M.I.A. for the Hall of Fame
Over the weekend the new Hall of Fame candidates were named, they are to be congratulated but there is a name overlooked once again. Bobby Dandridge has greater career numbers than many already enshrined. Is the name unknown to you? Dandridge arrived in the NBA from Norfolk State (VA) in 1969 as the 45th pick in the 4th round by the Bucks. Allow me to explain briefly the NBA drafted players as one writer put it “until they ran out of players. “
Gradually the number of rounds was reduced and in 1989 the draft became two rounds where it’s since remained. Students might note the year rookie Dandridge arrived in Bucks training camp along with a fella named Lew Alcindor. Dandridge would become a valuable part of two championship teams one in Milwaukee and one in Washington D.C. The slender 6-6 Dandridge scored over 15,000 points during his stellar NBA career averaging nearly 19 points a game. Bobby Dandridge is in the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, hey Naismith and College Basketball Hall of Fame please consider nominating him.
Did you feel it
The earth moved on Friday evening, you didn’t feel the shock at your home? I’m sure it registered on the Richter scale in Dallas but especially in Storrs Connecticut. After 111 consecutive wins the UConn Women’s team lost a basketball game, Mississippi State upset them in OT 66-64. The last time the Lady Bulldogs lost a game was Nov 17, 2014. There will be a new NCAA Champion crowned but it won’t be the Lady Bulldogs. Congratulations to both teams but especially Mississippi State.
Where do they belong
A friend took photos inside the Golden One Center home of the Kings. Visible In her photo were the jerseys of Sam Lacy and Nate Archibald. This forced me to revisit an old issue retired jerseys. Neither Lacy nor Archibald ever saw Sacramento except maybe as former players. Both retired prior to the franchise locating to California, they played for the KANSAS CITY Kings. As for other arenas I believe I’m correct in that no Minneapolis Laker jerseys are hanging in Staples Center.
George Mikan and others from the Minneapolis days are honored however none of the jerseys are hanging from the rafters. Am I to strict in my view of retired jerseys maybe so however you see my point. I checked and it appears the Kings might be the only team not in compliant. Nate Thurmond and a number of others have jerseys retired from more than one team but they actually played in the city. It should be noted the Kings also retired Cincinnati and Rochester Royal jerseys from the earliest days of the franchise. Hey Kings owner I’m going to cite you for violating the rules.
Bits n Pieces
Fans I remain ol skool, to borrow the Dick Vitale terminology we need an aircraft carrier i.e. Big Man. The WE in this instance is Mizzou basketball, Big Men remain a vital part of the game. He could arrive from any one of the 50 states, Canada, Europe or Africa. Coach Cuonzo needs to hang out a “Help Wanted Sign.”
Geneva, not Switzerland but Ohio, its located about 60 some miles east of Cleveland. Spire Institute in the city has the tallest basketball player in the nation Tacko Fall is 7 foot 6 inches tall. Robert Bobroczky from Romania stands 7 feet 7 inches but is a skeletal 205 pounds. He's a 16-year old freshman at the school and video of him in action is available. We can state with conviction he looks extremely fragile in addition Bobroczky doesn’t move around the court very effectively but is an interesting story.
Speaking of Mizzou the coaching change plus the arrival of Michael Porter Jr. has seen 1,000 season tickets sold in a little over two weeks. That might not sound like much in Mizzou Arena which seats a little over 15,000 fans. The last few seasons you could throw a rock at an angle and not hit anyone.
I’m sure Cavs fans won’t appreciate this; I believe the Kevin Love for Andrew Wiggins has only been beneficial for the short term. We believed 2 ½ years ago the youngster had all the tools for an outstanding NBA career. The former Kansas Jayhawk has continued to demonstrate the Wolves got the best of this deal. Okay you say Wiggins is a small forward the same position LeBron plays how could Wiggins have developed? If you have a talent you best figure out how to utilize it. I’ll do it for you---move LeBron to power forward and play Wiggins at the 4 see how easy that was?
