There is a distinction between lack of talent and lack of effort!
-------Larry Laker
Bits n Pieces
They are winners and there are losers. Wednesday evening the 76ers could count themselves as winners at the close. They did not break the losing record established by the Nets a few years back. The 76ers beat the Wolves and now stand 1-17. The record established by the Nets is safe and preserved for posterity. Despite the results they are still the worst team in the NBA despite the assemblage of talent. You think they might be losing on purpose to improve their draft position?
Also Wednesday evening a freshman laden Duke team managed to beat a senior led Wisconsin team 80-70. In addition they accomplished this feat on the Madison (WI) home court of Wisconsin. I don’t know about you but I certainly was a little surprised at the outcome, how bout you?
Tony Kornheiser had a response to a Mark Cuban comment. Cuban suggesting “the NBA needs to do away with conferences.” I believe the suggestion was made by Cuban due to Western Conference teams being superior to the Eastern Conference. Mr. Kornheiser said; “these things are cyclical, look back to the Bird, Jordan era the Eastern Conference was much stronger than the west, only the Lakers were consistent.” That might be over stated to a point there were other teams in the west besides the Lakers but in the 80’s the east was definitely stronger.
A ripple effect
Wichita native Conner Frankamp headed off to Kansas to play his college basketball however there was a problem. The talented high school athlete found limited playing time his freshman year and decided it wasn’t in his best interest to remain in Lawrence. The school announced in October he would be transferring. Many including this writer believed he was headed home to play for Wichita State. Sure enough that appears to be the case however it makes for another question. Near the same time Frankamp was deciding where he was headed Kansas City native Tyrone Taylor made a decision.
After briefly considering the University of Texas Taylor decided instead to attend Wichita State. Talking to his dad I informed his I believed Wichita State might be a better fit now the situation has changed. Next fall Taylor and Frankamp will be battling for the same amount of court time. That might be the case unless Taylor decides the Shockers back court might be too crowded. Both came out of high school as shooters however Frankamp is a 6-footer and Taylor is 6-2. At the collegiate level both athletes must become ball distributors rather than shooters.
He’s the best?
Nate Thurmond is the best athlete Bowling Green University has ever produced. He and power forward Gus Johnson were the best basketball players from Akron (OH) prior to that other guy coming along. As for Thurmond he was a 7X NBA All-Star, 2X All Defensive First Team, 3X All Defensive Second Team and a member of the NBA‘s 50th Anniversary All Time Team. In addition Thurmond was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. In his 14-year career this 6-11 225 pound centers’ point total closely matched his rebound totals, 14,437 pts (15.0) and 14,464 rebounds (15.0). Thurmond was the first and perhaps only player to record a quadruple-double.
In 1974 in his first game for the Bulls his box score read: 22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists and 12 blocked shots. Thurmond spent the bulk of his career as a member of the Warriors but later played for the Bulls and Cavs. His jersey number 42 was retired by the Warriors and the Cavs. How he became one of the best was an interesting journey. Center Thurmond was drafted by the Warriors in 1963 at the time Wilt Chamberlain was playing the position. Thurmond was forced to play out of position at the power forward position. Once Chamberlain was traded Thurmond moved in the center position where his career blossomed.
Different history
The history of the Bucks may have been different if they hadn‘t made that trade. I’d forgotten about the series of events until I began my research. Dirk Nowitzki recently eclipsed Hakeem Olajuwon and moved into 9th place as the NBA all-time scorer. Scouts believed he was talented but somehow the Bucks allowed him to slip through their fingers.
Interesting number 9 played a role much earlier in his career; he was the number 9 draft pick by the Bucks in the 1998 NBA Draft. I had to discover who the Bucks received in exchange for this future Hall of Fame player. The Mavs received Pat Garrity and Dirk for Robert Traylor. The late Robert Traylor was to have only a 7 year NBA career although he played professionally mainly in Puerto Rico until his death in 2011. A shout out to Dirk for his outstanding NBA career to date including an NBA Championship.
