Basketball from a fans perspective
Revisionist history
The Chris Paul trade is history now, are as they say “water under the bridge” No need of a revisit----well maybe. How about just a brief departure to the past. Former Commissioner David Stern remembers the trade far differently than me and maybe you too. Stern is claiming there never was a trade on the table to the Lakers involving Paul. I’m not going to bother rehashing his words read it for yourself if you care.
He’s on the way
Lauri Markkanen is headed to the NBA----maybe, I’m going to leave myself an out on this one saying he might remain at Arizona another year. Oh, you are unfamiliar with the name Markkanen allow a brief explanation. He’s a 7-foot 230 pound power forward freshman from Finland who is scoring at a 17.8 ppg along with 7.2 rebounds. Markkanen’s dad played a year for Roy Williams at Kansas. NBADraft.com’s mock draft has him listed as a mid-first round choice while DraftExpress.net list him as their number 8 choice in their mock draft.
A little trivia
Tallest player in NBA History
Gheorghe Muresan 7 feet 7 inches
Shortest player in NBA History
Muggsy Bogues 5 feet 3 inches
First Asian player in the NBA
Wataru Misaka-Knicks 1947-48
First African American player(s) in the NBA
Chuck Cooper-1950
Nate “Sweetwater” Clifton-1950
Earl Lloyd-1950
Highest Single Season Scoring Average
Wilt Chamberlain-1962-63 50.4 points per game in 80 games
Highest Single Season Rebounding Average
Wilt Chamberlain-1961-62 27.20 rebounds per game in 79 games
Highest Single Season Assist Average
John Stockton-1989-90 14.54 assists per game in 78 games
The four Jones brothers all played in the ABA or NBA or both beginning in 1969 with Wil playing for the Miami Floridians (ABA). All the brothers played for Albany State (GA)
Wil Jones born 1947
Caldwell born 1950
Major Jones born 1953
Charles Jones born 1957
Bits n Pieces
Bet you didn’t realize from 2014 up through 2016 59 high school players from Canada have journeyed south of the border to play for colleges in the U.S. That fact alone should detail for you the growth of round ball in Canada. As I’ve stated previously basketball will never eclipse hockey in popularity with our northern neighbor but the growth of the game in Canada is quite evident especially around the Toronto area.
Russell Westbrook’s name was dropped into the discussion too on leading the NBA in points and assists. I have my doubts if he or James Harden can accomplish the feat. We discussed previously Nate “Tiny” Archibald playing for the Kings in 1972-73 scored 34 points a game and dished out 11.4 assists. Truth is Tiny was about the only offense the team had; they scored 8822 points that season with him contributing 2719.
The “Boys Club” of NBA TV needs to diversify its talent; Kristen Ledlow is the lone female personality for the network. Okay there have been former WNBA players serving as apparently none have been permanent hires. Currently Ledlow serves as co-host for the weekly NBA Inside Stuff program along side Grant Hill and serves as studio host on a weekly basis. In high school Ledlow played volleyball and basketball and has a sports media background prior to being hired by NBA TV. I certainly don’t intend to set myself up as human resources for the network but there are other qualified females they could hire.
Practice, practice and more practice, my basketball career never extended past the playground so I can’t fully relate. I continue to have a concern regarding poor free-throw shooting; it might be less evident in the NBA but at the high school and collegiate level but it even exists at the higher level. As for me if I were still a player after I finish the coaches drills I’d work on those portions of the game that are not working well. If I’m a fairly good shooter but average to poor on the line why am I not practicing free-throws? It seems “hero-ball” is more important especially at the high school or college level. Think how many times the outcome of a game might have been changed if only a crucial free-throw had been sunk.
