Basketball from a fans perspective

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Who are these guys?

The Lakers took care of business Saturday night beating the Kings 131-127, the game was an old fashion shootout with the Lakers scoring 44 points in the 4th quarter. The Kings matched the Lakers 52.2% with their 51.1 but it was the three (and rebounds) that may have been the chief reason for the win. Remember JJ Redick claiming he wasn’t worried about the Lakers poor shooting from three? He claimed they were taking good shots but just missing. That was not the case against the Kings as the Lakers shot a sizzling 41.2% from three.

As a card-carrying member of Laker Nation I’m asking the question most of you are asking…who are these guys? Can they continue to play at this level throughout the season, only time will tell. LeBron led the way with his umpteenth triple-double (32 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists), AD was right behind him in points with 31. This was AD’s third consecutive game with 30+ points. Reaves chipped in with 6 assist while Russell totaled 5. There are no Bronny headlines as most are aware he is on his way to the G-League after their road trip. This planned move will allow Bronny adequate playing time and adjustment to play at this level. He is far too raw to be tossed into the cauldron of fire of the NBA.

Take my money…please!

The battle regarding ownership of the Wolves continues, owner Glen Taylor has taken his team off the market. The Wolves had been placed on the market and an agreement was supposed to have been arranged between Taylor, A-Rod and Lore. Later Taylor claimed the partners had voided the sale due to non-payment of a portion due. The parties have been fighting for several months now, the latest report. The partners claim they have $904 million in the bank which they are prepared to pay Taylor although he claims he doesn’t want it.

How will this impasse be resolved, that is unclear at this point however I did uncover a piece of information I was unaware. At least 23 of the 30 Board of Governors must vote in favor of the sale for it to become official. The assumption is Taylor would receive the funds promised to him as a condition of the sale. We are only privy to a portion of the series of occurrences but this is really a strange one. This is in the realm of “how the heck did this occur?” It’s a case of (A-Rod & Lore) saying “take my money please,” the other guy (Taylor) is saying “thanks but I don’t want it. You didn’t fulfill our original agreement.” I will continue to follow this bizarre effort to purchase the Wolves and keep you apprised.

Bits n Pieces of Information

This is a question rather than bits n pieces of information sharing, on the other hand maybe some of you already have the answer, I don’t. Celtic fans please tell me how come the correct pronunciation phonetically is “Keltic” yet the name of Boston’s NBA team is pronounced “Sel-tick.” This is a question inquiring minds want to know why.  

I was checking the Lakers roster for a members stats, there it was. Christian Koloko 7 foot and 230 pounds, an ESPN headline proclaimed he wouldn’t play in the Friday game against the Suns. We read Koloko had to be medically cleared but that was weeks ago now. Him not playing is not going to make a difference whether the team is able to compete effectively but why is it taking so long to clear him. I read a trio of doctors are required to say yes or no. A doctor representing the Lakers, the NBA and Players Association must clear him to play. 

Kansas City…home of the nation’s sports architects

Recently you read of the decision by Oklahoma City interests to hire Mancia architects of Kansas City design the replacement arena for the Paycom Center present home of the Thunder. Mancia is just one of quite a number sports architect firms headquartered in my hometown of Kansas City. I must advise you this is actually an update to a similar post made last year but much more extensive.

The investigation which follows surprised even me although I was aware of a portion. I didn’t realize it before beginning this I would discover more than half (17) of the 30 NBA franchises arenas were designed outright or co-designed by Kansas City based firms. In addition there are others not connected to an NBA franchise which were conceived here, they are the T-Mobile Arena Las Vegas, T-Mobile Center Kansas City, Mizzou Arena Columbia Missouri and possibly others not listed, below is the list:

State Farm-Atlanta

Capital One-Washington D.C.

TD Garden-Boston

Ball Arena-Denver

United Center-Chicago

Fiserv Forum-Milwaukee

Gainbridge Fieldhouse-Indianapolis

Little Caesars-Detroit

Toyota Center-Houston

Kia Center-Orlando

Frost Bank-San Antonio

Chase Center-San Francisco

FedEx Forum-Memphis

Footprint Arena-Phoenix

Spectrum Center-Charlotte

Moda Center-Portland

Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse-Cleveland