Basketball from a fans perspective

Published Tuesday, Thursday plus Saturday & Sunday

No fix

On television we’ve seen Paycom Center in OKC chock full of fans, the same statement could be said about Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. As for the television audience at least in the United States that’s a different matter. The audience for this championship is reported to be low comparing to the recent past. Part of the issue as I see it there are two “small market” teams representing the Western and Eastern Conference of the NBA. Check this out, I located this information on the Net from Station Index.com, the Top 100 Television Markets in the country, Indianapolis sits at 25 while OKC is 45. Neither of these metro areas are small however compared to New York City (1) or Los Angeles (2).

If we look even further on the list Houston and Detroit are 10 and 11 respectively so you can see where I’m headed. Unlike the NFL which has the small market Kansas City Chiefs (31) it’s a different matter. The NFL has a larger fanbase, across the nation large numbers flock to their sets whenever the Chiefs play. For the sake of the NBA it would be outstanding if New York or Los Angeles were playing for the championship. Unfortunately (or fortunately) neither was the best team in their respective conference. That honor belongs to the Thunder and Pacers and there is nothing the NBA or anybody for that matter can change that. Just my thoughts, the series has been highly competitive and a superior product, that’s all the NBA can hope for. If the nation is tuned out there is no easy fix except an attempt to attract more fans to the product. 

There are no Super Teams

The Bill Russell and Larry Bird Celtics, the Showtime Lakers or the Michael Jordan Bulls those teams no longer exist or do they? For the most part we see the Thunder and Pacers playing for the NBA Championship. Both teams were built primarily through the draft. Have we seen a change in how NBA teams from this point into the future are now assembled? On the other hand will the Thunder or Pacers become this generations Super Team, that remains a question at least for the foreseeable future? Okay, back to the present Game Three is barely over and this is written as if the Pacers have won the whole thing.

They ain’t won nothing yet except this past Wednesday night’s game but it is how they managed to accomplish the task in front of them. It seemed all evening long the Pacers were climbing a mountain, they would sprint ahead and the Thunder would come back tie the game or even lead for a time. This is the discussion from the Pacers side, “Let’s stop or at least slow SGA” was the statement at the beginning of the game and it sure appeared to work. SGA’s game was similar to prior games with one exception of his 6 TO’s, it seemed every trip down the floor the Pacers had a different defender on him. I’ve often heard the comment “You can’t stop a player at this level however you can make it more difficult,” that’s exactly what the Pacers managed to accomplish winning the game 116-107. The “engine” that drives the Pacers returned, he’s better known as Tyrese Haliburton, he scored 22 points dished out 11 assists and almost had a triple-double with 9 rebounds.

Haliburton might have been the engine driving the Pacers but it was actually Bennedict Mathurin who was driving the “bus.” Mathurin a reserve guard came off the Pacer bench aiding the cause scoring 27 points and playing tough defense. He wasn’t just jacking up shots, Mathurin also shot 75% from the floor with 66.7% of it coming from the three line. This description of the game is written on Thursday prior to the Friday night game. I have no idea who won last night’s game however this is what I believe, the winner of the game last night might be soon referred to as the NBA Champion next week. What do you think about the early premise, will super teams continue to prevail in the future of the NBA?    

Yet there is one more

Some of you might remember I stated no more stories regarding Cooper Flagg until after the draft. The statement was made because I had grown tired of former NBA players who questioned the talent of Flagg. The two primary players certainly have more cred than me having played in the association. Despite this fact I believe they are/were haters, allow us fans to determine if Flagg can’t play at this level. With that out of the way the report, the Mavs announced Flagg has been invited for a workout on June 17. In addition to that news the Mavs also indicated no other players had been invited to the city ahead of the draft.

This is no sure sign however the reports of the Mavs trading Flagg’s draft rights might be just that… fiction. I figure because the Mavs traded Luka Doncic in late winter why make such a trade unless Giannis Antetokounmpo is arriving in Big D? Former Mavs coach Don Nelson was in town to receive an award and indicated he was wearing Luka’s new Nikes. “Nelson said his philosophy on generational players is the one legendary coach and executive Red Auerbach taught him: Don’t trade those talents. “His philosophy was when you have a great player—Bill Russell, (John) Havlicek, Sam Jones, you name ‘em—you don’t lose that player. You keep him for a lifetime. You put his number up, and you honor that player. That’s been my philosophy.”

ESPN NBA

Thanks…but no thanks

Jay Wright former Villanova basketball coach is next to say NO to the Knicks job. What I’m reading he is a friend of Knicks GM Leon Rose plus the fact the team is loaded with his former players, Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart. Just like the commercial, all the Knicks need do is acquire Donte DiVincenzo from the Wolves and they could have a Villanova reunion. On a more serious note Wright indicates he wants to remain retired, it’s clear he enjoys his television gig. So what occurs from here, do the Knicks hire a coach by June 25?

That’s the date of the NBA draft, I’m sure Rose and staff could conduct the draft however that head coach whoever it might be is important. Even a newly hired coach desires to say yes or no on a particular athlete. I have no insight into the mind of the Knick brain trust however I believe we are going to be surprised when the name is announced. We’ve conducted speculation on a name and it’s my belief we are all going to be amazed. Despite coming up short against the Pacers this Knick team is good, they managed to eliminate the defending NBA champion Celtics. A tweak here and a tweak there and this team could have been playing for the championship.