Bulletin

The NCAA investigation involving Frank Haith and Miami University is yet to be completed but it caused no hesitation for Shawn Smith.  He is a 6-4 180 pound shooting guard, Smith committed verbally over the weekend his intention to sign with Missouri. This Jacksonville Florida prospect is rated 3-star by Rivals.com and is a commitment for 2012. Last week we discussed Andre Drummond and his NBA/college decision. Well it appears he's made up his mind, he announced he's headed for UConn this year rather than the NBA in 2012. Stay tuned for further details on this story because UConn has no scholarships available. You suppose they might locate one for a 6-11 275 pound 5-star athlete?

It's the direction of the game

Most of the stories whether high school, college or NBA revolve around tall players, the aircraft carriers as Dick Vitale often states. The game has progressed to become a tall man's game. It seems if a player is not 6-6 they must prove they can play the game. That's not true in all cases but it certainly exists for a number of coaches, scouts and front office personal. How did we arrive here is interesting in itself, if you check the history of the game especially the 30's and '40's there were few "big men." The game was played below the basket with skillful passing, dribbling, play making and shooting. Tall didn't begin with George Mikan however he probably was one of the first successful big men to play the game. Mikan was a 6-10 245 pound center who played at DePaul University from 1941-1945. Coach Ray Meyer devised exercises to improve his coordination and stamina, these fundamentals helped him to become a dominate player during a time few could match him in height and skill. The bulk of Mikan's career was spent playing for the Minneapolis Lakers, overall he played from 1946 through 1956. Although he never played pro ball Bob Kurland of Oklahoma A&M (State) played during Mikan's period. Kurland was probably the first legitimate 7-footer to impact the game at least on the collegiate level. Back then these taller players were strictly post players which in today's game no longer exists, you need to look no further than Dirk Nowitzki or Pau Gasol to see evidence of the change. Both are 7-footers who play the power forward position and in the case of Dirk their range extends beyond the 3-point line. Over the years the average height of guards and small forwards have increase as well. For example if Hall of Fame player Jerry West played in today's NBA he would be a point guard, at 6-2 and 175 pounds he wouldn't be considered tall enough for a shooting guard.

The bloom is off the Rose

League MVP Derrick Rose mentioned this past summer he'd "run out of gas during the playoffs." He went on to state he believed he was the reason the Bulls ultimately lost. If you look strictly at the numbers you could say clearly there was a drop off in his production once the playoffs began.  It was more than that, after sparkling play especially the last portion of the season I had picked the Bulls over the Heat. I thought the starting five was stronger and I felt their bench was far superior to that of the Heat. Of course playoff basketball doesn't always turn out as you forecast it, this series certainly didn't. The Bulls losing to the Heat was more than Rose, the entire team disappeared. Boozer, Deng, Noah and others did not play the inspired basketball we all witnessed during the regular season. Rose is taking too much responsibility we can point fingers at the entire team including the coaching staff.

It ain't gonna happen!

Reports out of New York continue to hint Phil Jackson will soon be coaching the Knicks. I don't believe he wants the job for several reasons, all of us realize he once played for the franchise. After a year of rest Jackson might be interested in coaching again, I would bet money (if I were a betting person) it will not be coach of the Knicks. One reason and it's a big one---Jackson is not a teacher, he's not cut out of the same mold as a Larry Brown or Hubie Brown. Brown and Brown relish the challenge of turning bad teams into good one's. Jackson will take a good team with great players (MJ, Scottie, Shaq & Kobe) and mold it into a championship caliber team. The Knicks have Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony however to date neither exhibit the will to win at all cost mentality of a champion. Neither player seems to be willing to do the dirty work required to win a championship. I'm a Phil Jackson disciple so this is not intended to be critical of him just stating facts. The Knicks are far too bad at this stage for him to have anything to do with them.

"Not only is there more to life than basketball, there's a lot more to basketball than basketball."
Phil Jackson Basketball Quote