Basketball from a fans perspective
Game officials
I refrain from commenting on referee errors because it doesn’t change anything. Some errors are more blatant than others that occurred in the game between Northwestern and Gonzaga. It appeared to be a shot blocked at the basket by the Gonzaga player, it wasn’t. The replay clearly indicted he blocked the shot by sticking his hand through the basket clear evidence of goal tending. Northwestern goes home but with heads held high, would they have won the game less the officials’ error? We can debate that for the next 20 years and come to vastly different conclusions.
“New” Madison Garden
The headline is a little misleading; a few weeks ago we covered the number of new arenas opened or under construction. Madison Square Garden is the oldest arena (1968) in the NBA however the statement is a little misleading; the Garden has been renovated twice the last time in 2013. If you’ve seen the classic scene from 1970 the tunnel area Knick captain Willis Reed emerged from no longer exists. This is actually the fourth Madison Square Garden, the first arena opened in 1879, the second in 1890 and the previous building 1925.
Name any famous player of the past and they might have played in MSG. Connie Hawkins, Walt Frazier, Dick Barnett and Bill Bradley are just a few of the who that have played at MSG in it‘s history. There will be a new building built, in 2023 the lease for MSG will expire and the owners must begin the search for another site. In the meantime the old renovated building will continue to serve as home base for the Knicks, NHL Rangers, the NIT and a host of college basketball games.
The importance of the draft
Don’t believe the NBA draft is important consider the last several NBA Champions. The championship Warriors were essentially built through the draft. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymon Green all would become Warriors in this manner. The Warriors made key additions through trades and free agency including Kevin Durant. LeBron James was drafted by the Cavs along with Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson.
As for other key members of the Cavs they were acquired in trades or free agency. The Spurs tasted success led by recently retired Tim Duncan whom they drafted. Khawi Leonard, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker were all drafted by the Spurs. They have also benefited from trades and free-agency. The Heat can only point to Dwayne Wade a key draft pick, LeBron James and Chris Bosh arrived via free-agency.
‘Coaching musical chairs’
Whether Cuonzo Martin was to be terminated we don’t know. In any event he left Cal for Mizzou, as for the others they were fired. This is not in any order, Jim Ferry Duquesne, Derek Kellogg UMass, Mark Gottfried North Carolina State, Johnny Jones LSU, Lorenzo Romar Washington, Illinois John Groce and Indiana dumped Tom Crean after nine years.
There may have been coaches overlooked however you get the idea. Those named are in the first wave of coaches to be shown the door. The NBA approaches coaching replacement different. In the NBA they attempt to have a coach in place by the June draft. In college its always replace the coach as soon as possible. The reason is simple the coach must begin the recruiting process as soon as possible.
The Palace
Its full name is the Palace at Auburn Hills but was mostly known as the Palace. The home of the Pistons will close its doors in middle April forever. The building opening in 1988 was really a palace and for a number of years opposing teams hated to play in the arena. It was one of the larger arenas in the NBA seating nearly 25,000 Piston fans for games; they won three NBA Championships while the Palace was home.
Detroit was on the front of the jerseys however the building lies 35 miles from the downtown portion of Detroit. It’s been mentioned the Pistons will move back to the city in the fall and will become co-tenants with Little Caesars Arena. What happens to the Palace once the Pistons move; early it will be closed and demolished. The building holds another distinction it was built entirely with private funds $70 million dollars at the time
