Basketball from a fans perspective

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The best laid plans…..

I knew beforehand I would be unable to see Team USA versus Serbia. The television schedule was checked and my DVR was set to record the game. When I returned home much to my irritation, all I was able to see was the last two minutes, as to why this occurred it did. In any event by now you are aware Team USA squeezed by Serbia 95-91. This must have been quite a match, Team USA found itself down as much as 17 points. Thanks to Steph Curry’s 36 points and the triple double of LeBron James (16 pts, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) along with Joel Embiid’s 19 points all being factors in the game.

Thanks to this trio the game turned out to favor Team USA not by much. Most surprising to me in Group play Team USA beat Serbia 110-84, I never have blowout games in mind but certainly didn’t figure the spread would be this close. Once again I’m sure Steve Kerr will be questioned as to why Jason Tatum never made an appearance. I cannot respond other than to say, “the coach apparently knew the rotation he wanted to utilize.” Team USA faces Team France for Gold, the game was played yesterday afternoon. This is written on Saturday afternoon ahead of the game.  

It's Gold once again

France is tough, really tough…in a hard fought match Team USA won the game and Gold 98-87. Believe me, the game was much closer than the score might indicate. The French team never gave up, after taking punch after punch by Team USA they managed to avoid the knockout and returned to compete once again. Victor Wembanyama led the way for France with 26 points and 5 rebounds but it was the other stuff too. His teammates looked toward the 20-year old to lead them on the court. On the U.S. side it was old man LeBron James with 14 points and 10 assists, he also had 6 rebounds. Three other teammates were in double figure scoring with Steph Curry leading with 24 points.

One of the 3-point baskets was scored by Steph with under 2 minutes remaining. It was a thing of beauty, two French defenders rushed at the 6 foot 2 Curry one of them being 6 foot 8 Nicholas Batum and the other Evan Fournier 6 foot 7 but the ball had left his hands. The destination was the bottom of the basket as Steph was en Fuego. After the game Wembanyama appeared visibly upset having lost the game but there was nothing in my opinion for him to be hurt. This is certainly the last Olympic game for Curry, Durant and LeBron so they deserve extra special recognition for this win and others past. One final point, let’s quit talking about the Dream Team, that was 32 years ago, this is the now. The world has turned over three times, international basketball is much better now versus then. By the way did you realize Team USA has now won Gold 5 times in a row.

Bits n Pieces

We heard and read reports all summer regarding Lauri Markkanen, he was on his way “somewhere.” It was the Bulls the Lakers and probably some team I am overlooking. The talented Big Man from Finland is looked on as a highly favored acquisition by a number of teams so what occurred? Markkanen was not a free agent according to reports but had one year remaining on his contract. I’m quite sure the Jazz had no intention of losing him although I’m sure there were thoughts of a trade for the right pieces. In any event on Thursday it was announced he’d signed a 5-year contract with the Jazz and a portion of it “new money.” As usual my policy is to not discuss salaries although the numbers are significant. 

The late Don Barksdale is a pioneer however his name is unknown to most of us, his NBA career numbers are only average but it’s the other things that make him noteworthy. It’s what he accomplished before his retirement we should be familiar with because there are many firsts. Barksdale was the first black athlete to be named All American, this was based on his play at UCLA (1943, 1946-1947). The second first, he was the first black athlete to play on an Olympic basketball team when he was named to the team for the 1948 Olympics held in London England, but wait there is one more. Barksdale became the first black athlete to play in an NBA All Star game, he would play in the 1953 game in Fort Wayne Indiana, after his retirement he was named to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.

Do yourself a favor, take the time to conduct a modest investigation. I’ve mentioned over and over a number of fans and some in the sports media claim “I know nothing about this player.” In this instance they are referring to Euro players in the NBA draft, a couple of notes here. Sometimes a Euro player is drafted but decides to remain in Europe, he might choose the NBA a year later and in some instances not at all. There is information readily available on a large number of players. Generally speaking the name is known ahead of the draft, Kristaps Porzingis, Luka Doncic and Victor Wembanyama are just a few of the names. The aforementioned players and others were known well ahead of the commissioner announcing their name draft night. The data on Euro (and Australian) players is available, take a little time before the draft to discover the name.

This is something completely different and rare, an open tryout. That’s what occurs for Kentucky under new coach Mark Pope. A tryout of this type is rare for a college team especially a Blue Blood program similar to Kentucky. The prospective Wildcat must be academically eligible to play should he earn a roster spot, the tryout will occur August 30.