How about some perspective
I certainly have my share of complaints regarding basketball fans. A number have a firm grip on reality sometimes better than those working in the media. This particular fan called one of the CBSSports radio programs. He said (and I paraphrase) “We seem to get too caught up with players attempting to equal Michael Jordan and his six championships. One day maybe someone will come along but let’s appreciate an athlete for what he’s able to accomplish.” Well stated by this fan and certainly true, why do so many of today’s NBA players appear to get caught up in MJ hysteria?

I believe a large portion of it we can lie squarely at the feet of the broadcast and print media. This fan went on to state “so much of the NBA today is a reflection of the player rather than the team.” Again he hit the head on the nail, it was refreshing to see a Spurs team exhibit “team” basketball as they won the 2014 NBA Championship. I know what you are saying the Celtics of the ‘50s and ‘60’s, the Showtime Lakers and the Bulls of the ‘90’s all had exceptional athletes. That is certainly true however the players didn’t appear to eclipse the team which often appears to be the case today.

NBA draft notes
As usual there were a number of surprises in the 2014 NBA draft. I echo the comments of the media by stating the injury to Joel Embiid did impact the early direction of the draft. There is no doubt if not for surgery there would have been Kansas one (Embiid) and Kansas two (Wiggins).  With the 6^th pick the Celtics selected Marcus Smart, does that move signal the end of the Rondo era in Boston? I’m not disputing the potential of Dante Exum however I was surprised he was the 5^th pick by the Jazz, I didn’t believe he’d fall out of the lottery but drafted that early surprised me. After listening to Mitch Kupchak the Lakers got the man they wanted. There were several prospects on the board when they selected power forward Julius Randle.

C.J. Wilcox is a talent however do the Clippers need another shooter? They have the Sixth Man of the Year in Jamal Crawford, besides the fact a portion of their issues lie on the defensive end. Although he was the last player in the first round I believe the Spurs drafted a sleeper. An analyst said; “Kyle Anderson (UCLA) is not going to wow you however he does a bunch of things well.” I could see him in the Boris Diaw role but a slightly better shooter. I wasn’t surprised Mizzou point guard Jordan Clarkson was drafted; he was projected to be better than his backcourt mate Jabari Brown. As for Brown his name was never called, perhaps he can pull a “Phil Pressey,” gain an NBA spot playing in the NBA Summer League.

This was not a surprise but certainly might be the highlight of the evening. News broke earlier in the week a medical condition would prohibit Baylor’s Isaiah Austin from ever playing in the NBA. Austin was projected to be late first round pick however his dream of hearing his name announced to the gathering would never occur----or would it? Commissioner Silver paused during a portion of the draft to introduce Austin to the gathering at Barclays Center and world-wide television audience. With the negative NBA news (Sterling) wasn’t it a classy move by Silver and the NBA?

I’m impressed so far
I admit I was somewhat concerned with the Kim Anderson hire at Mizzou. His team is yet to hit the court however I’m impressed so far with the major portion of his effort---the recruiting portion. Anderson and staff have hit the ground running affirming the Haith commits and gaining others. Haith recruit Namon Wright a 6-4 shooting guard de-committed but the shooting guard decided in favor of Mizzou after meeting with Anderson. As for 6-8 power forward and 4-star prospect Jakeenan Gant recruited by Haith remained in the fold. 6-6 small forward and 3-star prospect D’Angelo Allen made his commitment after the coaching change.

Point guard and 3-star prospect Tramaine Isabell announced he was headed to Columbia. There is also a veteran presence at the point despite losing Jordan Clarkson; Hawaii transfer Keith Shamburger will be eligible immediately. The only losses other than Clarkson and Jabari Brown are walk-on Danny Feldman and Cory Haith (coach’s son) and Shane Rector. The cupboard was pretty much bare the last time Mizzou changed a coach, that’s not the case this time Mizzou has incoming talent.  They are only lacking a center in the four incoming freshmen.  We have no idea how well this Mizzou team will compete against the SEC with a mix of incoming talent plus returnees.  Hopefully they should be a plus .500 team.  

Bits n Pieces
Kansas City being in the Midwest Time Zone causes a surprise again. The NBA Draft concluded at 11:00 p.m. locale time. This morning I opened the Kansas City Star sports page and discovered Mizzou’s Jordan Clarkson had been traded to my Lakers. This was the third time an area player would be traded to the Lakers. I went to bed in 1998 with knowledge the Nuggets had drafted Tyronn Lue from Kansas City suburb Raytown. The next morning I was shocked to see he’d been traded to the Lakers. This same scenario would play out again in 2002. Mizzou’s Kareem Rush was drafted by the Raptors and the next morning he’d been traded to the Lakers after I went to bed.

A morning radio host provided this tidbit which I’ll share with you. Andrew Wiggins was drafted number one allowing Bill Self to join an exclusive club. Only three coaches can lay claim to having the number one pick play for them, can you name the coaches? Think about it a moment before reading below. .

John Calipari - Kentucky
Larry Brown - SMU
Mike Krzyzewski - Duke

It bothers me once again the conversation hinting the 76ers “tanking” next season. The third pick in the draft Joel Embiid is likely to miss the season due to his surgically repaired foot. The Sixers then drafted point guard Elfrid Payton with the 10^th pick but traded him to the Magic for forward Dario Saric who will remain in Europe. No worry we might suppose compiling draft picks they drafted three additional players in the second round.

I’ve indicated previously we have one local radio host who is either clueless or loves to stir up controversy. Here is an example of what he said prior to the conclusion of the collegiate season. “Returning to school didn’t prove to be beneficial for Marcus Smart.” Since I wasn’t sure where his comment was coming come I decided to research his draft position. Because Smart chose to remain in school we have no idea how accurate this bleacherreport.com reflects his draft stock. They listed him as the 8^th pick in February 2013 and he was drafted 6^th by the Celtics in 2014.