The Barry family gene
Do you believe talent can be passed down from a parent to their children? It might be untrue in all cases but is evident in others, allow me to point out Rick Barry and family. Father Rick played with several NBA teams but the bulk of his career was spent with the Warriors, he won an NBA Championship in 1975 with the Warriors. Barry was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987 and in 1996 was selected a member of the NBA's 50th Anniversary team. As for the family connection Barry has six sons, five of them were talented enough to play professional basketball. Two brothers Brent and Jon currently work as television analysts covering the NBA. Canyon, son number six is a high school junior, he too must share his brothers basketball talent. He's committed to play next year at College of Charleston. I wouldn't begin to guess if Canyon is NBA material, I just think it's amazing to have five sons and all of them with enough skill to play professional basketball.

Air Jordan Jr.

Another family story might be that of Marcus Jordan. Jordan didn't have a particularly good game in the championship round against Harvard, his other games were pretty good. He scored 20 points dished out 7 assists and collected 7 rebounds as his UCF team upset then #4 UConn. Jordan is in his junior year at the University of Central Florida, his team was competing in the Battle for Atlantis tournament held in the Bahamas. This 6-3 combo guard is averaging 15.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg and 3.6 apg this season. Oh, did I mention he's one of Michael "Air" Jordan son's?

I wonder
No state in this nation has a monopoly on developing high school basketball talent. My son-in-law and I were watching a college game when the subject came up for discussion. Our conclusion was certainly not accurate just observations. We began by compiling a list of collegiate and NBA players, we included NBA players of the past too. We concluded (guessed) three states probably would lead in producing the most talent. They would be California, Texas and Florida followed by Georgia and North Carolina. Ohio, Michigan and New Jersey would be in the mix somewhere mostly certainly in the Top 10. Our count would conclude adding Indiana and Pennsylvania. We excluded New York State and hopefully New Yorkers will not be offended. We concluded (maybe in error) the majority of New York States talent comes from the boroughs that comprise New York City. Although the number might be significant the balance of the state's talent probably wouldn't equal the states we noted. So there you have it actual research might point out both of us are incorrect.

The ABA?
The NBA Lockout is over however I read an interesting story on Slam.com, the website contained a story on how the ABA was "going to step in the void left by the Lockout." Quotes from fans on how much cheaper the tickets were than attending an NBA game, I have no problems with saving money so that portion of the article I was in agreement. I would question the quality on the court and I speak from first hand experience. Several years ago Kansas City had a team in this new version of the ABA in fact one of the teams even won an ABA Championship.  During one year the Knights were always "losing" players to the NBA, I couldn't blame the players they wanted the prestige of the NBA and of course the higher pay.  As for the ABA replacing the NBA in the hearts and minds of the world it ain't gonna happen Lockout or no Lockout. This is not the ABA of Dr. J., we remember Doc swooping in toward the basket Afro flying ball held in one hand as if it were a grapefruit! This is not the ABA of 7-foot Artis Gilmore blocking shot after shot around the basket or the finger roll shoots of George "Iceman" Gervin. This is an ABA of nearly 60 teams spread from coast to coast, in some instances two or more franchises either in the same metropolitan area or close proximity. You want more, according to the leagues website expansion franchises are on the way for next season. You too can become an owner, a franchise can be purchased for as little as $10,000. Of course additional financial expenditures would be required. In theory an owner certainly would be able to field a team spending considerably a lesser amount of money than owning an NBA team.

Bits 'n Pieces

Harvard 6-0, Harvard beating University of Central Florida and winning the Battle for Atlantis tourney? Yes, the Harvard know for academics has become a basketball powerhouse, well not exactly. Tommy Amaker former Duke player is the head basketball coach at the Cambridge Massachusetts school.

Is amnesty in the works for my Lakers and other teams. I don't have all the facts, it's my understanding under the agreement a team can release a high dollar player from their roster. Is this the future for Laker Luke Walton, how about the Cavs Baron Davis or Miami's Mike Miller?

Did you notice Deron Williams was the only high profile player who went overseas, this despite all the threats and posturing by other NBA players.  This is not totally correct I discovered Kenyon Martin, Wilson Chandler and J.R. Smith are playing in China.  Martin's name is well known but certainly not in the category of a Deron Williams.  As for the others most NBA fans know the names however think they might not be as well known as Kenyon Martin.  

St. John's has a 6-9 forward on it's roster, his name God'sGift Achiuwa (A choewa).  Achiuwa from Nigeria said his parents told him he was a gift from God to them.

"Because there are no fours."-- Former Celtic long-range gunner Antoine Walker when asked why he shoots so many threes