Basketball from a fans perspective

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Have you heard it

An old saying attributed to Percy Bysshe Shelley you may be aware, “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” This is an aphorism attributed to his work in “A Defense of Poetry.” You may be wondering how this saying relates to basketball; allow me to explain. Duke University’s basketball program recently saw a huge portion of it freshman class advance to the NBA, including standout players Cooper Flagg, Khaman Maluach, along with Kon Knueppel and Tyrese Proctor.

The incoming freshman class for Duke includes prominent recruits such as five star Cameron Boozer, Nikolas Khamenia and Dame Sarr. We can also count Cayden Boozer and Sebastian Wilkins both four star prospects in the number. Sarr is a top international prospect arriving from Italy and FC Barcelona. Coach Jon Scheyer and his staff continue to attract exceptional talent, ensuring that Duke remains a formidable force in collegiate basketball. In several instances we have multiple point guards, power and small forwards including the holdovers. All this is likely to be sorted out by the time Duke plays its first basketball game in the fall.

Are you confused

ESPN/ABC’s Doris Burke might have broken the glass ceiling however you certainly can’t tell it. If some of you are unfamiliar with the term “glass ceiling” simply refers to women being allowed to hold positions that were exclusively male dominated. Burke is not the first woman analyst however she is first in the roll of the number one broadcast team for ESPN/ABC. I read numerous complaints regarding her broadcast style which certainly confuses me. I had to grow accustomed to Jeff Van Gundy’s broadcast stylings. It wasn’t his knowledge that bothered me it was the wandering path he would often take while conducting his role as analyst.

This stands out for me because it involved my Lakers, while broadcasting a game Van Gundy said; “The Lakers should only be allowed to hang banners of championships won in Los Angeles.” My initial thought, what do banners have to do with the game in front of us? Why is there a problem with Burke, I have few questions regarding her description of the game. At the time she first began broadcasting I read complaints regarding her appearance. My thought, how she looks certainly has nothing to do with the action on the court. Besides the fact 98% of the time she (and other broadcast members) are not appearing on camera. The headline of this account asked the question, “Are you confused?” You might not be, however, I certainly am based on the continuing number of complaints I hear and read regarding Doris Burke.

Jamaica Olympic team

Everyone wants to win, that is certainly understandable, how you go about in this attempt is a whole different story. Let’s take the Olympics as an example and the team Jamaica is assembling to compete in basketball. The roster of their team is not finalized yet but this is the issue for me, they in the same manner of other nations of the world have allowed “anyone” with a passport to play for them. I’m not picking on Jamaica they are not the first just the latest nation to allow citizens of other countries to play for them. In any event check this out, they have nearly a full roster and this I uncovered.

Only four players to date have connections to this island nation of Jamaica, they are Nick Richards who plays for the Suns. Richards was born and raised there but came to the U.S. to continue his basketball preparation. He played at Kentucky and was originally drafted by the Pelicans. We have Scottie Barnes of the Raptors, although he was born here his father is originally from Jamaica. The Thompson Twins, Ausar with the Pistons and Amen a member of the Rockets have Jamaican ancestry through their father. I am not anymore critical of Jamaica than any other nation conducting business in this manner. It just so happens this was brought to my attention, it’s not going to stop here. If (or when) I discover other nations with similar basketball rosters my intent is to report it.

They don’t need him to score

Jazz basketball has been so bad there’s not been much of a national television audience recently, few of us (including me) have had an opportunity to see Walker Kessler in action. Kessler might just be available to the Lakers this summer if they can make a trade for this post player. He played two years of college ball at North Carolina and Auburn, he was then drafted by the Grizzlies with the 22nd pick in 2022. Kessler’s rights were traded to the Wolves who then traded them to the Jazz.

Kessler stands 7-foot and checks in at 245 pounds. His scoring is average but that is not the Lakers chief concern, they have Luka, LeBron and Austin to handle that area. As for Kessler this is the exciting part, he was 13th in the NBA with 707 rebounds and 4th in blocked shots 138. Perhaps the best part, Kessler is only 23 years old so there would be no requirement to draft a youngster and groom him to eventually take over the role at some future date. This is the beauty of the information provided, the numbers he presented were accomplished in only 58 games. Kessler is at the end of his rookie contract, the Jazz could decide to sign him to a new contract. On the other hand they could trade him for at least three warm bodies one of them being sharpshooter Dalton Knecht.