The Wizard of Australia is on a Path to Rookie of the Year

 The Wizard of Australia 

is on a Path to Rookie of the Year

By: Logan Duvall

18 November 2021

    Joshua Giddey, Oklahoma City rookie, is gaining attention for his luxurious hair and his smooth delivery of the basketball. Giddey arrived in america after he spent time playing basketball in New Zealand and Australia's oceanic league. He averaged 12-10-10 gathering enough attention to declare for the draft. 

    The Thunder drafted Giddey with their 6th overall pick in the 2021 draft. Josh Giddey then arrived in america ready and hungry. Giddey was excited and ready to get his first taste of NBA basketball, five minutes into his summer league debut he suffered an ankle injury. 

    However, Giddey returned during the regular season and started playing very well. Joshua Giddey, and his 6'8 frame, is averaging 7 points 7 rebounds and 6 assists. He has dropped two double-doubles now, one on the young rockets and the other on Anthony Davis's head.

    Giddey may not be an elite shooter or a monster dunker, but he brings back memories of Jason Williams when he passes, smooth like Vegemite. 

    Joshua Giddey needs to get his shooting splits up, like we know he can, and average a handful more assists to win rookie of the year by a LANDSLIDE. Jalen Green and Cade have nothing on the skill Giddey brings to the game. 

    HOT TAKE: Josh Giddey will average a double-double and lead the Thunder to make the play-in game, while winning rookie of the year.  

Will This Be The Best Warriors Team?

Will This Be The Best Warriors Team?

By: Logan Duvall

12 November 2021

    The Warriors are currently sitting at the top of the NBA with only one loss. Stephen Curry is playing at a MVP pace, Wiggins is finally showing signs of a star, and the Warriors are developing talent around Poole and Gary Payton II. Sure, Draymond is aging and Wiseman is hurt, but that is not stopping the chef from cooking. 

    Curry is averaging 27 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds. He is shooting at almost 50-40-90. Nothing can stop this man from scoring. However, the team is improving from there recent fall from dominance because Curry is surrounded by a host of solid players. 

    Wiggins is averaging 19 points with some 30 point games under his belt already. Jordan Poole is averaging 17 points, placing his name upon the list considered for most improved. Finally, Gary Payon II is lighting up sports center with his athleticism. 

    I am assuming that you are already screaming that this team is not  capable of breaking the previous record of the 2016 Warriors. However, there is a key piece missing. Klay Thompson. A shooter as good as Klay does not simply lose the way of the splash. Klay is expected to jump back in eager, hungry, and ready. I expect him to average above twenty his first season back. The best present Santa can bring NBA fans. 

    The lineup would be Curry, Klay, Wiggins, Draymond, and Wiseman. Payton and Poole would come off the bench. An unstoppable, Lakers destroying, Nets demolishing, Giannis crushing team. 

HOT TAKE: The Warriors will match their 73-9 record this year.  

 

The Prophecy of Ja Morant

The Prophecy of Ja Morant

By: Logan Duvall

4 November 2021

    The stars have aligned for the next high flyer, maybe the next MVP. Ja Morant has everything a superstar needs in his game. Sure, he is good at basketball, really good, but he holds the keys to stardom. The secret is the ability to preform, instead of just win. Sure, you can watch Harden drop 50, but he got 30 of those points from the free throw line. Ja is actually fun to watch, he is captivating.

    However, the perfect storm is forming over this young talent and the NBA is watching. This season Ja is averaging 27 ppg. His rookie year he averaged 17 and his sophomore year he put up 19. Sounds a little familiar right? I remember someone what averaged 16, 20, and then 25. That person won MVP in his third year. None other than Derrick Rose. 

    It doesn't stop at the stats, simply look at their games. Smaller guards who can posterize anyone and everyone and is not afraid to try. Paul George went on record and said,"He’s just explosive and electrifying. I’d compare him to like D-Rose. I guarded him my rookie year, the Indy-Chicago series, and guarding Ja is very similar to how Derrick Rose was." Ja is an anomaly, the type of player that comes every couple of decades. Keep an eye out for this young dunker. 

    HOT TAKE: Ja Morant will win MVP this year, and a championship next year. 

Wiseman: The King of Potential

 

Wiseman: The King of Potential

By: Logan Duvall

26 October 2021

James Wiseman, one of the players with the highest potential in the 2020 draft. The easiest pick for the Warriors, Wiseman did not come into the league making noise. He was pretty quiet, averaging mediocre numbers, 11 points, 5 rebounds, and a block and a half. Not bad for a rookie, but nothing to be impressed by. Wiseman immediately fell from the best center in the draft to a normal role player.

    Tragedy strikes when Wiseman departs from the court during his first season in the league. Leaving with a meniscus tear to a long road of recovery. This is the last thing a rookie wants to hear. 

