Wednesday plus Friday through Monday publication

How it played out

Where were you, the time you first saw Victor Wembanyama play? I’m not talking highlights from his time with Metropolitans 92, I’m discussing real time game action. I was parked in front of my television set viewing his French team’s game against G-League Team Elite. I claim no ability to view the future but I thought, “This kid is good…barring injury he’s going to be real, real good.” Now for the main course, the Houston Rockets are a very good team. As this is written they have 28 wins and 17 losses. One of those losses occurred on Wednesday evening losing against the SA Spurs 111-99. It wasn’t just the fact the Rockets lost, it was the manner in which it occurred. 

The Rockets held a 16 point lead at a stage of the game and then the roof literally caved in on them. The Rockets scored but 13 points in the 4th quarter, Wemby scored 13 points in the quarter too. The tripartite of guards DeAaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper were just as much keys to the victory but so was “The Alien.” It was 28 points on 12-15 from the free-throw line, 16 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 blocked shots in his 29 minutes of action on the court. The numbers could have been even higher if they hadn’t sat him for an extended period in the third quarter. You ask the question why are the Spurs so improved….It’s the Wemby Factor? From 22 wins to 34 last season and 32 so far in the 2025-26 season. In the 33 games he played to date he’s averaging 24.3 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.7 blocks per game. Of course it is far too early to determine a finish however I am impressed so far.

I have the answer…I believe

Recently I attempted to cover the basis for the Duke hatred. There are a legion of fans who follow the college game, the minute you mention “Duke basketball” they become epileptic. The answer is much easier to understand than we might believe, the initial thought…”they are an elitist school and that flows down to the basketball team.” From there we look at the retired coach, Michael William Krzyzewski or Coach K. He won over 1,200 games and 5 NCAA Championships, that’s a resume which upsets a large number of college basketball fans. From 1980 through 2022 his teams beat up your teams which certainly upsets many and he did it time after time after time.

Jon Scheyer has done nothing to provoke anger except he is now sitting in the seat Coach K. occupied for so many years, that gives Duke haters another symbol to hate. Then we have the players and there have been plenty over time, one of the lightning rods was Christian Laettner who played at Duke from 1988-1992. He is famous for his game-winning shot against Kentucky in the 1992 tournament. There were other Blue Devil players, Shane Battier, Carlos Boozer and this even includes Zion Williamson. Although Kyrie Irving missed his freshman year and would leave for the NBA he’s one of the players too. What I’ve found most interesting the Duke hatred never landed on Grant Hill. Hill former NBA player is now a part owner of the Atlanta Hawks and NBA television analyst. I hope you see the intended humor in this account, I stated earlier and will repeat I love Duke basketball.  

How about the ‘old fashioned’ manner

We continue to read and hear stories that the Los Angeles Lakers are somewhat unsatisfied with the play of Deandre Ayton at center. If you remember the story, last summer the decision was made to sign Ayton despite the fact there were problems that existed in his previous stops with the Phoenix Suns and Portland Trailblazers. Laker management signed Ayton to a 2-year contract. With Ayton on the roster at least through next season the Lakers might secure his replacement in the old fashioned manner….the NBA draft. I realize NBA teams do little development of players in this age however quality play at center is still required. I compiled a list (based on several mock draft sites) of 10 centers who might be available to the Lakers should they choose to travel this route.

Nate Bittle 7 ft Oregon

Michael Ruzic 7 ft Croatia

Henri Veesaa 7 ft North Carolina (Estonia)

Patrick Ngongba 6-11 Duke

Flory Bidunga 6-9 Kansas (Congo)

Tomislav Ivisic 7-1 Illinois (Croatia)

Aday Mara 7-3 Michigan (Spain)

Johann Grunloh 7 ft Virginia (Germany)

Zvonimir Ivisic 7-2 Illinois (Croatia)

Motiejus Krivas 7-2 Arizona (Lithuania)

You might note Flory Bidunga at Kansas is the shortest center on this list, he’s included for a single reason. His defensive effort, Bidunga can leap tall buildings in a single bound, sorry I just had to use the old Superman quote.

The first season

The 1946-47 season would be the first for the Basketball Association of America, in 1949 the BAA would merge with the NBL becoming the NBA we recognize today. As mentioned previously the BAA got off to a shaky beginning as several teams ceased operations. The following is a brief explanation of those teams that went out of business and their history. The Pittsburgh Ironmen, 1946-47 would be their only season of operation for this Pennsylvania team. The Ironmen finished the season with 15 wins and 45 losses, their claim to fame. Press Maravich the father and coach of Pete Maravich played that lone season. Next up the St. Louis Bombers, they were slightly more successful having survived for four seasons before ceasing operations. They were the first BAA/NBA team to score over 100 points in a game.

The Detroit Falcons similar to the Ironmen the Falcons only lasted that first season before closing shop. Most NBA fans maybe some in Toronto might not be aware of this fact. The Raptors are the second Toronto team, the first was the Toronto Huskies who also lasted only one season the first. Cleveland also had and NBA team prior to the Cavs, they were the Cleveland Rebels and similar to the others only played the inaugural season of 1946-47. Next up we have the Providence (Rhode Island) Steamrollers, unfortunately they only lasted one season too. The Chicago Stags were slightly better, this franchise lasted four years before they went belly up too.  Finally we close with the Washington Capitols, they ceased operations after playing five seasons. It should be of note their coach would go on to success elsewhere in the NBA…his name Red Auerbach. As you can see the 11-team BAA lost most of its teams in a short span of time, perhaps that might be the basis for merger with the National Basketball League.

It might be

Recently we held one of those conversations that are the formation on something I can write about but it’s just an opinion. Our discussion centered on the roller coaster play of Mizzou in the SEC so far this season. He said; “I don’t think the SEC is as strong this season as last.” I said; “You are probably correct,” after a brief pause I said; “You know the Big 12 might be the strongest conference in the nation this season.” With that, let’s do a quick dive using the popularity contest i.e., AP Top 25 ranking. Number one we find Arizona now a Big 12 member, number 8 the Iowa State Cyclones.

Number 10 is the Houston Cougars and right behind them the number 11 team in the nation the Red Raiders of Texas Tech. At 13 the BYU Cougars followed by number 14 Kansas Jayhawks. That’s 6 of 12 teams the AP believes are the best in the land, of course the NCAA Tournament is the ultimate test. Despite my previous statement there is much to be said regarding the Big 12 being the best basketball conference this season. This might be one of those years playing in this conference might imply your team is the best of the best. The next three schools, although not ranked by the AP have winning records but losing conference records. These schools are UCF, West Virginia and TCU with win totals of 16, 14 and 13, respectively. This was not a deep dive however I believe it details the depth of the Big 12 Conference.