Blog

<Before I begin I’m sorry that I haven’t been posting in awhile and now that I am in a rhythm with school I will be able to focus on the blog and try to post every week>

 

Lakers: 2017

 

   As we begin to enter the 2017-2018 NBA season people are already predicting playoff spots and season records. As always, the Warriors and Cavaliers are constantly in conversation as they have established themselves as the two premier teams in the league. Then you hear names like the Celtics, Wizards, Rockets, and Spurs which are teams expecting to make deep playoff runs. However, a team that has entered the conversation and has not been positively talked about in the last couple of years is the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers, which are the second most successful team in NBA history, have been extremely unsuccessful in the last 4 years and 5 years ago created one of the biggest superteam failures of all time. Now they have found new hope in their young core. With no surprise, the headliner of this Los Angeles basketball renaissance is Lonzo Ball. If you are a reader of my content I have gone on about Lonzo in my draft article and I am so excited to see what he has to offer. After Ball Players like Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle, and Brandon Ingram. Clarkson who was drafted by the Wizards at the 46 pick out of Missouri, is a great pickup for the Lakers as he can penetrate and shoot from the outside. This combined with Balls passing ability, Randles finishing, and size, and Ingram’s exceptional scoring ability, this makes the Lakers a team filled with amazing potential. But as we look to the rest of the team there’s   one player that deserves a lot more attention than he is given.

 

   When looking at the Los Angeles Lakers summer league team everybody was locked on Lonzo Ball and was shocked when they saw Lonzo share the spotlight with another young player. Kyle Kuzma out of Utah ended the Summer League averaging 20.5 ppg and 10 rebounds per game along with a triple-double in the Lakers Summer League Championship. Kuzma has been called a “positionless basketball player” by Lakers Gm Rob Pelinka and he is able to stretch the floor with his shooting ability and is great finishing on a break. He is always out on the run looking for a Lonzo outlet pass and is able to set up teammates by himself in a half court set. In my opinion, he is James worthy with a jump shot and is also able to score out of faceup situations. Overall his impact on the Lakers second unit will be tremendous as the team continues to build.

   As stated earlier the Lakers are a team on the rise and hopes are high all across the organization but next offseason will put the Lakers on cross roads. With players like Paul George, Russell Westbrook, and possibly even LeBron James, showing interest in the organization one would expect Lakers fans to be ecstatic. With that being said the Lakers recent struggles have allowed them to pick up a lot of potential in these recent draft picks and bringing in a superstar player like George or James could stunt growth. Along with stunting growth these superstar players have already experienced 5,10, or in Lebron’s case 14 years of tough NBA seasons that have taken a toll. While Westbrook and George are in their prime they both have suffered huge injuries over the last 3 years that could enable their play when they’re older. This might not mean anything now but 3 years from now when the Lakers young core would be reaching their prime, the superstar free agents that could potentially land in LA will most likely be on the declining ends of their careers and will be wanting to ring chase. With all of this being said out of these three players, in my opinion, Paul George is the right option due to the fact that he can play shooting guard allowing Jordan Clarkson to come off the bench and lead the second unit. George is also more willing to take a smaller role and he does not need to have the ball in his hand every second to make something happen. Westbrook and Lebron, on the other hand, will be wanting to control the entire pace of the game with the ball in their hands. In the end, the Lakers are looking good going into this season and I am extremely excited to see how they perform with Ball at the helm and Magic leading the Management.

 

