BASKETBALL FROM A FANS PERSPECTIVE
Growing young men
Anthony Davis was a center at Kentucky; he arrived in the NBA as a 6-10 power forward. The Hornets/Pelicans believed power forward might be the best position for him. At the dawn of training camp and entering his 4th year we discover he’s still growing. He says the team measured him recently and he’s up to 6-11, last season he was 243 pounds and has now packed on an additional seven pounds.
About 2 hours and 34 minutes flight time from New Orleans in Philadelphia a similar story is playing out. Rookie Ben Simmons hasn’t grown in height however he’s gained weight. Simmons indicates he’s up to 250 pounds now, last season at LSU he checked in at 217 pounds. Will the weight gain help or hinder Simmons movement on court. One thing for sure the 76ers could send out a very tall lineup with Simmons at the point on occasion.
Bits n Pieces
Recently I attended the tip-off dinner for the University of Missouri Kansas City. Coach Kareem Richardson, the school’s athletic director and the keynote speaker all had words. A silent auction was held prior to the dinner, an acquaintance indicated he’d bid on an item. A high bid and he’s the owner of a John Havlicek autographed basketball. Before the auction began he said to me; “Probably most in this room have no idea who Havlicek was.” I nodded my head in agreement and then tossed in a word for my blog. “That’s why in addition to the basketball news of today I like to reach back. I want to provide those under a certain age as much history as possible of the game and it‘s players.
These two are not the first they are just the latest. It was reported last December Russell Westbrook gave the UCLA athletic department a significant amount of money. His former UCLA teammate Kevin Love did the same thing recently. In both instances the amount given remains private, the significance of this story we read and hear numerous stories about self-centered athletes. A number are just that so it’s always noteworthy to read this type of story.
Looks as though Metta World Peace aka Ron Artest is not quite history. “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated” so said author Mark Twain once, this is not quite as serious as death. After many (including me) predicted the Lakers with a deep front court believed we’d seen the last of Metta. The Lakers signed him to a 1-year contract so it appears he will be a Laker through the 2016-17 season.
Missouri State in Springfield MO has an interesting basketball history. In a manner similar to Louisville the school competed in three levels of basketball. Before the name chase as Southeast Missouri State they played NAIA, then Division II and currently Division I basketball. The school has been Division I since the 1982-83 season. They were Division II from 1953 to the 1982 season, prior to that time they were an NAIA program.
The Big O
Oscar Robertson will turn 78 in November, the former All-Everything guard has gotten him in trouble. The Big O had made critical remarks about some aspects of today’s NBA and its players. That’s another story which is not crucial to the story I’m attempting to impart. Robertson might have been among the first of the “Big” NBA guards, he stood 6-5 and checked in at 220 pounds. That doesn’t sound imposing now but consider this was the NBA of 1960. Try as might he could not raise the level of play of his Cincinnati Royals. The Big O almost averaged a triple-double in his rookie year, 30.5 ppg 10.1 rebounds and 9.7 assists (which led the NBA).
Later Robertson would accomplish the feat average a triple-double for an entire season. The Royals would trade the Big O to the Bucks and he would go on to win his only NBA Championship. He and Lew Alcindor was nearly an unstoppable combo, Robertson would retire from the NBA in 1974. Honors far too numerous to name all of them so I’ll list just a few. He’s in three halls of fame, Naismith Hall, FIBA Hall and College Basketball. Robertson was selected a member of the NBA 35th Anniversary and 50th Anniversary all time team. This falls far short of the honors awarded Oscar “Big O” Robertson.
