Basketball from a fan’s perspective
Teammates?
I’m on the outside looking in, it doesn’t matter in a sense the
Clippers are talented enough to earn a playoff berth with roster member 2
through the last man. Despite this fact
there remains a question for yours truly.
I wonder how many games Kawhi Leonard and Paul George have played as
teammates? Early in the season George
was recovering from off-season surgery he wasn’t playing but it was
understandable why he didn’t play.
I haven’t checked the box score or seen every Clipper game;
it appears the two highly sought free agents are in the lineup at the same time
infrequently. After beginning play
George and Leonard seem to be taking this load management issue seriously. Leonard doesn’t play the second game of back
to backs, he’s 28-years old what’s that all about? Both free agents have played in this manner
since the season start. Doc Rivers and
no one in Clipper management owes me an explanation but this is a little
strange to me, oh well we shall see as the season develops.
Akron Ohio
This northeast Ohio city is currently about 200,000
population, Cleveland is about 40 some miles north. Akron’s Central High (now Central-Hower)
might be the only school to have two Hall of Fame athlete teammates. Nate Thurmond was elected to the Hall of Fame
in 1985, his teammate Gus Johnson was enshrined in 2010. After high school they separated with
Thurmond attending Bowling Green University in Bowling Green Ohio. Johnson headed west attending Boise State
then a junior college and transferred to the University of Idaho. Both were drafted in 1963 with Thurmond the 3rd
pick in the first round by the San Francisco Warriors. Johnson was chosen with the 10th
pick in the second round by the Baltimore Bullets (Wizards).
Although both Thurmond and Johnson played for more than one
NBA team their on-court persona was responsible for them being enshrined in the
Hall of Fame. Thurmond registered a
quadruple-double in a 1974 game, 22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists and 12 blocked
shots. Johnson’s dunks were legendary,
he broke three backboards, of course those were the days before break-away
rims. Johnson was more than furious
dunks as you can see by the YouTube video.
Thurmond died in 2016 of leukemia at age 74, Johnson died in 1987 of
brain cancer, two NBA legends you should become acquainted with.
The Texas Triangle
For years the State of Texas bragged about its vast amount of
land being the largest in the Union.
1959 would change all that as the state moved into second place behind
Alaska which was granted statehood. As
for Texas NBA teams visiting the state are likely to play all three teams the
Mavs, Rockets and Spurs, “The Texas Triangle” term came into common usage. How did Texas come to have three NBA teams
you might ask? I found this interesting
both the Rockets and Spurs came into existence in the same year 1967. The Rockets an NBA expansion team first
called San Diego home, in 1971 they re-located to Houston where they remain to
date.
The Spurs were in the ABA team at the time they began play,
it wasn’t San Antonio. The team began
play in Dallas as the Chaparrals in 1967, they played a regional schedule in
the 1970-71 season and underwent a name change becoming the Texas Chaparrals. In 1973 the team moved to San Antonio their
permanent home and was re-named the Spurs.
In 1976 as a result of the ABA-NBA merger the Spurs became one of four
teams moving into the NBA as the ABA was dissolved. So, there you have it the
short tale how Texas came to have three teams.
Bits n Pieces
In May the University of Michigan hired Juwan Howard he
became the latest former player to become head coach at his alma mater. The others are Penny Hardaway at Memphis in
his 2nd year and Patrick Ewing in year three. The trio is not the first nor the only former
players to return to their university they just happen to be in the latest number.
Devontae Cacok played his college basketball at UNC
Wilmington, although he stands only 6 foot 7, he led the nation’s colleges in
rebounds. Cacok went undrafted in the
June draft however the Lakers signed him for summer league play. Later he was placed with the South Bay Lakers
and now has been signed to a two-way contract and is a member of the big
club. During the 2017-18 season he averaged 13.5
rebounds a game, good numbers for a 6-7 240-pound power forward. player.
I asked my barber, ‘What about Westbrook and Hardin?’ His answer, ‘Westbrook won’t get in the
way of Hardin, but they won’t win anything either.’ Questioned further he was referring to this
team being capable of winning an NBA championship, my barber like many of us don’t
view the Rockets as valid championship material. We could be wrong we’ll just have to wait and
see.
Continuing to name names Southern Cal is the latest to feel
the wrath of the NCAA. This latest
indictment is associated with schools named earlier for violations. Those schools named earlier are Kansas, NC
State and Oklahoma. According to reports
there are others on the NCAA’s radar however until they are named, I will not
list them.
