Basketball from a fans perspective

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Obviously, they are not going to trade him!

I guess it could be the Lakers, maybe Los Angeles or something else. It seems once a week I read the name of Austin Reaves mentioned in a proposed trade. The Lakers will not compete for an NBA Championship in the 2024-25 season, based on that fact alone why is Reaves at 26 years old even being mentioned. Don’t misunderstand my statement, if Wemby or his equivalent is headed to the Lakers that would be okay.

It appears that would not be the case, Reaves might not be an All Star but to borrow from Arenas below, he is an outstanding complimentary player. He will not wow you however he appears to do all the little things well. I thought facing the Kings they would be on a mission, perhaps they were however their win was curtailed thanks mostly to Austin Reaves. Is Reaves a great defender, let’s say he’s slightly above average but the offense. With no LeBron in the lineup he stepped up big time, 26 points along with 6 rebounds and 16 assists. I have said to all within earshot the Lakers need to play youngsters, in addition to Reaves we see Max Christie (age 21) inserted in the starting lineup.

Although he’s returned to a reserve role rookie Dalton Knecht (age 23) continues to demonstrate his ascending capability. I’m sure many in Laker Nation would be displeased if they believed the Lakers were tanking the season. Far from it, I believe (or hope), JJ Redick is attempting to look toward the future when there is no more LeBron. NOTE: As this account was being completed came word D’Angelo Russell was traded to the Nets, Reaves is now the Lakers starter at point guard.

Bits n Pieces of information

Several reading yesterday’s projection for the Big XII race were upset. Not at me I hope, as the headline indicates I was only providing information KemPom projected. I’ve not seen Houston or Iowa State play thus far this season, I have seen Kansas play and more than one occasion. I’ve seen victories and I saw the two defeats against Creighton and Mizzou. On a personal note I can’t say yes or no on Kansas basketball, the school has one of the premier coaches in the nation in Bill Self. Beyond him is an unknown, do these baby Jayhawks have enough shooting, defense and other stuff to fight for the Big XII crown?

As the major portion of Monday’s edition was being completed came word D’Lo had been traded. His name has been mentioned in trade talk as much as Reaves. D’Lo heads east to play for the Nets his second time with them, in his place the Lakers receive PF Dorian Finney-Smith and SG Shake Milton. On the surface this would appear a beneficial trade for the Nets and Lakers…of course we must wait for verification of this matter. I must place this as depth chart trade, I’m not familiar with either player. Neither player arrives prepared to contend for a starters role with the Lakers. As for the Nets the difference in my view D’Lo could become a starter, the roster notes only Ben Simmons at the position.

I missed reporting two human interest story’s involving basketball. The first story the death of longtime broadcaster Greg Gumbel. His national renown began first with ESPN, later it would be CBS and briefly NBC. He returned to CBS and was behind the desk during college basketball and we all remember him during much of March Madness. Gumbel was always insightful without much of the perfunctory we see with many sitting behind broadcast desks today. We’ll miss him and his reporting R.I.P. Greg Gumbel. Earlier I’d written about those old enough to retire but still active, that was Jim Larranaga. Larranaga turned 75 in October but his age wasn’t the issue. He been head basketball coach at Miami (FL) since 2011 and a successful one, he leaves the game with 274 wins versus 174 losses. Larranaga steps down after leading Miami to the Final Four two years ago. It’s being reported NIL had impacted his coaching effort, goodbye Jim Larranaga we’ll miss you.

Maybe they are guilty too

Mizzou is sometimes an afterthought by local KC sports media. I was discussing the issue with a friend and he pointed out a fact I overlooked. At the time Mizzou was a member of the Big XII their basketball was on local television. Once they moved to the SEC all that change, don’t misunderstand they remain on television but not as much as previously. In addition at the time Mizzou left the Big XII was still a regional conference, KC fans were accustomed to hearing Iowa State, Oklahoma or later Texas being discussed.

Even now all these years later perhaps many in the metro have difficulty hearing about Florida due to its distance versus KU 50 miles down the highway. This is not a case of “crying over spilled milk” the move Mizzou made to the SEC was strictly a money decision, the last time I checked it remains beneficial. With the ever expanding Big XII (16 teams & counting) Conference might even might KU eventually face the same issue of Mizzou? Of course that is speculation on my part, the purpose of this exercise was an attempt to explain the way of local sports media. You know who you are, thanks for providing much of the direction of this account.