Topics on My Mind

Over the last few weeks, I have been bogged down while topics that I wanted to discuss piled.  Now that I have the opportunity, I have a list of random topics from NBA and college basketball that I would like to discuss in this post.

 

Jeremy Lin

Last month, Jeremy Lin admitted he had been called “Coronavirus” by an opposing player during a G-League game.  Since then, the player had been identified and the matter was dealt with internally, at Lin’s request.  The player was not identified to the public after the matter.

After it was initially reported, I considered discussing this matter in a post, but I didn’t know what I would say.  In my mind, this was wrong and racist, and I thought it went without saying that it was not okay to do this.  Since then, the shootings at multiple massage venues and spas in Atlanta occurred where 6 Asian-American women were murdered, and I have regret for not discussing this.  While it has not been classified as a hate crime, I believe I put too much faith into people by assuming they could see this was not right.  I allowed myself to pass over the fact that several politicians (including a former president) were openly calling it the “China Virus”, which implies that China is the sole country responsible for Covid-19.  I ignored the fact that there have been several hate crimes that have considered throughout the century while several schools with predominately white populations teach units about how racism is a thing in the past and no longer exists.  These kind of microaggressions and racist quips might appear to just be words, but all it takes is somebody who has something wrong with them to think action must be taken.  (To clarify, I’m not saying that anybody with a mental health illness or issue would do this; I for one have multiple and would not.  I’m referring to the fact that there are certain people with this kind of mental health issue who take action on this).  I am sorry that I did not utilize my platform to discuss this sooner; unfortunately, I assumed good in people but ignored clear and obvious signs that this was the wrong decision.

One thing that I’ve seen people complaining about is how a surprisingly large number of people online believe the player’s identity was kept quiet to protect a black player and would have been revealed if it were a white player, with some comparing it to Meyers Leonard using an anti-Semitic slur.  I have two things as to why this is wrong.  First, Lin requested that this be handled quietly and had no interest in calling out that individual, so the NBA and G-League granted his wish.  Second, Leonard said his slur during a livestream where many people were watching while the player who said this about Lin did this as trash talk during a game, which often isn’t heard by people outside of the players and sometimes refs.  These are two drastically different situations and has nothing to do with race; rather, Leonard said an offensive word that he didn’t know during a stream for the world to hear.

 

Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant has been fined $50k by the NBA for using “offensive and derogatory language on social media” in messages to Michael Rapaport.  In particular, Rapaport shared messages he received from Durant that, per ESPN, “included threatening language and anti-gay and misogynistic slurs.”

While my response after reading these screenshots was often more confusion as to how both sides managed to reach that point their lives, I’m not opposed to Durant being fined.  I expect that part of the fine was due to the fact that this is not a good look for a role model in the league, which I think is a stupid reason and not why I would fine him.  I believe that any celebrity should not be considered a role model since I expect fewer than 0.01% of the population are celebrities and I think this small sample of individuals should not be treated as if they are required to represent the interest of everybody else unless they specifically want to.  Rather, I would fine him because, similar to what I discussed in the previous section, somebody might see these, think that it is fine to do this, and then take the words literally and act on threats.  This is not a look that the NBA would want mapped back to them, so I’m in favor of this fine if that were the reason.  That said, the things that he said are not okay and should not be written off and ignored, as this is another underlying case that could add up to something more.

 

Weight Room Controversy

Prior to the NCAA Women’s Tournament even beginning, the NCAA found itself in some hot water when videos and imaged comparing the weight room at the Men’s location to that of the Women’s location.  To say that the women’s setup was underwhelming in comparison (with just a dumbbell rack and a mat).  This is another case where it should go without saying that this is not okay as many people online seem to believe as well, but obviously this isn’t true.  What makes it worse is the number of individuals that are involved with the decision to incorporate this; holding this tournament requires the approval of a high number of people and much planning, so the fact that nobody realized that there was a difference between the two leading up to it is extremely concerning to say the least.  While the NCAA made changes and admitted that they handled this wrong, the fact that they allowed it to reach this point is a true show of mismanagement and lack of leadership.

