Like a lot of people in San Luis Obispo, I met Jessica Slate while on the sideline at high school and Cal Poly games locally. As someone who is a San Luis Obispo native and has a ton of NBA knowledge, the beginning of the NBA season was a perfect time to finally have Jessica on the podcast. We discussed the league, what it’s like growing up as a fan on the Central Coast, and a few players Jessica thinks could break-out this year. You can find Jessica on twitter @thejslate or on Instagram. 

It’s been a few nights now since Cal Poly alum David Nwaba made his NBA debut. He played some late minutes, some good defense, and missed the only shot he took. 

On Friday night, he did better, scoring 7 points, grabbing a pair of rebounds, and earning a net plus-five rating for the game in 20 minutes.

Some nerves were involved with playing for the first time in front of the Staples Center crowd, but when all is said and done, David Nwaba is getting some time in the league. Nwaba has always had NBA physical ability, but his rise got me thinking — what are some lessons young players can learn from David Nwaba’s D League Tryout-to-NBA story?

David Nwaba drives during a game vs. Texas Southern in the NCAA Tournament. His Cal Poly Mustangs won their first-round game before being ousted by one-seed Wichita State in 2014.

Perseverance

With no Division I offers, Nwaba went to school at Hawaii-Pacific out of high school and redshirted. After a year there, he moved back to Los Angeles to attend Santa Monica Community College. Two years out of high school, Cal Poly and Joe Callero finally got him into a D-I uniform with the Mustangs.

Think about it. Nwaba is a guy who had zero Division I options out of high school. Less than a year after graduating college he’s in the NBA. And it’s not like he got drafted. He had to TRY OUT FOR THE D LEAGUE! 

Young guys — if you’re feeling down about not having offers you think you should have, think about David Nwaba and buck up. 

Playing the role

He was the most athletic player on the court from the time he got to Cal Poly, but Nwaba knew how to play a role. His sophomore season — the one the Mustangs went to the NCAA Tournament, he had to play the role of defensive stopper, guarding the opponents’ best perimeter player. 

Honestly, Nwaba was only more of a “featured” offensive player once his senior year rolled around. 

Flexibility and coachability

In his first two seasons at Cal Poly, Nwaba played as a small forward and shooting guard, in that order. In his senior year, Joe Callero played him as the primary ball handler for much of the year. It was a role that David took-on seemingly seamlessly, while still mostly guarding opponents’ best players. He did what was asked of him and never wavered in his aggression.

Accentuate the positives

David’s athleticism and speed are world-class. Instead of trying to prove he had a 50% jumper when he didn’t, Nwaba quietly worked on the lesser parts of his game while sharpening the edge on his relentless defense and ability to knife inside and get buckets. 

So, I guess what I’m saying is that if you do some things really well and you work hard, are patient, listen to coaches, and sometimes go way outside your comfort zone, that you have a real chance to be successful. Yeah, that sounds pretty good. 

What a story!@dnwaba0 continues to make the most of his @NBA contract w/ the @Lakers! #NBACallUp pic.twitter.com/073bvugZ6Q

— NBA D-League (@nbadleague) March 4, 2017

*****

Cal Poly wins third in a row

On Thursday night, Cal Poly won their third game in a row, with four players scoring in double figures. Donovan Fields led the run when the Mustangs pulled away. He made a few buckets, threw an alley-oop to Hank Hollingsworth:

Ally-Oop! Donovan Fields connects with Hank Hollingsworth in @CPMustangs win over CSUN pic.twitter.com/rJSXBEGEtL

— Derek Opina (@DerekOpinaKSBY) March 3, 2017

the he did this:

Steal + Coast 2 Coast + Juke + Bucket = Cal Poly's Donovan Fields @CPMustangs pic.twitter.com/lhFYOIJUgx

— Derek Opina (@DerekOpinaKSBY) March 3, 2017

Oh dear. The Mustangs are playing great and having fun at the right time. Look at ESPN Radio’s Mike Chellsen calling for the TO at the end of the video too. Classic. 

Fields finished the game with 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. Senior Ridge Shipley scored 17 points on 8-12 from the free throw line to go with his 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Luke Meikle had 12 points and four boards while Victor Joseph managed 12 points and 6 rebounds on a relatively quiet night for him. Zach Gordon had 8 points and 8 rebounds off the bench. 

Cal Poly can move up one seed if they win against UCSB at home on Saturday night and if Cal State Fullerton can beat CSUN at the Matadome. 

