Basketball from a fans perspective
Bits n Pieces
Tyronn Lue has taken
a leave of absence from his Cavs coaching duties. The indication he must be medically evaluated
before he could return. Dr. Larry Laker
says the chest pains are Cavs pains caused by their poor play for parts of the
season. In all seriousness I hope he
recovers soon and can resume his duties as head coach. Assistant Larry Drew will take over in the interim.
As the NCAA
Tournament grew in numbers of invited school’s additional television coverage
was required. No way could the CBS
Network broadcast 68 games in several different time zones at numerous times
day and night. For those who might not
remember the games were always televised however depending on what part of the
nation you lived you might be unable to see your favorite team. Farming the games out through additional
partners TBS, TNT and TruTV meant you could watch any game you chose. Games are also streamed on March Madness Live.
Clint N’
Dumba-Capela or Clint Capela is on an ascending trend. His scoring,
rebounding and defense are all upward bound.
Capela was born in Geneva Switzerland one of two NBA players who call
Switzerland home, his parents emigrated to Switzerland from Angola and The
Congo. As a youngster soccer was his
passion but, in a path, like others his growth (6 feet 10 inch) pattern negated
the sport, his brother suggested he take up basketball. The Rockets made him the 25th pick
in the first round of the 2014 draft.
Capela had to grow his game plus Dwight Howard was ahead of him on the
Depth Chart. Once the Rockets traded
Howard Capela’s game begin to blossom, it’s likely he will never be an All-Star
but a very sound talent.
“Think I will wait awhile”
This certainly is
not intended to be critical of teammates DeAndre Ayton or Allonzo Trier. As soon as Arizona was eliminated both
announced they would begin preparation for the NBA draft. Despite being injured all season Mizzou’s Michael
Porter Jr. is not quite ready to make the same decision. In addition, if we checked most of the mock
draft sites MPJ’s stock has not dropped significantly. At the beginning of the season (prior to the
back injury) he was listed as the top pick in the 2018 draft, but you want to
know if his stock has plunged.
Well let’s check it
out, NBADraft.net has MPJ at number
3, Tankathon.com list him at number
4. CBSSports.com
has MPJ at 5 while SI.com has the
player at 7, so there you have it. This
is more than a monetary decision however we can explore the high and low on the
scale. These are the latest figures I
could uncover. If MJP is drafted at 3
his first-year pay would be approximately $4,700,500 and if he’s picked at 7
the salary drops to $3,100,700. Much as
this Mizzou fan would love for him to return in the fall the dye is already
cast, he’s just not ready to announce his decision.
Bits n Pieces
The Hall of Fame
Classic announced the teams invited for the 2018 tournament, Texas Tech,
Nebraska, Missouri State and USC are the schools which will appear. Semifinal game one and two will be played
November 19, the consolation and championship game will be played November
20. A yet to be named Hall of Fame Class
will be enshrined, this event will be held in the College Basketball Hall of
Fame and the game next door at the Sprint Center in Kansas City (MO).
The
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics or NAIA Tournament was played last week, a champion will be crowned tonight in Kansas City (MO). The spotlight
on this tournament doesn’t shine as brightly as it once did and there are
reasons. At the top of the list upward
movement, Louisville, Southern Illinois, Indiana State and others once called
the NAIA home. One additional reason several
historically black colleges such as Grambling and Jackson State also left the
smaller NAIA.
Julius
Randle has re-invented himself, there was a point he could be found parked on
the Lakers bench. After being a starter
for much of his first few years in the NBA he took on a reserve role. At some point before or after the All-Star
Game the 6 foot 9 inch Randle moved back into the starting lineup. While in the reserve role his name was
mentioned as possible trade bait to free-up cap space, Randle might be traded but
its not because he can’t play. Since his
return to the starting lineup he’s played like a man possessed and has
contributed to the resurgence by the Lakers.
Several
college head coaching jobs are open, there are far too many to mention them
all. UConn, Georgia, Memphis (mentioned
previously) and Ole Miss to name just a few.
It’s possible a number of these positions might be filled prior to you
reading this.
