Basketball from a fans perspective
Evidently it’s not just me
Stephen A. Smith did apologize to Carmelo Anthony I wanted to get that out of the way first. It’s unfortunate in some instances we live in the world of today. An athlete’s success (or lack of) is often based on winning championships. Anthony made a statement and I paraphrase he was okay with winning a gold medal over an NBA Championship. Stephen A. Smith jumped all over Anthony for making such a statement.
I guess he can add the Clippers DeAndre Jordan to Smith’s list. Jordan told ESPN’s Mark Stein essentially the same thing and Stein appeared okay with his statement. A number of athletes in a number of sports had very successful careers without winning a championship. Smith is often guilty of not “staying in his lane.” Here’s hoping Smith finally gets the message everyone doesn’t fit his often narrow view of life events.
I offer no proof
The Knicks are responsible for Warren Armstrong (Jabali) of Kansas City to head to the American Basketball Association rather than the NBA. He could have have played in the NBA and that‘s a bold statement on my part, allow me to elaborate. The Knicks made Walt Frazier the number five pick in the first round of the 1967 NBA Draft. After a slow rookie year Frazier would blossom the following year scoring 17.5 ppg and dishing out nearly 8 assists per game. In 1968 the Knicks drafted Jabali in the fourth round with the 44th pick. Although Jabali had great leaping ability he played the same position point guard as Frazier. The “other league” appealed to him because the belief was held at the time he couldn’t play in the NBA.
His situation might have been compounded playing behind Frazier on the depth chart. Jabali would choose the upstart league and the Oakland Oaks. How good was he you ask? He would become Rookie of the Year in the ABA and in the playoffs averaged 33 ppg against the Pacers and he would be named Playoff MVP. He only played seven years injuries cutting short what might have been a brilliant basketball career whether it was ABA or NBA. The Kansas City metro with its much smaller population cannot compare to New York City, Chicago or Los Angeles in producing talent. Old timers continue to maintain Jabali even in the 21st Century might be the best basketball player the area ever produced. After basketball Jabali would go into the educational field, he died in 2012 at the age of 65.
Figure this one out
I’m unsure how this got started or what WNBA’s Britney Griner is trying to accomplish. This is not a putdown on Griner or women’s basketball. Griner is talking she can “beat DeMarcus Cousins one on one.” Griner is 6-8 and weighs 207 pounds Cousins stand 6-11 and checks in at 270 pounds. I might guess Griner would have a quickness advantage however we’ve got to assume Cousins has the power advantage. I'm not a betting person however I believe I'd place my money on Cousins.
Bits n Pieces
I’d forgotten until I read the headline. The ESPN.com headline read; “Rockets not worried about Zhou Qi‘s age, praise his basketball IQ.” I’d forgotten the Rockets had been the team to draft his countryman Yao Ming. At 7-2 and 218 pounds Zhou’s game is likely to be one of finesse rather than one of power.
I’ve made statements about Luke Walton indicating I’m not pleased with the hire. That is not the case the Lakers needed a change at head coach. Walton brings a fresh element to a team badly needing direction. Although the season is not close to starting a number of players have spoken positively about the coaching change. I could point fingers at Jim Buss, Kobe Bryant or someone I’m just not sure. Byron Scott would have remained in place if the Lakers had demonstrated any hit they were on the road to improvement. I felt bad for this former Laker player but a move was required it’s yet to be determined if Walton is the man.
Coach K. claims this is the last term for him as Team USA coach, who replaces him might be the next question. A number of candidates exist in the NBA and collegiate ranks. John Calipari stands out mainly due to the number of Kentucky players in the NBA. No not Calipari I’m thinking Izzo. You know Tom Izzo long-time Michigan State coach. By the way he’s sent his share of Spartans to the NBA over his time at Michigan State. Of course this is certainly not my decision it belongs to Jerry Colangelo head of USA Basketball.
Beginning in 2017 I’m going to attempt to report on Euro basketball a little closer. One of the issues for me is conversion of stats. We in the US remain one of the few nations of the world not utilizing the metric system. If I read a player stands 2.0828 meters tall I must translate that to 6-10 inches. I know it works both ways those using the metric system must convert my feet and inches. We’’ both attempt to learn and adjust.
