Basketball from a fans perspective
Coaching
I’m unsure but I would guess the most challenging portion of coaching is relating to a player. As an example how does 54-year old Laker Coach Byron Scott relate to 19-year old D’Angelo Russell? There is 67-year old Gregg Popovich Spurs coach and 22-year old Kyle Anderson better yet how about 24-year old Nic Moore and 75-year old Larry Brown coach at SMU. At the NBA level it’s a players league however the athlete must adhere to his coach otherwise you have chaos. For a further review of this issue see George Karl and Boogie Cousins with the Kings.
Despite some of the strange rituals he conducted Phil Jackson always seemed to obtain the maximum effort of his players. Despite the quirky rituals he mandated his players undergo I’ve never read or heard one negative complaint regarding Phil Jackson’s coaching. Reports were circulating 65-year old Roy Williams was considering retirement which he quickly squashed. Roy can effectively communicate with the 18-year olds too. Bottom line to coach successfully its more than X’s and O’s, its communicate, communicate and communicate.
What do I do?
One of the broadcast networks places artificial events in front of the everyday public. The idea is to discover how they react to a critical issue and tap it for our viewing. With that scenario in mind we are Sam Henke general manager of the 76ers. Our medical team has informed us center Joel Embiid will be healthy and ready to play next season, in addition we have Nerlens Noel on our roster. Technically Noel is a power forward however he played the center position at times due to the absence of Embiid. Noel’s numbers this season (11.0 and 8.2) provide proof he can play at this level.
We drafted Jahlil Okafor last June and he’s presently installed at the center position for Coach Brett Brown. Scoring at a 17.1 ppg clip and pulling down 7 rebounds the former Duke standout has proven he too can play at a high skill level in the NBA. Next season we‘ll have three centers what do I do (in Henke’s voice) to resolve the issue? I believe Embiid has ability Noel and Okafor have already demonstrated they can play at the NBA level. I should trade one of them however I‘m unsure who to trade. Embiid based on a promise or Okafor whose demonstrated potential.
Message received--they hope
Hassan Whiteside has proven he’s talented the problem has been his maturity. He’s a valuable commodity for the Heat and they need him in the lineup all the time less injuries. Missing in action because of good judgment is a different matter. Whiteside returned Saturday evening from an NBA mandated 1-game suspension for throwing an elbow. To reinforce the maturity issue the Heat didn’t start him against the Wizards despite no Dwayne Wade. No matter there was no Wade as Whiteside came off the bench to score 25 points and snatched 23 rebounds in 29 minutes. The bad despite a league leading 3.89 blocked shots he only managed two against the Wizards.
Kentucky Pros
Much has been made about John Calipari and his pipeline to the NBA. That statement is partially true there are 21 Kentucky Wildcats at present. I didn’t check but it’s likely all did not play for Calipari. Going back to the days of Adolph Rupp (1930-1972) and those who followed him the school has sent a number of players into the NBA/ABA. Joe B. Hall, Eddie Sutton, Rick Pitino and Tubby Smith all contributed to the number, Billy Gillespie in his brief tenure (2007-2009) had success on the court but not with the administration. There are 80 former Wildcats who played/or playing in the NBA/ABA. How about some of the other basketball powers:
UCLA - 88
North Carolina - 83
Kansas - 67
Duke - 66
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