Another week watching basketball, another week of some thoughts and reactions.
Players’ Shot Selection- Late in games things can be rushed and you have to get a shot up. I watched a game where a team was trailing. With 10 seconds to go, a 33% three point shooter took and open three. At that time, the other players on the floor were shooting from three at 52%, 45%, 43%, 43%. To keep the defense honest if you are playing 5 Out, maybe the 33% shooter needs to take some threes, but with 10 seconds left and your team trailing, there is time to find someone else.
Positionless Basketball- The buzz concept for coaches, players, and crazed dads is that the team is playing “positionless basketball.” Dads who have visions of their 6’5” son playing D1, want to see them outside handling the ball and shooting threes- even though the other team’s tallest player is 5’10”.
Since moving from a guard to a #3/4 position, Cooper Flagg is now shooting 56% from the field and averaging 20+ppg. Yes, playing certain POSITIONS has a way of allowing players to take advantage of strengthens and weaknesses.
NBA Commissioner’s Cup- The NBA and their TV sponsor have said they want to move the championship game to an historic college arena. It has been mentioned places like N. Carolina, Duke, Kansas, UCLA, and Kentucky. The front runner is Hinkle FH at Butler University. Part of the reason is that by having it located in Indianapolis in the middle of the country it makes travel less stressful for teams on the coast.
Semi-Final Game Replayed- The huge upset of the Cup series was San Antonio over OKC. Great news, that will be one of the Christmas games, and the two teams do NOT like each other. Don’t miss that game.
College vs HS Refs- The obvious thought of people would be that college refs allow more physical play. One area college refs are sticklers is hands on a dribbler. If you go to a high school game- tell me if you can figure out when it is a foul on a dribbler and when it is not. If you watch a college game- it is pretty automatic if the defense puts a hand on a dribbler it is a foul. As a result, college defenders learn to defend with the their feet while HS players are reaching.
Max Preps is Coming- It is highly unlikely that it will happen this year but it is high likely it will happen next year- HS coaches will not vote on seeding but rather the seeding will be based on Max Preps rankings. This will make “strength of schedule” a much bigger deal.
If you follow strength of schedule on Max Preps, you will notice a team can be ranked high even though they have a poor strength of schedule, but as soon as they lose one or two games, their ranking falls WAY down. 3A/4A coaches will be cautious about playing 1/2A teams if this comes true.
Know Your Stars- I watched a game, where it seemed clear to me that one team had the best player on the floor. They could handle the ball like a guard, they could shoot outside, and they were the biggest kid on the floor. They got 3 shots in the first half of the game.
Offensive Rebounds- I have mentioned it before, the change coming down from the pros and college to high basketball is the emphasis on offensive rebounds. Over the next five years in HS basketball, we will see an explosion of teams attacking the offensive boards.
What am I talking about? In the Commissioners Cup between the Knicks and Spurs. The Knicks had 23 offensive rebounds (Mitchell Robinson 10) and the Spurs had 19 offensive rebounds (Wembanyama 6).
Build a Moat- I can’t believe the things that I have seen at games, seen posted on the internet, and heard people talk about.
*** A dad literally stepping onto the edge of the court during a deadball to give instruction to their kid.
*** A dad giving hand signals to their kid during the game, and the kid looking over and responding to the dad.
*** A parent meeting their kid when they come out of the lockeroom at half-time to give them strategy.
I saw a video of three parents in one game being ejected from a game. Is it surprising that the other parents in the crowd started applauding when they realized the people were being ejected?!
Latest WNBA- Supposedly, the latest WNBA negotiations have the max salary for a player at $2 million and the average at $770,000. The players have asked to receive 33% of revenue but the owners have not accepted that. (The NBA players get 50%.) The players have countered with an escalating scale starting at 28% and moving up during the contract to 32%.
Bulls in Blue?- I get it is a different era. I get teams look for anyone way to make money. I get the push for alternative uniforms. At the same time, could the Bulls please wear their old red uniforms once in awhile.
This was triggered when I watched the Bulls with black uniforms that had blue trim. It was the Bulls “city edition.” The light blue and light red trim is to represent the Chicago flag. I won’t be buying one of those jersey!!
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