Basketball from a fan’s perspective

Celtic green

ESPN NBA analyst Tim Legler is correct in my view too. Legs indicates this is the year of the Celtics, the only team they had issues with during the regular season was the Nuggets. The Nuggets are in Cancun so there is no worry there, I realize the Celtics are missing Kristaps Porzingis but he alone will not be responsible for an NBA Championship eluding them. The Celtics must demonstrate their ability on the court whether it’s the Mavs, Wolves or Pacers no team is going to simply allow them to pass without a fight. The Pacers look really good, can they get by the Celtics perhaps?

In a series with or without Porzingis the Celtics have got to be favored. The Western Conference foe is a little more difficult to predict, because of their defense I’ve got to believe the Wolves have an advantage over the Mavs. Now we have the matchup on paper projected by yours truly. If the Celtics win they will break the tie, currently the Celtics and Lakers are tied with 17 NBA championships apiece. I favor the Wolves if it comes down between the two teams, as a Laker fan I cannot in my right mind root for a team from Boston. Who knows, this Finals round might not turn out as I have projected, we could have a Pacers-Mavs championship series. Last season I watched the championship with little connection, this time it’s a little different.

The Big Man arrives

Mizzou Nation continued to read and hear reports coach Gates wanted to add a Big Man through the transfer portal. It appeared that might not occur as prospect after prospect chose a school other than Mizzou to attend. On Monday came this announcement, arriving on campus from South Carolina comes 6-foot 11 255-pound Josh Gray. He played at SC four years so one season of eligibility remains for Gray at Mizzou.

I must be honest other than his one remaining season this is a headscratcher for me. Gray was a reserve player during his tenure at SC so I’m going to go with the coach on this move. It is clear Gates sees a role with Mizzou he believes is missing in his team and believes Gray can fill that role. With the addition of the former SC Big Man Mizzou has managed to add 5 players in the transfer portal…a starting team. It’s probably hoped the incoming freshman will bid their time while adjusting to Division I play.

He continues to make history

I’ve got to come up with another nickname besides Wemby, I don’t have any desire to use the term alien. That was the tag given him by LeBron James on seeing him play for the first time. I realize Victor Wembanyama has done some amazing feats in his first year in the NBA. Prepare yourself for one more thing that’s never occurred previously for a rookie in the NBA. Briefly we travel back in time to the 1968-69 season, that was the first year the NBA disclosed its first All-Defensive Team honors.

In all this time 55 years to be exact a rookie had never earned NBA All Defensive honors until now. Allow me to introduce you to Victor Wembanyama the first rookie accorded this honor in the history of the NBA. By now you are probably asking what he does for his sophomore season, in truth I have no idea. This I believe will occur, barring injury we’ll see the 7-foot 4 youngster go to a level no other NBA players ever reached. Part of this is based on Wemby’s adjustment to the NBA and an improved Spurs team, both will allow us to see Wemby astound us even more.

The gift that keeps on giving

I had to check, it seemed like forever since the Lakers had a first-round draft pick. I’d forgotten that quickly about Jalen Hood-Schifino taken with pick 17 in 2023, prior to that it was 2018 when they chose Moe Wagner with pick 28. We must return to 2017 and Lonzo Ball to discover a draft choice who managed to impact the Lakers won-loss record appreciably. The primary reason for the headline is Anthony Davis, in addition to the bodies traded the Lakers gave up a number of draft choices to acquire the Big Man from the Pelicans. Unless there is a trade (which is possible) the Lakers must once again look toward the second round to add talent to the roster. Just because a player is drafted in the second round can sometimes appear talentless but that is not always the case.

A team must be able to do extensive scouting and be able to assess a player at the college, G-League or Euro level. Let’s check a few 2nd round picks to see who would become outstanding, history first. Manu Ginobili is now in the Naismith Hall of Fame that certainly provides us an idea of his basketball prowess. How about Dennis ‘The Worm’ Rodman also in the Naismith Hall of Fame. More recently we could name Nikola ‘The Joker’ Jokic who owns the NBA MVP Trophy, I would say Draymond Green has been one of the keys to Warrior success the last few years. Khris Middleton has been just as valuable to the success of the Bucks as Giannis Antetokounmpo. There are others omitted from this account but simply stated there are gems in the 2nd round a Laker team must find them and groom them for inclusion to the roster.