A fans perspective 

Published Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday

Breaking news

He was a giant of the game although Lenny Wilkens stood only 6-foot 1. Early Sunday evening came word this legend of the NBA had died at the age of 88. Wilkens from Boys HS in Brooklyn New York matriculated at Providence, in 1960 he was made a first round draft choice of the St. Louis Hawks. He would later play for the Seattle Sonics and Cavs and conclude his playing career with the Blazers. It would be his time as an NBA coach most are familiar with his name, he led 7 different NBA teams at times concluding his coaching career with the Knicks. Wilkens was enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame twice, once as a player and second as a coach, he was also inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame. Wilkens was a member of the 50th and 75th Anniversary NBA team, this is but a brief look at one of the giants of NBA basketball, R.I.P. Lenny Wilkens.

A stinker of a game

My headline might be a bit misleading, on the other hand if you are a Hawks fan you are pleased with the results Saturday night. After all the Lakers had gotten off to a swift start despite not having LeBron and Luka in and out of the lineup. The Lakers had registered 6 wins since the start of the season, in addition they were on a 5-game winning streak. Headed into the game Saturday evening I had no idea what to expect of this road game against the Hawks. I gained an immediate answer learning the Lakers had left their A-game on the west coast.

On the other hand the home team Hawks were missing a number of key players but it certainly didn’t turn out in that manner. Luka Doncic was the only Laker to play to the expected level, he led the way with 22 points and 11 assists. Most of the other Lakers failed to perform at the usual pace. Mouhamed Gueye led the way for the Hawks with 21 points on 66% shooting from the floor with 80% from three. Gueye was ably assisted by Zaccharie Risacher, Asa Newell and Vit Krejci. This was the first game of the road trip for the Lakers, tonight they face the Hornets and following that game on Wednesday is the Thunder and the trip concludes with games against the Pelicans and Bucks. In any event its possible LeBron James will begin play at a point during this road trip.

Flag(g) Day

Cooper Flagg’s early season performance has been a mixed bag. On the positive side, he’s averaging 14.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, and nearly 3 assists per game, while impressively shooting 100% from the free throw line. His lowest scoring game so far was a 2-point outing against the Thunder, and his highest was 22 points against the Raptors. However, Flagg’s overall shooting percentages show room for improvement—he’s making just 39.4% of his shots from the field and only 29% from three-point range. That said, these numbers are within expectations, and his scoring average may not significantly increase this season.

There is hope that his shooting accuracy, both from the field and beyond the arc, will improve as the season progresses. In a light-hearted comparison, one site noted the Lakers’ better record with Luka Doncic versus Flagg with the Mavs—an unfair comparison between an established NBA All-Pro and an 18-year-old rookie. It’s worth mentioning that Flagg, who reclassified to play at this level, would otherwise be a college freshman now. After games, Flagg is often seen signing autographs, reflecting on his experience by saying (paraphrased), “That used to be me once.”

Kansas-North Carolina

Two of the most storied college basketball teams in the nation met this past Friday. The North Carolina Tarheels played host to the Kansas Jayhawks, the television cameras caught two former coaches in the stands. Larry Brown played at North Carolina from 1960-1963 and his pro career lasted from 1967-1972. After his playing days Brown took on the role of head coach, one of the schools was Kansas where he coached them from 1983-1988 winning the 1988 NCAA championship. Roy Williams was a Carolina assistant when he headed west to coach at Kansas, from 1988-2003 he headed the program.

When Dean Smith retired the connection to Carolina led Williams back to coach the Tarheels, this was from 2003-2021. His Tarheel team won the NCAA championship in 2005, 2009 and 2017. As you can see Brown and Smith have deep connections to both schools. It isn’t clear which team had their support.  As for the game it was a night and day, the first half it was mostly Kansas and their outstanding freshman Darryn Peterson. The second half of the game the Tarheels blitzed the Jayhawks, the final score read number 25 North Carolina 87 and number 19 Kansas 74. Because it was two highly touted teams it was the best I’ve witnessed in this early college season.

Meanwhile…

The outcome of the exhibition game was not as important to Mizzou Nation as the revamped team. New faces would be in place for Mizzou, fans of the program most to see the new roster in action as much as the match against Kansas State which turned out to be a Mizzou win 100 to 91 over Kansas State. This Mizzou squad might average out taller than a number of NBA teams. They are comprised of  6-foot 11 Luke Norweather, 7-foot Shawn Phillips Jr., 6-foot 11 Jevon Porter, 7-foot 5 Trent Burns. The balance of the roster consists of several who are 6-foot 9 and 6-foot 10. One of the past issues of Mizzou basketball was often being outrebounded by the opposition. Rest assured all the height fails to serve a purpose unless they have the heart to win, it appears they might be on that road with this team. There are two definitions for the word colossus, my preference is the second one. “A person or thing of enormous size, importance, or ability.” I hope all three apply in the case of Mizzou basketball.

Remember what I wrote earlier about Duke basketball? No matter if you don’t, let’s just say I was anxious to see Cameron Boozer in action and I got my first opportunity recently. In an exhibition game against Tennessee he displayed his talent and skill before a national television audience. It wasn’t all smooth, his shooting from the floor was a bit off as for the balance of his game that was outstanding. 24 points, 23 rebounds and 9 for 11 from the free throw line plus he dished out 6 assists. The 6-foot 9 234 pound power forward demonstrated for all to see he’s arrived at the college level and is fully prepared to compete for Duke in the always tough ACC.

The Pac-12 might still remain a Power 5 conference although questions might remain. The conference has invited perennial basketball powerhouse Gonzaga, the Zags accepted the invitation and will depart the WCC for the Pac-12 at the end of this season. As for WCC they are not waiting around for qualifiers, they have invited the University of Denver to their conference. This move will occur in July 2026 as the school moves to the WCC. It’s not only Gonzaga joining the Pac-12 they will be accompanied by Boise State too. Power 5 conference schools play high level football, as you might remember reading recently Gonzaga has not fielded a football team since 1941. According to the history the school went on hiatus during World War II, after the war concluded the administration decided for a variety of reasons to not restart the football program.