Basketball from a fans perspective

Published Tuesday, Thursday plus Saturday & Sunday

Trading Places

One of the early Eddie Murphy movies was a 1983 release titled Trading Places. Just in case a few of you have never seen it this is the premise, Murphy was cast as a street hustler named Billy Ray Valentine and he traded places with well-groomed preppy Louis Winthrop III played by Dan Aykroyd. The two are made the subject of a bet by the Duke brothers Mortimer (Don Ameche) and Randolph (Ralph Bellamy) to determine if Valentine and Winthrop III could successfully change their roles in life. I’m not going to reveal any more of the movie just in case some of you haven’t seen it, it’s available on one of the streaming services currently.

As for the headline I believe “Trading Places” might certainly apply to Game Six on Thursday evening involving the Pacers and Thunder. With a 3 games to 2 lead I had convinced myself the Thunder would be prepared to close out the championship series, instead they “Traded Places” with the Pacers. After all the Pacers had suffered a Monday beat down 120-109. Based on that outcome of Game Five you understand why I expected a win by the Pacers on Thursday evening. The second quarter witnessed the Pacers scoring 36 points to the Thunder 17, after the half it was 18 for the Thunder and 26 for the Pacers in the 3rd quarter. Six Pacer players scored in double figures with Obi Topping leading the way with his 20. Pacer guard Tyrese Haliburton moved much better than expected although he only scored 14 points. It was more than simply scoring baskets, the Pacers played lock-down defense for much of the game. It was 21 TO’s for the Thunder with 10 for the Pacers, final score Pacers 108 Thunder 91 but it really wasn’t that close.

At one point during the game the Pacers held a 30 point lead, reserve players took over at the midpoint of the 4th quarter and the lead was reduced. With a Game 7 on Sunday if you were to ask me right now who wins this is my statement. Playing at home I expect the Thunder to be crowned 2025 NBA Champions tomorrow night. Would I be willing to wager large sums of money on what I just wrote; I don’t think so. You might say “Larry Laker you don’t appear quite as confident as you were at the beginning of this series,” that would be an affirmative. Since the beginning this series has appeared to be the Pacers climbing a mountain, can they reach the summit? 

Why does he make such astonishing statements

Numerous relatives and friends who are sports fans advise me to steer clear of ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith statements. For the most part I attempt to ignore Smith; however, he continues to make controversial assertions which require me to respond. This is not his problem it’s mine I can admit that fact. The latest proclamation involves Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks and the ongoing conversation about a potential trade since the end of the season. Smith commented, “Giannis will have underachieved if he doesn’t win another title.” After reading this my first thought…WHAT!

There are several points that could counter this statement. I will begin with this one, how about NBA All Stars who failed to win a championship? We could begin our count with Allen Iverson, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Reggie Miller, and Patrick Ewing all had outstanding careers yet did not win an NBA title. If their NBA careers were assessed based on titles won, one might claim they underachieved. NBA players and others in the sports field are often scrutinized intensely. As for Smith if we approach this strictly from a media perspective, it raises the question of whether achievements should be judged by specific standards, such as winning a Pulitzer Prize in journalism. Will someone claim he underachieved since he failed to win a Pulitzer?

It’s changed once again

A friend said; “There is no need to follow college basketball, it’s now the same as the NBA.” The college basketball scene’s changed once again and a series of earth shattering events have caused this. I’m unsure of the order of events, in addition I’m uncertain if all the series of incidents are fully covered. I believe Name, Image and Likeness may have been the beginning. For the first time in amateur athletics a player could be legally paid based on commercial endorsements. The transfer portal came into being, Covid was an indirect result as players were granted additional years of play. There are reports that a handful of players have obtained 5 or 6 years of competitive play through appeal despite the fact that in the past 4 years of play had been the standard without an injury.

The next domino to fall occurred late this spring with yet another court ruling. This from AI: “A U.S. judge has approved a settlement that allows NCAA colleges and universities to directly pay their student athletes. This landmark decision, which includes a $2.8 billion settlement, enables schools to compensate athletes for the commercial use of their name, image, and likeness (NIL), both past and present. The ruling also allows for direct revenue sharing with athletes, starting July 1.” The University of Missouri recently hired a GM who I guess will perform the same role as their counterpart in the NBA or NFL. Note, this is not the first nor latest hire of a general manager by a university just one I am most familiar with. Don’t consider this complete, this represents bits and pieces of information I was able to compile.

When 

In the NBA Championship series you might have caught a glimpse of a woman on the Pacer bench or during TO’s. She is Jenny Boucek assistant coach on the staff of Rick Carlisle. Boucek played at Virginia but went undrafted in the WNBA draft in 1997, despite that fact she had a brief pro career as a player. After serving as an assistant coach for several WNBA teams she was hired as an assistant by the Kings. From there is was an assistant coach position with the Mavs and 2021 she was added to the staff of the Pacers.

The first NBA assistant coach hired was Becky Hammond by the Spurs in 2014, although she is currently coaching the WNBA Aces she has an extensive period with the Spurs. North of the border there is Brittni Donaldson assistant with the Raptors, when JJ Redick became head coach of the Lakers he added Lindsay Harding to his staff. In Memphis, the Grizzlies have Sonia Raman, as you can see these women have set a new standard serving as assistant coaches for NBA teams. Will one of them be hired as a head coach one day? For now the question remains unanswered however it will occur at some future unknown date.