Basketball from a fans perspective
Cap versus the Big Aristotle
A website Pointafter compiled its list of all-time rosters for each NBA franchise. Curious I skipped ahead to the Lakers to check out their view, point guard Magic no surprise. Shooting guard Kobe again no surprise. Small forward Elgin Baylor a little surprising with James Worthy to consider. For the next two positions the writer placed Kareem Abdul Jabbar at power forward and Shaquille O’ Neal at the center position. Someone is playing out of position but I‘m unsure which one. Let’s check the numbers; Shaq was 7-1, Kareem an inch taller at 7-2. Kareem weighed between 225 and 230 pounds that was Shaq’s weight in high school. Let’s just say Shaq was 325 pounds in the NBA. Kareem was pure finesse at the center position, his “Sky-hook” was never blocked, push him around and often double-teamed he still managed to get to his spot on the floor.
Ever heard the expression “Bull in a china closet” that might describe Shaq’s game we could locate few souls brave enough to stand in the way when he drove the lane. Shaq never developed a pet shot but had a variety which he shot fairly well. Both men were above average centers in passing the basketball. Free-throws what can I say, Shaq’s been retired since 2011 but we continue to hear announcers use the term “Hack-a-Shaq” whenever a poor free-throw shooter is fouled intentionally. Let’s just say at 72% Kareem was light years beyond Shaq from the line. They are close career scoring wise Kareem at 24.6 ppg and Shaq 23.7. Shaq was 10.9 Kareem 7.9 rebounds over a career. After compiling these numbers I cannot come to a satisfactory conclusion which player is best suited for power forward or center.
Class of 2016
Checking the ESPN Basketball Recruiting page Class of 2016 it was determined there remain undeclared players. This is written May 7 and four of the Top 100 are yet to announce a decision. Generally by late April prospects made a commitment even if it’s verbal. Below are the four their ranking, name, stats, hometown and number of schools on their list:
15 Jarrett Allen 6-10 235 center Austin (TX) 5 schools
16 Marques Bolden 6-10 240 center Dallas (TX) 7 schools
61 Charlie Moore 5-11 160 guard Chicago (IL) 5 schools
91 Deshawn Corprew 6-5 190 forward Norfolk (VA) 14 schools
Long gone
There are a number of cities besides Kansas City that will never see the NBA again except television and pre-season games. Seattle has come nearest to having the NBA return. The Chris Hansen group was just about to write a check to the Maloof brothers and the Kings would become history in Sacramento. Interests in California’s capital city made an end run thus saving the franchise for Sacramento. The NBA is not expanding in the immediate future however an existing franchise could locate there. As for the others, we lead off with Cincinnati. The Royals arrived in the city in 1957 from Rochester (NY) and would call Cincinnati home until the 1969-70 season. The following year the franchise moved to Kansas City. The Buffalo Braves were an NBA expansion team that came into existence in 1970, the remained in upper New York State until 1978 when the owner moved them to San Diego where they were
re-named the Clippers.
Six years in San Diego saw them re-locate once again to Los Angeles where they have remained to the present. The Wizards have a unique history, in 1961 the expansion Chicago Packers were born. After the 1962-63 the re-named Chicago Zephyrs would move to Baltimore (MA) and become the Bullets. In 1973 the team would move to the Washington D.C. metro and were re-born as the Capital Bullets and later in the city the Washington Bullets. In 1997 the team name was changed to Wizards. The last city on our list is St. Louis; the Hawks were an existing team playing out of Milwaukee before moving to St. Louis. The team would remain in St. Louis until 1968 when the franchise moved to Atlanta which continues to be called home.
Kansas City
Cincinnati
Buffalo
Rochester
Baltimore
St. Louis
San Diego
I didn’t include Seattle in the count but you have seven cities highly unlikely to witness NBA basketball again except on television.
