A fans perspective 

Published Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday

Not surprising

Duke announced head men’s basketball coach Jon Scheyer’s contract has been lengthened, he will be working under a 6-year extension which carries him through the 2030-31 season. I once wrote how difficult it is to replace a legend, that being Coach K. Gene Bartow was certainly successful his first two years at UCLA but left the program and out from under the shadow of John Wooden. It was a different transition for Scheyer, he’d played for Coach K., he then took the role of an assistant and later associate head coach. I’ve got to believe that eased his transition to a degree once he took on the role of head coach. Scheyer’s teams have won 89 games in his first three years at the helm and last season they lost in the Final Four although they won 35 games in total. Despite losing Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Kaman Maluach to the NBA the Blue Devils appear to have reloaded and are ready for action in the always tough ACC. 

This is going to be brief

I have seen several YouTube podcasters discussing the Clippers, Steve Ballmer and Kawhi Leonard. While the investigation is yet to be completed I wish to address a portion of this account. We have no idea of the final outcome as this is written, however, a portion of what I’m hearing concerns me. “They are not gonna touch Ballmer, he’s the richest owner in the NBA” was the comment I heard by this podcaster, he made this observation after listening to a statement by one former NBA player. In my view this makes no sense whatsoever.

If the NBA has any integrity at all should Ballmer and the Clippers be found guilty they should punish all connected with Aspiration. For someone to conclude the league will do nothing due to the wealth of an owner is a ridiculous statement to make. All parties should suffer whatever penalties are deemed justifiable by the NBA. Naturally as in all instances these are my opinions, there is no requirement for you to agree with me. On the other hand Mark Cuban former majority owner of the Mavs has gone out his way to defend Ballmer. His opinion is, “Anyone as smart as he (Ballmer) is cannot be easily duped.”

Scouting…It’s just like a box of chocolates

I’ve long held the belief that scouting a prospect is one of the most difficult tasks conceivable. Once upon a time a baseball scout might be responsible for projecting a high school athlete into the major leagues. Does a fuzzy faced 16-year old pitcher forecast himself as a major league possibility? For the NFL and NBA generally the scouting occurs at age 19-22 which can make for a major difference in effectiveness. In the NBA draft there are always “sleepers,” players who were scouted but not as highly thought of as another.

That occurs at times but what about a team having an opportunity twice to choose a hall of fame player? That occurred in the 2009 NBA draft, the Wolves had the 5th and 6th pick in the first round of that year’s draft. At pick 5 they chose Rickey Rubio an international prospect from Spain, he’d been playing professionally since the age of 16. With pick number 6 the Wolves selected Syracuse point guard Johnny Flynn 2009 Big East Tournament MVP. Of course that evening and much later the Wolves were questioned as to why they selected two point guards and back to back no less, to my knowledge no explanation was ever offered. The Warriors, with the 7th pick, selected Steph Curry from Davidson. Check this out, pre-draft thoughts regarding Curry. “Stephen Curry’s early scouting reports focused on his limited athleticism, below-average size, defensive liabilities, with concerns he wouldn’t be a starting point guard or effective NBA player. Key weaknesses identified were his lack of explosiveness, skinny frame, and poor ability to finish at the rim, though his shooting touch, ball-handling skills, and basketball IQ were acknowledged strengths.”

Rubio would go on to have a 12 year NBA career although portions were of it were spent time playing for other teams. We could state his was a successful career but nowhere close to Curry’s. Johnny Flynn’s story is quite different, his NBA career lasted a brief four years playing for two other NBA teams. In fairness to the scouts some of the concerns mentioned may have been an indirect cause of Curry missing games over his career. Despite that fact he is still destined to be enshrined in the Naismith and College Basketball Hall of Fame one day. Finally we could do a “What if,” would the fortunes of the Wolves be any better if they made the choice of Curry over Rubio and Flynn? That question will remain unanswered, after all basketball remains a team sport.

NBA arena capacity

Unlike the NBA recent trends indicate that colleges and universities are adopting different approaches when planning new arenas. In recent years, newly constructed arenas tend to have smaller seating capacities. Large venues such as the JMA Wireless Dome at Syracuse (35,446), Dean Dome at North Carolina (21,750 seats) or Kentucky’s Rupp Arena (23,500 seats) are becoming less common. It should be of note that the JMA Wireless Dome also is home for Syracuse football. Of course smaller arenas offer greater versatility for multiple purposes rather than being designed solely for basketball. For reference, the latest opening occurred last year with the Clippers opening the Intuit Dome. The arena offers a maximum capacity of 18,300. As for the others check out the list below:

Arena                                                      Capacity                  Team

United Center                                          20,917                     Bulls

Wells Fargo Center                                 20,478                     Sixers

Capital One Arena                                   20,356                     Wizards

Little Caesars Arena                                20,332                     Pistons

Madison Square Garden                         19,812                     Knicks

Scotiabank Arena                                    19,800                     Raptors

Kaseya Center                                         19,600                     Heat

TD Garden                                               19,580                     Celtics

Ball Arena                                                19,520                     Nuggets

Moda Center                                            19,441                     Blazers

Rocket Arena                                           19,432                     Cavs

American Airlines Center                          19,200                     Mavs

Spectrum Center                                      19,077                     Hornets

Crypto.com Arena                                    19,060                     Lakers

Amway Center                                         18,846                     Magic

Target Center                                           18,798                     Wolves

Footprint Center                                      18,422                     Sun

Frost Bank Center                                   18,418                     Spurs

Delta Center                                            18,306                     Jazz

Intuit Dome                                              18,300                     Clippers

Paycom Center                                        18,203                     Thunder

FedExForum                                            18,119                     Grizzlies

Chase Center                                           18,064                     Warriors

Toyota Center                                           18,055                     Rocket

Gainbridge Fieldhouse                             17,923                     Pacers

Barclays Center                                        17,732                     Nets

Golden 1 Center                                       17,608                     Kings

Fiserv Forum                                            17,341                     Bucks

Smoothie King Center                              16,867                     Pelicans

State Farm Arena                                     16,600                     Hawks