Basketball from a fans perspective

Published Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday

122-87

Unlike Team Canada, France or Serbia I had no idea who played for Team Brazil. I didn’t have complete knowledge but certainly familiarity with each of the teams named, Brazil was a different matter. On my job I advised all within the sound of my voice “Brazil was going to be dangerous because I’d read they were a physical team.” My co-workers were laughing at me after hearing the final score Team USA 122 Team Brazil 87. My explanation was the same one I provided for you, there is another issue to discuss. The game was played in early afternoon a time I was at work so highlights is all I was capable of viewing.

This review is a stats only assessment of the game. Team USA had 6 players score in double figures with Devin Booker leading the way with 18 points. 57.7% shooting and 48.4% from three is going to win the majority of games played and that was the case here. In addition 46 rebounds to 34 along with 31 assists to 24, shooting 89.5% from the free throw line aided the cause as well. Team USA is now 4-0 while Team Brazil drops to 1-3, next up for Team USA is The Joker and Team Serbia in the semi-finals. The game was played last night, this was a tough match on the road to Olympic gold for Team USA. Who wins, you have the score already. This game will be covered on Sunday while the championship game will be done on Monday.

Over hyped

Seth Greenburg, former college coach and current ESPN analyst says this. “Cooper Flagg is a generational talent” and the question is posed again, is this over the top based on 0 college play? Let’s check out what several others have said about this Duke freshman. Jay Bilas also of ESPN says “He’s an extraordinary talent, he might be better than Christian Laettner. If the draft were held today he’d be the number one pick.” From Kevin Durant, “He (Flagg) plays like a pro” and there is more. Whenever I read comments of this type on a particular player my first consideration, there were similar comments made about Emoni Bates while he was in high school?

Then my thoughts focused on Victor Wembanyama prior to the 2023 NBA draft. There were several knowledgeable basketball coaches and scouts criticized for their assessment of Wemby. Shaq and Barkley in particular and there were others who said, “You are overhyping the guy, he is probably not that good.” The hype machine can work for and against a prospect, there are all sorts of factors that affect performance. I will close this with two examples, Anthony Bennett was the projected top pick in the 2013 draft, there was no way he could miss…but he did. The other is Zion Williamson, was he overhyped when he arrived in the NBA in 2019? Yes he was in my view but there is a difference we discovered rather quickly Bennett was most assuredly overhyped. As for Williamson the jury is still out deliberating that question.  

What occurs next season

This late July look at the Lakers roster says to me, they are not terrible. On the other hand when matched against other western conference teams they come up short. Anthony Davis is a true talent but he cannot handle Karl-Anthony Towns, Nikola Jokic and other conference centers. The Lakers are in desperate need of a center, they don’t need him for scoring they have a portion of that. The team needs a post player able to block shots, snatch down a few rebounds and be adept at pick and roll occasionally.

At this point one by one the Lakers missed in the draft, they missed in free agency as well acquiring that player. Until this issue is resolve expect movement but not much progress. There remains a question on perimeter shooting, there is excitement with the potential of Dalton Knecht off the bench. Jarred Vanderbilt missed a major portion of the season, if healthy the defense improves. Rob Pelinka indicates the Lakers are still planning a move before the season opener. This move whatever it might be could go a long way toward determining the outlook for this Laker team. I’ve said a great deal and not much because the team remains in a holding pattern, as additions are made they will be noted.

Where are they?

At the time I began following youth basketball on a greater scale I discovered this. Despite the fact sites such as Rivals and 247Sports are able to provide us information on future prospects little is known of international players. Naturally, players entering the draft are profiled but what about those matriculating at American colleges and universities? Talent arriving on these shores from Europe or Australia is somewhat understandable but what about the Great North? In this instance I speak of the 5,525 mile (8,891 km) border between the U.S. and Canada.

I didn’t discover Andrew Wiggins was a talent until his arrival at Kansas. I could make a similar statement regarding Shai-Gilgeous Alexander at Kentucky. This is written from what I don’t know, it would appear sharing a border plus a bunch of other stuff this prospect information should be readily available. Correction, the information regarding prospects is available it’s just not located in Rivals and other sites. I don’t have an answer to this dilemma however it certainly is my hope one day change will occur. My expectation is to read about the next Jamal Murray, Luge Dort or some future star prior to their arrival at an American college. Of course taking on such a task entails more labor for a staff of basketball scouts and media members.