    Fast forward, Steve Kerr come out and says the team is not pleased with his development, expecting more out of the second pick of the draft. News breaks that the Warriors are sending Wiseman to the G-league! This is a desperate action, a "Hail-Mary" if you will, attempting to find the Wiseman that they scouted in college. 

    Are the Warriors right in thinking this? NO! Wiseman is the Drose of big men. He has so much potential that if he comes back from the injury, climbs out of the G-league, he will most-likely make his way into the starting lineup. Maybe not this season, but definitely next, he will be in the top 5 running for MVP. 

    James Wiseman's physical abilities, knowledge of the game, and sheer grit in the paint is the most we have seen since Shaq, but he can hit threes. Wiseman will win MVP in the next five seasons. If he stays healthy, he will be top 5 in points and rebounding when he eventually retires. 

Sweep the Legs Grayson

 Sweep the Legs Grayson
Logan Duvall
21 October 2021

How good are the defending champions? Well, they are really good, scarily good. The Bucks made minimal changes to their roster during the off season, adopting a "run it back" mindset. However, that does not mean the team did not change. 

    The most obvious changes to the rotation is the loss of PJ Tucker. The shoe king himself left and signed with Miami. How will this impact the regular season, but more importantly how will it impact the playoffs? Tucker was a key part of the playoffs, mainly for his defense. Take a moment and ponder if PJ Tucker was not there
to constantly harass Kevin Durant in the Nets series do they get out of that round? NO! PJ Tucker was the backbone of the defensive charge attacking the playoffs, now he is gone. 

    However, the Bucks made the best signing they could have in the mission of replacing PJ Tucker. Welcome to Milwaukee Grayson Allen! The villain the Bucks are lacking, the man who is okay getting dirty and doing anything for a ring. 

    Allen averaged 10 points on almost 40% shooting with three rebounds and two assists. This does not do Grayson Allen's game justice. Do you need a trip call Allen, do you need a kick call Allen? He is Johnny, who is ready to sweep the legs of karate kid and take out any barrier in the way. Dirty, borderline disrespectful, but efficient basketball. He is the perfect replacement for PJ Tucker. 

    Allen has been caught multiple times tripping or kicking opponents on the basketball court. Most of his troubles came from his time at Duke, but his college shenanigans did not stay in North Carolina. 

    Allen has had a feud with Young Star Trae Young. They have scuffled several times in the NBA, but eventually the battle came to the public eye. Young tweeted a video showing Allen tripping him. Young tweeted, "Damn... tell me what y’all see!! Smh! this gotta stop.! #ifyoudontknownowyouknow." The battle got so bad the Trae Young had to blow it up! Grayson Allen then apologized, whether that is sarcastic or not only Allen knows. 

    Welcome to the Bucks Grayson Allen, go get them another ring. 

All Aboard the Struggle Boat!

All Aboard the Struggle Boat!

Logan Duvall

14 October 2021

The triple double king does not preform as expected. Russell Westbrook does not show out during his first three NBA preseason games with his new team. Lakers nation has not yet lashed out, but they are clutching their pearls in fear of a stinker of a season. Twitter may have found their new Kuzma in Russ. Let us examine his triple double numbers.

    Westbrook has average a terrible 6.6 points per game. Twitter will claim, "it's the preseason, he is barley getting minutes," however, Westbrook played 23 minutes on average over the three games. He cannot simply score the ball like he once could. 

    Westbrook averaged 6.3 rebounds across his first three games. This makes sense, he is a smaller guard, 6.3 is pretty good for a point guard. However, last year he averaged 11 for the year and 7 for his career. Is Russell taking a step back?

    Finally, how well did Westbrook pass the rock? Mediocrity sums up that stat, averaging a whopping 5 per game. What is happening to Westbrook's game?

    His triple double stats are falling short, however that is the least of the Lakers worry. Russell Westbrook is averaging 6.6 turnovers per game over three games, his high is 9 turnovers in the second game. Russell Westbrook is averaging the same amount of turnovers as he is points. Westbrook averaged 4 turnovers over his career, but when he arrives in LA he decides to up it by two. 

    When the season is all said and done Russell Westbrook will drop out of the starting line up and be retired in two years. 

 

Who's going to finish last?

 

Who's going to finish LAST?

Logan Duvall

4 October 2021

Who is going to finish last? well, we have a few teams that are lined up and ready for the race to the bottom to begin. Teams who are willing and ready to hand the lottery gods their entire future. The tank is about to start.

    The obvious answer is the thunder. They have 36 draft selections in the next 7 seasons, they just need to make those picks valuable. The Thunder have gone all in on the draft and are willing to be bad while waiting for the current middle school kid to grow up and bring OKC a championship. However, the Thunder have the parasite of Shai who will ultimately bring the thunder to a record in the mid twenties and not the bottom. 