Photos by Owen Main

Harrison Faigen is a young writer who is getting his reps in. Along with writing about the Lakers and DFenders for Silver Screen and Roll, Faigen is a student at Cal State Fullerton and an editor at the Daily Titan on-campus in Orange County. 

Faigen talked about the DFenders, Cal Poly alum David Nwaba, the Lakers’ situation as it stood a few weeks ago, and Big West basketball.

So last week was an exercise in the early bird getting the worm, or biting the hand that feeds, I don’t know, I don’t do “analogies” (no idea why I air quoted that, I definitely meant analogies). To give you some context, I am about to move to New York for two months to shoot a show for Netflix (I can’t say much more than that), and so life has been busy with packing, getting our place ready for sub-leasers, blah, blah, humblebrag, humblebrag. Needless to say there was some ball dropping during that time, and yes, that is supposed to be a really bad pun in regards to basketball.

I was seriously about to write a post about how the Lakers need to seriously fire Byron Scott.  Then, they fired Byron Scott.  Then, I was going to write a post about Byron’s firing and give some suggestions as to what the new coach should do.  Then, they hire Luke Walton after I wrote more than enough for a full post. I was going to talk about how it’s not personal, and how Byron is, and will be a Laker for life.  I was going to talk about how I used to work Byron Scott basketball camps over the summers while I was at Cal Poly, and how every experience I had with man, painted him as a great leader. However, over all of that, I was going to say that he still deserved to be fired. I guess for fun’s sake, here is that post:

Nothing personal.  As I said, I used to work Byron’s camps.  I am a die-hard Lakers fan, and as I have already all stated (maybe I should just delete the first paragraph here, but comedy is repetition, so this will all probably come up again), and Byron will always hold a special place in all of our hearts for the Showtime days. Those days of Showtime are long, long gone, and Byron seemed to be the only person who still felt like kids who were born years after Showtime ended, would want to hear stories about it.

THE PEOPLE v. O.J. SIMPSON: AMERICAN CRIME STORY – Pictured: (l-r) Cuba Gooding, Jr. as O.J. Simpson. CR: FX

When I was twenty working Byron’s camp, hearing stories about running with Magic, and Worthy, and Rambis was all I wanted. Sitting with the man who recruited him to Arizona State tell us stories how OJ took Byron on his recruiting trip to USC (yeah, that OJ as in Orenthal J. Simpson the person, but not this picture, this picture is of Cuba Gooding Jr).   Now to a kid in his early 20’s…in 1996, this kind of story was  really cool. But telling those same stories to a twenty-year old in 2016 is like someone telling me stories about Gail Goodrich in the 90’s. I respect them, but do I really wanna hear them? Probably not.

Maybe, if you cast John Travolta as Gail Goodrich, I would wanna hear the hell out of that because Travolta’s Robert Shapiro is the best/worst performance by an actor in twenty years. Unless Ryan Murphy changes his plans for Season 2 of American Crime Story, twenty-year old Kenny would probably not want to hear about how things were back in the 60s, so why would we expect D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle to just fall over themselves because they are being coached by a Lakers legend. They need to respect him, but not pine over him.

Which leads me to my next point, which is Byron’s offense was totally outdated. Before I continue, I am not an analytics guy, meaning specifically that I don’t know how to compute a lot of them, but I respect the data that they represent. Byron, very famously, does not respect analytics, and it showed on the court. Everything that the Lakers did this season was slow. A ton of one-on-one (there is a for sure an analytic that will show you the lack of ball movement in the Lakers offense), working deep into the shot-clock, leading to a usually contested shot. If the year was 2010, then what I just described would called “the NBA”, but those times are long gone.

Offenses now are predicated on movement and spacing, you know, the stuff that the last Lakers coach who everyone hated preached and coached. We all thought he was crazy when he wanted to bring Pau Gasol off the bench, or have Pau sit out at the three point line to shoot threes.

For the record, that was really stupid, and he really messed up with Pau, but he had the right idea, in that, unless you have a back to the back post player like Al Jefferson or Hassan Whiteside, you really shouldn’t be playing someone deep in the post for over 30 minutes a game, much as Byron did for the ENTIRE YEAR! Look, we all love Roy Hibbert on “Parks and Recreation” (and I am not just saying that because I was in four episodes of the show, but any chance I can get a shameless plug for a really great show, that also gives me residuals if you go and stream it, I’m gonna go for it),

…but the fact that Byron never at any point played Larry Nance at center, and Julius Randle at power forward, show a real lack of creativity. I mean, once the season was lost, he should have really unleashed the kids on the NBA. Nance starting at center would have probably generated the same stats that THE Roy Hibbert was giving (please crunch the numbers analytics person, and Nance’s athleticism would have added more than Hibbert’s length.  See below.

