Basketball from a fans perspective

Published Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday

Your friends and associates

On occasion I ask you to contact your friends and associates with this information. If they enjoy reading about basketball from a fan’s perspective then Off the Dribble is for them. I admit there is bias on my part, I love Mizzou basketball…the same for the Lakers. Despite the statement there are a large number of players, events and historical information I attempt to impart to the reader. Off the Dribble has been a labor of love for a number of years by me. Writing is not my daily occupation however its easy for me to put pen to paper about basketball for a variety of reasons. Tell your friends, neighbors and whoever loves the game at its various levels this blog might be of interest for them.

The complaints

There are two complaints we read or hear every couple of days or so, we speak of those involving Spurs center Victor Wembanyama’s game. They are A. He needs to gain weight (237 pounds) or B. He needs an inside game. The Sunday evening game was not telecast on any of the sports channels and I don’t have NBA League Pass. The following numbers are compiled from the box score in the Spurs 121-115 victory over the Kings.

This is his output, Wemby scored 34 points on 64.7% shooting from the floor on 55.6% of it from behind the three line. He also added 13 rebounds and 10 assists, the only downside was his 78% shooting from the free throw line, it becomes the third triple-double for the 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year. As for the complaints or criticisms maybe he will maybe he won’t, i.e., gain weight or develop an inside game. Wemby appears to be doing okay for himself in his second NBA season, is he on the way to superstar level? That view is yet to be determined however he sure seems to be on his way.

Why

Whatever it takes to improve the Lakers I will entertain it, as for the other. It seems on a daily basis feeds arrive on my iPhone with various players the Lakers could acquire. I’m all in on any trade except when they don’t make sense. I’m unsure the length of Paul George’s contract however as a free agent he could sign with the Lakers. Those kind of moves are never going to occur however there are others the Lakers have been noted as trading partners.

A trade with any Eastern Conference team could occur but if it involved a Western Conference team it ain’t happening for obvious reasons. Example recently a proposal came across my desk with a suggested trade between the Kings and Lakers…I didn’t bother reading it because it’s never going to happen. There’s not a single team willing to make a trade to a team that could be considered a rival for a playoff berth. Not only are both the teams in the same conference the Kings and Lakers are in the Pacific Division. Next time you read of a trade proposal check from the perspective of both sides, does it even make sense?

They could have retired

Where is it written that a worker must retire at a specific age? In the instance of the names I’m about to reveal, love of the game of basketball is the power behind their labor. These are not in any order just as they come to me, we begin with Dick Vitale. The veteran ESPN analyst has been sidelined due to health issues, it is unclear if he will resume duties behind the mic this season, he turned 85 last June. Continuing in the broadcast field we have Bill Raftery who had birthday number 81 last April. Rafe is also a broadcast analyst, he’s worked the college game for CBS Sports and is now working for Fox Sports 1.

Also in the role of analyzing the game but for NBA audiences we have Hubie Brown. Brown is the eldest of the bunch turning 91 years of age last month. This was written prior to the announcement that this would be his last broadcast season. If we turn to coaching there is 76 year old Leonard Hamilton head coach at Florida State, heading the basketball program at LaSalle is Fran Dunphy who is 75 years old. At Miami (FL) is 74 year old Jim Larranaga who continues to turn out winning teams. Without a great deal of research these are the names that come to mind, I’m sure there are others I probably overlooked. In closing I ask the question again, must you retire once you receive a certain age in number?

I’m am going to yell loudly….

If I hear one more person indicate to me Cooper Flagg ain’t all that. By the time this is read Flagg will have played an unspecified number of games at the college level, he’s yet to play a full season of basketball at this level. In addition I’d like to point out that he’s only 17 years old. I’m not going to mislead you rest assured there are parts of Flagg’s game he needs to improve if he intends to play in the NBA next season. The leap from college to the NBA always requires adjustment and he no different from other prospects.

With that out of the way allow me to say this up front, I wonder where all the naysayers come from. Are these the same folks that questioned the ability of Victor Wembanyama last season, I wonder how that turned out. Flagg has enough talent for the NBA, and if he eventually becomes an All Pro player is certainly an unknown factor at this point. Are those questioning the ability of Flagg simply attempting clicks or do they honestly believe the words coming out of their mouths? Maybe he can’t play but please allow him time to prove he can’t, thank you very much.