Basketball from a fans perspective

Published Tuesday, Thursday plus Saturday & Sunday

I like Mike

That is Mike Brown newly hired Knicks coach, it really doesn’t matter what I think about Brown. He must win a championship for owner James Dolan or at least play for one to satisfy Dolan. Brown’s coaching credentials detail he was named Coach of the Year for two franchises (2009 Cavs & 2023 Kings). He’s coached Kobe, LeBron and as an assistant Steph, Draymond and a host of others. His resume speaks volumes for this defensive minded coach. I might pose the question this is almost a perfect storm for Brown, he takes over a Knicks team that is a prime contender to emerge from the east to fight for an NBA Championship.

The Cavs will be there but its difficult for me to imagine the Celtics and Pacers having championship aspirations based on a rebuild (Celtics) and a key player missing (Pacers). The Cavs are not going to roll over and play dead, rest assured many are upset on how their season ended. Donovan Mitchell and others probably believe in their heart they should have represented the Eastern Conference rather than the Pacers. In all three of Brown’s coaching stops (Cavs, Lakers & Kings) his teams have registered a winning record. ESPN cynic Stephen A. Smith and reported Knicks fan claims the hire of Brown lacks “sizzle.” I must remind Mr. Smith of this single fact, it makes no difference what he thinks about the hire of Brown or me for that matter. There is only one person requiring satisfaction…owner James Dolan.    

Wild, Wild West

There is probably no argument from anyone who pays attention to the NBA, the Western Conference NBA will be loaded with land mines next season. If we look closely headed into the 2025-26 season the NBA Champion Thunder must be placed at the top of the heap. It seems to me every team with the exception of the Blazers, Kings and Suns made major improvements in the off season. Before fans of these teams bombard me with rocks both teams made upgrades, these upgrades were not as significant as those made by other Western Conference teams.

If we place the Thunder at the top who follows them, which team is second or third behind the Thunder? Currently that question has no answer and frankly I believe that it might not be answered until April of 2025 at the time the playoffs begin. We are acquainted with the Thunder but what about the other teams in the west? In the “Texas Triangle” let’s check the Mavs first, they add Cooper Flagg plus D’Angelo Russell to a veteran team that was severely impacted by injury. The walking wounded are expected to return prepared to play. Next up the Rockets who added Kevin Durant and Clint Capela to a team which won 52 games. The Spurs return a healthy Wemby and have added shooting guard Dylan Harper plus reserve center Luke Kornet from the Celtics. The Warriors have the ever dangerous Steph Curry plus Jimmy Butler for the entire season and a veteran reserve presence. Next up the Clippers added veteran center Brook Lopez and they have Kawhi Leonard who I mistakenly said was about to retire.

My Lakers signed Deandre Ayton thus resolving their post issue, the balance of the team resembles that of last season except added are a couple of young speedy small forwards. The Lakers moved down to acquire Adou Thiero in the second round and Jake LaRavia was a free agent signing. In Denver, the Nuggets have replaced Michael Porter Jr. with Cam Johnson late of the Nets. The Wolves who won 49 games return last years team led by Ant Man and Julius Randle. This is not intended to be detailed and the truth is I may have missed some key updates. I hope you get the idea where we are headed and why it remains the Wild, Wild West.

I’d like to say I know but…

Recently it was reported Ethan Taylor left Shawnee Mission Northwest High School for the Link Academy Prep School in Branson (MO) to play his senior year. As with most prospects his age and older I’d like to say I know but I don’t. I don’t know how or if they will develop their game at the next level and perhaps the NBA. Prospect sites help but they can even be misleading at times. I decided to check a few and this is what I uncovered. For some reason Rivals does not separate prospects as others do, all I could locate was Taylor is the number 28 prospect in the Class of 2026. As for the others this ranking is by position 247 Sports places him at 7, ESPN100 at 9, while On3 positions Taylor at 6.

So as you can see these scouting sources appear to rank him highly as a center. I decided to check video of him in action however this warning, that can be misleading. Standing 7-foot-1 Taylor could be matched against an opposing player who might be 5-6 inches shorter than him. With that in mind I checked some of his game action from this past season. I wasn’t looking for the scoring as much as the other things. Taylor appears to be a willing passer and capable at rebounding the basketball. One standout for me was his effort defensively, he crashed the boards and blocked or contested a number of shot attempts. This is a different age, 10-15 years ago coaches might have been raving about his game but not now with emphasis on the outside-inside offense. Despite what might appear to be a negative on my part I remain hopeful he decides to attend Missouri in the fall of 2026.