Basketball from a fan's perspective

Published Tuesday, Thursday plus Saturday & Sunday 

NBA Playoffs

Off the Dribble publication schedule (4 days) and the number of playoff teams I decided to wait. I found it difficult to provide timely updates regarding all the playoff teams. The wait is no longer required, the defending champion Celtics were eliminated by the Knicks on Friday evening. We now have the Pacers-Knicks playing for the Eastern Conference crown, in the west the Wolves will face the Thunder-Nuggets winner. Despite the fact of a limited publishing schedule with 4 teams in both conferences it will become much easier for me to provide updates. Once again thanks to all of you who are loyal readers of this blog, you are truly greatly appreciated by me.

If you are a certain age….

Living in St. Louis it’s likely you have no idea the Hawks once called the city home, that changed in 1968 when the team departed for Atlanta Georgia. Those who might be old enough to remember the Milwaukee Hawks (yes it was Milwaukee) move to St. Louis in 1955, at that time the only competition for the sports dollar was the baseball Cardinals. Some might believe the period from 1955-1968 was the only time the city had an NBA team but that is not the case. The St. Louis Bombers were an original member of the Basketball Association of America, they began play in 1946 the same year as the Knicks and Celtics.

The Bombers in the BAA lasted until the 1949 merger with the National Basketball League, marking the start of the NBA as it exists today. The Bombers eventually ceased operations due to mediocre performance on the court, which led to low attendance. St. Louis Arena (demolished in 1999) was their home, where they averaged just over 3,000 fans. The owners attempted to sell the team but were unable to find a buyer. Consequently, after the 1949-50 season, the team ceased operations. In the NBA dispersal draft, the Celtics selected Ed McCauley, who became a key player for the early Celtic teams before the arrival of Bill Russell. So with this account the history of St. Louis and professional basketball ends.

There are no guarantees

Winning 60 plus games is a high water mark for NBA teams during the season, at the same time there are no guarantees the accumulation of the win total will result in an NBA Championship. Just ask the Cavs and Celtics who were eliminated from championship contention. As this is written the fate of the 68 win Thunder is yet to be determined. What does the history say, let’s check out a few 60 plus win teams from the past and how they finished the season. At the top are the 2015-16 Warriors who won 73 regular season games but lost in the Finals.

In 1972-72 the Celtics were a 68 win team but were defeated in the Eastern Conference Finals. In the 2006-07 season the Mavs were able to win 67 games but lost in the first round of the Western Conference Finals. The 2015-16 season witnessed the Spurs winning 67 regular season games but dropping in the Western Conference Semi-Finals. As history indicates winning games during the regular season is a far different matter than winning in the playoffs. The 61 win Celtics have just been defeated and the 68 win Thunder team remains in these playoffs, it’s likely the Celtics will not advance but for the Thunder the matter might be different. Will they succeed and prove regular season wins can lead to playoff success including an NBA Championship.

The Wemby factor

Frost Bank Arena current home of the Spurs was opened in 2002, that makes the arena 23 years old. The age is really a non-factor because there are other buildings across the association older. Two factors impacted the decision made by the City Council of San Antonio on Thursday. Frost Bank Arena is not located in downtown San Antonio. It doesn’t matter if we are talking baseball, football or hockey there is a requirement that 21st Century sports facilities need to be located in the downtown portion of the city. On Thursday, the San Antonio council voted in favor of building an arena and paying for it which is always a key. The estimated cost of a new arena is reported to be in the neighborhood of $1.2 to $1.5 billion.

Despite the projected cost figure the city council voted in favor of paying for the ‘Wemby’ arena. This could be the effect of ‘The Alien’ being a member of the Spurs, allow me to cite you an example. Frost Bank is certainly from all indications an adequate arena the only drawbacks are it’s age and the fact it’s not downtown. The belief or at least the hope is Wemby will continue to develop his game and the future roster of the Spurs will draw a large contingent of NBA fans from all around the State of Texas. Nothing is set in stone, despite the fact the Thursday vote by the council is a giant step toward beginning the arena project in earnest. This I believe might be the smallest portion of the humongous project the council most likely found a little easier to digest. If you remember the arena was only part of a building plan which included the refurbishing the Alamodome, construction of a minor league ballpark and other retail/commercial additions to be added.

Who is Patrick Ewing

New Yorkers probably hated Patrick Ewing at a point in time. He and his Georgetown Hoyas would arrive in the city to play St. John’s in MSG over his 4 year college career. That hatred turned to love in 1985 with the Knicks having the opportunity to draft Ewing. The Knicks were a pathetic team when Ewing arrived and that would not change immediately. It would take the 1988-89 season under Rick Pitino before the Knicks could turn the corner. Drafting point guard Mark Jackson certainly aided Ewing’s continued development. He arrived in the NBA as a defensive specialist but his offensive game would grow to the point he became a legitimate offensive threat. Ewing ended his NBA career with nearly 25,000 points so the defensive specialist became the Knicks offense.

The statement is made because Ewing had limited offensive help, the Knicks although they tried never had a Robin to his Batman until late in his Knicks career. Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell would arrive providing offensive help needed but it was in the eleventh hour in Ewing’s time with the Knicks. Don’t misunderstand, earlier John Starks and others made their best attempt to aid the offense but much of it fell short, this forced Ewing to be the offense. A wrist injury didn’t end his career but severely impacted it to a point where he was no longer the player of old. Ewing was traded to the Sonics for one season, then finished his NBA career with the Magic. Ewing is enshrined in the Naismith and College Basketball Hall of Fame, it is almost imperative he is seen in action to provide evidence of his value to the Knicks franchise.