Throughout Basketball History many amazing games, streaks, and seasons have occurred. From Wilts 100 to the 71-72 Lakers 33 game winning streak, to the 96 Bulls 72 win season, the NBA has been filled with accomplishments that blow the minds of basketball fans everywhere. In 2017 among the presence of basketball’s royalty one season shined the brightest, and that one is the season of Russell Westbrook.The thunderous dunks, mesmerizing passes, and tenacious rebounds of Westbrook were constant throughout the NBA season. He stuffed the stat sheet with ease and never looked like that was his sole purpose. After amazingly being snubbed for 2017 All-Star game Westbrook in an interview with Fred Katz of the Norman Transcript noted “ I don’t play for All-Star nods or All-Star bids. I play to win championships and compete at a high level.” This is a clear and poignant indication of Westbrook’s attitude towards, team, individual success, and statistics. Although his stats are amazing, this season represents something a lot larger.
When listening to ESPN commentators discuss Russell Westbrook’s season they continually looked back at the only other person to accomplish what Russell Westbrook accomplished: Oscar Robertson. In the list of the greatest NBA players to ever set foot onto the hardwood Oscar Robertson sometimes goes unappreciated and forgotten. In an interview with CBS Robertson’s teammate and close friend, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar stated that while LeBron and Michael are great players Oscar would have “kicked them in the behind” and that Robertson “got the job done every night”. Robertson, who grew up in a segregated housing project in Indianapolis during the 1940s and 1950s, played ball for the all-black Crispus Attucks High School, where he was named Indiana’s “Mr. Basketball” in 1956 after leading his team to the state title. He went on to play at the University of Cincinnati for three years, before being drafted by the Cincinnati Royals in 1960. Robertson then spent the next fourteen years being one of the league’s most dominant players.
In the days of Robertson, the game was played at a different level. Most of the game was still played under the rim and with hand checking isolation dribbling was not common. Players were not nearly as strong and athletic as they are today, but they didn’t have a better understanding of the fundamentals of the game. This allowed many of the league’s stars to put up huge numbers such as Wilts 50.4 ppg average in the 1961-1962 season and Bill Russell’s 24.7 rpg average in 1963-64.

The second part of this article will come out later

With the draft being 24 hours away and free agency being full swing the NBA is a buzz. Unlike last year’s draft, this year’s is extremely strong and loaded with talent. Although there are many players that are going to be selected in the draft this year, I will only be talking about a select few players and picks that interest me the most.

 

Markelle Fultz

Coming out of his one and done year at University of Washington Markelle Fultz is no doubt the best player in this draft. He is far more consistent than Lonzo Ball and is perfect NBA size for a point guard. Now that Fultz will most likely become a sixer he will be given the reigns of the team along with a recovering Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. His explosiveness and finishing ability along with a solid mid-range jump shot will allow him to score off ball screens from Embiid and other Sixers big men. Fultz adds to the Sixers already strong young core and with things changing in the east the 76ers could very well become a playoff team.

 

Lonzo Ball

Although he will most likely not go number 1 Lonzo Ball has the potential to have the best career out of anyone in this draft. Lonzo’s passing ability resembles one of Lebron James (Yes I said Lebron James) along with his 6’6 stature which is tall among the league’s point guards. Add this to his responsiveness, ability to finish above and below the rim, and his unorthodox yet successful jump shot and you have a potential top 5 point guard that makes multiple all-star appearances. Ball has little to no weaknesses and the only real negative found in drafting ball is his boisterous father Lavar. Overall if the team that selects ball is able to separate his father from the team and supervise Lonzo’s company then they will be in for a good pick.

 

Dennis Smith Jr

Moving down on the list of point guards we find another player with the potential to be a star. The 6’2 point guard is extremely explosive and has the elite ball handling skills to complement it. Although not a knockdown jump shooter he is definitely capable of hitting outside shots and is not the person you want to go under a screen on. Smith has received a lot of criticism but in my opinion, due to the rocky situation at NC State, Smith was not able to showcase his full ability. With that being said, Smith’s leadership skills and team chemistry with NC state left a lot to be desired and the inconsistency that occurred throughout the season has downgraded his draft stock. As a Dennis Smith fan who has followed him since his days at Trinity Christian, I believe that he is underestimated player and someone that really has the potential to become an all-star.

 

 

Bam Adebayo

Like many drafts of the recent past, this one is extremely guard heavy. When it comes to big men though Bam Adebayo is a player who I think is greatly unappreciated. Bams strength and size combined with his amazing speed and jumping ability will allow him to be an immediate force. Unlike many young prospects, Bam is NBA ready in terms of strength and he will have no holding his own with against the NBA’s giants. Unlike centers like Kristaps Porzingis and Karl-Anthony Towns, Bam is not an all around center that is able to stretch out and hit the outside jumper, handle the ball, and make plays off the dribble. Bam is thought of as more of a pick and roll finisher that is able to catch lobs. Although most of his offense will probably come off of the pick and roll Bams strength and body shape give him an advantage in post up situations vs other pick and roll centers like DeAndre Jordan.