A basketball fans perspective

Sunday, Monday, Wednesday & Friday

No excuse

After his error that led to the Spurs loss Wemby would be down. Down but not out realizing the significance of his errant pass to the back of teammate Stephon Castle. Stuff like that occurs the hope is not at a critical point of a game, “I threw that one away. I messed up.” That was a brief summary made by Wemby regarding his Game 2 error. Probably millions of negative thoughts have rushed around in his mind but they all must be placed aside. He and his Spurs teammates have a gigantic task in front of them tonight….win a game. On the other hand the Knicks, although feeling good about themselves cannot relax too much.

They must realize the Spurs are down but not totally out of this thing. I’ve been told that teams that lose the first two games of a playoff series have never come back to win it, so that remains a concern. The other issue (at least for me) how much of a distraction to the gathering will the president be in deciding to attend this game. James Dolan doesn’t communicate much with the public so we have no idea if it’s true or not. The president claims the Knicks owner invited him to attend the game, realizing how unpopular the president is in New York City the question might be asked why? That’s a whole other story and I’ve spent far too much time on it. Here’s hoping both teams play a competitive game and not be distracted by events they have no control over.

The mystery

With the NBA draft just weeks away, it remains unclear which of the roughly 60 players selected on June 23 (first round) and June 24 (second round) will ultimately succeed at the NBA level. As I indicated there are questions regarding all but Darryn Peterson might be the biggest mystery of all. Peterson arrived on the campus of Kansas University the projected top pick in the 2026 draft, later the questions began. When he did play Peterson averaged 20.2 points, 4 rebounds and almost 2 assists a game, he shot nearly 44% from the floor with 38% of it from the three line.

Those are certainly decent numbers however there is the other, intermittent hamstring issues, cramps, and ankle injuries that saw Peterson see the floor in only 24 of the 35 games Kansas had on the schedule. Peterson has all the physical tools to succeed in the NBA, he stands 6-foot 5 and weighs 205 pounds good size for an NBA shooting guard. As I’ve often stated mock draft sites are no valid indication of order however they do provide us an idea where a prospect might be drafted. After beginning the season in the top position the questions failed to drop him very far. Most mock sites project him the number two choice while one dropped him to third. From an ego standpoint, most prospects would probably want to be the No. 1 pick. Even so, Peterson is still expected to be drafted no lower than third.

The Bucket Getter

The title above was utilized by a Rock M Nation media person in the Missouri fan website, he was describing incoming freshman Jason Crowe Jr. He pointed toward the fact “the ball would be in his hands most of the time scoring or dishing out assists.” Can you say a possible SGA comparison….whoa, hold on there a moment the kid is yet to set foot on the floor of Mizzou arena. Well the hype is somewhat valid, there’s not been a competitor of his merit since 2017 when Michael J. Porter committed. MPJ arrived National HS player of the Year, a McDonald’s All American and 5-star prospect.

Porter was ranked the number one or two best player in the nation, Missouri had never recruited a basketball player of his stature up till that time. MPJ suffered an injury in a December game and missed the entirety of the season. At the end of the season he would declare for the draft and the story ends here for Missouri. Projected a number one or two draft pick the injury was a factor in MPJ being drafted 14th in 2018 by the Nuggets. MPJ has since proven he is a capable and valued athlete for the Nuggets and now he continues play for the Nets. As for Crowe Jr. the evidence predicts Missouri has an outstanding player who will be headed to the NBA next spring. I’m not fooling myself into thinking this youngster will be at Missouri for his sophomore season. Mizzou has laid the groundwork for post-Crowe Jr. so we shall see how that plays out too.

This is only the beginning   

This is written prior to the first game of the NBA Finals, I have no idea of the outcome or Victor Wembanyama’s contribution or impact on the outcome. The truth of the matter Wemby has already affected the NBA, it began with his arrival three seasons ago. Last season Wemby missed nearly half the season due to a blood clot issue which was medically resolved. His off season was spent with Shaolin monks in China along with tutoring from Hakeem Olajuwon and Kevin Garnett. Some reading this might not understand Wemby is a different kind of dude. The off season prepared him for much of what we witnessed.

He was honored being voted NBA Defensive Player of the Year, he was also named an All-NBA First Team member. Wemby finished third in voting for the NBA’s MVP, behind SGA and second place finisher Nikola Jokic, also add Western Conference Finals MVP to his resume. The Finals have been a different story for him, several ESPN radio guys have really been critical of Wemby’s play in the first two games. Maybe it’s a generational thing, but some commentators seem either too young to remember or quick to forget. They’ve praised KAT’s performance against 22-year-old Wemby, but it’s worth recalling Hakeem Olajuwon’s “Dream Shake” on 23-year-old Shaquille O’Neal during the Rockets’ 1995 Finals sweep. Wemby isn’t the first young star to get a harsh welcome—As for Shaq I wonder how his NBA career panned out.