In what has turned out to be a difficult season for the Los Angeles Lakers due to injuries (Julius Randle, Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant Xavier Henry who was cut, all out for season) and missing-out on free agents (Lebron to Cavs, Melo back to Knicks, Isaiah Thomas to Suns, Greg Monroe back to Pistons), the Lakers have found a player who is a bright spot.

Jordan Clarkson: The college years

Jordan Clarkson played three years in college — two years for Tulsa Golden Hurricanes and one year for the Missouri Tigers. Jordan Clarkson improved each season in college:

• His freshman year at Tulsa he averaged 11.5 points; 1.5 assists; 2.1 rebounds; 0.7 steals; and 0.1 blocks per game.
• His sophomore year at Tulsa he averaged 16.5 points; 2.5 assists; 3.9 rebounds; 0.9 steals; and 0.5 blocks per game.
• His Junior year at Missouri he averaged 17.5 points; 3.4 assists; 3.8 rebounds; 1.1 steals; and 0.2 blocks per game.
• While at Tulsa, Clarkson was a 47.1% shooter from the field; 34.8% three point shooter; and 78.8% free throw shooter.
• While at Missouri, Clarkson was a 50.1% shooter from the field; 28.1% three point shooter; and 83.1% free throw shooter.

Jordan goes to the NBA

Clarkson was selected 46th overall in the second round (14 picks away from the 60th and final pick in the 2014 draft) by the Washington Wizards and acquired by Lakers for cash ($1.8 million). He was not seen as a rotational player for the Lakers coming in with the acquisition of Jeremy Lin from the Houston Rockets to replace Steve Nash as starter and the signing of Ronnie Price who plays hard on defense.

As I mentioned earlier, the Lakers have dealt with a large amount of injuries this season. To try and re-energize the team, head coach Byron Scott has experimented with lineups throughout the year. Lin and Ronnie Price had their opportunities as starters during the first half of the season.

Full Speed Ahead:

Jordan Clarkson could be a bright spot in an otherwise dark season for the Lakers this year. By Mark Schierbecker (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons

Clarkson has impressed Scott and the rest of the Lakers coaching staff and has a bright future with the team. As a 6’5″ athlete, he gets to the rim with ease and can pull-up on a dime and hit his jump-shot. He is continuing to learn the point-guard position and how to read defenses. His ability to create space to take shots for himself should help him create shots for others as well.Clarkson’s chance as starter came on January 27th against the Washington Wizards. In 37 minutes Clarkson scored 18 points, had 3 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal. In his second game as a starter on January 29th against the Chicago Bulls (one of the best games the Lakers have played this season) he scored 18 points, had 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals in 43 minutes. In today’s game, Clarkson started agains the New York Knicks and scored 19 points, had 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals in 34 minutes.

With the Lakers in re-building mode, they need to find players with the type of athleticism, shot-creating ability and potential on the defensive end that Clarkson possesses. Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson can develop into a nice one-two punch and core for the Lakers moving forward. With a potential top-five pick in the upcoming draft as well as owning the Rockets first round pick in the mid-twenties and two second round picks, the Lakers can find a few players to go along with Jordan and Julius becoming the young guns who bring enthusiasm and energy.

Maybe Clarkson is a bright spot in an otherwise dark time for the Lakers.

Thus far into the 2014-2015 NBA season and sadly enough we can already see that the Los Angeles Lakers are who we thought they were. They currently sit at 0-5 through their first five games. Granted, they have played some of the top Western Conference teams in all five games and have managed to keep a few games close. With Kobe Bryant back, this group of Lakers may be more exciting to watch than last year’s team, but they sure aren’t even as close to as successful.

They are ranked dead last in the NBA in points allowed per game and rank 21^st overall in rebounding. They lost their big-time rookie in Julius Randle during the season opener to a broken leg and once that happened, it seemed another dark cloud would hover over the Lakers season. Coming into the season not many people realistically saw the Lakers contending, but to watch the Lakers get blown out in most of their games so far is just saddening. The NBA is a much better entertainment source when the Lakers are relevant and right now they are anything but.

The “40^th ranked player” according to ESPN, Kobe Bryant is averaging 27.6 points per game thus showing his doubters that he has returned to at least a part of his former self after the injuries. Another bright spot for the Lakers has been the play of  Jordan Hill, who has been the Lakers second best player averaging 14.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. It has seemed at times that Kobe has resorted back to 2004-2005 Kobe where he would rather shoot a fully contested shot than pass to his teammates. If the Lakers want to even be somewhat relevant Kobe is going to have to learn to trust his teammates instead of shooting almost every time he has the ball.

