Basketball from a fans perspective
Stop me if you heard this one?
It seems Dwight Howard is linked to every team in the NBA, according to Bleacher Report this time it’s the Orlando Magic. Wait a minute isn’t that where he began his NBA career? Didn’t he toss the Magic coach under the bus and then demand a trade? He got a trade to the Lakers but he disliked Kobe, the Lakers and Southern California (okay I made up the last one). Free agent time Howard decided the Rockets were a better fit so he left the Lakers.
Three years later he wants out of Houston, something about a problem with a guy named James Harden. At some point I’m not exactly sure rumors began circulating Howard planned a move. The Magic are just a long line of teams he’s interested in playing for. Dwight Howard can play, Howard has game. Is he the type of player to lead your team to an NBA Championship, I can say emphatically no. Dwight Howard is an enigma a talented player who never seemed to have found a place in the NBA he could feel comfortable.
I’m unsure now
The second dreadful season at Mizzou was drawing to a close. The school announced a self-imposed sanction due to past indiscretions with the program. Then rumors began circulating Coach Kim Anderson may or may not return; finally the AD announced the coach would return for the 2016-17 season. Then another bombshell as two key guards Namon Wright and Tramaine Isabell decided to transfer. The pair becomes the fourth and fifth player to leave since last fall certainly not good for any program.
Mizzou has three incoming freshman so the transfers may create two scholarships opportunities not there previously. The larger issue Mizzou is not Kentucky; Coach Anderson is not Coach Cal. There is a key reason Ryan Roseburg was the only senior over the last few years Mizzou is losing players to transfer rather than graduation or eligibility expiration. Don’t intend to be a doom and gloom guy but Mizzou’s basketball program is close to the edge of the cliff about to tumble over the edge.
Bits n Pieces
Baylor power forward Rico Gathers indicates he is seeking an NFL career over the NBA. The guy certainly has the size at 6-8 275 pounds although he‘s not played football since age 14. He wouldn’t be the first in the NFL to have played basketball. I remember first seeing former NFL tight end Tony Gonzales in a California basketball jersey. Charger tight end Antonio Gates never played football in college he was a basketball player at Kent State. A number of former and present day NFL stars exhibited talent on the basketball court before going on to a football career.
We’ve mentioned on more than one occasion the amount of talent that’s arrived and continues to come from nations on the African continent. I was surprised; one nation has sent more players to the NBA than the others. Up to and including the current season 14 players from the nation of Nigeria have played in the NBA. Second behind Nigeria is Senegal with 9 and The Democratic Republic of the Congo with 4.
Louisville is not participating in any tournament this year but they have a rich history in that area. The Cardinals won the 1948 NAIA tourney, the 1956 NIT tourney and the NCAA Division I in 1980, 1986 and 2013. Louisville is the only school to win NAIA and NCAA Championships.
Roy Hibbert has got to be the biggest disappointment for the Lakers this season. It appeared he no longer figured in Pacer plans for the future so that’s why they found it easy to trade him. As I stated last summer I didn’t expect the second coming of any former Laker Big Men but I expected better. After two successive sub-par Pacer seasons he’s at an all-time low with the Lakers. 6.3 ppg and 5 rebounds for a 7-2 270 pound center, I cannot disguise my frustration in the play of Hibbert.
Buddy Hield’s NCAA run has caused his draft stock to rise significantly, will he pass Ben Simmons is the question posed by ESPN.com. NBADraft.net moved Hield up to number three currently behind number two Simmons. Hield has demonstrated Steph Curry shooting all season and into the tourney but I doubt he passes Simmons for one reason, he is 6 feet 4 inches while Simmons stands 6 feet 10 inches.
