Basketball from a fans perspective

Published daily except Tuesdays & Thursdays

Win at home, steal one or two on the road

We can argue which basketball conference is the strongest in the nation, I maintain its SEC men. there are members of the media who cover college basketball claim a 9-9 conference record could lead a team to an NCAA invite. That says a team wins all its home games and steals one or two victories on the road. Mizzou must now go on the road to play Florida on Tuesday, then it’s Arkansas at home followed by a trip to Austin to play Texas. As for the business at hand Mizzou defeated Vanderbilt 75-66 yesterday.

At the end of the day the teams had identical records, 13 wins versus 3 losses. Any SEC game, especially this season, is going to be an MMA match as this one was. Again rebounding was a bright spot for me once again as the Tigers outrebounded the Commodores 33 to 29. The one area I believe could have been better is shooting from the line, the Tigers were only 68% as a team. Mark Mitchell led the team in scoring with 19 points, assisting him was Anthony Robinson (15 pts) and Caleb Grill (13). Based on play of last season Mizzou Nation is already a winner.

Tell me what you know, not what you think

The headline might appear to be double-talk but that is not the case. The explanation in brief is this, former NBA player Gilbert Arenas claimed in his podcast Duke’s “Cooper Flagg didn’t look like the first pick in the 2025 draft.” I questioned his statement and will continue to do so because the view of Flagg is based on what he thinks rather than what he knows. Flagg does a bunch of things on the basketball court he appears fundamentally sound. Where did we hear that term, it was Shaq the first to tag former Spurs forward Tim Duncan “Mr. Fundamental.” Duncan was not flashy on the basketball court but managed to get the job done, if the tag were hung on Flagg would it be a terrible thing?

This from ESPN’s Seth Greenberg a former coach. “He (Flagg) impacts winning, it’s plain and simple. Everyone wants one of those Zion Williamson viral moments. He’s not all about viral moments. He’s about winning, he’s about making winning plays…The guy understands what it takes to put his team in position to win…Points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, he impacts winning.” This from ESPN’s draft guru Jonathan Givony: “Cooper Flagg has been just as good as advertised, maintaining his spot at No. 1 on our board. He’s hit his stride in a major way recently, making shots more consistently while showing off his passing, finishing, defensive versatility, intensity, and feel for the game.” I stated this yesterday and will repeat it again, Gilbert Arenas is certainly entitled to communicate his belief. Based on what you just read there might be others with the position Arenas takes regarding Flagg. NOTE: Flagg had a monster game in the win against Notre Dame, 42 pts (11/14 FG), 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 3PT.

Scary NBA teams

As the new year has begun I’d like to check a few what I title scary teams. This is no Jason Voorhees or Freddy Kruger type of scary however opposing NBA teams don’t look forward to seeing them. It should be noted that the Celtics, Nuggets, Wolves and Lakers and others are not included in this account. The teams I see are rising to the next level, for obvious reasons the Cavs are the first team mentioned in this brief look. Spida and company appear ready to contend for a championship in the Lake Erie city, next up the Thunder. I can start and stop with SGA, a prime contender for MVP as he leads this team.

We now head south to Florida and the Magic, this team has key members missing due to injury but as this writing they remain contenders. The Pistons of Detroit are .500 but appear ready to turned the corner soon…this season maybe. The Grizzlies and Rockets look tough and preparing to rise to the next level. I’m including the Spurs for one reason alone, Wemby. Keep this in mind in the current standings there are several teams two maybe three rungs above those I’ve named. The chief key for each of these teams is to remain injury free the balance of the season. There you have my list, did I miss any you believe should have been included.

Youth will be served

I didn’t bother with checking the number, it’s my belief the two best teams in the NBA are the Cavs and Thunder. Hopefully, Celtic fans will not be offended by this account, it’s a focus on youth. For the Thunder SGA is clearly the leader of this youthful team, this veteran is 26-years old. As for the Cavs that responsibility lies with 28 year old Donovan Mitchell. Both teams (not the defending champion Celtics) have the best won-loss record in the NBA as of Jan 10.

As for the rosters of these teams, both contain two members over the age of 30 years. Leading the Cavs is Kenny Atkinson, remember him? As head coach of the Nets he’d stepped down in 2020 after 4 years of subpar play by his team. Did Atkinson use the experience of this in leading the Cavs, on the other hand perhaps the personnel of this Cavs team is simply better? Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault was an unknown to most of us. He led the Thunder G-League team before becoming an assistant and then was hired as Thunder head coach in 2020. Living in Kansas City my cable system allows me to view Thunder games more than the Cavs. My observation of the Thunder is in addition to offense they play outstanding defense, I would speculate the same set of circumstances exist for the Cavs.

Finally we arrive at the front office of each of these organizations. More and more I see the value of a cohesive front office relationship between GM, scouting and the head coach. It’s difficult to see this operation from a fan’s perspective but believe it to be represented by the success thus far on the court. In conclusion we have Eastern Conference powerhouse (Cavs) and Western Conference Thunder, could they face one another for the NBA Championship? This is January we are far too early in the season to make that determination…check back in the May-June time.