafted Gates played for the Chargers in San Diego and Los Angeles from 2003 till he retired in 2018. Rather than the NFL as a lineman if Burns Jr. can catch a football as easily as an entry post pass…well.

Luka the Don

The Mavs all everything (is he a forward or a point guard), I don’t know? He’s good regardless of the position(s) he plays for his team. Doncic reminds me of The Joker in a sense, he fires up the most unorthodox shots that manage to find the basket. That was no different Sunday evening with his Mavs team facing the red-hot Rockets. The Rockets have been the hottest team in the association over the past few weeks registering 11 wins in a row before meeting their Texas rivals.

Thanks in large part to Doncic the Rockets came up on the losing end 125-107. What did Doncic contribute, a plethora of shots some of them as I stated earlier unorthodox. He registered 47 points along with 12 rebounds and 7 assists, all this while shooting 60% from the floor and 56.3% from three and only 4 TO’s. Everything wasn’t great for Doncic except he shot a miserable 40% from the free throw line. The one complaint I hear from time to time, “He’s not a great defender” but my question remains how accurate are they? I just discovered ESPN list Doncic as a point guard, this is certainly a role he’s morphed into at 6-foot 7 230 pounds.

I will provide the source

There are times I read a story and it causes me to shake my head, I guess that’s when smh was begun being abbreviated. Oh well, this is your reading source courtesy of Athlon Sports. Basketball officiating is not easy, the pace of the game plus the size of the player fouls are sometimes missed. There were a number of fan complaints about Purdue’s Zach Edey’s game against Tennessee. One wrote, “How could not a single foul be called on him in the first half of the game?” There were others in this .com site indicating standing 7 foot 4 and 300 pounds “he’s been given preferential treatment by game officials.”

I haven’t seen all the tourney games Edey’s played but I managed to see the Tennessee game. Television provides us a picture however 99% of the time we must go with the call made by the official on the floor. Did I see anything out of the ordinary…I don’t think so. What I believe is almost laughable is this, do you realize Wilt Chamberlain (7-1 275 pounds) NEVER fouled out of an NBA game? Don’t take my word for it go to his bio or some other source. Chamberlain should have fouled out of a game most certainly but foul number 6 was never called. Has Edey played a ‘perfect’ game equaling Chamberlain, hardly but we must go with game officials unless a missed call is clearly obvious.

What’s the Vector Victor?

If Wemby plays two more games he will be named 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year. The question is number of games played, in order to qualify for the award under the new rules he must play 65 games. As this is written Wemby’s yet to play the required number. With that question out of the way how about other honors i.e., what’s the vector for Victor? He will earn NBA Rookie First Team honors as well, Wemby leads NBA rookies in average, rebounds and blocked shots.

There is an outside chance he wins Defensive Player of the Year, I say that because fellow Frenchman Rudy Gobert is likely to win the award again for the 4th time. Wemby can earn a spot on the NBA All Defensive First Team. Why…he leads the NBA in block shots, no one will be able to catch him this season. There you have it, the honors the Spurs center could earn at the conclusion of the season. Are there additional awards Wemby could earn, yes however its highly unlikely anymore are within his sight. I am repeating myself again so bear with me. If Wemby is able to avoid major injuries in 10-15 years he will be part of the discussion of Chamberlain, Abdul Jabbar and other Big Men of the past.

My response

This is addressed to the Kansas basketball fan who wrote of his disappointment. He alluded to the fact Bill Self’s team was lacking in love for the significance of Kansas basketball. Well mister, allow me to welcome you into the 21st Century of college basketball. Athletes will continue to fill the roster of Kansas and other schools, will the program wow them…I think not. Don’t misunderstand my statement, they will run through a brick wall if that is what’s required, loyalty to a program is not nearly as important as it once was.

As an example I’m sure at one time this fan realized Kansas basketball had no One and Done athletes. When they arrived in Lawrence Kansas they were there for the next four years. That changed in 1998, Paul Pierce left for the NBA after his junior year. From that point up to the present day a succession of One and Done athletes have graced the roster of Kansas basketball. Again I’m not stating they have no devotion to any program it is limited. That 9th or 10th place athlete on the roster might be more loyal to the program of Kansas and other schools than the McDonald’s All American recruited. I hope this doesn’t appear cynical because that is not the intent, its simply to point out allegiance toward anyone’s basketball program is limited these days.