Basketball from a fans perspective

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It’s rare for me

I have attempted to keep my crying and moaning to a minimum regarding the Lakers. I’ve been critical of head coaches but I believe even that’s been rare. As for members of the roster that’s rarely occurred until now. My concern is aimed at forward Christian Wood, after his play with the Mavs my anticipation was the Lakers have obtained a good one. Needless to say I was disappointed in the 6 foot 8 Wood’s play season long. I decided to wait to determine what will occur in his second year with the team and then BAM. He missed the last two months of the season having surgery on his left knee, an arthroscopic procedure was performed in March.

We were all ready to go when The Lakers reported in early September Wood would require arthroscopic surgery on that same knee. First the good news, the surgery was reported to be successful, here’s the unwelcome news. Wood will miss training camp and the exhibition season, it’s being reported he might miss the first few weeks of the regular season. I have no idea of his medical history, maybe the surgery has been pending for a time. Who’s responsible for waiting till late August for surgery therefore missing training camp who’s responsible, the Laker medical staff or Wood? Lets just say at this point I’m disappointed, this would have been ideal for him with Jarred Vanderbilt also reported to be missing time. We have no idea now but he could have moved into the role held by his teammate.

This conversation occurred

I’m unsure how this began, I was discussing NBA basketball with my wife (a rare occasion). I said “I heard and read a number of complaints about Yao Ming. There were many who claim he didn’t play long enough in the NBA to deserve hall of fame recognition.” I went on to say, “Many thought the arrival of Yao Ming would open the door for additional talent from China.” It didn’t occur, there were a few players from China since Yao but not one managed to remain or star in the NBA. So what occurred, while conducting research I came across the name Hansen Yang. It was believed Yang would enter his name in the 2024 NBA draft, that didn’t occur so we must look toward 2025.

Yang is a 7 foot 1 250 pound power forward/center who plays for Qingdao in the Chinese CBA. He’s drawn a great deal of interest although similar to most prospects there are areas of his game requiring improvement. Currently reports indicate Yang might be a better defender at this point in time, will he submit his name for the 2025 NBA draft, only time will tell. *“Defensively, he lacks lateral quickness and overall mobility, which limits his ability to hedge ball-screens, switch and defend out in space. Yang is forced to play drop coverage, where he can be quite effective due to the flashes he has shown as a paint defender. The next step for Yang as he continues to mature and get older is to improve his overall athleticism. He’s not very quick, currently lacks ideal strength, is not a vertical athlete and his lackluster mobility isn’t ideal.” The statement, “mobility isn’t ideal” bothers me however it’s not a game changer.

*SI.com Mar 10, 2024

From High School to the NBA

I cannot provide the date nor time, several years back there was talk of high school players in the NBA. You might remember the last player to accomplish the feat successfully was LeBron James in 2003. That came to an end in 2006 and since then the NBA has seen the One and Done rule. It’s not actually a rule but the fact a player must be age 18 and one year after their high school class graduates. The latter portion of the rule has not been monitored closely in my view. In any event these changes have occurred which says the NBA will never draft a high school player again. The NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement says so without me providing you details.

The advent of youth play particularly in Australia, a small number have utilized the Land Down Under as a steppingstone to the NBA. The last issue is the opportunity to play at home, Overtime Elite founded in 2021 took high school talent paid them…and groomed them for the NBA. The number of players from OTE is not overwhelming however the league has only been in operation a short amount of time. I’m unsure if this is a true reason however I’ll toss it out there anyway…NIL. Name, Image and Likeness has allowed a number (not every athlete) a significant income. These days if the athlete’s diet consist of Ramen Noodles it’s because he enjoys them not the fact he’s run out of money. There are a few athletes who might have been able to make the leap from high school to the NBA but why is it necessary these days?

Family first

Gregg Popovich’s always appears cold as ice, despite the gruff appearance that is not the case. Recently I heard two story’s which Pop won’t appreciate but they will be told anyway. The first involves Robert Horry at the time he was a member of the Spurs. His daughter was hospitalized and he was preparing to play in the evening’s game. His coach told him Go to the hospital and stay there until she is released. His daughter did recover and returned home, Horry returns, once again he is preparing to play.

Pop told him to go home until his daughter is well. He indicated years later he lost his daughter but he would never forget what Pop had done for him. Stephen Jackson share his Pop story, he said his wife had suffered a miscarriage and he was also preparing to play. The coach told him to take time and when you get your head together then come back. Those are but two former Spurs players who speak of Pop with a great deal of respect. Rest assured those two were not special, I have no method to prove my statement. I believe Gregg Popovich has attempted to be coach and father figure to all his players over the years.

I don’t know this to be a fact

Recently you read about Hansen Yang who may or may not decide to make himself available for the 2025 NBA draft. This prospective power forward hails from China but wait there is more. Since the retirement of Yao Ming it’s my belief the NBA hoped to see another Asian player in the league. If its not Yang making the grade the name we might hear is Keisei Tominaga who is from Japan. Although Tominaga grew up and developed his game in his native Japan he traveled to the U.S. to enhance his play.

The first stop was Ranger, a community college located in Ranger Texas about 125 road miles west of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metro. Tominaga played at Ranger College for two seasons prior to attending the University of Nebraska, he went undrafted in the 2024 NBA draft. This past July Tominaga signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the NBA Pacers. His reported shooting prowess has a tag hung on him that places loads of pressure on him. He’s been nicknamed the “Japanese Steph Curry” which for me certainly places a bullseye on the 6 foot 2 178 pound guard. For now it appears play in the G-League for now but keep an eye on him. For some strange reason, any discussion on Asian players we overlook Rui Hachimura now with the Lakers.

The look ahead     

I took a glance at the calendar and it indicates there is just a brief time (Oct 4) NBA exhibition play begins. The NBA regular season begins Tuesday Octobert 22, the defending champion Celtics will serve as host to the Knicks in the early game. The late night game for the Midwest and East Coast Time Zones will feature the Lakers facing the Wolves at Crypto.com arena. There might be college exhibition games scheduled prior to Monday November 4 however that is the date teams begin non-conference play. There are 65 games scheduled on that date from the east to the west coast. Memphis will serve as host to my Mizzou Tigers while HBCU Howard University will play Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse. 

The broadcaster

Who are the top broadcasters in the NBA, between ABC/ESPN/TNT do you have a favorite? For these purposes I’m excluding color analyst only the play by play broadcasters. Radio is vastly different, that broadcaster must be quite descriptive since he becomes the “eyes” of the listener. Television is a different matter, we can see the game there is a visual picture. There is no requirement for the broadcaster to be quite as descriptive except in one instance. The late Chick Hearn Laker broadcaster simulcast games on radio and television.

Being on radio and television at the same time forced Hearn to broadcast games differently from most. What occurred, those watching Laker games on television were given a plus description of the game. I mentioned Hearn but the names below are national broadcasters. I will mention the name of Bob Costas, he’s no longer broadcasting the NBA but when he did it was outstanding. At the top of my list is Kevin Harlin TNT broadcaster, the father-son Eagle combo, Ian the father and Noah the son. Mike Breen is one of the best although at one time I had a degree of difficulty with him. We close this with the names of Ryan Ruocco and Matt Devlin. It’s being reported that once NBA broadcasts move to NBC Mike Tirico will take on responsibility for NBA broadcast.