Bits n Pieces
Often it's been noted time and time again a player is drafted by the "wrong" team. The player has little opportunity to demonstrate his skill, this occurs due to limited playing time. Sometimes it's a skill issue, the players success at the NCAA or International level fails to follow them into the NBA. Often they become the 2nd or 3rd player on the depth chart, that statement certainly applies to Darko Milicic at a couple of his stops. This wasn't supposed to end up this way Milicic had been the 2nd pick in the first round of the 2003 NBA Draft by the Pistons. From that point on it became a struggle to prove he belonged in the NBA. He appeared to have all the tools, 7-0 feet tall and 275 pounds an NBA body if there was one. His first coach Larry Brown was notorious for not playing rookies, eventually he only had the opportunity to play when the Pistons had a lead. The balance of Milicic's NBA career was spent moving from city to city, Orlando, Memphis, New York Knicks and Minnesota. On July 12 the Wolves waived him under the league's amnesty clause, is Milicic's NBA career over? It's certainly possible another NBA team might pick him up or his NBA career might have come to an end after 9 undistinguished seasons.
I love the game but 24 hours of basketball might
be a little too much "made" for television. In past stories we discussed the advent of ESPN
and how it changed the sports and college basketball landscape but come on 24
hours? I'm sure fans working nights will love
it, they arrive home at 2:00 a.m. or later and are often forced to watch game
replays. In the information age there might be no need for them to view the
game, they probably checked their iPhone or some other device prior to leaving
work. Night workers will be able to view live
games at the same time insomnia sufferers or fans around the world. The
schedule, ESPN will televise 11 games beginning
Tuesday November 13. Probably the two best matchups might be Kentucky
versus Duke or Kansas versus Michigan State. Neither of these games will be held
on campus Atlanta is the site, the other nine games will be played on campuses
spread throughout the nation.
Signing Antawn Jamison is certainly a plus move for the Lakers, Jamison is 36 years old however he's still a very productive player. This former Carolina Tar heel's numbers over his career are quite good, 19.5 ppg and shooting .451 from the field. Jamison will address several shortcomings the bench suffered last year, his offense especially 3-point shooting will be vital for Laker reserves. The Laker bench was horrific except in spots, they finished last in scoring in the NBA. Jamison will assume the role formerly held by Lamar Odom, I like this signing and believe it might be a key to an NBA championship in 2012-13. While discussing the addition of veteran Jamison the balance of the Lakers bench will be much younger. Of course with youth there are issues chief among them, can they play at the NBA level? The rookies, center Robert Sacre and shooting guard Darius Johnson-Odom will probably receive a pass this upcoming season. This is portion of the 2011 scouting report on point guard guard Darrius Morris (age 21) from nbadraft.net. "At 20, he's got upside, but will likely take some time to be NBA ready, and learning the NBA position on the fly is a challenge." Shooting guard Andrew Goudelock (age 23) and small forward Christian Eyenga (age 23) must prove to the Mike Brown and the coaching staff they can play at the NBA level.
We are in the now---2012 but that very fact can sometimes cause a problem. We are witness to the present often forgetting past accomplishments. I wrote of the passing of Warren Jabali the greatest high school player in Kansas City basketball history. In response to the story in the Kansas City Star two letters mentioning Danny Manning and Jevon Crudup. To add some clarity in case you read the story Manning played at Lawrence High in Kansas. I've mentioned on several occasions the nearness of Lawrence however it's not considered Metro Kansas City. As for Jevon Crudup there is no argument regarding his ability, he was an outstanding athlete at Raytown South. Crudup at 6-6 245 pounds dominated opponents of Ray South from 1986-1990. My counter argument would be Jabali was the superior player based on the era he played (1960-1964). This is pure conjecture on my part but I believe Jabali could have just as easily played in the NBA if he desired. One might assume (incorrectly) he chose the ABA over the NBA due to the skill level of it's players, not so. "He had spurned the New York Knicks for the ABA and explained his reasoning to Sports Illustrated: “You bet I’m happy. The NBA thinks it has a monopoly on all the good players. The opportunity here was wide open.” Jabail was ABA rookie of the year in 1968-69, his numbers 21.5 ppg and 9.7 rebs this for a 6-2 200 pound athlete. Injuries curtailed his career after but eight seasons, it should be pointed out he was ABA All-Pro in four of them. (Kansas City Star & basketball-reference.com)