While it is still early, the Lakers’ play has been terrible and looks like another long season in Laker land. Nick Young is on his way back back soon and he should help them with some things but his lack of production on defense won’t help them at all. Despite all this losing, it seems as if Laker fans aren’t reeling after losses or calling for Scott’s job like they did D’Antoni; after all Laker fans get to watch Kobe once again and that is all they could ask while him fades off into retirement in a few years.

Over the last few seasons the Los Angeles Lakers have fallen victim to a massive amount of key injuries that have not only derailed their winning hopes but the hopes of fans as well. It has become something to expect over the last few years where it has take over its own role over the team. From Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and all the other role player injuries that have missed games yet despite this fact the worst injury of them all happened in the season opener against the Rockets.

The Lakers may have gotten Kobe back but lost rookie Julius Randle to a major injury. By Keith Allison from Baltimore, USA, via Wikimedia Commons

Seeing his first regular season game in front of the Staples Center crowd, Randle struggled to find his way. He played just 14 minutes and seemed a little nervous. In the fourth quarter of the blowout game, Randle suffered a broken leg and had to be taken off the court on a stretcher as Staples Center went silent. It was like watching Kobe tear his Achilles all over again, except it was for a rookie who had never played a single game in the NBA.

How could this happen? Especially to a player like Randle in his first career NBA game, it’s just unfathomable. The injury to Randle seems like a foreshadowing for things to come — for the Lakers having another bad season. With the injury to Randle, the Lakers will need to look to rely more on Ed Davis, Ryan Kelly, and Carlos Boozer. The only glimpse of hope that Laker fans should enjoy if Randle is indeed out for the season is that their crosstown rival Blake Griffin also missed his entire rookie season and (some could argue) came back stronger because of it.

Injuries and situations like this make you forget about the game and put a sense of perspective into sports. Nobody wants to see anybody get hurt no matter what team you root for, so let’s all hope and pray that Randle comes back stronger because of this and it will then be a bump in the road to success for the young kid. Until then all we can do is wait and say, get well soon Julius. We already miss you!

The NBA western conference is a “whole different animal” compared to the East, and for good reason. Last season, there were nine teams over .500 and one of those teams, Phoenix Suns, were 14 games above .500 and missed the playoffs. Year-in and year-out at least one very deserving Western Conference team missing the playoffs due to the elevated level of talent and play added over the years. As of now, the Larry O’Brien trophy resides in San Antonio and the West looks as if it may be back to its pure dominance that it had over the East during the early 2000’s.

Will this be the season Anthony Davis leads the Pelicans to the playoffs? By Keith Allison (Flickr: Anthony Davis) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

San Antonio Spurs: The defending champs will try to go back-to-back this season but it will be difficult with the opponents they will have to face. They are still the Spurs, though, and I have learned not to count out this team until they are actually done. The Spurs will again be a top contending team in the West and I expect them to make it back to the conference finals if not the finals again.

Los Angeles Clippers: Oh the Clippers. Just when you think they might actually break through, they let you down. A historically bad franchise finally has some hope and light in it and will look to expand upon that again. Their time to win is now as Chris Paul isn’t the youngest point-guard in the league. Adding veterans Jordan Farmar and Spencer Hawes will improve the team but my head still says they will get bounced in the second round again.

Oklahoma City Thunder: Realistically, the Thunder are so young with Durant and Westbrook that it’s scary. One of the best one-two punches we have seen in the recent NBA but they can’t seem to get the job done. Durant is the reigning MVP and needs to break through in the playoffs to be put into the same category as the greats that have won and I look for him and the Thunder to make it back at least to the conference finals again this season.

Portland Trailblazers: If the Trailblazers can stay healthy, they can do some major damage in the Western Conference and they showed a glimpse of what they could do in the postseason. They are a gritty, young team that has an unusual confidence. They look as if they will make another postseason run and you never know what could happen. Watch out for Portland.

Golden State Warriors: No matter what their record is during the season or what seed they get in the postseason, they are as scary a team as any. They can shoot the lights out and maybe having a new coach in Steve Kerr may push this team to their potential. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are the best backcourt in the league and its time for them to prove it in the playoffs.

Houston Rockets: I really liked the pickup of Trevor Ariza after Chandler Parsons left, but the reports that Dwight Howard and James Harden think of themselves as bigger than the team worries me. Even the greats realized they needed help to win and I don’t see the Rockets getting by the second round this season. This offseason could have been epic for Houston, but losing out on Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony was huge.

