Basketball from a fans perspective

Published daily except Tuesdays & Thursdays

The Alien vs The Joker

I mentioned this previously, there is no NBA League Pass for me. I don’t live in San Antonio nor Denver so I was unable to see the game or attend it. In addition I don’t remember a match between Wemby and the Joker previously although Friday night there was. Imagine my surprise on discovering the Spurs had bested the Nuggets 113-110, even more interesting the game was played in Denver. This is a box score and highlight report only but boy it must have been outstanding. The Joker almost registered another triple-double, 41 points 18 rebounds and 9 assists.

For Wemby it was 35 points 18 rebounds and 4 assists. Both Big Men were bombing away from distance however Wemby was much better shooting 66.7% from three while Joker was only 30%. I do have NBA TV available to me, hopefully they will broadcast the game later today. This from ESPN’s NBA page, “I think he’s better this year than last year, and I think he’s going to get even better,” Jokic said of Wembanyama. “I think he’s a special player. I think he's one of a kind and is going to be remembered forever.” And this from Wemby, “Multiple-time MVP, soon to be MVP again,” he said of Jokic. “Can’t ask for a better way to get better.” As you can see The Alien and The Joker have a mutual admiration for one another. 

“Someone had to lose”

The Knicks arrived in OKC with a 9-game winning streak, the Thunder had won 13 in a row. As you can see by the headline “Someone had to lose,” and it turned out to be the Knicks. The final score read 117-107 but in between fans in the arena and on television were treated to playoff basketball in a seasonal game. SGA led the way for the Thunder with 33 points and 7 assists but there was plenty of help from his teammates. Aaron Williams came off the bench scoring 19 points along with 5 rebounds, there was Jalen Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein with a 14 rebound 7 assist game.

As for the Knicks all five starters scored in double figures led by Mikal Bridges and his 24 points. Then we had Karl-Anthony Towns along with Josh Hart score 17 and 22 points, respectively. If we look specifically at the shooting it provides us the clear cut reason the basis for the Thunder win. As a team they shot 51.2% with 51.9% coming from three. The NBA season is long plus the travel, it would figure there are nights fans might not see the maximum effort from teams. Anyone viewing this game in the arena or at home certainly couldn’t make that statement. We saw two heavyweight teams battle one another as I indicated earlier “playoff style basketball.”

I dreaded the game

This is a short report for one reason alone, Mizzou opened the SEC race with a journey to Auburn Alabama, I dreaded the game. Although it’s my belief this Mizzou version is better than last season facing Auburn would be a monumental task. Auburn is ranked second in the nation in practically any poll you can locate, the KenPom has them ranked number one. When the match was over the Auburn Tigers beat my Mizzou Tigers 84-68.

How did the other guys accomplish the win, outshooting the good guys from the field including the three line. One of my chief complaints regarding Mizzou was being outrebounded, not in this game, that didn’t occur as they beat the other Tigers off the boards 31-29. A little better shooting and continuing to rebound a respectable number and we have the formula for winning basketball. Enough of that, looking ahead Mizzou faces LSU on Tuesday of this upcoming week, that is followed by Vanderbilt on Saturday.

Journeyman

Once upon a time the headline above referenced an athlete who managed to play for multiple teams. Generally the player in question filled a role but was not considered a valuable member of the team. The term journeyman has changed since the days of Bill Russell, Bob Cousy and others who managed to play their long NBA careers for a single team. More recently we saw Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant and John Stockton play for the Mavs, Lakers and Jazz throughout their time in the NBA.

That one team rule no longer applies, is it free agency or something else that’s brought about the change. The main culprit must be free agency although players can (and do) demand a trade. What is most interesting at this time journeyman might reflect the names of several future members of the hall of fame. Already Shaquille O’Neal (6 teams) been enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame. Dennis Rodman is also in the hall, his resume includes 5 NBA teams. In the future we’ll see Kevin Durant and perhaps Russell Westbrook in Springfield as well.

The Suns become Durant’s 4th NBA team while the Nuggets are team number 6 for Westbrook. His former teammate James Harden could be added, the 2018 NBA MVP is working for his 5 team. Is the term journeyman appropriate in the age of free agency and forced trades? I cannot answer the question however I say again other than trades…why do some players manage to earn a paycheck from so many teams?