Basketball from a fan’s perspective

What do you think

Robert Zeglinski writer for USA Today wrote an article ranking the 11 best NBA point guards of all time. He placed Magic Johnson at the top slot, my disagreement was placing Steph Curry number 2. This is his list but this is my dilemma, I’ve always looked at the Warriors guard as a shooter first and then a point guard. No argument he’s got skill at passing the basketball but more than Oscar Robertson or his teammate Chris Paul.

I don’t agree with his number 3 pick either, Jerry West a.k.a. The Logo was a lights out shooter with point guard skills. The balance of his list, Isiah Thomas at 6, Bob Cousy number 7, Steve Nash number 8, John Stockton 9, Gary Payton 10 and Russell Westbrook number 11. I have no intention to further critique his list after all it does belong to Zeglinski. My only complaint I believe he’s got Curry and West rated far to high for me. What do you think, am I off base with my observation of his list? Would you agree with my take moving some of the players?

I don’t remember

The Lakers hire of Darvin Ham and much earlier Frank Vogel was different from the present. I cannot remember my thoughts at the time both were hired, my hope was management would hire one who would prove successful and indeed that was the case. Vogel led the Lakers to the 2020 NBA Championship, later he too would fall into disfavor and be fired. I trusted Laker management to make the choice for the best candidate available, I thought that was Ham and that turned out to be a bad hire.

This is being written because on Monday the headline read: “Lakers to start talking with candidates.” Phil Jackson is not available that would be the only coach I would say “hire him” with no hesitation, as for the others that’s a different story. Friends this hire must be a slam dunk coaching hire, the Lakers cannot continue to change coaches every 2-3 years. Who is available to be interviewed, I have read a few of the names. Some of the possible coaching names mentioned are familiar to me while others I consider unknown. This hire’s got to be successful because it is my belief the team is a player or two from championship contention.

Who you got?

I dislike being labeled a hater but I guess that’s me. A friend asked me, “Now that the Lakers are out who are you rooting for in the playoffs?” I thought just a minute and then said this; “There are only two teams I refuse to root for and one has already been eliminated…the Clippers. As for the other team it’s the Celtics.” Before I go any further this animosity doesn’t exist for any of the roster members. With that out of the way allow me to explain further. The Celtics are currently tied with my Lakers for the most NBA Championships (17), that is reason enough however I can go further.

All those occasions when they beat my Lakers is enough to say I’d never root for them. As for the Clippers my issues with them are more recent, location…location… location. Two NBA teams one city, not one city and one NBA team. It’s not the Lakers’ fault the teams played in the same arena, it’s former owner Donald Sterling’s fault, the team could have remained in place rather than share the arena with the Lakers. Second to that, Sterling moved the Clippers to Los Angeles without league approval. Were you aware of that fact? Sorry for going off on a tangent, the question was asked who am I rooting for? The problem will be if the Mavs wind up facing the Wolves or vice-versa, those are my two choices.

This is hard to believe

An alien landed on planet Earth in 2023, the June draft would provide us proof of that fact. The tag was hung on Victor Wembanyama by LeBron James after seeing him in action. LeBron was stating only someone not of this world could have produced numbers similar to this in their first NBA season.

1,500 points

700 rebounds

250 assists

250 blocked shots

100 3-pointers made

I don’t believe anyone expected Wemby to manufacture numbers similar to those. Keep in mind the NBA has been operating since 1947, block shots were not counted nor did a 3-point basket exist. So if we exclude those two there remains an outstanding number of stats that place Wemby in with some giants of the game. Those are Wilt Chamberlain/Kareem Abdul Jabbar numbers from the post position, don’t misunderstand me. He’s got a long way to go before he equals them but he is certainly on the road

Remember last spring and summer the conversation regarding Wemby being too skinny. Everyone, media members plus past and present age players decided "He's be okay however that was the extent of the conversation. That's okay if you are not as excited as me seeing the future in 2024, there are only two possibilities that could curtail his growth as a player. One he controls and the other is out of his hands, he maintains his level head and continues to grow his game. The issue Wemby has no control is injury, many outstanding players have witnessed their career impacted significantly due to injury. The alien has landed and is about to take over the NBA, he does require help. Next year and into the future the Spurs must do all they can to provide that support. 

Don’t be so sure

We’ve read plenty of complaints regarding the draft lottery, the complaint is not valid in my view. The team with the worst won-loss record is not always guaranteed to win the top pick. I went back to 2019 to identify Hawk picks and uncovered some interesting information. The Hawks had two picks, the Jaxson Hayes selection was conveyed to the Pelicans. Cam Reddish is now a member of the Lakers his 4th team since being drafted by the Hawks. Since that time there are not any standouts selected, keep in mind there are factors working here. The opportunity for these draft picks to play and injury.

In both cases I have no idea how this impacts the Hawks, the point of this exercise is simple. I will be generous and award the Hawks a letter grade of C for their draft picks. There is no Wemby in this draft so that points to a potential reward for the teams following the Hawks. That would be in the following order the Wizards, Rockets, Spurs and Pistons. As I pointed out experts claim the 2024 draft is not as deep nor talented as some in prior years. There have been complaints by cynics since the lottery was instituted, there is likely no scenario that would appear to appease all NBA fans so let’s work with what we have. The lottery is weighted in favor of the team with the worst won-loss record and that’s all that can be done.