Basketball from a fans perspective
　

How about a job
If you are over 6-7 forget about becoming an NBA coach even with the recent hires Kevin McHale (6-10) is the only coach over 6-5. How about history, well Bill Russell was 6-9 as a player-coach, as a bench coach Russell wasn’t very good. The same story could be said for Knick great Willis Reed also 6-9, great player average bench coach. Magic Johnson (6-9) returned from player retirement to coach the Lakers but was overmatched and realized it. 6-9 Larry Bird had a decent record as head coach of the Pacers for several years.

Bird never seemed to be comfortable in the role of coach it appears he prefers the front office. For the most part most NBA coaches that played in the association was likely a point guard, Jason Kidd, Doc Rivers and Derek Fisher to name a few. The Lakers Byron Scott and the Suns Jeff Hornacek were shooting guards both 6-4 in stature. 7-foot Patrick Ewing has sought employment for nearly 10 years and nobody will hire him. What’s the deal, do big guys lack high basketball I.Q’s? Once upon a time 7-foot Bill Cartwright and 6-11 Kim Hughes 6-11 served a time period as head coaches.

Speaking of
I have no method of reading Jeff Van Gundy’s mind, I make this statement for a specific reason. It seems every single time a coaching job opens his name is one of those mentioned. One by one the teams hire a coach and once again he returns to television. Same for this year, after the hires Denver is the only coaching position open. I seriously doubt if Van Gundy is headed there and it has nothing to do with the city or team. He’s not headed there because he’s Van Gundy. He’s served as an NBA analyst for ESPN since 2007 why put up with the headaches of coaching 15 personalities. Everybody wants to be wanted I believe that’s Van Gundy. He or his agent floats his name about to determine interest. I’ve been wrong before and I might be in this instance but I cannot see him coaching again in the NBA unless it’s a super opportunity such as an ownership piece.

Fred Hoiberg
The Bulls have made their decision; they have hired Iowa State’s Fred Hoiberg. We in Kansas City smack in the middle of Big 12 country are familiar with Hoiberg. We first became familiar with his name while he played guard for Iowa State. He was so popular at the school they nicknamed him “The Mayor.” He had a 10-year NBA career playing for the Pacers, Bulls and Wolves. A heart problem forced Hoiberg to retire in 2006, in 2010 without any coaching experience he took over at Iowa State. His first team finished 16-16, the next four years would all be winning seasons although Iowa State was never crowned regular season Big 12 champions.

Pay the man
Dwayne Wade has made his intentions known early he’ll explore free agency. Wade is 33 years old and will have another birthday in January so we might question his timing. No argument regarding talent when healthy but that’s been Wade’s issue in recent years remaining healthy. Despite this issue Wade might be sayin’ “It’s time for the Heat to pay me similar to what the Lakers did with Kobe Bryant. I helped win three NBA Championships, I‘ve sacrificed a portion of my salary to allow them to sign LeBron and Bosh.”

Fixes for the college game
We heard plenty of negative complaints about the college game this past season. The rules committee has proposed changes which are likely to be implemented for the 2015-16 season. This account is not going to detail all the proposed changes however just a few which will greatly impact the game. The shot clock will be reduced from 35 to 30 seconds which should improve shooting accuracy. The number of timeouts will be reduced and the restricted arc reduced from 3 to 4 feet. We shall see if these changes aid the game going forward.

Hey Kobe haters
Is GM Mitch Kupchak stubborn, brain-damaged or something else? Dwight Howard left the Lakers and a number in the media hinted it was due to Kobe. We are aware of one instance Kobe called out Howard regarding his injury. Howard reacted self-righteously and it may have been one the keys for his eventual departures to Houston. During the summer of 2014 the Lakers were unsuccessful in signing any high profile free agents.

The Lakers were limited due to salary cap issues however the Kobe haters claimed “Nobody wanted to play with him (Kobe).” In a recent satellite radio interview Kupchak announced the 2015-16 season is likely Kobe’s last. In the next portion of his statement he said; “We don’t want anybody here who doesn’t want to play with Kobe Bryant.” I doubt if journeyman Jared Dudley ever receives a call from Kupchak at least in the next two years.