Another conspiracy theory is born
Have you heard the latest NBA conspiracy theory? It’s the explanation for how the Thunder was able to win game five and the series. “The NBA wanted the Thunder to win the series because MVP Kevin Durant plays for them. It‘s justifies Durant winning the Most Valuable Player award.” Think about the statement, the NBA would purposely exclude the 2nd largest television market (Los Angeles) in the nation for the number 45 (Oklahoma City). I’m unsure about you but it doesn’t make a great deal of sense to me.
A “football” school
The following are my thoughts however I must give credit to Kevin Harlan for providing me a basis for formulating my opinion. Billy Donovan has built a basketball powerhouse at Florida despite the fact football dominates. “A kid chooses Kansas, Duke or North Carolina even Syracuse because those schools are viewed as basketball schools” was the Harlan comment. Donovan has won back to back NCAA Championships and his Florida team made the Final Four this season. He’s not 50 years of age yet his teams have won nearly 500 games.
This former Providence point guard had “a cup of coffee in the NBA” playing the 1987-88 season with the Knicks. From there he went to Kentucky serving as an assistant coach, from 1989-1994 he was Marshall’s head coach. In 1996 Donovan was hired at Florida where he remains to this day. A few weeks ago a discussion centered on Bill Self and his apparent lack of developing NBA players by one NBA scout. I said at the time I believe it is a college coaches responsibility to develop good teams and not NBA players. Donovan has managed to do both coach successfully and send players into the NBA.
NBA Draft Combine
The annual NBA Draft Combine was held last Thursday and Friday in Chicago. A significant number of prospects were in attendance, missing in action were projected top five picks Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid and Jabari Parker. The collegiate prospects were run through a series of drills to measure their skill. . Vertical jump, shooting drills and agility tests were just a few of the number. I take delight in funny stories and Mavs Coach Rick Carlisle provided one. He was questioned by ESPN’s Andy Katz on the types of questions he ask players. Carlisle said; “I ask them who do you believe you play like in the NBA?” Carlisle stated one prospect informed him; “I’m a cross between Dwayne Wade and another superstar.” Who the other superstar is we don’t know, he never named him.
Father-Son
We’ve discussed sons who followed their fathers as basketball players. The Barry’s’ sons of Rick come to mind first. As for the coaching ranks it’s been a little different story, I was unable to locate much information on father-son coaching combos. This is certainly not intended to be a complete list however it represents information I could uncover. We could begin with Georgetown and the two Thompson’s, John and John III. The elder Thompson coached the Hoyas from 1972-1999, compiling a 596-239 record (.714). His team won the 1984 NCAA Championship. John III took over the helm in 2004 after serving as head coach at Princeton. John III combined career numbers are 295-146 (.669). It was reported earlier Richard Pitino has followed his father (Rick) into the coaching ranks. The son is in his first year as coach at Minnesota; at this point we cannot say ya or nay on his coaching ability.
As for other sons who followed their dads the success rate has been suspect. If you are old enough you might remember Ray Meyer placed DePaul basketball on the map. The elder Meyer coached the legendary George Mikan (1942-1946) and led DePaul from 1942-1984. Joey Meyer took over at DePaul in the fall of 1984 and was the head coach until his dismissal in 1997. The younger Meyer later coached in the NBA-D League attaining limited success. We covered Pat Knight son of Bobby a few weeks ago. After succeeding his dad at Texas Tech he was later fired and resurfaced at Lamar. Pat lasted three years at Lamar where he was also terminated. As you can see the sons we profiled have not been able to come up to the level of their fathers. Maybe Richard Pitino might want to consider employment in another field.
Did you read?
The story in USA Today regarding coaches salaries? It prompted a discussion on sports talk radio here on Kansas Coach Bill Self. The radio host general observation was “why go to the NBA when you (Self) can earn more at the collegiate level.” These guys should have read the story I wrote previously on college coaches. College coaches (Bill Self included) are not a priority at the NBA level. Occasionally the NBA lures a Brad Stevens from the college ranks but they are the exception. Hey radio guys the NBA doesn’t want Self no matter how successful his record or how great a coach you believe he is.