 

Women’s Final Four Video

Prior to the Women’s Final Four beginning, the NCAA released a promotional video with the Final Four teams…well, almost all the Final Four teams.  They left out Arizona in the video, who was the only non-number 1 seed to make it to the Women’s Final Four.  I personally consider this to be a massive embarrassment to totally omit any team.  Even if they were to argue that there wasn’t the time to include them, cutting out 1-2 seconds of each other team gives you 4-8 seconds that can be used for Arizona.  Ultimately, they had the last laugh, as Arizona upset UConn and is going to the Championship game.  I am now rooting for them to beat Stanford (especially now that my South Carolina beating UConn finals is officially an impossibility).

 

UConn vs. Baylor

On March 29^th, UConn beat Baylor in the Women’s Tournament 69-67 to advance to the Final Four.  There was some controversy regarding a no-call at the end of the game that made the world up in flames and had many individuals wondering why there wasn’t a foul on this.  I have three major opinions related to this.  First off, I didn’t consider this play to be an obvious foul; multiple angles I saw during the game appeared to be all ball, but I did not have overwhelming evidence to disagree with that call on any angle.  Second, the people claiming this were not watching the previous 2 minutes.  In that span, I counted around 9 no-calls that I was surprised by; out of those, 2 would have been fouls on UConn (one actually worked out in Baylor’s favor since they didn’t call a blocking foul where a pass led to a separate basket, but beside the point) and 7 would have been fouls on Baylor.  In particular, there was one shot where a Baylor defender was not set on a shot attempt on contact (which would have been a foul on her) and then hit the arm on the same shot attempt.  The refs missed both foul calls and what had two opportunities to be an and-one was a made basket with no call that the refs blew.  Third, if I thought this was a foul, I would have been in favor of calling the foul.  That said, many sports commentators and media members furious that there was no foul are also the same ones I have heard complaining whenever a game ends on a foul or penalty, usually using the logic of “the refs shouldn’t control the result of a game” or that “this isn’t the time to let a foul determine the result”.  I have always argued that by saying that it’s stupid to think this because I interpret this as saying that the end of the game is when the rules should no longer matter, which obviously isn’t the case.  I don’t care that people are complaining about a no-call, but some people need to have the self-awareness to check their hypocrisy.  Ultimately, the reason that Baylor even got back into the game was because of biased free throws in the last few minutes, and I believe that the team who played better for 40 minutes won.

 

Kim Mulkey

Speaking of Baylor, head coach Kim Mulkey received some backlash for her recent comments on Covid-19 following the aforementioned UConn-Baylor game.  Following the game, she discussed the idea of no longer continuing Covid testing during the Final Four.  Her logic behind that:  “Wouldn't it be a shame to keep COVID testing and then you got kids that test positive or something and they don't get to play in the Final Four?”  My response:  well, it would also be a shame if what happened in the NBA in March of 2020 came true, where playing basketball became a super spreader event.  For athletes (I know they’re called “student-athletes” by the NCAA, but for the major sports, that’s a total façade) who are putting their health at risk for the sake of the league and schools to get money.  It would be a shame for them to miss out, but it would be more of a shame for players to get infected without realizing it just because they’re doing what is right for their team.  On top of that, the NCAA would never do that after the controversies they are already facing for the weight rooms.

 

LaMarcus Aldridge to Brooklyn

After being bought out by the San Antonio Spurs, the Brooklyn Nets signed LaMarcus Aldridge for the remainder of the season.  Now that the buyout market is back, it is time for several people who claim to be an NBA fan show that they know nothing about basketball, and this signing is an excellent example of it.  This signing and acquiring Blake Griffin did not give Brooklyn a super team, as neither have been good this year.  In fact, Aldridge was often so bad for Spurs that they were better off not playing him in their race for the playoffs.  Name an advanced metric and it often doesn’t fair well for him:  0.8 WS, -1.2 BPM, 15.2 PER (I don’t like this stat as much for value, but it is a career low for him and underwhelming for a big man), -2.8 for a per game +/-, negative +/- per 100 possessions (-4.2 OnCourt, -7.3 On-Off) in 21 games for the Spurs.  In other words, don’t fall for the trap that the rest of the world seems to have by associating a name or a former All-NBA status with a now 35-year-old struggling Aldridge.

