Basketball from a fans perspective
One more
Kenny Sailors played his college and NBA basketball before most of us were born. He’s generally given credit for “inventing” the jump shot. Basketball players in that day had only set shots and an occasional hook shot. Sailors stood 5 foot 10 inches tall, he claimed shooting a jump shot was the only method he was able to shot over his 6-4 brother. Sailors died at age 95 in Wyoming the state where he first came to prominence developing his game at the University of Wyoming.
World War II would interrupt college as he left for the war effort. He returned to Wyoming after the war to complete his schooling. Sailors would go on to play in the BAA and NBA from 1946 through 1951. 2012 Sailors was inducted in the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame but for mysterious reasons the Naismith Hall of Fame never called. Another giant of the early days of basketball gone, R.I.P. Kenny Sailors.
Who is he?
His name is probably unknown to several NBA fans, his name is Dwane Casey. Casey has served as head coach of the Raptors since 2011. He’s got Kentucky roots having moved to the state as a youngster. He played basketball at Kentucky graduating in 1979 but never played in the NBA being un-drafted. He was hired as an assistant at Kentucky and served as an assistant at several stops. Casey has seen the other side as well; he worked in the corporate world from 1989 through 1994.
He had an unsuccessful run as Wolves head coach but was later hired by the Raptors. His first team in 2011-12 finished the season 23-43 and since that time the Raptors have been onward and upward. His next few years his teams won 34 then 48 and last season 49. This years Raptors team is on a pace to exceed last years total. So there you have it the short bio of Dwane Casey the NBA coach nobody knows.
Bits n Pieces
It’s possible he might wait until the 2017 NBA Draft, I’m referring to 6-7 shooting guard Furkan Korkmaz. The 18-year old youngster is from Turkey and DraftExpress.net has him listed as the number 12 prospect in the 2016 NBA Draft. Korkmaz is rather thin at 185 pounds but after last seasons “miss” on Kristaps Porzingis can anyone say with truthfulness he’s not ready for the NBA?
If ESPN chooses to rank all-time players it’s probably okay although I don’t believe in its correctness. In addition many conducting the poll weren’t born at the time many pioneers of the game played. The headline read; “Is Steph Curry already a Hall of the Famer?” My first thought this isbeyond bizarre, Steph is among the best players of this generation. Why after but a brief NBA career ESPN is ready to plug Curry in as a Hall of Fame player might be the question.
Earlier we discussed Kentucky and its plummet in the standings, how about Duke. Polls are just that polls however the Blue Devils dropped out of the Top 25 for the first time since 2007. Has Coach K. lost his touch or is something else going on with Duke? I’d rather believe there is something else, Coach K. is still on the job and continues to coach. 16-6 as this is written is certainly not terrible but just like Kentucky more is expected from Duke basketball.
Commitment
I checked Rivals Class of 2016 in early February. Few uncommitted players remain in that category; most already have a direction for August 2016. This is the most interesting portion for me; those uncommitted have a large number of schools on their list. How they intend to whittle the list of schools to a reasonable number is their mission. Josh Jackson is listed as the number one prospect in the Class of 2016. Jackson is a 6-7 185 pound shooting guard from Napa (CA) 60 or so miles north of San Francisco.
This 5-star prospect’s list contains 17 schools among them Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville and North Carolina to name a few. Although Mizzou is not competitive this season I’m unsure if Xavier Sneed would help. This 6-5 small forward is from the St. Louis area and is rated number 92 in the Class of 2016. Sneed has verbally committed to Kansas State. Thon Maker would likely be the top prospect if he played in the U.S. rather than Canada. The 7-1 Maker has cut his list to four schools Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky and Arizona State.
