The "real" Lob City crew
Media always loves to uncover drama with the Lakers. I can't deny that, sometimes it is pure drama often it's media driven. I submit for your review the city that's running a close second, home of Disney World and the Orlando Magic. The story garnered this headline on Yahoo.com's NBA page the Tragic Kingdom. We begin the NBA season with Dwight Howard drama "I wanna be traded. Next up was "I'm not going to sign an extension, Then came "I'm signing an extension, I want to remain in Orlando for the fans." The latest story broke yesterday this time from coach Stan Van Gundy "Dwight Howard wants me fired " the headline screamed. In the middle of Van Gundy's press conference Dwight Howard comes strolling in he proceeds to place his arm around the coaches shoulder. "What in the wide world of sports is a-going on here?" That line was uttered by the villain Taggart in the 1974 Mel Brooks movie Blazing Saddles. I agree with the crew on TNT, SVG is history, how can he return and coach this team next season.
Often we tend to regard schools playing at NCAA Division II level as small schools. This is an area most of us might plead guilty, there are Division II schools with larger student enrollments than many Division I schools. An example might be St. Bonaventure University in Allegany New York, the school has always played a Division I schedule in basketball. Their undergraduate students number 2,000. According to Wikipedia Western Washington in Bellingham has 14,575 undergraduate students on a 215 acre campus. This background information is to inform many of you Western Washington was crowned NCAA Division II champs on March 24th as they beat Montevallo (AL) 72-65.
Dan Patrick anointed Kevin Love "the lumberjack," he said the guy looks like a lumberjack with the beard. The guy ain't no lumberjack however I'm going to revise an earlier story. I'm not going to state Love is the best but he's inching toward the top. For me there is no best current NBA power forward, Dirk, Pau and Garnett (yes Garnett). I'm adding Love's name to the grouping, the guy is having a monster year and is a double-double machine. As this is written Love's at 26.6 points per game and 13.9 rebounds a game, while shooting .454 from the floor and .388 from the 3-point line. And one last point, I'm going on record I claim my vertical is higher than Love's! Love provides proof that positioning rather than leaping ability are key to become a good rebounder. While discussing power forwards, Kevin Garnett in Slam Magazine says "he's motivated by people calling him "old." He's not old by any means but like Kobe his best days are in the rear view mirror. He still has skills but they have eroded just as any other 35-year athlete might.
The teacher Larry Brown wants to return to coaching. For the last year it seems his name keeps popping up regarding coaching vacancies. Brown is certainly retirement age at 71 but reports indicate he'd like to be considered for the Southern Methodist University job. Should we suppose he'd want to deal with the stress of teaching and coaching basketball to a team barely past their teens? There have been a number of stops in Brown's coaching career most of them he managed to leave for greener pastures. His last few years were spent coaching NBA teams which meant scouting but no recruiting trips. If he returns to the college game he could reserve a portion of the recruiting for his assistants but would be required for a few trips to "press the flesh!" On the other SMU certainly wouldn't be a boiling cauldron that he would endure at a Kentucky, North Carolina or Kansas. Remember Kansas Larry, you won a NCAA championship there in 1988?
I think in our excitement we tend to go overboard at times, I know full well I'm guilty of it at times. I can give credit were it's due, Kansas had a very successful season after having virtually no returning starters, Bill Self performed a masterful coaching job. Now that's out of the way let's discuss the NBA draft or more specifically how it impacts the Kansas Jayhawks. When I access a players NBA potential it's not my view alone I read a variety of mock draft sites and scouting publications. Several years back one of my friends (Auburn graduate, converted KU fan) accused me of hatin' on KU's Sherron Collins. I attempted to explain to him Collins was not a good NBA prospect based on scouting reports I'd read. Collins wasn't drafted but signed a free agent contract with the Bobcats. He was actually on their opening day roster but was soon sent to their D-League affiliate. Where is Collins today, he's no longer with the Bobcats, his name is not listed on any present NBA roster and he's not in the D-League. The latest information I could locate indicates Collins is playing ball in Turkey which means he's still getting a paycheck. The story of the 5-11 shooting guard morphs into a story of the 6-8 power forward? According to nbadraft.net KU's Thomas Robinson is 6-8 240 pounds, there are small forwards in the NBA taller and heavier than Robinson? Can he make it in the NBA of course with the right team the only concern he's a legitimate 6-8, if he's shorter that might present a problem there are few really good undersized power forwards in the NBA. The Tyshawn Taylor question, can he become an NBA point guard possibly? Surprise of the trio is center Jeff Withey he might be the one who might have the best chance of all making it in the NBA. Withey is 7 feet tall and demonstrated during the season he can block shots, his limited offensive skills will make him a back-up center. There is a difference between receiving a paycheck and becoming a star, most likely the three profiled will receive paychecks. As for the star statement I will be surprised, no shocked if they are outstanding at the next level. There I said it Kansas fans, each of the players mentioned had good collegiate careers and that's okay, don't expect the same play at the next level. Do you remember Josh Selby, how about Xavier Henry and the Morris twins?
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