Basketball from a fans perspective

Published Tuesday, Thursday plus Saturday & Sunday 

“Win or go home”

The title above is often heard during the NCAA Tournament, I decided to borrow it for this purpose. Of course you realize the NBA Playoffs are far different from the NCAA Tournament, first to win four games is declared the winner however that’s only the beginning. A series win moves the participants to the next round, a win there the next round. At the end will remain two teams, one representing the Western Conference and the other the Eastern Conference, they will battle for the NBA Championship.

Do you have a favorite, I certainly do however I must keep my fingers crossed hoping they are able to do what might seem nearly impossible. In the west the Thunder are considered the favorites, meanwhile the defending champion Celtics are chosen here. Are there one or two surprises in the playoffs…of course but it is far too early for that type of prediction, we must wait for actual play to begin. There are no real losers, those who saw their teams lose are likely headed to a beach at Cancun to drink adult beverages, as for the others they are likely deep sea fishing somewhere off the Florida Keys. By now you are fully aware of the winners and losers on Saturday, keep in mind it’s only the opening round, there is much more basketball to be played.    

Game 1 Apr 20 Miami at Cleveland 7 p.m. Central

Game 1 Apr 20 Orlando at Boston 3:30 p.m. Central

Game 1 Apr 20 Memphis at Oklahoma City 1:00 p.m. Central

Game 1 Apr 20 Golden State at Houston 9:30 p.m. Central

He said it, not me 

Three former NBA players all in the Hall of Fame have provided us their assessment of Victor Wembanyama excluding his recent medical condition. Hakeem Olajuwon, who led the Rockets twice to NBA Championships recently met Wemby during the NCAA Championship. He was nicknamed The Dream strictly because it rhymed with his first name, his skill set contained a wealth of innumerable post moves around the basket. He claimed this came about growing up in Nigeria playing soccer (football). In any event The Dream indicated Wemby was very approachable as they discussed his recent medical condition. This is the portion that stood out most for me in what I read. “Wemby told him he wanted to train with Hakeem, but the Dream believes Wemby already has everything and more when it comes to skills.”

My question for you reading this, who do you trust to be more accurate in their assessment of Wemby’s play, those voiced by Hakeem Olajuwon or the duo of Shaquille O’ Neal and Charles Barkley? In fairness to O’ Neal and Barkley neither ever made the claim Wemby wasn’t talented. Both went on the record indicating he should gain weight and develop a low post game. My question for both of them why is it necessary to do either if he continues to shoot accurately from distance with a decent percentage? In addition low post center play has all but disappeared from today’s NBA. Finally this interesting observation, *“His hopes that the San Antonio Spurs would draft him so he can get to play with Wembanyama. I think Victor is just ridiculous; the things he does are just crazy.” Dybantsa told Brian Windhorst. “I just think we would’ve been a crazy duo.” At this point we believe AJ Dybansta has an NBA game but that won’t be determined until fall when he begins play at BYU.

*ESPN

Rookie of the Year?

I have an opportunity to change this, it’s written weeks ahead of an official announcement. This is not to guarantee Stephon Castle wins 2025 NBA Rookie of the Year, it’s 80% probable. It’s interesting that he is almost certain to be given that honor despite being the 4th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. I’m sure Spurs management was excited with the opportunity to add an NCAA Championship player to their roster. Early on Castle fell behind several other rookie candidates as he adjusted his game to the NBA. Although the Spurs are still a work in progress he was aided in his adjustment by veterans Chris Paul, Harrison Barnes and second year player Victor Wembanyama.

Although Wemby missed much of the latter half of the season Castle’s skill and acclimation to the Spurs and the NBA grew. His season ending numbers while not spectacular clearly indicate his growth and adjustment. At 6 foot 6 and 215 pounds this combo guard scored nearly 15 points and 4 assists plus 44% shooting from the floor. Although the numbers might not jump off the page they detail solid guard play whether we are discussing point or shooting guard. Matched with a maturing Wemby plus additional pieces the Spurs are primed for a return to become one of the NBA’s elite teams again. Don’t you find it interesting that the Spurs will likely have a player named Rookie of the Year two successive years, of course in 2024 it was Wemby, 2025 it most likely will be Castle.

Who is the best currently

If I asked you to provide me the name of the best men’s basketball coach who would you name? Would it be Rick Pitino who resurrected St. John’s basketball after his arrival? How about longtime coach Kelvin Sampson, Houston was said to be a mid-major program yet the Cougars have won the first two regular season championships after beginning play in the Big XII. His most recent team lost the NCAA championship by a glaring turnover that cost them the game. John Calipari left Kentucky for Arkansas and never missed a beat, his Razorbacks competed. Rick Barnes was a winner at Texas but they drove him out, he’s been a consistent winner at Tennessee.

Bill Self has two NCAA Championships under his belt, despite what some might consider a down year his Jayhawks still earned an invite. Mentioning two NCAA Championships how about Mr. Volatile, Dan Hurley at UConn. I’m going to include Bruce Pearl in our count simply because he wins at every stop. Also let’s add Doug McDermott who’s been at the helm successfully at Creighton for a number of years. Brad Underwood had two losing seasons at Illinois when he took over the program, since then his teams always earn an NCAA invite. Did I leave someone off this list in your opinion? I must admit to you this was done from memory and it is certainly possible I omitted a name or two. What about adding your names and subtracting one or two of mine?

Meanwhile….

We are in the middle of April and the Luka Doncic trade to the Lakers remains a hot topic in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro. This news is from Dallas however it doesn’t have anything to do with Luka, it’s regarding a new arena. Rick Welts CEO of the Mavs says; “The plan is to build a new arena by 2032, we are looking to keep the team in Dallas before searching for alternative locations.” If they decide to move out of Dallas the City of Irving has been listed as a possible location for this planned arena. The Mavs currently play in American Airlines Center which opened in 2001. Despite the fact of its age there are 14 arenas much older, I didn’t include Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia in the count because plans are in the works to replace it. As additional news occurs I will attempt to track developments and provide postings.

Sometimes when a team struggles it can be attributed to the assembled personnel on hand. That might be partially true in the case of the Kings but there is quite a bit more I see from my Man-Cave in Kansas City. On Wednesday evening they were eliminated by the Mavs 120-106 on their home court. They were being coach by interim coach Doug Christe who replaced the fired Mike Brown, you remember Brown don’t you? He was the guy who led the team into the playoffs after a 16 year drought. Also gone after the play-in loss GM Monte McNair, assistant GM Wes Wilcox left three weeks ago to take another job. The Kings can count 13 head coaches since the 2006-07 season, that can’t be all bad hires can it? The finger of blame can be pointed directly at owner Vivek Ranadive, if not him then who?

Results on the court are the actual proof of success or lack thereof. Anytime I write something about the Lakers or Mizzou you probably contend there might be bias in what I write…it could be so on occasion this is the other guy. It’s 247Sports and how they rank Missouri in the transfer portal and high school recruiting for the fall of 2025. In the transfer portal they are 41 in the nation and 51 in recruiting. With over 300 Division I programs that places Missouri basketball in the upper portion of the nations schools in transfers and high school recruiting. That provides proof coach Gates and staff are continuing the work of securing talent for Missouri. You are aware of the balance of this story, what looks good on paper sometimes fails reality.