BASKETBALL FROM A FANS PERSPECTIVE

Bits n Pieces
At the time Marc Stein worked for ESPN he was a voice of reason.  Not always correct in all he reported however he met my personal criteria.  Stein covered basketball alone, he didn’t try and do NBA basketball and double up by covering NFL football.  I make that statement at least to my knowledge.  Stein covers the NBA now on NYTimes.com, check him out if you get a chance.   

You say you didn’t know 78-year old Larry Brown was still coaching?  Neither did I, he’s been serving as head coach of an Italian team Fiat Torino.  Notice “been serving” points out he’s no longer there.  Brown left with a 5-19 mark and there is no indication (at this point) if he just quit or was fired.    

Let’s just say the case of Kevin Ollie former UConn head coach is unusual to say the least.  Ollie was hired as the heir apparent to Jim Calhoun his long-time college coach.  There are too many moving parts to dissect at this point.  Read the details for yourself, draw your own conclusion of the events.  

You might remember the account on Mavs rookie Luka Doncic and his jersey number 77.  I failed to check NBA rosters before completing the story, it seems Jae Crowder of the Jazz is now sporting number 99.  I know for a fact he’s never worn that number previously, I believe it’s only occurred since he arrived in Salt Lake City, but I could be wrong.   

Not gonna do it
The last time this scenario occurred I weighed in on the subject.  See Kyrie Irvin was at Duke and 8 games into his freshman year he suffered an injury.  He would be sidelined for the balance of the season.  Much to my surprise (and others maybe) he declared for the 2011 NBA draft while rehabbing from injury.  I remember it well, I wrote “He’s (Irving) making a mistake placing his name in the draft. He’s not ready for NBA play”.  It’s good he wasn’t listening to me for advice, drafted by the Cavs at the end of the season Irving was named NBA Rookie of the Year.  Later Irving would go on to All-Star status and was a key in the City of Cleveland winning its first sports championship since well….in a long time. 

Where am I headed you ask, Oregon’s Bol Bol has been sidelined with a foot injury after distinguishing himself in the team's initial series of games.  It’s being reported Bol will sit out the remainder of the season and.  The and is rehabilitate, heal and prepare himself for the 2019 NBA draft.  Prior to the injury Bol was projected as a lottery pick so the fact he’s not remaining in school is not shocking.  The next move by me, I don’t wish to repeat the mistake I made in 2011 and declare he’s not ready.  This fan has no desire to repeat my previous stance, is Bol ready for the NBA I have no idea.  We must wait and see how this plays out. 

He wears a WHAT?

Sometimes those of us wearing even a large shoe can be stunned by the shoe size of athletes.  During half-time of the UCF-Temple game ESPN analyst Brooke Weisbrod interviewed Tacko Fall, the most interesting portion of the interview occurred when she placed the shoe on the floor and placed her foot shoe and all inside the shoe of Fall.  I have no idea what size shoe Weisbrod wears however the ability of placing her foot inside the size 22 of Fall was interesting.  Curious I decided to check the shoe size of several past and present day NBA players.  

Shaquille O’Neal also wears a size 22, Yao Ming who also stands 7 feet 6 inches the same as Fall has a “baby” foot, it’s an 18.  Speaking of little feet that was the case for the late Manute Bol, standing 7 feet 7 inches his basketball shoe was only a 16 ½.  At the time Bob Lanier arrived in the NBA (1970) his size 22 was supposed to have been the largest size ever manufactured by Converse.  As you can see now days Lanier has plenty of company regarding sizable basketball shoes.  As for present day NBA players Pelican center Anthony Davis wears a 17 as does Sixer Joel Embiid, the Wolves Karl-Anthony Towns wears a size 20.  We close with Steven Adams of the Thunder with his size 18 shoe.