Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday-May through September
Tied
The
Warriors finally lost a home game, the final score read Rockets 95 Warriors
92. Neither team shot particularly well,
the Warriors 39.3% from the floor while the Rockets were 39.0%. Chris Paul and James Harden led the way for
the Rockets with 27 and 30 points respectively.
Kevin Durant scored 27 points and Steph Curry had 28 but neither player shot adequately from the floor. The series is now
tied 2-2 and back to Houston for Game Five on Thursday.
Safe for now
Although
several NBA teams have changed head coaches Doc Rivers remains in place, it’s
likely he is secure unless he decides to leave.
There is a noticeable change in the front office of the Clippers,
longtime basketball guru Jerry West has become the face of the Clippers
franchise. At the time he was hired in
June of 2017 it was as a member of the executive board. One of the teams’ first series of moves was
Rivers being relinquished of his player personnel duties.
This
change was evident at the recent draft lottery, West was seated along with
others as a representative of the Clippers.
Several coaches in the past have served a dual role as coach and player
personnel director. The coach becomes
the de-facto general manager because they are often responsible for player
contracts. We can assume Rivers continues
to provide input regarding acquisition of personnel and the draft. Any business related to player contracts is
no longer in Rivers purview it lies strictly in the hands of West and the front
office.
2000
Several
noteworthy events occurred in the year 2000, many joyful and many tragedies. June 28, 2000 was certainly a tragic night for
the NBA not for death, illness or the like.
The draft was held on that date and it may have been the poorest draft
of basket talent in the most recent past, I scoured the list of names from top
to bottom and couldn’t locate a single worthy candidate for the hall of fame. There have been poor drafts but this one must
be placed near the top of the list, in fairness everyone was not horrible.
A
few players in that draft had long careers however it was mostly as journeyman
players. I guess we could say journeyman
players are paid far above the salary of the average working person. Kenyon Martin picked number one by the Nets,
Stromile Swift (who?) number two to the (Vancouver) Grizzlies and Darius Miles
the third pick by the Clippers. Interesting
in that Jamal Crawford at age 38 is the lone player from that draft still
playing, he’s with the Wolves. Mike
Miller finished his career during the 2016-17 season as a member of the
Nuggets. Check it out for yourself, the
worst draft in NBA history occurred in 2000.
‘I’m back’
No,
not that guy…. Michael Jordan is still retired, I figure the headline could
just as easily be used by Jim Calhoun former UConn coach. Calhoun retired from coaching in 2012 after
873 wins, 3 NCAA Tournament Championships and induction in the Naismith and
College Basketball Hall of Fame. Calhoun
has come out of retirement to coach Division III University of St. Joseph in
Hartford (CT) a brand-new program. The
school formerly was a women’s only institution but is now co-educational.
All-Rookie team
One
of the key reasons the NBA is in such decent shape is the continuing infusion
of youthful talent. The athletes below
were either starters for their respective teams or played major minutes. Below is the All-Rookie
Team for 2017-18.
1st
Team
Kyle
Kuzma, Lakers
Lauri
Markkanen, Bulls
Donovan
Mitchell, Jazz
Ben
Simmons, Sixers
Jason
Tatum, Celtics
2nd
Team
Lonzo
Ball, Laker
Bogdan
Bogdanovic, Kings
John
Collins, Hawks
Josh
Jackson, Suns
Dennis
Smith Jr., Mavs
Laker
fans should feel pleased, their team was the only NBA team able to place two
players on the All-Rookie Team.
