He’s headed to the NBA
I’ve written previously my belief in two NBA mock draft sites, NBADraft.net is one of the sites. After Kentucky’s 6-11 Nerlens Noel went down with an injury NBADraft.net and other sites began switching the order. The April 10 edition listed Ben McLemore of Kansas as the number one 2013 pick. Monday Noel announced he will forgo his sophomore year at Kentucky and will enter the NBA draft. Noel faces a 6-8 month rehab period which will impact training camp and the exhibition season. Best case scenario Noel could be available for the beginning of the NBA season. Noel will present an interesting and unique draft scenario, will a team be willing to draft “damaged good” knowing rehab is in the picture. Will a potential Greg Oden condition impact that team’s decision?
Bits n pieces
Twice a year high school athletes are allowed to sign letters of commitment. The spring period is April 17 and runs through May 15. A small number of prospects in the Class of 2013 remain uncommitted. One of the unsigned is Shane Rector a Rivals.com 3-star prospect. He’s a 6 foot 170 pound point guard who hails from South Kent Connecticut. Rector will be in Columbia on Friday to tour the campus and talk with Frank Haith and staff.
Any idea the status of fired Rutgers Coach Mike Rice: You might remember he did the following during times at his practice sessions:
*Threw basketballs at his players
*Kicked at and grabbed players by their jerseys
*Sometimes yelled homophobic slurs at the team.
He’s resurfaced and is coaching his 12-year old daughters AAU team.
I question sometimes if Spurs Coach Greg Popovich enjoys his job. Maybe he was upset with his teams play Sunday night against the Lakers. Don’t know what the true issue was but every time the television camera focused on him a pained expression was quite evident.
You want a good laugh? SI.Com ran a story titled; “The Floppies: Ranking the 10 most ridiculous dives of the season. “ Chris Paul was the winner with his flop on DeMarcus Cousins, check out the videos.
The chorus is singing, it’s time for Mark Emmert to step down as NCAA President. Does anybody believe anything he says these days? In addition the NCAA should be dissolved and some other organization replaces it. As Forrest Gump might state: “That's all I have to say, about that.”
This is a story I found unbelievable. According to the NY Times Madison Square Garden had a 50-year lease to operate at the present location, the lease expired last year. Since that time MSG has been operating on a 1-year agreement. Read the details in the April 9th edition of the New York Times.
I still haven’t adjusted to the “high school” uniforms of the Thunder. I’m watching them on the TNT telecast; they have on their alternate Navy Blue jerseys. The alternates are much better from my viewpoint; they remind me of the old Cincinnati Royals jerseys.
The battle is over?
The regular season Battle of New York City is nearly over, it appears I can declare a winner. Remember back to the beginning of the season all the bravado exhibited by the Nets? The brand new Barlcays Center, the brand new Nets uniforms and new teammates. The Knicks had celebrity fans but the Nets had a celebrity owner (soon to be a former owner) in Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter. Jay-Z was so highly visible this first season one might conclude (in error) he was the majority owner rather than Mikhail Prokhorov. *”The Nets unveiled an 80-by-60 foot billboard featuring (Deron) Williams and the slogan "Bound For Brooklyn" in Times Square prior to their arrival. It would be difficult for Knicks fans to avoid seeing the billboard smack dab in the middle of Manhattan. Thus it began in earnest, the battle for basketball supremacy in New York. The Knicks who traced their NBA history to 1946 versus the wandering Nets who called several New Jersey stops home had settled in Brooklyn.
A number of residents in the borough still long for the baseball Dodgers who left Brooklyn in 1957 for sunny California. With one game remaining the Knicks stand 53-28 the Nets 48-33, I declare the Knicks winner of the Borough Battle. After being fired by the Hawks and hired as an assistant coach Mike Woodson has demonstrated his leadership. He's convinced Carmelo Anthony there is a defensive part of the game, even J.R. Smith has discovered there is a defensive side too. I would expect Nets fans to object to my conclusion but that's okay. Looking back on the season they both sustained “speed bumps” but regained their bearing. The teams dealt with major injuries during the season in fact the Nets were force into changing head coaches. The playoffs still loom, should I wait to declare a winner in the initial Battle of New York City? *ESPN.com
