Basketball from a
fan’s perspective
Published Monday through Friday weekly
“I ain’t gettin on no
time machine!”
I saw a news story on a proposed hyperloop, this tube system would take a traveler from Kansas City to St. Louis in about 30 minutes. The present auto drivetime between the two cities is 247 miles about 4 hours. I’m extremely claustrophobic, it’s bad enough for me to fly “sealed” inside an airliner 30,000 feet in the sky. It reminded me of a story I once read about Jim "Bad News" Barnes, who played for the ABA Spirits of St. Louis. The story is told his team was in Louisville about to return home.
I saw a news story on a proposed hyperloop, this tube system would take a traveler from Kansas City to St. Louis in about 30 minutes. The present auto drivetime between the two cities is 247 miles about 4 hours. I’m extremely claustrophobic, it’s bad enough for me to fly “sealed” inside an airliner 30,000 feet in the sky. It reminded me of a story I once read about Jim "Bad News" Barnes, who played for the ABA Spirits of St. Louis. The story is told his team was in Louisville about to return home.
"Barnes was informed The flight
leaves Louisville at 8 pm and is scheduled to arrive in St. Louis at 7:56 pm.
Upon reading the flight itinerary he (Barnes) becomes confused and asks how can
this be, someone breaks down the time zones and how St. Louis is an hour behind
Louisville. He says that they can cancel his ticket because “I ain’t gettin’ on
no time machine! He proceeded to rent a car for the trip.” As for me I feel the same way as Barnes but
for a different reason, I ain't getting on no hyperloop, traveling I-70 will do
for the time being. 🤔
Maine Red Claws
The Celtics G-League team is in Portland Maine about 2 hours drivetime from Boston. Although Tacko Fall is on a 2-way contract he will spend the greater portion of the 2019-20 season in Portland. He will be taught the correct manner in this age to play center. Former Celtic Vernon “Cornbread” Maxwell offered some tips recently for the Big Man.
The Celtics G-League team is in Portland Maine about 2 hours drivetime from Boston. Although Tacko Fall is on a 2-way contract he will spend the greater portion of the 2019-20 season in Portland. He will be taught the correct manner in this age to play center. Former Celtic Vernon “Cornbread” Maxwell offered some tips recently for the Big Man.
Maxwell stated his belief for success at
the center position was good footwork, think about several of the great NBA
centers. What did all the center greats
have in common, that’s its good footwork?
Locate video on YouTube of Kareem, Hakeem or even some of the past
greats. We tend to think of Shaq as
brute force around the basket (and he was).
Check out video other than the dunks, we are not sure who taught him,
but Shaq had good footwork around the basket.
Two nicknames
Nick Van Exel had two nicknames, he was “Nick the Quick” because of his speed and was also “Nick at Night.” The Nickelodeon cable channel had debuted in 1985, the nighttime programming was titled Nick at Night. Van Exel with ice water in his veins took several winning night shots leading to one of his nicknames, i.e. Nick at Night. In 1993 the Lakers chose the 6-1 guard with the 37th pick in the second round of that year’s draft.
Nick Van Exel had two nicknames, he was “Nick the Quick” because of his speed and was also “Nick at Night.” The Nickelodeon cable channel had debuted in 1985, the nighttime programming was titled Nick at Night. Van Exel with ice water in his veins took several winning night shots leading to one of his nicknames, i.e. Nick at Night. In 1993 the Lakers chose the 6-1 guard with the 37th pick in the second round of that year’s draft.
The re-building Lakers moved Van Exel
into the starting lineup, he might have been a trend setter on what would become
known as a combo guard. Van Exel could
shoot just as easily as dishing out a significant assist. After five seasons with the Lakers he was
traded to the Nuggets, Van Exel would play for several NBA teams before
retiring in 2006. Since retirement he’s
served as an assistant coach at several stops, currently he’s working for the
Grizzlies. Van Exel’s best years were
spent as a member of the Lakers and Nuggets.
The Shaka Smart story
Sometimes we might tend to believe Shaka Smart’s been coaching for 20 years. Although he was once the youngest head coach in Division I he’s now 42-years old. Other than his age the question might be what’s going on in Austin? Last season Smart’s Longhorn team won 21 games the most he’s won since his arrival at Texas. This is pale by comparison to his VCU teams who won 29 games 28, 27 twice and 26 games each season while Smart was head coach.
Sometimes we might tend to believe Shaka Smart’s been coaching for 20 years. Although he was once the youngest head coach in Division I he’s now 42-years old. Other than his age the question might be what’s going on in Austin? Last season Smart’s Longhorn team won 21 games the most he’s won since his arrival at Texas. This is pale by comparison to his VCU teams who won 29 games 28, 27 twice and 26 games each season while Smart was head coach.
Smart became the most highly sought coach
until he took over at Texas, this writer believed the move from VCU would be a
significant move. He would be moving to
the competitive Big 12 and then a funny thing occurred…. Smart didn’t win at
the previously level. I said at the time
and will repeat my statement at the time.
“With the growth of high school basketball in Texas he could recruit
exclusively and never leave the state.”
Only the AD can determine if this is the year, but he’s got to produce
soon.
Seattle
I don’t know about you, when I think Seattle three things come to mind Starbucks Coffee, the Space Needle and the Sonics. Sorry Seahawk and Mariner fans, although the NBA abandon the area quite a while back this remains a basketball blog. Without research I believe the metro Seattle area is one of the largest in the nation for producing basketball talent, it might rival much larger populated Chicago. Seattle just might exceed other larger areas in producing basketball talent, it’s not just the NBA but other professional leagues. In addition, this would include those athletes from the Emerald City and surrounding metro playing at the collegiate level.
I don’t know about you, when I think Seattle three things come to mind Starbucks Coffee, the Space Needle and the Sonics. Sorry Seahawk and Mariner fans, although the NBA abandon the area quite a while back this remains a basketball blog. Without research I believe the metro Seattle area is one of the largest in the nation for producing basketball talent, it might rival much larger populated Chicago. Seattle just might exceed other larger areas in producing basketball talent, it’s not just the NBA but other professional leagues. In addition, this would include those athletes from the Emerald City and surrounding metro playing at the collegiate level.
Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson
might be the best known born in Seattle however there are others. You could probably wake up veteran Jamal
Crawford from a dead sleep. He could
sink 8 out of 10 shots from the floor with very little warm up time needed, how
about the dunk king Zach LaVine, he’s from Seattle. Although retired now we can add these names,
NBA dunk champion Nate Robinson, Brandon Roy and Jason Terry.
Dejounte Murray with the Spurs and Allonzo Trier with the Knicks are also born and raised in Seattle. Although he never played in the NBA current Jazz coach Quin Snyder began his basketball journey in Seattle then Duke and into the coaching ranks. There are numerous others omitted but you get the idea, Seattle and the surrounding metro has produced a great deal of past, present and will produce future NBA talent. Paolo Banchero a high school junior and 5-star prospect in 2021 might be that future. Oh, did I mention he attends O Dea High School in Seattle?
Dejounte Murray with the Spurs and Allonzo Trier with the Knicks are also born and raised in Seattle. Although he never played in the NBA current Jazz coach Quin Snyder began his basketball journey in Seattle then Duke and into the coaching ranks. There are numerous others omitted but you get the idea, Seattle and the surrounding metro has produced a great deal of past, present and will produce future NBA talent. Paolo Banchero a high school junior and 5-star prospect in 2021 might be that future. Oh, did I mention he attends O Dea High School in Seattle?
