Basketball from a
fan’s perspective
Hondo
For the first time I read a different explanation, it was claimed John Havlicek was nicknamed Hondo because a person couldn’t pronounce his last name. As indicated, that’s brand new to me, I was led to believe a youthful Havlicek resembled John Wayne in his 1953 movie Hondo. A few more points on his life, it was mentioned the NFL Browns drafted him. I remember reading once he participated in a brief training camp with them but had no football aspirations. It’s difficult to believe this Hall of Fame player wasn’t a starter his rookie year. The Celtics of that period were loaded with veteran players, Hondo made his mark as a 6th man coming off the bench providing an offensive and defensive spark.
The “Havileck steals the ball” broadcast
came about due to a Celtic miscue. In
those days some arenas had guide wires supporting the backboard and Bill
Russell was the culprit. With seconds
remaining in the NBA championship Russell was to inbound the ball and it hit
one of the wires and the Sixers recovered the errant inbound pass. Guard Hal Greer was attempting to inbound the
ball to teammate Chet Walker when Havilcek stole the ball and the rest is
Celtic history. The NBA is young (1946)
by comparison to MLB and NFL both 100+ years old. Many of the giants of those sports have long
since passed away, the NBA has begun an attrition process of its veterans much
later.
The very worst
You might have been unaware of the contest; we have a marathon currently in progress to determine the worst owner in the NBA. You thought I was going to say the Lakers, there are front office problems and poor performance on the court, but they are in 3rd or 4th place. The race has Knicks owner James Dolan in the lead but right behind him about to catch and pass him is Robert Sarver Suns owner. Sarver changes head coaches like most of us change our underwear, well maybe some of us don’t change every day. You get the idea; in Phoenix you are hired to be fired as they often say.
You might have been unaware of the contest; we have a marathon currently in progress to determine the worst owner in the NBA. You thought I was going to say the Lakers, there are front office problems and poor performance on the court, but they are in 3rd or 4th place. The race has Knicks owner James Dolan in the lead but right behind him about to catch and pass him is Robert Sarver Suns owner. Sarver changes head coaches like most of us change our underwear, well maybe some of us don’t change every day. You get the idea; in Phoenix you are hired to be fired as they often say.
Igor Kokoskov lasted
exactly one season, the same could be said for Jay Triano. Earl Watson lasted two seasons but was fired
3 games into the 2017-18 season. Let’s
just say whoever takes the job of head coach better maintain a go-bag. The Suns are beginning to assemble a talented
crew Devin Booker, DeAndre Ayton and maybe adding a Ja Morant or R.J. Barrett
depending on the draft. From a personnel
standpoint things are looking up, ownership is a different story. Robert Sarver sure needs to get his act
together; he soon might take the lead over James Dolan and the Knicks.
First signee
I thought you might find this interesting, the first signee for former NBA player and current head coach of Vanderbilt is a familiar name. Scotty Pippen Jr. a 6-foot 1-inch point guard had verbally committed in January while Bryce Drew was the head coach. Pippen Jr. followed through and signed on the dotted line on Friday. Scottie Pippen Sr. was the same height as his son at the time he graduated high school. Over the next four years he grew to his present 6-foot 8-inch stature. I was curious and doubled checked, notice son and dad spell their names differently yet we have a senior and junior, interesting.
I thought you might find this interesting, the first signee for former NBA player and current head coach of Vanderbilt is a familiar name. Scotty Pippen Jr. a 6-foot 1-inch point guard had verbally committed in January while Bryce Drew was the head coach. Pippen Jr. followed through and signed on the dotted line on Friday. Scottie Pippen Sr. was the same height as his son at the time he graduated high school. Over the next four years he grew to his present 6-foot 8-inch stature. I was curious and doubled checked, notice son and dad spell their names differently yet we have a senior and junior, interesting.
Bothersome things
Several things bother me these days, I could compile a list for you but what would that do? It’s likely you couldn’t or wouldn’t help me address them and that’s okay. With the passing of John Havlicek, a friend wrote, “We talk about the greatest this or that but, we don't often consider where the older greats fit in.” We see LeBron James and Kobe Bryant in real time, before them Michael, Dr. J. and several others. This is my two-cents worth of knowledge; the best conditioned athletes play right now. They are in the gym 12 months of the year, there is no such thing as “off-season” for them. Athletes in an earlier time used training camp to prepare for the grind of the season.
Several things bother me these days, I could compile a list for you but what would that do? It’s likely you couldn’t or wouldn’t help me address them and that’s okay. With the passing of John Havlicek, a friend wrote, “We talk about the greatest this or that but, we don't often consider where the older greats fit in.” We see LeBron James and Kobe Bryant in real time, before them Michael, Dr. J. and several others. This is my two-cents worth of knowledge; the best conditioned athletes play right now. They are in the gym 12 months of the year, there is no such thing as “off-season” for them. Athletes in an earlier time used training camp to prepare for the grind of the season.
They never
lifted anything heavier than adult beverages in the off-season. Despite the awkward comparison we tend to
downgrade and, in some instance, totally ignore their contributions. We applaud Russell Westbrook for being a
walking-triple double, its quite possible Oscar Robertson might have
accomplished the feat most of his career.
We continue to hear, “It was easy
for Wilt and Russell there were only
8-12 teams when they played.” We
create all types of narratives to question the validity of many of the players
of the past. Tons might not agree with
this statement however it’s my belief many of the front-line players of that
era could just as easily play in 2019.
That’s all for now…..I’m out.
