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 Smart, Kennard & James

If you read the headline in any other source but this blog you would suppose Smart, Kennard & James are a law firm. In a sense they were as they laid down the law to the Rockets. It was Tuesday evening as the Lakers took the lead (2-0) in this series defeating the Rockets 101-94. Pause here, if you reside in Houston or elsewhere and a fan of the Rockets I don’t hate your team. This is not written with malice, its simply an explanation as to why I believe the game turned out as it did and allowed the Lakers to take the series lead.

The truth of the matter, if you asked me last week the chances of  the Lakers winning a playoff series I would have said; "Slim and none, and Slim has left town." No Luka, no Austin but who steps up….Marcus Smart for one. Smart exhibited outstanding defense, 7 steals plus 5 assists and a rare scoring binge by him. His early scoring allowed the Lakers to begin on a high note, he finished with 25 points. His effort greatly impacted the outcome but wait there is more. Sharpshooting Luke Kennard scored 23 points on 62% shooting with 50% of it beyond the arc, but it wasn’t just his scoring, he played an all around game on the defensive side as well. Lebron James led the way with 28 points despite not having his best game shooting the rock. It was the other things, 8 rebounds and 7 assists aided the Laker effort. Those three led the way however the victory was a total team effort.

The Rockets played better in this game versus Game One however their effort was just not good enough for a win. Kevin Durant scored 23 but totaled only 3 thanks to Laker double teams. In addition, he added 9 TO’s by himself. After the Tuesday evening win over the Rockets I don't know or care to speculate on the outcome tonight or this series for that matter. This I do believe, if the Rockets win this series they must bring their A game, the Lakers will not lose easily, there I said it!

New coaches required

The Help Wanted sign has been placed outside of the Bucks headquarters, this has also occurred with the Bulls, this soon might be a similar situation for the Warriors. Returning first to the Bucks Doc Rivers has stepped down after nearly three seasons. His record with the Bucks has fallen short of what fans expected so he is now history. All indications point toward Rivers retiring from the game at age 64. As for the Bulls Billy Donovan has decided in favor of sitting down also after six seasons. We don’t know if this move is a result of the front office shakeup by Bulls management or if Donovan is simply tired of coaching or seeking new coaching opportunities. We shall see if Donovan seeks a job immediately or desires to sit down for a time, if the case is a new job it is likely to occur quickly.

As for the Bay Area the Warriors situation might be somewhat different. Steve Kerr has been at the helm of the Warriors for a number of years….some of them resulting in championship basketball wins. It is not official as this is written however Kerr has given the media strong indications he might be ready to hang up his whistle. We know this for sure there will likely be two perhaps three or more additional head coaching opportunities available. Most reading this are aware there is a reluctance by management to hire a “new” coach, they always desire a head coach with experience. Despite my last statement there are exceptions, Jason Kidd moved from player to coach with little familiarity with the position, last season the Lakers also hired a former player JJ Riddick with little coaching connection.

Hit the ground running

Several reading the headline might be unsure of the content. It simply implies someone or something begins a project/effort swiftly with no delay. That is the case for Dennis Gates and his Missouri Tigers, excluding those who ran out of eligibility and portal transfers a news release listed 10 holdovers plus newcomers. That would be an indication of addressing the areas the coach and his staff believe the Tigers were or might be deficient. Arriving from Kansas is Bryson Tiller a 6-foot 11 240 pound forward, he’s got three years eligibility remaining.

Although he’d gone a different route Gates had recruited Tiller at the time he coached Cleveland State, Tiller remembered. Also coming on board for the Tigers is Jamier Jones from Providence, he’s a 6-foot 6 forward. His former coach at Providence Kim English once played for Missouri. Arriving from Tennessee is Jaylen Carey a 6-foot 8 257 pound power forward. I’m not on the staff for Gates but it would appear the roster might be complete at this point although this is not clear yet. As I have attempted to point out to a number in Mizzou Nation are displeased with Gates and the end of season results, they certainly cannot make that statement regarding recruiting. At the close of the portal 247sports.com provided a rating on the Top 50 schools in the nation, Missouri is ranked 7.  

Another serious injury

By now you are aware Victor Wembanyama suffered a concussion in Game Two in the Spurs-Blazers most recent playoff game. Other than Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves missing in action for the Lakers the Wemby injury is earth shattering for the Spurs playoff hopes. The most important issue of course he fully recovers, the news release indicated he would miss 7-10 days. The good first, Wemby missed a stretch of games during the regular season, the downside of course playoff basketball is a different matter.

The record indicates back up Luke Kornet was a starter in 25 games during Wemby’s absence during the regular season. The further good news, playoff basketball is no back to back games so the missing time might not impact the Spurs in a normal manner. Mitch Johnson will not be able to play however he could revise the team’s playbook to alleviate the missing Wemby. The loss to the Blazers in my view was more to do with the Spurs “losing their way” once the game turned in the manner it did. This is playoff basketball, despite their lack of experience the remaining Spurs must adjust to playoff basketball.