Surprise, surprise

For those old enough, surprise surprise was often the expression of Gomer Pyle USMC. Gomer Pyle was a mid to late '60's comedy television program about the misadventures of a Marine recruit. After the events of Thursday I think most Laker fans might be making the same statement surprise, surprise. After trading with the Cavs for 25-year old point guard Ramon Sessions many thought he would back up Derek Fisher.  Luke Walton and Jason Kapono went to the Cavs for Sessions and 22-year old Christian Eyenga a 6-7 210 pound shooting guard/small forward. Late Thursday afternoon Fisher was traded to the Rockets in exchange for Jordan Hill a 25-year old 6-10 235 pound power forward, with this move Sessions becomes the starter at the point. I thought it important to note the ages of all the players the Lakers received for a specific reason, in the space of a Thursday afternoon the Lakers became younger and deeper. It's not all good, I am going to miss tough, hard-nosed Derek Fisher and hope for nothing but the best for him in Houston. Another note, the "twin towers" remain in place, neither was moved. There were draft picks involved in the multiple deals but the warm bodies are more important to the story. Finally since these trades don't involve New Orleans I assume the commish will approve them!

An inspirational story

The March 7th edition of the Kansas City Star Sam Mellinger wrote a great article on Mizzou's Marcus Denmon. "Denmon takes his place among KC's best in college hoops" was the title. A respondent to the article said "Does anyone remember coming out of high school the debate was who was better, Releford or Denmon? Does that question deserve an answer?" In a sense the letter writer was correct but circumstances forced a change in Releford's game. Releford from Kansas City's Bishop Miege was a 6-5 guard, Denmon a 6-3 guard from Kansas City's Hogan Prep. Arriving on campus at KU there were so many players in front of Releford coach Self asked him to red-shirt a year. In addition to being red-shirted one year Releford was requested by his coach to concentrate his efforts on the defensive side, thus he became the teams defensive specialist. Releford is now a 6-6 210 pound small forward who can score when asked as evidence by the 28 points he scored against Oklahoma, he's just not asked to shoot. When he returns for his senior year his role will probably change, the bulk of scoring has been senior Taylor and Robinson who most likely will enter the NBA draft. We had no idea four years ago Denmon's game would turn out to be so much better than Releford's. At this point there are only five Mizzou players ahead of Denmon and he will most likely pass Steve Stipanovich who occupies fourth place. One other note, Denmon growing up in a tough inner-city neighborhood will graduate from Mizzou in May. (portion KC Star)

Give him a break

I'm unsure of your view, I thought all along Knick Jeremy Lin was a talent. I never expected any of the flash of Magic Johnson or even Rubio I just expected him to be a contributor. My expectations were he'd have good and bad games after all he's a second year player. The bad, that's what occurred against the Celtics and later the Mavs on March 6th. Lin scored 14 points but was 4 of 13 from the floor. He did contribute 7 assists and had only 2 turnovers in 33 minutes on the court. In case you were wondering about his backup and I'm not hating on Baron Davis, the veteran Davis really didn't do much better, 3 for 10 from the floor 6 points and 3 assists. Lin's next game was certainly better but the Knicks still lost, the game is still a team game. Against the Spurs Lin scored 20 points on 7-15 shooting and dished out 4 assists and only one turn-over. It would do Lin a valuable service if the media wasn't ready to report pounce on every story as soon as it occurred. If they would just give this youngster some space, I know that's not going to happen because he plays in New York City.

Mark your calendar

I don't remember if I gave you the date. Mark your calendar/planner for June 28th. NBA draft night and several players we've been watching over the winter and early spring will be there. As we get closer players will begin visiting various teams for workouts. In addition the NBA will conduct it's official skills trials in Chicago, no date yet. Players are gauge on their speed up and down the court. Their leaping ability and actual height. I say actual height colleges tend to fudge on measurements. The university measured him at 6-7 in height when he's actually 6-5. Charles Barkley was "measured" as 6-6 when playing at Auburn, turns out he was only 6-4 1/2.

He might be here already

I wrote the next Jeremy Lin was probably in training, while researching 2012 draft choices I uncovered information on the Jet. No, not Jason "Jet" Terry of the Mavs. Tsung-Hsien Chang or "Jet" is a 6-4 190 pound senior guard from Taipei Taiwan, he plays for Division II BYU-Hawaii located on the island of Oahu. Last year Jet led his team to the Division II championship in Springfield Mass. BYU-Hawaii came up short losing the championship 71 to 68 Bellamire despite the 35 point effort of the Jet. He was dubbed the Jet due to his lighting moves up and down the court. Jet was named the Pacific West Conference Player of the Year and to the
All-Conference First Team. He was the Pacific West Conference leading scorer with a 17.8 points per game average. Before you ask allow me to clear this up, I'm not stating Jet is headed to the NBA but you can be sure the NBA knows who he is.