Basketball from a fans perspective
Bits n Piece
Bits n Piece
Did you see it, the first
video dunk by Bronny James? It wasn’t
accomplished during a game it was during warm-ups prior to a game. My description it was a right hand “Statue of
Liberty” type dunk. He might never reach
the level of his dad which is not important, he can play the game already at
age 13.
His name is Kofi Cockburn,
he stands 6 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 280 pounds. The youngster originally from Kingston Jamaica
made his way to Oak Hill Academy in Virginia.
He’s a 5-star prospect and rated number 25 in Rivals Class of 2019. Naturally Cockburn has offers from 30 schools
including Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, Georgetown and UConn to name a few. Cockburn is uncommitted at this point, keep
an eye on him.
LeBron James opened the “I
Promise” elementary school in Akron Ohio this week. The school for at-risk students is one more
noteworthy event in the life of LeBron James.
In fact, he’s gained as much notoriety off the court as on it. He’s set a civic and philanthropic position
many professional athletes will find difficult to attain.
It’s
understandable
With the effort to acquire LeBron and others Center Brook Lopez quietly departed the Lakers. They had signed JaVale McGee earlier to a 1-year contract however he’s been a reserve center most of his career. Mercurial but talented Boogie Cousins remained unsigned and available. We heard no reports and with little fanfare Boogie announced he was signing with the Warriors and several said, “What happened?”
With the effort to acquire LeBron and others Center Brook Lopez quietly departed the Lakers. They had signed JaVale McGee earlier to a 1-year contract however he’s been a reserve center most of his career. Mercurial but talented Boogie Cousins remained unsigned and available. We heard no reports and with little fanfare Boogie announced he was signing with the Warriors and several said, “What happened?”
I’ll tell you what took
place, coming off a severe injury unable to play maybe to January the Lakers
decided to pass. The Lakers are
certainly not as deep as the Warriors, they could afford to sit Boogie down and
maybe not miss a beat until he was ready to play. The Lakers need all hands-on deck, they could
not afford to wait on Boogie no matter his talent. Doggone I wanted Boogie especially after
Lopez left however it’s understandable the Lakers passing on signing the
talented Boogie
I’ve got to make a report
The headline is only half true, a couple weeks back prior to the draft I told the story. An associate who lives in Kansas City but grew up in Chicago remains a Bulls fan. We held a discussion prior to the draft and I told her one of the mock drafts indicated the Bulls would choose Oklahoma’s Trae Young. Rochelle almost went ballistic, ‘They don’t need another guard (naming the present backcourt) they need front court help.’
I’ve got to make a report
The headline is only half true, a couple weeks back prior to the draft I told the story. An associate who lives in Kansas City but grew up in Chicago remains a Bulls fan. We held a discussion prior to the draft and I told her one of the mock drafts indicated the Bulls would choose Oklahoma’s Trae Young. Rochelle almost went ballistic, ‘They don’t need another guard (naming the present backcourt) they need front court help.’
Well here we are weeks after
the draft and the Bulls chose Duke’s Wendell Carter Jr. a 6-foot 10-inch 251-pound
power forward with the 7th pick.
With the 22nd pick in the first round they chose 6-foot 7-inch
shooting guard Chandler Hutchison from Boise State. I’m sure Rochelle will be okay with the
Carter Jr. pick as for the other pick I’m not so sure. We in the Midwest often have little
opportunity to see west coast teams in action, weeknight games come on at 9:00
or 10:00 p.m. Central Time.
This may change by draft time
The early edition of NBADraft.net list Mizzou’s Jontay Porter as the number 15 pick in the 2019 mock draft. If you remember his older brother Michael Jr. was the 14th pick in the 2018 draft on June 21 by the Denver Nuggets. A number are still questioning MPJ’s downward slide after being projected the number one or two choice prior to the start of the college season. His December 2017 back surgery and aggravated hip injury prior to the draft impacted his draft stock immensely.
This may change by draft time
The early edition of NBADraft.net list Mizzou’s Jontay Porter as the number 15 pick in the 2019 mock draft. If you remember his older brother Michael Jr. was the 14th pick in the 2018 draft on June 21 by the Denver Nuggets. A number are still questioning MPJ’s downward slide after being projected the number one or two choice prior to the start of the college season. His December 2017 back surgery and aggravated hip injury prior to the draft impacted his draft stock immensely.
Instead of one red flag
(surgery) we had two (hip problem), the two were likely the cause a few teams
pass on MPJ in the early portion of the draft.
There is a theme to this account, someone pointed this possibility. Jontay could be drafted ahead of his more
highly older brother if he puts up the numbers many believe. The 6-foot 11-inch Jontay has range beyond
the 3-point line. We could foresee 15-18
points, 7-9 rebounds and 4-6 assists per game for the younger brother Jontay.
