Basketball
from a fan’s perspective
Part Deux
Several times a follow up is required to an earlier story,
this is one of those occasions. On
Thursday I wrote what some might believe is a “He needs to be fired today.” The he in this instance is Mizzou
basketball coach Cuonzo Martin. I
attempted to point out all his previous stops he produced winners. I’m unable to point out the reason why,
Martin has certainly been an excellent recruiter and perhaps that’s the issue
for this Mizzou fan. Other than landing
Michael Porter Jr. and family the athletes recruited have been average to
slightly above.
The coach and staff have been out there beating the bushes,
there have been high profile prospects with Mizzou as a possible
destination. Sad to say I’m a realist, I
cannot expect the school to compete with Kentucky, North Carolina or Duke for
talent. Those schools and several others
have a built-in pipeline that’s always running full force. Nobody in this age remains at a school 30
years as former coach Norm Stewart did, for me and others the word of the day is consistency. Never too high or too low, something invisible to date.
“I don’t get no
respect”
Was the classic line by the late comedian Rodney
Dangerfield. Mark Few and Gonzaga might
adopt the line too, part of the issue is location. They are the number one team in the nation
and in some circles, people are arguing Baylor should be number one. It’s been mentioned previously few on the
east coast and Midwest see them play. The
Spokane Washington school’s evening games began at 10:30 p.m. and 9:30 in the
Eastern and Midwest Time Zones.
Gonzaga games are concluded long after midnight in Chicago
and New York City. The only opportunity
to view Gonzaga play is weekend day games in those time zones. That’s a single reason however it’s not the
only one, it’s the conference Gonzaga is a member. This is certainly no effort to disparage the
West Coast Conference, but it doesn’t compare to the Big 12, Big 10 or several
other conferences in the eye of the public.
The coach, Mark Few is the real deal and has been for several
years.
OG
Due to the time period and circumstances we never had the
opportunity to witness several athletes play in their prime. The late Connie Hawkins certainly fits this
picture. Hawkins came into basketball prominence
from the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. He became associated with New York City gambler
Jack Molinas while still in high school through a loan. Hawkins borrowed $200 which was repaid by his
brother in 1961 before a point shaving scandal broke out in college
basketball.
At that time freshman were ineligible to play although Hawkins
was enrolled at Iowa. He was dismissed
from school and never allowed to defend himself. The opportunity to play basketball beyond college
and the NBA was few. Hawkins would play
for the Pittsburg Rens of the new American Basketball League, but the league
fold after but one year, he would go on to play for the Harlem Globetrotters for
four years.
The American Basketball Association was born, and Hawkins
began play and the legend of “The Hawk” grew.
In the NBA 1968 settled a lawsuit filed by Hawkins and the Suns won a
coin flip for his services. Hawk arrived
in the NBA as a 27-year old rookie, until he retired in 1976,
he would palm the basketball like it was a grape. The legend of Hawkins grew. Hawkins was enshrined in the Naismith Hall of
Fame in in 1992, in 2017 he died of cancer.
This is a shortened version of an exceptional basketball player; his
autobiography is available which provides more detail.
There is a vast difference
As of this writing
the Knicks have won 11 games and lost 30, the Knicks are in last place in the
Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference.
Out west the Lakers are winners of 30 games and losers of 7, they are in
first place in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Besides the won-loss record there remains a vast
difference between the two teams.
Both hold a half
time contest for a selected fan to attempt sinking a half court basket. Recently at Staples Center a Laker fan scored
on his shot and won a $100,000 jackpot. Later
a Knicks fan at Madison Square Garden duplicated the effort sinking his shot,
his reward a quantity of scratch off lottery tickets. Once the Knicks fan finished scratching each ticket,
he discovered his winnings totaled $500.
On the ESPN program The Jump they claim it was $1,000 worth of scratch
off tickets. 😮
