A basketball fans outlook

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Beat the Pistons at their game

The Pistons are the second best team in the NBA defensively, they rank behind the first place Thunder. In third place are the Spurs surrendering 110 points a game and that’s where our chronicle begins. Have the Spurs arrived as a power team in the NBA, depends on who you might ask. It’s likely the Pistons would make no public admission but privately they might admit “This Spurs team is good.” I’ve held a number of conversations recently about defense so that’s where we begin. The Spurs won the Thursday night game 121-106 but check this portion out, they held the Pistons to 40% shooting from the floor while they shot 50%. The Spurs were led to victory by Wemby, he pulled down 16 rebounds and blocked 5 Piston shots.

There is no measurement to determine the number of shots Wemby might have altered with his looming presence in and around the paint. He managed to score 38 points while shooting 50% from the floor and 40% from three. The Spurs win the series 2 games to none but it really proves little until the playoffs begin unless you count the mental aspect. As for the question how good are the Spurs, they are 2-0 against the Pistons and 4-1 versus the Thunder. This I continue to hear, “He (Wemby) needs to gain more weight or This one; “He needs to stop shooting from the tree line.” Wemby is 236 pounds far above what he weighed when he arrived in the NBA. I imagine he will continue to add weight as he matures, he’s never going to be a 300 pound beast. As for the shooting, he’s at 34%-35% from three, in the NBA 37% to 39% is considered good so its my belief Wemby is only going to get better.

Is this the last season

Since the move by Missouri into the SEC (2012) the majority of the schools’ basketball teams have underperformed in my opinion. Whether it was poor coaching or personnel that were contributing factors they have been a middle of the road team. They have never exceeded expectations but a few Missouri teams have certainly underperformed. As this is written the 2025-26 season is yet to be completed, despite that fact they will exceed 20 wins again. Tiger teams will have won 20+ games under Dennis Gates in three of the four seasons since he’s been hired. Are the present edition of the Tigers the last “middle of the road team,” will the 2026-27 team rise to the upper echelons of the SEC?

I’ve covered the incoming crop of talent headed to Columbia in the fall, sites with no connection to Missouri rate the recruiting class number one in the nation. Combo guard Jason Crowe Jr. has set a California high school scoring record, he is averaging 40 plus points a game, of course there is more to winning basketball over just shooting the basketball. As all are aware their other intangibles which contribute to an exceptional team, in addition the SEC has become even tougher since 2012. I am confident this coach can produce consistent winners for the Missouri faithful for now and into the future. The future is certainly an unknown however until I’m proven wrong Dennis Gates is the man for Missouri basketball.

Meanwhile….

The Lakers are attempting to address the draft issues the franchise has faced in years past. It was mentioned previously that the manner teams re-tool varies, although each team participates in the draft there those who appear to prefer free agency. For the last few years that’s been the case for the Lakers, acquiring talent in that manner. What has worked in the past has not necessarily been successful therefore change is in order. Several reading this might be familiar with Tony Bennett, he served as head coach at Virginia from 2009-2024, his Virginia teams won 364 games and in total for his time at Washington State 439 wins. The Lakers hired Bennett in the title of NBA Draft Advisor to the President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Rob Pelinka.

Kansas guard Darryn Peterson is about a 45 minute drive from my home. No I have not seen him in person, despite the nearness, television has been my source. I might add reading publications as well to help me analyze his talent level. Most of the time folks want to focus on the offensive side of a prospect, I prefer to focus on those things a prospect doesn’t particularly do well. This from a scouting report in nbadraft.net “Primary concerns revolve around injury history, inconsistent off-ball defensive focus, and a tendency to settle for contested mid-range shots.”

If you talk to 10 NBA fans and ask the question “What upsets you the most about officiating?” I believe 6 or 7 out of that number would say traveling. They might say in unison, “Why don’t they call a travel?” At one time the rules were strict even with human error and along comes The Euro Step, it seems players are often allowed an extra step on drives. Interesting at least to me, Manu Ginobili is generally credited with being the first player to utilize the Euro Step. Even more notable Ginobili is from Argentina but played for several Euro teams before entering the NBA.

It’s different now

It is unclear whether this scenario occurred last season or the current one. Previously, the Lakers and Clippers often played home games on the same day at Crypto.com Arena, typically with matchups scheduled for both the afternoon and evening. This arrangement resulted in a consistently active venue. However, with the Clippers now occupying their own facility, The Intuit Dome, the situation has changed. Then a change or maybe it wasn’t the first time this occurred on March 1, 2026.

On that date mentioned the Lakers hosted the Kings at Crypto.com Arena while, simultaneously, the Clippers played the Pelicans. As this was being completed I thought perhaps this development might have played out in New York too, after all the city has two NBA teams as well. Might the Nets have played games at Barclays Center at the same time the Knicks were playing in Madison Square Garden? I guess this could have occurred previously at the time the Clippers had other home arenas in SoCal, as for the Nets their home arena was in the Greater metro in New Jersey.