Basketball from a
fan’s perspective
Published Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday
Grandpa Carter
Vince Carter is probably yet to be a grandfather, however he’s old by NBA standards. Stop and consider this fact, he’s old enough to be a father to several of the 2019 NBA draft class. The athlete Kenny Smith dubbed “Half-man, half amazing” for his dunks is 42 years old. The Hawks signed Carter to a one year deal his last contract prior to his retirement. He will turn 43 in the middle of the season, the next stop for him the Naismith Hall of Fame.
Another hire
The NBA continues to lead in diversity hiring over other professional sports leagues. On Monday the Grizzlies announced the addition of Niele Ivey to their coaching staff. Ivey's spent the last 12 seasons as associate head coach at Notre Dame her Alma mater. The hiring of Ivey now brings the total number of female assistant NBA coaches to 9. Will there be a female head coach one day possibly. Big3 basketball currently has two females, Lisa Leslie and Nancy Lieberman serving as head coach. Lieberman once coached a G-League team so the future might not be that distant.
The NBA continues to lead in diversity hiring over other professional sports leagues. On Monday the Grizzlies announced the addition of Niele Ivey to their coaching staff. Ivey's spent the last 12 seasons as associate head coach at Notre Dame her Alma mater. The hiring of Ivey now brings the total number of female assistant NBA coaches to 9. Will there be a female head coach one day possibly. Big3 basketball currently has two females, Lisa Leslie and Nancy Lieberman serving as head coach. Lieberman once coached a G-League team so the future might not be that distant.
Sometimes you swing and
miss, sometimes you get a hit!
I know, I’m applying a baseball term to a blog about basketball however the subject is the bouncing ball. Allow a brief explanation for why its use in this account. CamRon Fletcher is a 6-foot 6-inch small forward, Fletcher attends Vashon High in St. Louis. The prevailing thought Cuonzo Martin and his connections to prospects in the metro might entice Fletcher to Mizzou. Well it didn’t happen, this 4-star athlete and the number 37 prospect on Rivals Class of 2020 gave a verbal commit to Kentucky. Many were lamenting the two years of work spent attempting to recruit him by Mizzou as wasted effort.
I know, I’m applying a baseball term to a blog about basketball however the subject is the bouncing ball. Allow a brief explanation for why its use in this account. CamRon Fletcher is a 6-foot 6-inch small forward, Fletcher attends Vashon High in St. Louis. The prevailing thought Cuonzo Martin and his connections to prospects in the metro might entice Fletcher to Mizzou. Well it didn’t happen, this 4-star athlete and the number 37 prospect on Rivals Class of 2020 gave a verbal commit to Kentucky. Many were lamenting the two years of work spent attempting to recruit him by Mizzou as wasted effort.
I don’t look at the effort as wasted, it certainly would have been quite a coup if Fletcher had chosen Mizzou. I've believed for a number of years recruiting is just like fishing; you toss
your net overboard you are bound to catch some fish. Sometimes the big ones are
almost captured but sometimes manage to slip away. That’s the issue here, the Calipari legacy
plus the even larger Kentucky heritage made for an offer Fletcher was unable to
turn down. We believe Fletcher is a
talent however he is arriving at a D-1 school and Kentucky no less. Will he or can he adjust to competitive play
at this level and the pressures of play at Kentucky? Only time
will tell for sure and it will be the fall of 2020 before we discover the outcome.
Bits n Pieces
UConn Nation don’t take this personal; it’s not aimed at your university rather the system that's in place. We reported earlier UConn was leaving the American Athletic Conference for a return to the Big East, July 1, 2020 is the date. The exit fee for this deed is a cool $17 million, next time you hear a college athlete discuss being paid keep this in mind, that is all.
UConn Nation don’t take this personal; it’s not aimed at your university rather the system that's in place. We reported earlier UConn was leaving the American Athletic Conference for a return to the Big East, July 1, 2020 is the date. The exit fee for this deed is a cool $17 million, next time you hear a college athlete discuss being paid keep this in mind, that is all.
Currently a 5-star recruit has Mizzou and
Kentucky on his short list. The problem
anytime your effort is against a blue blood program your liable to lose. BJ Boston is not the athlete in
question, but I hope you get the idea.
Boston a 6-foot 7-inch shooting guard is the number 7 prospect in the
Class of 2020. The youngster had 20
scholarship offers, he declined 19 of them to give Kentucky a verbal commitment
for 2020.
Tragedy impacts the NBA and basketball
world too; I can think of Malik Sealy and Bobby Phills being killed in
automobile accidents. Two former UCLA
players one who played in the NBA committed suicide, death is not unknown. When death comes from the hand of a spouse
that’s a different matter. Sherra Wright
recently pleaded guilty in the death of her ex-husband former NBA athlete
Lorenzen Wright who died in 2010. The
complete account is available on several sports and news websites.
TNT is dropping its players only
broadcast next season, those are the broadcast that featured former NBA players
behind the microphone. As painful as
Marv Albert might be to some fans, he is a professional broadcaster,
he’s worked at this task for many a year.
Chris Webber, Kevin McHale, and Isiah Thomas are best served in their
roles as analysts not broadcasters.
