Basketball from a fans perspective
Lilliputian backcourt
I tuned into the Central Michigan-Toledo game for a specific reason I wanted to see the nations leading scorer (29.3) Marcus Keene in action. I learned Central Michigan might have the smallest backcourt in the country. Playing along side Keene is Braylon Rayson also 5 foot 9, Rayson is the second leading scorer on the team at 18.7 points per game. It's likely most prep backcourts average greater height than this Division I team. Keene turned his left ankle during a portion of the first half and left the game headed for the locker room. He returned in the second half didn’t shoot very well but managed to total 20 points. His backcourt partner Rayson picked up the slack with 28 points as Central Michigan won 96-88.
‘I’m looking north and he’s looking south’
If expansion ever comes to the NBA I have lobbied for Montreal or a Vancouver return. I offer no proof but believe basketball is right behind the NHL in the minds of younger Canadians. Despite my view someone who’s got NBA clout is thinking south, i.e. Mexico City. Cuban’s Mavs played the on Thursday beating them Suns 113-103 in the Mexico City Arena.
The arena built in 2012 has all the amenities and can accommodate 22,300. Unlike Europe or Asia Mexico is in the same time zone as North American cities. Cuban said; ‘The only problem is distant travel.’ Air miles from Mexico City to Southwest NBA cities San Antonio, Dallas, Houston and New Orleans is less than 1,000 miles one-way. The distance issue Cuban speaks of would be flight time for east (NYC, Boston and Philly) and west (Los Angeles, San Francisco) coast teams.
Kansas basketball
A number of Jayhawks who demonstrated talent while at Kansas never panned out in the NBA Ben McClemore and Darrell Arthur come to mind. There might be others however there are two genuine stars and one about to be anointed. Paul Pierce is probably lining up his speakers for his Hall of Fame induction. As for the others they are named Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid. Wiggins in his third year has clearly proven he’s a star. 2015 Rookie of the Year, his scoring average has climbed every year he’s been in the NBA.
I want to wait at least through the season however it appears Embiid has stardom implanted on his forehead too. Before Kansas fans begin yelling at me about who was omitted at the beginning I attempted to qualify by stating STAR. Currently the number of players from Kansas totals 15, the majority fall into the role of reserves. Kelly Oubre Jr., might have the right stuff however for now he’s in the observation stage. The Morris twins are steady players but to borrow from Kenny ’The Jet’ Smith; ‘Does the player command a double team?’
‘I don’t want to make a mistake’
Anthony Bennett made a mistake, it wasn’t his entire fault the Cavs made a mistake too. Allow a brief explanation Bennett was a McDonald’s All American an athlete many believed was headed for a stellar NBA career. He enrolled at UNLV but we thought it only a temporary stop, he announced his intention to submit his name for the 2013 NBA Draft. The 2013 mock of NBADraft.net listed Bennett as the potential number 10 pick in the first round. To the surprise maybe shock of everyone the Cavs with the number one pick chose Bennett.
Bennett would last with the Cavs through 2014; in 2015 he was included in a trade package and headed to the Wolves. In 2015 the Wolves waived him and he moved to Toronto and Brooklyn before he was waived out of the NBA. This month Bennett signed with a team in Turkey and we shall see how this turns out. Bennett is a talented athlete but not enough to play at the NBA level. At the time Isiah Thomas was running the Raptors his team drafted Tracy McGrady. When questioned he said (I paraphrase) ‘I don’t want to make a mistake by passing over him.’ We know McGrady turned out to be a talent as for Bennett that is another story.
