“GOING YOUNG” was the Arizona Republic headline and the Phoenix Suns, per usual, were ecstatic. Why? Well, they had got both “their guys,” but, hang on; it gets better.
“SUNS BUY MORE TIME WITH PAIR OF INTRIGUING PICKS” was attached to a column by Dan Bickley, the Republic’s NFL football guru who dabbles in NBA commentary. […]
Thanks to Mr. Research, we have some numbers for the Analytics before this NBA draft. We all know how much they love numbers. Back in the day – now close to being “long ago” — when the No. 1 pick of the NBA draft was more often than not a dominant big man, this was […]
No question, LeBron James was outstanding and played very well. But Kyrie Irving should have been MVP. James got it because he’s the face of the franchise but Irving’s 30, 34, 41, 23 and 26-point games coincided with the Cavs’ comeback. His huge third quarter Sunday lifted Cleveland from a halftime deficit and his three-pointer […]
Phoenix Suns are eyeing Jaylen Brown, Cal’s Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, as a candidate for their No. 4 pick. An athletic 6-foot-7, 225-pounder, the 19-year-old’s physique has the Analytics drooling. He talks, too: “I think having a high level of intelligence translates right to the basketball court. I play chess all the time. I […]
“It’s really annoying for me,” Stephen Curry said before a Cleveland-Golden State final — billed as King James Vs. Baby Face Assassin. “That’s not what I’m playing for, to be the face of the NBA or to be this or that or to take LeBron’s throne or whatever. You know, I’m trying to chase rings, […]
Columnist Dan Bickley, of the Arizona Republic, wrote this about today’s game: “(Adam Silver’s) NBA is approaching something of a breaking point. Unprepared and undeveloped college players are still making the game shrivel.” And, he added: “Parity is a myth, and this past season, the league was full of disappointing, underachieving, petulant teams.” Meaning: There […]
When Oklahoma City was leading the semi-final series, 3 games to 1, it didn’t take the smart guys on TV long to begin making Curry/ Westbrook comparisons. No matter the outcome of Monday’s finale, the closing minutes of Game 6 is all you need to know about Westbrook. Let me add: the difference between Westbrook […]
“Race, Power, and Politics in the NBA,” by Wayne Embry, posed the wonderful basketball trivia question:
Who is the only player to play on NCAA, NBA and ABA championship teams?
Answer: Tom (Doggie) Thacker, who I met up with while both of us were among the Class of 2016 (17 people and the Miami of Ohio teams from […]
For all of you that follow me, yours truly will be inducted into the state of Ohio Hall of Fame, Saturday, May 21st. Hopefully, we will have some good things to talk about and perhaps some pictures as well.
Watching the NBA today is pretty painful. An evening generally begins with the NBA TV program, “The Starters.” Where the hell these guys came from, God only knows. When the games begin, we have children playing with children, referees scared to death to make a call and TV analysts talking about things they never did […]