Back from Europe in time for the NBA Season. . .

. . . and controversy: China vs the NBA. I pick the the NBA. I've been reading all the hoopla, pundits - right and left - going off. I really don't understand what the big deal is. Adam Silver got it right when he said the League doesn't dictate players, administrators, and coaches' political opinions. "The NBA can't operate that way," Silver stated. Good for you Adam. It should have been your first statement, but you got handed a pretty "tricky' situation on speed dial.

So, here's how I see it moving forward. China dumps the NBA - Aw, poor baby got it's feelings hurt. So friggin what? The NBA sticks to its guns. Let them cancel games and gear contracts. No doubt lot's of money is going to be lost. Initially. But how about in the long range? I can't see it happening.

Can the Chinese possibly be that dumb?

Basketball is hugely popular in China. Millions and millions of their citizens - kids, men and women - are playing the sport and following the NBA and its stars. I doubt seriously that the enthusiasm for the sport and particularly for the NBA is going to diminish because of one email by Rockets' GM.. Eventually the Chinese government will have to relent. Or, of course, the government, in its wisdom, can go courting the Euro-League teams as a substitute for the NBA. Not exactly the same caliber of basketball, is it?  And the millions of Chinese NBA fans will not buy it. Name me one Euro League star who the Chinese will embrace the way they do stars from the NBA. Can't think of one? Neither can I.

When it comes to basketball (as opposed to Trump's dumb tariff war), China needs the NBA more than the NBA needs China. The people in Hong Kong may or may not get what they want, but the Chinese mainland NBA fans will damn sure get their NBA games and their NBA gear.

There is a lot to say about pressure from the bottom up. Power to the people!

And, an aside of note from the White House: Is Trump the biggest baby in the world, dissing Steve Kerr because Kerr didn't go off on the Chinese? Meanwhile Trumps' spat with the Chinese government is breaking the backs of our farmers. What a twit. Kerr's got more integrity in his little finger than Trump has in his entire obese body.

As for my beloved Warriors. They've got their work cut out for them. Klay has to come back of course, but I'd damn sure not rush it. I know Klay is "Old School" but it there is the slightest chance the knee isn't perfectly healed, he needs to be kept out the entire season. There is enough talent right now to surprise the pundits. "Oh, yeah?" I can hear the pundits now. "Oh, yeah?"

I'm not saying it will be easy. However, there's just enough offense that the Dubs can make the playoffs, as long as their Defense becomes like the steel curtain. Once the Warriors make the playoffs, and, say, Klay does come back after All-Star break, who knows? Remember Lamont Cranston, of day-time radio? "The Shadow knows."

My wife says I'm dating myself. So what? I'm Old School, emphasis on the Old. Here's what my wife and I are going to do: We're finding what the odds are of the Dubs making the playoffs and getting past the first round and putting some money down. Yeah, We're that confident/

A few general comments before my next Blog when I rank teams and go into team by team detail.

In the West:  1) The Lakers are not deep enough to go too far into the playoffs, and Anthony Davis has never played a full season healthy. 2) Even if Paul George's shoulders are not right for a while, the Clips will be better than last year, and last year they were on the cusp of being damn good. 3) I've never been sold on Hardin's D. And Westbrook is probably a smart guy, but he plays dumb, and there's just going to be too much two-man-ball, at the expense of the rest of the guys on the team. It's going to wear thin after a while. 4) Jazz, after mid-season, could be a real bad-ass threat, big personnel improvement, shooter in Bogan and terrific point guard.in Conley.  And always solid D.

In the East: 1) Should be Milwaukee's year. 2) If Simmons has learned how to shoot the trey, should be Philly's year. 3) Ain't going to be Boston's Year. Loss of Horford will cut deeply. 4) Like Hardin,
I've never been a  Kyrie Irving fan, and recently especially as he keeps yapping about wanting his "own" team. That's too much ego for me to trust his leadership. You've never heard Curry saying the Dubs are "his" team.

And finally, how about the 49ers? Haven't been back in the U.S.A long enough to catch up on the NFL, but it looks like the San Jose 49ers are the real deal. Now, if they'd only stop showing Fisherman's Wharf and the Golden Gate Bridge during television commercials. Come on, Citizens of San Jose, you paid for the state-of-the-art stadium, and they're still calling the team San Francisco.

A few weeks back in Florence where my wife and I were hanging out, checking out the Caravaggio's,
The David and the Matisse's and eating lots of Spaghetti alla Vongole, we had the pleasure of observing a boys basketball team of CUS Firenze practice and scrimmage, 36 ten to twelve year-old youngsters playing tough and working hard, and parents in the stands cheering their children on. Perhaps these boys will be the beginning of a new generation of great Italian basketball players. Good friend, Massimo, keep encouraging your son and his teammates. For the love of basketball and sportsmanship. We'll see you next year. Dinner at Toto's.

Given  our time in Italy, a poem by Virgil from the Georgics seems appropriate.

The Chariot Race

Have you not seen them fighting for the lead,
Their chariots plunging when the  barrier drops,
The drivers' surging hopes, the pounding fear
That drains exulting hearts? They close in,
Ply the lash, crouch over loosened reins,
The  glowing axle spins, the drivers' bodies
Seem now to scrape the  ground, and now to soar
Through empty air, wheels rising in the wind;
No hanging back, no rest: a gold  cloud
Of sand swirls in their wake, the  flecks of foam,
The breath of the pursuers, soak them through:
So great is their love for praise, their will to win.