Basketball from a fans perspective

　
Bits n Pieces
Most likely Kyrie Irving will not appear on a basketball court until January. No worry Cavs fans your team is good enough to “coast” until he’s able to return. That’s not even half-way through the season that should provide Irving adequate time to regain his game.

I’m sure many question why the Shaq-Kobe peace treaty after all these years. Read what you wish into their pod cast, two extremely talented players who didn’t always see eye to eye when teammates. Charles Barkley said the two could have won a significant number of championships besides three. Who knows the situation might have become even worst and despite talent may have never won anything.

I wasn’t surprised were you; I’m referring to a recent CBS poll. The network conducted a poll of coaches to determine the best collegiate jobs. Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina and Kansas finished 1 through 4. If we check the all time won-loss records these four schools are the leaders. Over the course of time these schools have established a pattern of winning despite coaching and athletic department changes.

Kinda anxious to see my wife’s cousin in action this fall/winter. He’s a combo guard beginning his freshman year at a Division II school in Missouri. The school is less than three hours drive time from Kansas City so hopefully my schedule will allow attendance at more than one game.

What happened?
Bill Davidson died in 2009, in case the name might be unfamiliar to some of you I’ll explain. He was a business man and the former owner of the Pistons team he purchased in 1974. The team floundered on the court and the box office until they moved to the Pontiac Silverdome and later The Palace of Auburn Hills. Auburn Hills is where the Pistons first tasted success led by point guard Isiah Thomas the team had a permanent place in the NBA playoff. They would win their first championship in 1989 besting the Lakers in four straight games. It was reported Davidson was so pleased he promised Thomas a position in the Pistons organization when his playing days were over. An injury would force Thomas to retire in 1994 and though Thomas had been made a promise by the owner it never materialized.

How about former adversaries of Thomas, how did they turn out? The Lakers Magic Johnson would own a portion of the team for years until he sold it in order to purchase the baseball Dodgers. Larry Bird might have been made the same type of offer by the Celtics; it appeared he preferred a return to his Indiana roots. Bird’s worked for the Pacers in a number of capacities since his retirement. Despite leading the Bulls to six championships ownership of the Bulls would not occur for Michael Jordan. It would come first as a partial owner of the Wizards, later he would purchase the Bobcats (Hornets now). As for Thomas he’s had a succession of basketball positions since his retirement. The phone call from Davidson never came and with Davidson’s death a new owner is in place. So far there appears no effort by the current owner to involve Thomas in any capacity with the Pistons. Don’t take this as an indictment against the former Piston standout just plain curiosity on our part regarding developments.

NBA Champion
Quick off the top of your head which player has won the most championships since the 1980‘s? Time’s up----- if you said Michael Jordan with six championship rings you are incorrect it‘s actually Robert Horry. Because Horry played a reserve role for much of his NBA career he’s often forgotten the count begins. He won two championships while a member of the Rockets. The Rockets would eventually trade Horry to the Suns and he would later be traded again this time to the Lakers. Although playing a reserve role Horry was still a vital contributor to three championships the Lakers would win. Horry would become a free agent and in 2003 and signed with the Spurs. Horry won two more championships while playing for the Spurs a total of seven championships.

The biggest shot Horry took as a Laker was magical, his 2002 basket is burned in the memory banks of Laker fans. The Kings were leading in game four 99-97. There was 11.8 seconds remaining in the game when Kobe Bryant missed a lay-up, Shaq attempted a tip-in also a miss. Kings center Vlade Divac rather than grabbing the missed shot slapped the ball behind him toward the backcourt where Horry was standing behind the 3-point line. With little time on the clock Horry swished a 3-point basket Lakers 100 Kings 99. Horry may have been one of the greatest clutch shooter in NBA history. In 2008 he retired after a 16 year NBA career and today works as an analyst for Time Warner Cable SportsNet.