Your call
The UCLA Three arrived home last night, a press conference
was held, and the athletes apologized but took no questions from them
media. These athletes represent the nation,
the NCAA and UCLA, what’s the appropriate punishment? I know for a fact at one-point financial aid
packages for a school contained “code of conduct”, the code might vary based on
the institution and its affiliation. I
would tend to believe an institution connected with a church might differ from
a state supported university.
A charge connected with criminal activity might be
serious enough for a scholarship to be revoked, I would be surprised, no
shocked if this is the final judgment rendered for the trio which might be
considered too severe. At the same time,
I believe they should suffer some sort of punishment. The trio has been suspended from the team for
an unspecified period. How long a
time-period is the suspension to last, is it 5, 10 or 20 games? What do you believe the appropriate
punishment should be?
He’s difficult to define
I checked the 1995 NBA draft,
Patrick Beverly wasn’t the last player chosen there are others, for instance the
Spurs Patty Mills was drafted at 55. Beverly
was the 4nd player picked in the second round of that year’s draft. He was drafted by my Lakers and from that
point on his NBA basketball career appeared to be stalled, he played in the
Ukraine, Greece and Russia before finally securing a position with the Houston
Rockets.
He’s become a nemesis to
opposing guards on defense (ask Lonzo Ball).
Last season as a member of the Rockets Beverly was selected NBA
Defensive First Team, no wonder at the time Chris Paul wanted out the Clippers
wanted Beverly. His scoring average has
risen this season with the Clippers however that’s not his strong suit, the
term fans love to yell AT games DEFENSE, DEFENSE. It’s been stated for many years you must
follow your dreams, Beverley’s done it in spades.
No basketball played here
Pittsburgh has a rich NFL and
MLB tradition; the Steelers and Pirates have a long and storied history in the
metro. The NHL Penguins are late arrivals
only dating back to 1967 what about the basketball? The city is home to Pitt and Duquesne both
Division I basketball programs as for pro basketball that’s been a tale of
misfortune. The city had a team in what
was to become the NBA, the Pittsburgh Ironmen were a charter member of the
Basketball Association of America. The team only lasted one season, date of birth 1946 date of death 1947. I could locate no information related to the
teams’ failure. The succeeding years
would see franchises move from one portion of the nation to another Pittsburgh
was never considered. In 1961 the
American Basketball League (not to be confused with the ABA) began play.
Once again Pittsburgh was
represented by the Rens who would play but two years, this time it was the
league rather than the city that witnessed the demise of pro basketball in the
city. The next effort would be another
new league the American Basketball Association.
The Pipers would begin play in 1967 move to Minnesota the following year
and move back to Pittsburgh in 1969. In
1970 they were re-named the Condors. In
June 1972 unable to secure a buyer the league shut down the franchise. So, there it is the abbreviated history of
professional basketball in Pittsburgh, although the metro contains over 2
million folks Pittsburgh joins Cincinnati, Kansas City and Syracuse and
others. These comprised a host of cities
that once had pro basketball franchises but will never see again.
I just discovered the Thunder
have five jerseys retired and none of the five played in Oklahoma
City. You ask how could that occur, they
played for the Seattle Sonics.
1 Gus Williams
10 Nate McMillan
19 Lenny Wilkens
24 Spencer Haywood
32 Fred Brown
43 Jack Sikma
The Kings have 9 jerseys
retired, 2 of that number played for the team in Sacramento. Pete Maravich’s number 9 is retired by the
Pelicans although he never played for them or the Hornets, he played for the
New Orleans Jazz before the franchise located to Utah. I’ll give the Nets and Wizards
a break for their retired numbers the franchises relocated rather than the
players. The Hawks have Bob
Pettit’s number retired although he played for the franchise at the time St.
Louis was home base. There are others however
this was a cursory glance at several teams.
