Basketball from a fans perspective

It was a cerebral game

After I witnessed Alabama totally destroy BYU on Thursday 113-88 I didn’t know what to expect facing Duke. Mark Sears was en Fuego in the game sinking 10 3-point baskets. Cooper Flagg had to play his best game against Duke but he didn’t, Bama’s defense on him plus missing shots he scored but 10 points in the first half of the game. I think they might have believed “We gonna out athletic (if there is such a word) you Duke.” Well it didn’t turn out that way as Duke was a winner 85-65, they had a height advantage over Alabama but it was more than that. We witnessed a cerebral game played by Duke over a more athletic Alabama team. Although Flagg’s shot was off (16 pts, 6-16 shooting) he managed to pull down 9 rebounds and dish out 3 assists.

His teammates stepped up big time in leading to the victory over the Crimson Tide. Khaman Maluach scored 14 points and 9 rebounds plus 2 blocked shots, he was an intimidating factor around the basket, there is no method to determine how many Alabama misses occurred because shots were altered. Kon Knueppel led the way scoring 21 points and defending well, the same could be said regarding Tyrese Proctor with 17 points. It seemed to me every sub from Jon Scheyer’s team came into the game fully aware of their area of responsibility. As for Sears of Alabama, it was 6 points on 2-12 from the floor and 1-5 from three. It seemed whenever Alabama would make a run at reducing the lead Duke would score on the other end. Whoever winds up playing Duke should prepare themselves, they are not going to out athletic (that word again) Duke. Sometimes this game must be played cerebrally which teams are sometimes unable to accomplish.

There are bumps in the road

This is the time of the season NBA teams should be playing their best basketball. Unfortunately, that is not the case for the Lakers. By this time of the season every NBA team is dealing with injuries of some sort and the Lakers are no exception. One of the issues I believe we might fail to see, just returning to the lineup fails to say a player is NBA ready. If that appears to be an excuse those of you wishing to make it such that’s okay.

After the heartbreaking loss to the Bulls on a half-court shot the Lakers were able to beat the Grizzlies on Saturday night. This would be the first game for the Grizzlies since head coach Taylor Jenkins was fired. The Lakers got off to a fast start and were able to sustain it for a period of the game. The final score read Lakers 134 Grizzlies 127, as usual the trio of LeBron, Luka and Reaves led the way. It was 25 points 6 rebounds and 8 assists for LeBron, as for Luka he scored 29 points and 9 assists. The leader was guard Austin Reaves with his 31 points 7 rebounds and 8 assists. Have the Lakers returned to the winning formula from a few weeks back, that is certainly yet to be determined. Interesting the Bulls appear to have the Lakers number but have failed to do the same with the balance of the NBA.

Meanwhile….

There have been more than a few really bad basketball movies, the absolute worst is the 1985 comedy Teen Wolf. How about the best all time, recently one was profiled here Hoosiers with Gene Hackman. Also I must include White Men Can’t Jump with Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. I liked Samuel L. Jackson as Coach Carter, also in my list is Blue Chips starring Nick Nolte with Shaq, Penny and others. Glory Road for the story it told of the 1966 Texas Western team, it starred Josh Lucas. Hurricane Season with Forrest Whittaker. I’ve seen several documentary’s but they were not included for this reason. Each of the movies listed contained real life basketball players or the on court scenes were outstanding nothing like those of an earlier era.  

Is there a requirement for an NBA face, we’ve discussed this issue in the past. With the pending retirement of LeBron James and Steph Curry someone needs to step forward to become the face of the NBA. The issue apparently is reluctance by players such as Ant Man to take on that role. My question for you, can’t the NBA survive without having someone be its so called leader? In Michael Jordan’s day the media was there but nothing like today, in addition we toss in the social media part of the equation and it might become overwhelming for some. I have an opinion, you might not agree with it but that’s okay. There is 0 requirement in my view for any player to become the face of the NBA, the league can survive without one.  

Ethan Taylor is near the end of his junior year at Shawnee Mission NW High School in the Kansas City suburb of Shawnee. He’s been awarded 4-stars by Rivals and is number 28 in the Class of 2026. On3 also awards 4-stars and a number 55 ranking while 247Sports has 4-stars and number 66 on their list. Taylor is a post player who stands 7 foot 1 and 245 pounds. Among the number of schools with scholarship offers are Missouri State, Purdue, Tennessee, Kansas, Oklahoma and University of MO-Kansas City and Mizzou.

With weeks remaining in the NBA season several teams have been eliminated from playoff contention. Quiet, I heard that, you claim some were eliminated on the date the 2024-25 NBA season began. In any event teams no longer in contention for a playoff berth are the Pelicans, Jazz, Wizards and Hornets. There are other teams who are likely to be eliminated as well. With that at least we have the beginnings of the NBA Lottery with those teams just named, others will likely be added over the next two weeks. We can begin the speculation who wins the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes.