Basketball from a fans perspective
He lets us know
Today Zion
Williamson makes his college choice known, the 6-foot 7-inch 272-pound
Williamson has a lengthy list of schools chasing after him with offers. Truth is only two or three schools are really
in serious competition for his services, in-state Clemson and South Carolina
are in the running. Other possible
destinations could be Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina or Kansas.
The best since…….
The best since…….
The best
center ever to emerge from Kansas was the late Wilt Chamberlain, the second
best is Joel Embiid. You ask how I can
make such a bold statement after Embiid has played but a brief 63 NBA games. Sonny Hill who grew up with and witnessed a
young Wilt claimed Sixer Embiid is a “Younger version of Wilt”. Hill knows
a thing or two about Philly basketball tracing his knowledge back to the
‘50’s. All that’s necessary is to check
Embiid’s numbers, thus far he’s scoring 24 points and 11 rebounds a game. He also blocks two shots a game and likely
intimidates another 3-4 players into taking difficult shots.
Does Embiid
have any competition as the best big man currently? I’ve been a long-time fan of DeMarcus
“Boogie” Cousins and the numbers provide proof of his value to the Pelicans, 26
points and 13 rebounds a game along with 2 blocked shots. Injuries have slowed Hassan Whiteside of the
Heat although he returns from injury in time to begin competing for the title
of best big. The Wolves Karl-Anthony
Towns remains a double-double man and he too is a nominee for the best. The last player to consider must be named
Andre Drummond of the Pistons who is scoring at 14.3 clip but has 15 rebounds a
game. There are others however those
listed are clearly the leaders from my perspective.
This just might be the
reason
There are NFL fans throughout the world, the league has farmed out games
to Great Britain, Germany, Japan and Mexico.
Baseball is now played in the Olympics and its not unusual to see a
major league player from Japan, Australia or some South American nation. As for basketball its first appeared in the
1936 Olympics and that might have been its starting point worldwide. The NBA has played its part in growing the
game internationally establishing basketball academies throughout the
world.
“The NBA Academies are the NBA’s international elite development
initiative that consists of a network of elite basketball training centers
around the world to develop top international male and female prospects. NBA
Academies include educational development for the prospects and mark the NBA’s
signature elite player development initiative. The NBA Academies expose elite
prospects to NBA-level coaching, facilities and competition and provide a
global framework for elite prospects to maximize their success.
Each elite training center is staffed with NBA-trained coaches to
foster the development of prospects on and off the court, both during and after
their basketball careers. The NBA Academy coaches will implement a curriculum
developed by leading player development coaches to teach the fundamentals of
the game to improve individually and as a teammate. Each Academy will also be
staffed by an experienced strength and conditioning coach to help NBA Academy
athletes improve their athleticism and to stay healthy.
Depending on the location, student-athletes will either attend a
local public school or receive a scholarship to a local private school.
Student-athletes will receive academic support as needed. In addition to the
academics, NBA Academy student-athletes will be exposed to life skills training
to help with goal setting, relationship management, finances and other
off-court related concepts." The academies are located in:
Australia
Latin America (Mexico City)
India
Senegal
China (3 locations)
NBA.com
