Basketball from a fans perspective
He was released
34-year old Joe Johnson was waived on Thursday by the Nets which came as a surprise to many. A new general manager in place now it appears the team might be in a full scale re-build mode. The 6-7 guard has been a skilled shooter through his 14-year NBA career with the exception of this year. Johnson has scored nearly 19,000 points and has a life time 17.0 ppg scoring average; he should be able to help a playoff team in a reserve role.
Were number one! Were number one!
There is no team in the nation that could yell the famous chant; “Were number one” for a sustained period of time it might only be valid until the next game. I realize Top 25 polls are no indication of a team’s strength but we marvel over them anyway. On Wednesday for the umpteenth time number one fell again, this time it was number five Xavier beating number one Villanova 90-83. Below is the list of teams that have been at the top of the polls at various times since the beginning of the season:
Michigan State
Kentucky
Kansas
Virginia
Oklahoma
North Carolina
Villanova
If you followed the polls for any length of time there’s never been this much movement at the top over the course of a single season. On Monday Kansas will ascend to the top when the AP and USA Today Coaches polls are announced again.
Blue Springs duo
This suburban Kansas City (MO) School had two future NBA players as teammates. This occurrence was not that unusual for Blue Springs High much earlier Gus Johnson Bullets forward and Nate Thurmond Warriors center played at Akron Central (OH). More recently Warriors forward Harrison Barnes and Doug “Buckets” McDermott of the Bulls would arrive in the association. They had played as teammates at Ames High School in Ames (IA). Jon Sunvold was a 6-2 sharpshooter who scored over 2,100 points and was twice selected All-State while in high school. After a successful stint at Mizzou Sunvold would be drafted by the Sonics in 1983 the 16th pick in the first round.
He became a valuable reserve for three franchises during his 9-year NBA career. Sunvold would go into business in addition to providing color commentary for college basketball. His teammate Steve Harris would win the DiRenna award as the outstanding Kansas City Metro player, he would go on to star at Tulsa University. In 1985 the Rockets made Harris the number 19 pick in the first round of the NBA draft. Harris would have a six year NBA career playing for four teams. On Monday came word that Steve “Silk” Harris died of colon cancer, he was only 52 years old, R.I.P. Steve.
This is the last
I’ve heard it from all sides, in November a sports website contained a story on “mistake” draft picks and Russell’s name was one of those considered an error. I also mentioned one of the barbers told me; “They should have drafted (Jahlil) Okafor. Finally former ESPN guy Bill Simmons chimes in with his opinion. As for Simmons he proposes a Jabari Parker for Russell trade to fix the problem. How can I trust or believe anything a Clipper season ticket holder states? The 6-5 point guard has played limited minutes however he’s scoring at 12.2 points per game clip along with 3.4 assists and 3.5 rebounds a game.
For a 20 year old who should be in the middle of his sophomore year the numbers are pretty good, his field goal percentage could be raised. I try and not second guess coaches but I’m not sure Byron Scott has been the best coach for this youngster, the other issue he only played one-year of college ball. He cannot be expected to play at the level of a more experienced player. This is the last story I will write defending the Laker youngster. As this was being completed Russell was inserted into the starting lineup and would remain for the last 30+ games.
