Basketball from a
fan’s perspective
"Havlicek stole the ball"
Many of us too young to witness the event heard the call. Legendary Celtic broadcaster Johnny Most made it famous. Havlicek intercepting a pass preserving a 1-point Celtic win for the NBA championship. It was said opposing players soon grew tired of chasing John
Havlicek it seemed he never experienced fatigue. Entering the Celtic court as
the 6th man he was always constant motion, he scored and played
tough hard nose defense.
There were no starter minutes when he first arrived in the NBA, he popularized the 6th man role prior to becoming a starter. How good an athlete, he was drafted out of Ohio State by the NFL Browns although basketball was his love. He was made the 7th pick in the first round of the 1962 draft, he would retire a Celtic in 1978. This writer cannot do justice to Hondo in such a short space of time, over the next 24-48 hours ESPN, NBA TV and websites will provide additional detail. John Havlicek died today at age 79, R.I.P. Hondo.
There were no starter minutes when he first arrived in the NBA, he popularized the 6th man role prior to becoming a starter. How good an athlete, he was drafted out of Ohio State by the NFL Browns although basketball was his love. He was made the 7th pick in the first round of the 1962 draft, he would retire a Celtic in 1978. This writer cannot do justice to Hondo in such a short space of time, over the next 24-48 hours ESPN, NBA TV and websites will provide additional detail. John Havlicek died today at age 79, R.I.P. Hondo.
NBA jersey sales
The NBA store released its list of top selling jerseys for
the 2018-19 season. Surprises, Blazer
point guard Damian Lillard might not be as invisible as we might believe he’s
number 14. The Mavs Luka Doncic made the
list at 13, the only rookie to earn a spot.
Thunder guard Russell Westbrook finished in the 7 position ahead of Warrior
forward Kevin Durant. The Beard, James
Harden sitting at 6 is a surprise to me, I thought his jersey sales would be
much higher. Second year man Jayson
Tatum of the Celtics finished in the number 15 slot. No surprises, Laker LeBron James remained in
the top spot while the Warriors Steph Curry slides into 2nd
place.
NBA apparel sales
We are talking all apparel which includes jerseys, the top
selling team for 2018-19 for the NBA store might be a bit of a surprise. Let’s just say teams 2 through 5 all earned
playoff berths, the number 1 selling team didn’t have the poorest record in the
NBA but they failed to make the playoffs.
The Lakers are that team, despite turmoil on and off the court the Lakers
were clear winners at the cash register.
They were not the only losing team to finish in the Top 10, the Bulls finished
at 6 and the Knicks at 10 both are losing teams on the court but not in apparel
sales.
This is Big
Since his hire at
Illinois Brad Underwood has battled Mizzou’s Cuonzo Martin (East St. Louis
Illinois) for basketball talent.
Jeremiah Tilmon (East St. Louis) might be just one example, verbally
committed to Illinois he changed his mind when the coach he committed to was
replaced. At that point in steps former
East St. Louis guy Cuonzo Martin with an offer for Tilmon.
This time Underwood
was in a battle much bigger than a border battle, had to overcome several
basketball power house programs. His
name, Kofi Cockburn and he’s a 4-star Rivals prospect. This time there were offers for Cockburn from
Kentucky, Duke, Kansas and several other high-profile basketball programs across
the nation. This youngster attends Oak
Hill Academy but hails originally from Kingston Jamaica. Standing 7 feet tall and weighing a hefty 290
pounds Cockburn might be a throw-back to the days of dominant center play. In any event congratulations are for coach
Underwood and the Fighting Illini program.
The Dark Side
In the Star Wars movie Darth Vader was attempting to persuade Luke Skywalker to “The Dark Side.” The dark side could be simply stated the evil side, college basketball. Coaches, athletes, AD’s and sometimes administrations are guilty of going over to the dark side i.e. cheating. The degree of cheating can vary but it does occur maybe with the most pristine programs in the nation. This is the question, is there ever forgiveness? I can cite two examples discussed in Kansas City sports talk radio last month. Kelvin Sampson and Bruce Pearl cheat or at least that’s the view of drive-time guy. I’m not going to re-visit the past simply explain it in this manner.
In the Star Wars movie Darth Vader was attempting to persuade Luke Skywalker to “The Dark Side.” The dark side could be simply stated the evil side, college basketball. Coaches, athletes, AD’s and sometimes administrations are guilty of going over to the dark side i.e. cheating. The degree of cheating can vary but it does occur maybe with the most pristine programs in the nation. This is the question, is there ever forgiveness? I can cite two examples discussed in Kansas City sports talk radio last month. Kelvin Sampson and Bruce Pearl cheat or at least that’s the view of drive-time guy. I’m not going to re-visit the past simply explain it in this manner.
I’ve read the
infraction that led to Sampson being fired at Indiana is no longer a
penalty. As for Pearl he was forced from
the coaching ranks for several years. In
addition, there was a show-cause hearing before the NCAA prior to him being
re-instated. There you have it, two
coaches Sampson at Houston and Pearl at Auburn with a chain remaining around
their neck. Notice nowhere did I make
the claim they were innocent of the original charges which caused both to be
fired. In closing how come radio guy is
still on the air 5-6 years later continuing to accuse these two as cheaters or
occupying space on The Dark Side? This
is my statement for radio guy, if you have proof, they are cheating currently
send it to the NCAA. If not, it would
appear you are simply gossiping over the airways.
