Basketball from a fans perspective

Published Tuesday, Thursday plus Saturday & Sunday 

He said it

I don’t have the exact words however it occurred, the IT was Cooper Flagg declaring for the 2025 NBA Draft. There may have been a few who believed the talk about him returning to school for his sophomore season. As for me I figured it was 80% he declared for the draft and 20% he remained at Duke, so what is the next step? It’s highly unlikely he displays his skill on the court for any NBA team, even one that might be in the lottery. That’s a far too sizeable risk to injury so don’t expect that to happen.

This I could see although only his family and coach might be privy to this bit of information. Once lottery positions are determined May 12 he might huddle with those mentioned to decide which team would be the best fit for him. I held a conversation this past Sunday with a couple of basketball fans, this was the general impression of Flagg. He will not wow you with any aspects of his game, Flagg will score baskets, snatch a key rebound or dish out an assist to a teammate. He’s not athletic although he manages to accomplish the task at hand on the basketball court. He could be the next Larry Bird, after all Bird arrived in the NBA as a player with limited athletic skills and look what he was able to accomplish.

Everyone has a plan….

I would like to begin this with a quote from former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson: "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." This metaphor aptly describes the game between the Wolves and the Lakers on Saturday night, which ended with a final score of 117-97 in favor of the Wolves. Initially, the Lakers performed well and led after the first quarter 28-21. However, the second quarter proved decisive as the Wolves outscored the Lakers 38-20, effectively taking control of the game.

At the 9:57 mark of the second quarter, the Wolves secured the lead and maintained it throughout the balance of the match. I believe the Lakers might have whittled the lead to 11 at a point but that was about it. An impressive 54% shooting accuracy from three-point range, the Wolves demonstrated exceptional performance in this game. Luka was the sole standout player for the Lakers, whose efforts were not enough to overcome the deficit. Magic Johnson expressed his criticism of this loss, which is understandable given the circumstances. The Lakers must win the game tonight or will dig themselves into an even bigger hole.       

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 nation’s 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.

Remember what I wrote Saturday on the transfer portal, I couldn’t remember which team, it was the Baylor Bears. They have 0 players on their roster as this is written. Let’s go through this quickly, 3 players graduated, 4 went into the portal, 1 declared for the NBA. Robert Wright III is headed for BYU while Langston Love is departing to play for the Georgetown Hoyas. I guess there are freshman on their way to Baylor for the fall semester however that presents a dilemma. Scott Drew certainly cannot field a team of freshman, on the other hand he might be forced to play 5 freshman and walk-on's.