Basketball from a fan’s perspective

M.I.A.     

I will be taking leave for the weekend, there will be no Saturday or Sunday edition. Publishing will resume again on Monday May 13, I appreciate and value you as a loyal reader of Words eye view. The statement is made again, I make no pretense of having the answer to all the questions. I’m you, a guy who loves basketball no matter the level of competition. Please continue to enjoy my feeble effort at sports journalism as it relates to basketball.

A thing of beauty

The first two games between the Wolves and Nuggets has been a throwback. It reminds us of the Bad Boy Pistons and Jordan Bulls, those teams played lockdown defense on the opposition and that’s exactly what the Wolves have implemented against the Nuggets. Sure there has been a few complaints about rough house basketball but that’s to be expected based on what we’ve seen so far. Game two I found quite compelling, no Rudy Gobert how they would handle the Nuggets was quite a question mark.

Based on the outcome I’d say easy, they managed to neutralize MVP Nikola Jokic once again. Anthony Edwards is not, repeat he is not the second coming of Michael Jordan. Despite my statement I can say he’s pretty darn good. What occurs tonight, I have no idea but I have doubts the Nuggets are swept they are good. I’m unsure they win this series unless there is improvement in a number of areas. In any event sit back and enjoy some ole skool basketball, this is basketball as most of you have never seen played. This is basketball from a bye gone era which has returned.

The Garden

I heard this statement from a non-sports media person, he expressed his excitement regarding the Knicks excellent play but drop this on us. “There is nothing like Madison Square Garden and the Knicks uniting this city, we can’t do it in football (Giants & Jets) or baseball (Yankees & Mets).” He didn’t bother to mention the Nets, I realize they are not particularly good right now but I have a question? This could only be answered by a native New Yorker, if for instance the roles were reverse would the city be as excited about the Nets excellent play thus far?

I will allow that declaration to marinate with you for a brief time, this version of the Knicks has no quit in them. Game 2 Brunson is out for a period due to injury and returns, the NY Post headlined it “A Reed Return” echoing Willis Reed. I hope Pacer fans are not upset by this next statement, there could be a return to a different era. We could have a Celtics-Knicks series to entertain the basketball world. Finally who do we have to thank for the return to glory for this basketball team? It ain’t Jalen Brunson or any other Knick, nor is it Tom Thibodeau or one of his coaches. Surprise, its owner James Dolan, it would appear he is allowing basketball people to run a basketball team.

Possible return of Roundball Rock

It’s certainly far from over, we’ve read a number of quotes indicating TNT might lose its television eye on the NBA. It’ is reported that NBC Universal has a powerful desire to be a player in this area once again. NBC held the broadcast rights from 1954 to 1962 and again 1990 to 2002. If that should occur we lose Inside the NBA with Ernie Johnson, Barkley, Shaq and Kenny the Jet. That would be unfortunate for some NBA viewers to lose that portion alone.

Despite the downside there might come an upset, we could foresee the return of Roundball Rock. Entertainer John Tesh wrote this for the NBA and it was used continuously until 2002. “Fox Sports acquired the rights to the theme for use in college basketball during the 2018-19 seasons, but a generation of fans still associate the tune with NBA. If NBA Sports wins the rights, it will be able to relicense “Roundball Rock” to Tesh, who owns the song, the songwriter said in an email.” Still can’t remember the tune, hopefully this will jog your memory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avlMZQaKPjg

You Can’t Go Home Again

Despite the classic 1940 novel Cuonzo Martin is returning home…technically speaking. Home is actually East St. Louis where the coach was born but there is more to the story. You might remember the last time I mentioned Martin’s name he’d been fired by Mizzou in 2022 after several unsuccessful seasons at the helm. March 27 Missouri State University in Springfield announced the hiring of Martin as the head coach for the men’s basketball team, he returns to where it began, his first head coaching job.

After experiencing on court success at Missouri State Martin was hired by Tennessee and later Cal. In 2017 he was announced as the head coach at Mizzou and you are aware the balance of his resume. There are occasions when a coach leaves a program and you might say good riddance, that is not the case for me regarding Martin. A coach is paid to be successful, no requirement for me to make excuses or repeat the narrative. I hope Martin is able to turn the program around at Missouri State, he was successful in Springfield at one point early in his coaching career.