Basketball from a fans perspective

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He’s not the only one 

Unless you’ve been on the moon or hibernating in a cave more than likely you are familiar with the name Cooper Flagg. Virtually every NBA mock draft site places Duke freshman Flagg as the presumptive number one NBA draft pick in 2025, of course that won’t be confirmed until June 2025. But wait there is more, Flagg might have additional Duke company in the first round. Not only first round but they too might be lottery picks as well, just who are the other potential lottery picks?

There is Kon Knueppel a 6 foot 6 (198.120 cm) 205 pounds (92.986 kg) wing, Knueppel is also a freshman. One additional freshman might be a lottery pick as well, his name Khaman Maluach and he’s a 7 foot 1 (215.89 cm) 250 pound (113.39 cm) post player. This is written in late November none of the three have played a complete season for Duke. In addition Knueppel and or Maluach might decide in favor of returning to Duke over the NBA. As you can see Duke basketball is more than Cooper Flagg for the 2024-25 season college season.  

How good are they…I don’t know

By the time you read this the Lakers will either be 10-4 record or 9-5, they have a 6 game winning streak or have won 5 of 6. Maybe it’s just me that I always attempt to approach play of any team with optimism. The NFL Chiefs are not going to be undefeated however they could still win the Super Bowl again thus a 3-peat. As for my Lakers I was underwhelmed with the hire of JJ Redick, I said on more than one occasion UConn coach Dan Hurley was my choice. I took this view despite the fact Hurley had 0 NBA experience and the fact college coaches have performed poorly in the NBA. In any event I said let’s see how this experiment with Redick works out. As the calendar moves toward December the Lakers are playing inspired basketball, is it due to the coaching change?

Depth, the team needs a post player to move AD back to his natural position. If they are unable to secure a player will that impact play the balance of the season and into a possible playoff run? I really like what LeBron is doing so far, deferring his game to AD, Reaves, Knecht and others on the roster. There is an AARP card waiting for the 40 year old LeBron James in the Lakers mail room, how long can he play as if he’s a 30 year old instead of 40? Christian Wood sidelined due to surgery, from his comments it appears Wood is ready to prove last season was an anomaly. That gives Laker fans hope Wood plays in the same manner he did as a member of the Mavs. Can Jaxson Hayes and Christian Koloko share the post effectively to negate a trade? I have 1,001 questions regarding this Laker version, most of the answers will not be available until the end of the season playoff or not.

Trivia

In NBA history there have been two players win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. I will give you a hint, don’t CHEAT. One played for the Baltimore Bullets while the other was a member of the Philadelphia Warriors. The Bullets have morphed into the Washington Wizards and the Warriors moved to San Francisco quite a while ago. This event occurred twice in the ABA and both players later played in the NBA, both of them are now enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame. How good are you at basketball trivia especially back in the day? Below are the names, its up to you to decipher them.

tliw nialrebmahc     sew dlesuu

sitra eromlig      recneps doowyah

Don’t make my mistake

A number of years ago a friend who I value as a trusted basketball savant made a statement to me. Neil said, “You need to see __________, I think he’s going to be a good NBA player.” I said thanks I’ll check him out, a few weeks later I saw this player in action and thought “He’s not that good.” Needless to say this player was later drafted and had a decent NBA career. I don’t remember the players name but this one I do. He is Anthony Edwards, Ant Man of the Wolves and this is my confession. I’d never seen him play although his reputation preceded him.

Mizzou was playing Georgia on their home court, Ant Man scored 20 plus points in a losing effort but seemed to take a greater than usual number of shots. I said to myself, “I’m not that impressed” and this the warning to former NBA player and podcaster host Gilbert Arenas. You have more basketball behind you than me but don’t make the same mistake I did, don’t be so quick to pass judgement. Arenas was assessing the potential of Duke’s Cooper Flagg and indicated he wasn’t to impressed. Arenas is talking about a 17-year old indicating to his listeners the youngster should be playing like a 30-year old NBA veteran. This will be the last time you read the name Gilbert Arenas in this blog.

Is the term still valid

Recently while reading an account of college basketball I came across the term “Blue Blood.” The term when applied to basketball applied to 5 or 6 teams which seem to dominate the sport. I focused on the term for a moment, is it valid in 2024 and beyond? The statement is made due to the changed basketball landscape. If we look back a decade or so ago if one utilized the term they were speaking of a handful of programs.

 We could expect to see Kentucky listed, Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA and Indiana are the schools considered Blue Blood basketball programs. The advent of Name, Image and Likeness plus the transfer portal have impacted college basketball all around that would argue do Blue Blood programs still exist. Once the NCAA tournament commenced each spring these teams were usually in the forefront although they might not be winners every season. If we are discussing the tournament we’ve seen Baylor and especially UConn come to the forefront in recent times. The term might still exist I’m just unsure if its valid any longer with the changes in today’s college basketball.