Basketball from a fans perspective
Black history moment
The name Jackie Robinson holds a place in the pantheon of American history. You hear the name and you immediately think of the man who broke the baseball color barrier with the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers. Few realize he was probably not the best black baseball talent but was the perfect man for this historic endeavor. Even fewer probably realize Robinson was talented enough to compete in four major sports.
Robinson began honing his skill in high school and later at Pasadena Junior College before competing and graduating from UCLA. Robinson played four sports and won letters in football, baseball, track and basketball. As for his basketball it’s likely the 5-11 Robinson would have played guard although the records make no mention of his position. We have no method to verify this statement however Robinson might have been skilled enough to play in the NFL or the early days of the NBA.
So nice he’s doing it twice
Bill Raftery turned 73 in May 2016, despite his age he continues to exhibit outstanding color commentary for college basketball. The twice part of the story Raftery has been the voice of CBS Sports coverage for the last 33 years, during this period he went to work for ESPN as well. He would leave ESPN in 2013 at the time Fox Sports 1 began operation. Raftery has several key phrases similar manner to Dick Vitale, there are so many classic lines it is impossible to detail all of them below are just a few.
Bring your lunch
Welcome to the block party
With the dribble drive
Count your Chiclets (hit in the mouth)
A kiss off the glass
A little whirlpool….spin to the tin
Raftery is not just providing the audience euphemisms he knows the game backwards and forwards. For 16 years he served as head coach at Farleigh-Dickinson and Seton Hall. Raferty is one of those guys you hope continues to provide color commentary as long as he desires.
Wow!
That’s all I say about the trade of Boogie Cousins to the Pelicans. Cousins and Omri Casspi are headed to New Orleans, headed west to the Kings is Buddy Hield, Tyrke Evans, and Langston Galloway along with a 2017 first and second round draft picks, this is a trade of epic proportions. As for the immediate it’s likely this trade is too late to benefit the Pelicans (23-34) playoff hopes this season but watch out fro them next year. We cannot speculate on the 2017 draft picks because we have no idea who they might be. As for the “live bodies” the Kings received that is a far different story. Not ONE of the players the Kings will obtain is remotely close to the talent level of Cousins. Each player received has NBA talent they wouldn’t be on the roster if they didn’t.
Hield might turn out to be an NBA All Pro, Tyrke Evans has proven he’s got talent but cannot seem to remain healthy. So Evans returns to the Kings who drafted him in 2009 and he became Rookie of the Year. As for Galloway his NBA talent is unknown by us. At this point we have no method of peering into the future however it appears bright from a Pelican standpoint. They have the best center at the present time in the NBA. Playing along side Cousins will be
multi-talented power forward Anthony “Unibrow” Davis and point guard Jrue Holiday. The shooting guard and small forward are average for the Pelicans however but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Who says a team must have all-pros at every position? We’ve discussed the dysfunctional Laker front office I believe the Kings have clearly taken the lead in that department.
The starting center
I’ve got no source to the Laker coaching staff so this is what I’d like to see in the future. Ivica Zubac should become the backup center replacing Tarik Black in that role. The youngster is not ready to assume playing center full-time in the NBA. There are parts of his game that are superior to Timofey Mozgov already. Zubac is a better shooter and better at rebounding the basketball. Zubac gets lost on defense at times but actually is a better shot blocker than Mozgov.
I hope this doesn’t sound as if I’m stating the Lakers should lose on purpose. As for Black he should play backup power forward going forward. Zubac should play a minmum of 10 minutes a game the balance of the 2017 season. In July Zubac plays for the NBA Summer League team continuing to develop his game, training camp opens in October and playing time divided between him and Mozgov. December or January Zubac becomes the starting center. Zubac playing major minutes has been a double-double man on occasion.
