Basketball from a fans perspective
Who do you chose?
Mizzou needs a coach, who do they hire is the question? I raised the question earlier there are probably a number of highly qualified assistant coaches however Mizzou needs a big time hire. Few coaches are likely willing to leave an existing program for a massive rebuild effort, that might be the biggest question?
Cuozo Martin is an East St. Louis guy plus he coached at Missouri State for a number of years. Martin knows the lay of the land and can recruit. Lorenzo Romar coaching at Washington also has Missouri connections, he served as head coach at St Louis University. I’m not as sold on Romar as many others. Tom Crean at Indiana is also a name who might be available for the correct dollar amount. Gregg Marshall has been successful at Wichita State; it’s possible he too might be willing for the right price. Brad Underwood was highly successful at Stephen F. Austin and he’s transferred that success to Oklahoma State. The issue Underwood is reported to be underpaid versus other Division I coaches.
Tim Jankovich at SMU is also a name; he’s served as a head coach at Illinois State where he was a winner. Hired as assistant head coach he moved over a chair at the time Larry Brown stepped down. I’m sure I might have missed someone but those are the employed names. What about the list of unemployed coaches? These are not in any order just those I believe might be a good fit based on their prior track record. Steve Lavin ex-UCLA and St. John’s coach, his health issue is supposed to be in the rear-view mirror. Seth Greenberg had a winning record at Long Beach State, South Florida and Virginia Tech. The downsize he’s 60-years old the oldest of all the names mentioned.
This one is on me
I once wrote of unusual or strange names for basketball arenas across the country. I mentioned Smoothie King Center in New Orleans but indicated I was unfamiliar with the business. Just the other day to my chagrin I discovered we have Smoothie King Franchises in the Kansas City metro. Now that I’m over my embarrassment I still think Smoothie King is a strange name for an arena.
The best team that never won a championship
The Sixers won the NBA Championship in 1983 but their earlier team was supposed to win. Matched against the Sixers would be the Blazers for the 1977 NBA Championship; the Sixers were an exciting team that year. They were anchored by high flyer Julius Dr. J. Erving in his first year with the Sixers. Power forward George McGinnis had also come from the ABA, Lloyd Free a.k.a. World B. Free would emerge from the bench along with Joe Bryant Kobe’s dad. The center position was actually occupied by three players. Harvey Catchings, Caldwell Jones and Darryl Dawkins would often share the center position. As for Dawkins he is the man responsible for the collapsible backboard rims.
Dawkins nicknamed Chocolate Thunder would break two backboards with his vicious dunks, 1979 in Kansas City against the Kings and later in Philadelphia against the Spurs. The irrepressible Dawkins would nickname each of his dunks. The Blazers were led by Bill Walton and Maurice Lucas who arrived from the ABA and became the teams’ enforcer. The balance of the Blazers was a collection of good players but the Sixers had the stars. The little team that could (Blazers) out shot, out rebounded and thoroughly outplayed the better team winning the championship 4 games to 2. The Sixers would return to the finals in 1983 revamped and renewed and beat my Lakers 4 games to 2.
