Basketball from a fans perspective
A Buck
According to the dictionary a Buck is defined as “An adult male deer”. I’m unsure if that fits Milwaukee because their roster contains a number of fawn’s i.e young deer. They finished 33-49 last season however improvement in expected in the upcoming season based on the draft and maturity of the roster. The Bucks shocked everyone by selecting 7-1 Thon Maker with the 10th pick in the first round. Maker was going to be drafted but everyone believed it would be late in the first or early in the second round.
Their starting lineup consists of 21-year old 6-8 Jabari Parker (Duke) who’s now the power forward gaining weight and checking in at 250 pounds. The Bucks might have the tallest starting lineup in the NBA. 26-year old 6-11 Greg Monroe anchors the center slot and 21-year old 6-11 Giannas Antetokounmpo is the small forward. In the backcourt is 6-6 24-year old Michael Carter-Williams at the point and 24-year old Khris Middleton at the shooting guard at 6-8. Of course in order to play this game at a high level requires more than height which the young Bucks certainly have. If I were a fan of this team I would be excited about the future.
Dumpster fire?
Last Friday I wrote of the new athletic director hire at Mizzou. After reading the story and checking the comments one respondent described the situation at Mizzou as a “dumpster fire.” Despite a series of on-going problems with the athletic department, the football players strike and poor play of basketball it’s not that bad. See I’m a half-full glass kinda guy rather than half-empty, winning cures all ills. We must adopt a wait and see on Jim Sterk to determine if he’s able to righted the “sinking ship.”
Could this be a package deal?
I’d mentioned and you might have read elsewhere Michael Porter Jr. was headed to Washington. Porter Jr. lives in Columbia (MO) home of Mizzou University. Dad was hired as an assistant coach by Lorenzo Romar and it turned out Porter Jr.’s godfather. There is another Porter, Jontay who is an inch taller than his older brother. Late word comes the brothers Porter are headed to Seattle and Nathan Hale High School to complete their education.
One of the best
It's Olympic time again and I'm reminded of one of the basketball greats, his name is Oscar Schmidt. Schmidt is 58-years old now; he’s been retired from competition since 2003 so his name might not be familiar to you. Schmidt was a 6-8 shooting guard/small forward; he played for a number of teams in Brazil, Italy and Spain. Most of us are more familiar with Schmidt from his days as the anchor of Brazil’s National Team. How good was Schmidt you ask, he could have played in the NBA. He was drafted by the Nets in 1984 but turned them down preferring to remain in Brazil.
If Schmidt had entered in the NBA he would have been prohibited from playing for Brazil. Keep in mind NBA players were not allowed in the Olympics until 1989. We take this as fact now most Olympic team’s roster may contain NBA players. Think Kareem scoring 38,000 plus points, Schmidt eclipses that scored over 49,000+ points during his brilliant career. He’s been inducted in the FIBA and Naismith Hall of Fame.
