A basketball fans perspective

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Hustle points

For me the headline denotes extra effort, energy expended beyond what most would do. In Sunday’s Spurs-Blazers game Wemby had 7 blocked shots and I made a joke about him being 7-foot 9. Of course we know he’s tall but not quite that height, back to the subject of blocked shots. I was curious the number he’s registered in a single game since he began NBA play. The number is 10, he accomplished this twice so far in his brief NBA career December 21, 2024, and February 12, 2024. I refer to block shots and rebounds as hustle points for one reason alone, every athlete doesn’t possess the desire.

For me it’s simple, it states: “I’m going to block every shot and grab every rebound I can.” Of course that is impossible however there are scores of athletes who play in the NBA and other sports with the same mentality. As for the NBA all-time single game record its 17 blocks in one game, the record was set by Laker Elmore Smith in an October 28, 1973, game against the Blazers. I’ve written this previously legendary Celtic great Bill Russell certainly wasn’t the first to block a shot in an NBA game but he turned it into a fine art. I’m going to paraphrase his comment; “I can’t block every shot but I can make them hesitate when they drive the lane.”

I’m not a hater

Anytime there is an attempt on my part to cover Kansas basketball this is the response. “You’re a Missouri guy, you hate the success of Bill Self and the program.” Only a portion of that statement is correct, I’ve had issues with the coach strictly for his relationship with Missouri once they left the Big 12 for the SEC. That’s all in the past now, I don’t believe (others might disagree) I wrote about any of the roster members in a negative light. Any post regarding Darryn Peterson had nothing to do with his ability if my comments were taken negatively so be it. Now for the “meat and potatoes” of this post, many in the local media appear to believe all Bill Self has to accomplish is wave his hand over this crop of incoming players and they will automatically be steeped in Jayhawk Red & Blue.

Unfortunately it doesn’t work in that manner, I make this statement unsure if number one high school prospect Tyran Stokes chooses Kansas. Self and staff did their usual thing, went out and recruited a number of talented players from several programs. The hope is this collection will mesh and be able to play competitive basketball at least by the middle of January. I am not going to indicate Self and staff will not be able to accomplish the task, this is written more for the local and to a degree national sports media. The days of rolling a basketball onto the court at Allen Fieldhouse and other arenas is a thing of the past, as long as Self is in place this will occur. Kansas will win far more games than they lose….as for the domination factor that no longer exists. We can simply check out the past three seasons for that answer, tourney invite every season….advancement to the Elite 8 or Final Four is another matter.

They did it

Sunday night the Rockets took my Lakers to the woodshed, they accomplished this spanking the Lakers rear ends. The final score was 115-96 in favor of the other guys, LeBron James took the lead for the loss. He acknowledged his turnovers were a key factor in the Rockets win. Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun led the way to the victory for the home team, they were ably assisted by Reed Sheppard. Interesting in that from the field the Lakers actually outshot the Rockets however the final score becomes the judgement.

Deandre Ayton was the high scorer for the Lakers with 19 points and 10 rebounds, unfortunately he failed to last until the end of the game. Ayton was ejected in the third quarter after receiving a flagrant 2 foul. The basis for the ejection, he’d smacked Sengun in the face with his elbow and forearm. So what occurs in tonight’s game, the Rockets could be quite engaged having won Game Four, on the other hand the Lakers might guess they missed an opportunity to close the series. Whatever occurs my hope is a good game and not one marred by violence evident in Game Four.

How do they acquire talent

The NBA will begin the process of league expansion, there are numerous issues to be resolved over the next few years prior to the entrance of the Seattle and Las Vegas franchises. One of the chief issues is acquisition of talent, how will Seattle and Las Vegas select players for their respective teams? It’s been several years in fact 2004 the last time the NBA expanded. I had to return to past records to determine how the 2004 expansion occurred. The Charlotte Bobcats (Hornets) were added to the NBA, this time there are changes to be undertaken different than previously occurred

Despite that fact let's check out that expansion for how the Bobcats acquired their talent. Back then existing teams could "protect" 8 players from the 15 on their roster. The Bobcats were allowed to select 14 players one from each team. Unrestricted free agents could not be selected or protected. Imagine this, a team like the Thunder or Pistons with a deep roster of talent must really be careful who they might expose in an expansion draft. Keep in mind that with two teams their might be a larger amount of talent Seattle and Las Vegas could choose however my guess, each team is likely to lose at best two very good players. Again this is speculative using the 2004 NBA expansion as a model.