    Our Next look is the magic. A rag-tag group of young bucks that nobody wanted, with the exception of Suggs. This group will surely get the last spot right? Sure you have some talent around Issac, but the rest are duds. Markelle Fultz is a bench player pretending to be a starter. Cole Anthony is simply not good at basketball. Mo Bamba will not be known as a good basketball player, but rather the center piece of a hip hop song. However, their badness brought them a good draft selection in Jalen Suggs, who will lead them to a play-in spot. 

    Finally, the most obvious and almost guaranteed answer is the Chicago Bulls. A team build from: Lonzo Ball, mediocre at everything except shooting(he is bad at that), Vucevich, a new school big man who cares more about getting his buckets than getting a board, DeRozan, very old and cannot shoot the three ball to save his life, and finally the center piece of this dumpster fire, Zachary Thomas LaVine, who the bulls are actively trying to trade and will be gone by the all-star break. 

    The Bulls hold more talent than the other teams discussed in this post, but lack one main thing, chemistry. The only thing that would make this team dynamic worse is if LaVar Ball was the coach. Watch the Bulls crumble this year and feel no remorse, they did this to themselves. The only hope is if the hornets find themselves at the bottom first. 

The Lakers are Maybe a Play-in Team

The Lakers are Maybe a Play-In Team

Logan Duvall

29 September 2021

    The Los Angels Lakers made some major front office moves During the off-season. Some argue they helped the team, however some argue they hurt the team. 

    Losing Caruso and Kuzma may have been the point when we all realized that this Lakers team is probably going into full rebuild mode. It is clear and obvious that the Lakers are switching gears to build around Talen Horton-Tucker. 

    When you lose two all-star quality players and bring in a bunch of vets to mentor the young farm is CLEAR evidence that this team is full steam ahead in rebuild.

    Take a moment to think...an aged Lebron, injured Davis, old Westbrook, old Carmelo, old Howard, old Rondo. Mixed with a young Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn, and Malik Monk. The writing is in the rosters! 

    The Lakers will start the three young cats and allow them to grow into potential MVP candidates. So long to the Lakers Lebron era, they are giving Talen Horton-Tucker the keys to the city. 

    The Lakers are not making the Playoffs. 

The Greatest Bulls Player: A Real Debate

 

The Greatest Bulls Player: A Real Debate

Logan Duvall

29 September 2021

    Who is the GOAT? The Greatest of all time is an age old conversation among many NBA fans. Lebron or Jordan is the peak of this debate. However, is Michael Jordan even the best Bulls player of all time?

    Sure, Jordan won three rings in a row, twice. Maybe he has the highest career average points per game at 30.12 ppg. He won the scoring title 10 times, MVP five times, and DPOY one time. With all that being said is he even the best player in his franchise history? 

    Insert a young Derrick Rose, 6'2 but can jump over an elephant. Rose comes into the league full force, winning rookie of the year. Two years later becoming the MVP and leading the Bulls to the one seed. Derrick Rose is arguably the best player, who's all-star career got cut short due to major injuries. The ridiculous nature of who Rose was before the injuries, may be a better basketball player than the GOAT himself Jordan.  

    Yes, this guy  lead his Bulls team to the one seed over the Lebron lead Heat, the Tim Duncan Spurs, the Dirk Mavericks, the Kobe Lakers, Carmelo's Nuggets, the three headed monster of Boston, Dwight's Magic. Yes Drose carried a team with the second best players being Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer. And yes, Derrick was 22 when all this happened. YES, he probably would have been better than Jordan. 

Every Ben Simmons Trade is a Win for Philly

Every Ben Simmons Trade is a Win for Philly

Logan Duvall 

24 September 2021

    With Ben Simmons's terrible playoff showing looming in the background, his absence at pre-season workouts, and the entire city of Philadelphia waiting, Simmons is a sitting duck. He gets the opportunity to sit back and wait for the 76ers to find the perfect trade. Simmons put his team in this position and they are now on a time restraint with the season approaching quickly. 

    Ben Simmons is currently playing a metaphorical game of "chicken" with his soon to be former team. He made it clear that he is willing to take all the fines and penalties for sitting out. With a disgruntled Simmons choosing to cry like a baby and refuse to play another game in a 76ers jersey the team is now in a situation that can only be caused by an immature child. 

    As Philadelphia looks for a perfect deal they have their eyes set on a Harden-like trade. Philly is looking to find a team willing to depart with the entire farm and the future draft picks also. The leading destination is another burning ship headed to the bottom of the ocean, Portland. The presumed trade is CJ Mccolum and Robert Covington for Benjamin.  Two amazing players for a child. 

    Others have suggested the Spurs as a possible Daycare for Simmons. With the assumption that they would depart from Murray. What is old Greg thinking! Every trade that you propose is a win for Philadelphia. 

Next stop is shanghai for Simmons.