Memphis Grizzles: Everyone always sleeps on small-market Memphis and I’m not sure why. They were one game away from defeating Oklahoma City in the first round and they played that game seven without Zach Randolph. I believe if he had played, Memphis would have advanced because they were the better team. This offseason, they signed Vince Carter, which will help scoring a little bit unless he turns back into the Toronto version of himself; then watch out NBA

New Orleans Pelicans: I am personally deeming this season the “season of Anthony Davis” assuming he can stay healthy. Davis is an absolute beast and is continuing to grow and learn. I expect the Pelicans to compete for a playoff spot this season and show people that they mean business in this league.

Dallas Mavericks: This team could either be really good or they could not be able to live up to expectations. Monta Ellis had a great season last year but he’s always had some question marks. Dirk is older and we don’t know how effective he can still be. I hope they play to their potential because after adding Chandler Parsons and Tyson Chandler they could end up being a top team in the West.

Phoenix Suns: So far Eric Bledsoe is still a free agent and they better change that fast; he is too good to not bring back. I just don’t see them contending. They overachieved last season, but I hope they can prove me wrong.

Los Angeles Lakers: Kobe is finally back and D’Antoni is out — what more could Laker fans want? Byron Scott was a good choice as the Lakers try and figure themselves out. Adding Carlos Boozer, Jeremy Lin, and draft pick Julius Randle will help the Lakers be somewhat relevant and if they can stay healthy they might be able to compete for a first round exit in the playoffs. I don’t doubt the Black Mamba and I think he can lead this team to the playoffs with an early exit. Only time will tell how he and the Lakers play though.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Losing Kevin Love hurts but it needed to be done. Adding Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and Thaddeus Young will help this team be a little more interesting. Give this team a good three years before they actually start competing on a regular basis.

Every NBA season some surprise teams jump up and contend for the playoffs. In the West those could be the Pelicans, Lakers, and Suns.

It seems that almost every star player in the NBA has been linked to rumors over the last few seasons with many of them in connection with the Los Angeles Lakers. Recently rumors have surfaced that Rajon Rondo wants out of Boston and his frustration is understandable. Historically the Celtics have been one of the best franchises in the NBA but over the last few years they have plummeted down to the bottom of the standings. Ray Allen is gone, Kevin Garnett is gone, and even Paul Pierce is gone.

So, where does that leave Rondo? Why would Rondo want to stay in a rebuilding situation during the prime of his career while he watches other players team up and try to win championships? He knows what championships are about.

Rajon Rondo should trade in his green and white jersey for a purple and gold one. By Rondo_Dunks.jpg: Eric Kilby derivative work: El cestofilo, via Wikimedia Commons

Historically, the Lakers and Celtics would never make a deal sending a star player to one another but they should make an exception for this. Rondo only has one year left on his contract so he is probably leaving anyway and the Celtics could get something back for him at least. On the Laker side of things, they get a star point guard to team with Kobe plus his one-year contract doesn’t affect their cap flexibility plans for future free agencies. Here is the trade I am suggesting for this trade to happen:

Celtics acquire: Steve Nash, Jordan Hill and the first round pick from the Rockets in the Jeremy Lin deal

Lakers acquire: Rajon Rondo, Brandon Bass

Ed. note – You can go to ESPN’s NBA Trade Machine to see if a trade works under the collective bargaining agreement. Hill is not eligible to be traded right now due to just being signed (I think), but you could substitute Jeremy Lin for Hill. Also, not sure how to include draft picks on the trade machine The Lakers wouldn’t need Lin anyway if they got Rondo, amiright?

The Celtics acquire a $9.7 million expiring contract in Steve Nash which will come off the books at the end of the season, get an upgrade from Bass in Jordan Hill, and another first round pick which the Celtics seem to be loading up on.

The Lakers get an athletic point guard which they have longed for and a big man who is a bit undersized, but can post up and shoot from mid range a little.

Both the Lakers and Celtics should think about doing a deal of some sort because in the long run, trading Rondo for the Celtics and the Lakers acquiring him will help both franchises get back to where they belong, competing for an NBA title against each other.

How much can Carlos Boozer actually help the Lakers this season? Photo by By Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA, via Wikimedia Commons

This year, the Lakers might be the third-best team in California, but that won’t stop them from being an interesting team to keep tabs on. Owen and Andy go through the roster and try to figure out what reasonable expectations for this team’s roster are and which of their young players with upside might be a candidate to break-out.