Had the Nets not signed Blake Griffin, I might not be in love with the signing, but I could understand it.  With Griffin, I’m not a big fan of it.  While I wouldn’t expect the buyout market to provide an elite player or even one that is likely to provide more than a couple decent games, I don’t see the fit in the long-term.  Some would point to the fact that he is averaging 13.7 PPG and shooting 36.0% with a 51.8 eFG% as a reason for why he will be a great fit, but they aren’t watching the same player I watched.  The LaMarcus Aldridge I have watched this year has struggled defensively (which he always has, but this seems a bit worse), rarely rebounded (career lows with 4.5 RPG and 9.1 TRB%), is shooting more shots from the midrange than from 3 (33.5% of his attempts were between 16 feet and the 3-point line), and has still demanded the ball a good amount (22.8% USG%) while his minutes have decreased (25.9 MPG).  While he has shot a decent percent from the 16 feet to 3PT range, his points per attempt are still higher from 3 (1.08 from 3, 1.04 from the deep 2).  I’m not sure how he will fit with the team; his resistance to shoot 3’s and lack of defensive mobility could limit his minutes when players are healthy.  While it’s not a disaster signing, I still think signing a defensive-minded player who can play multiple positions would have been a better fit; Rondae Hollis-Jefferson just signed with Portland, but I wondered if they would target him.

 

Andre Drummond to the Lakers

After being bought out by the Cleveland Cavaliers, Andre Drummond signed with the Los Angeles Lakers.  This one is another where people seem to be overhyping it a bit, but I think this signing makes more sense than LaMarcus Aldridge going to the Nets does.   Some are saying that he’s an impressive finisher in the paint and is going to be a Joel Embiid or Nikola Jokic type stopper, but he will be neither of those.  The truth is that he has historically been a slight positive offensively and defensively, a strong rebounder, and an overall net negative on the floor.  That said, I think this is skewed a bit based on how his career has played out.

His field goal percent has been lower than average this season (47.4%, 48.4% from 2), but I think there’s a few reasons for that.  He has attempted a decent amount of shots from the 3-10 feet range (33.2% of his attempts were from that range) and he struggled in those attempts (39.7%).  He also has fewer dunks this season compared to usual (1.52 per game, next lowest was the previous year with 1.67).  I expect with a healthy LeBron James (who is a better passer and playmaker than he has ever played with) and if shooters can make their shots, Drummond will have more availability in the paint to have 2-3 dunks per game.  On defense, he isn’t the strongest rim (1.2 BPG this season, 1.5 BPG for his career, 3.6% BLK% this season), but he is good for a big man at picking up steals (1.6 SPG this season, 2.7 STL%).  He was consistently a positive defender in Detroit and twice led the league in DWS (2017-18 and 2018-19), but he struggled defensively in Cleveland and was a slight negative; I think both of those were more due to the design of the team and the defensive scheme (Cleveland has been atrocious defensively in recent years).  Overall, I think he will be an above average defender in L.A.  His biggest strength is his rebounding; he led the league the last 3 seasons and 4 times in the last 5 years with a career mark of 13.8 RPG.  While his per game rebounding totals dropped a bit this year (13.5), this is due to his minutes dropping; his per 36-minute rebounding numbers are still strong (16.8, 26.0% TRB%).  He is especially strong at the offensive end, averaging 4.7 ORB for his career, having a 15.2% ORB% so far, and leading the league in ORB% in 4 seasons in his career.  I think he will be a solid replacement until Anthony Davis returns and after that then be a pesky player for 15-20 MPG.  I like this signing.

 

Isaiah Thomas to New Orleans

While there have been several free agents signed after the trade deadline, I want to highlight a player who I always loved when he was in Boston.  Isaiah Thomas signed a 10-day contract with New Orleans.  I love IT and am excited for him to get another chance in the league, but I don’t get the fit of him there.  Admittedly, I was thinking he signed with Detroit at first, which I thought was the perfect fit given that Killian Hayes is out for the year, but I’m not sold on this fit.  I think having Josh Hart and Lonzo Ball injured and J.J. Redick traded creates an opening for Thomas to get a little bit of playing time, but I would expect Eric Bledsoe, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Kira Lewis to get minutes prior to Thomas.  That said, Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, and Steven Adams also missed their last game, so he any long-term injury for any of them makes him more valuable.  Even though he has struggled since his injury near the end of his run in Boston, he can still shoot well (41.3% from 3 last season) and is a decent playmaker (3.7 APG in 23.1 MPG last year).  If nothing else, it’s worth a shot for 10 games.

 

 

What do you think about these different topics?  Let me know in the comments!