Basketball
from a fan’s perspective
Problem solved
Tuesday evening came word from Steve Ballmer, he’s purchased The
Forum former home of the Lakers. If you
remember the story, MSG owned the arena, they filed suit shortly after the time Ballmer
announced he was building the Clippers an arena near The Forum. The Clippers planned arena is located blocks from The Forum. The deep pocketed Ballmer
now owns the building and there will be no impediments in his plan to build a state-of-the-art
arena for his Clippers. It must be nice to have all the money in the world to fufill your every wish such as Ballmer.
Being fired is not
the end of the world
I’ve never been fired so I probably am not the person to
comment on the issue. From talking to
folks who experienced being fired might believe it’s the end of the world. How much savings do I have, how soon does
unemployment start? Those are just a few
of the questions that might be asked.
Those in the coaching profession usually are in a different stage, under
the coach is operating under a contract that will pay him or her at a time
there are not coaching.
We can guess that was likely the case for Dayton’s coach Anthony
Grant. This past season his Flyers
finished the season 29-2 (18-0) in the Atlantic 10 Conference, All American Obi
Topping led the way for the team. Grant’s
resume details he was fired by Alabama in his 6th year at the
helm. One season his team played below
average season plus one barely above .500 was his undoing, he was fired at the
end of the 2014-15 season.
Grant went on to work as an assistant for the NBA Thunder and
then took the head coaching position at his alma mater in the 2017-18
season. As noted above Dayton played
outstanding basketball this past season.
Topping is likely to declare for the NBA draft, so it begins again for
Grant. On Tuesday Grant was named AP Coach of the Year, getting fired ain't so bad. Whatever occurs in the future Grant’s proven he’s a
winner.
We ask the question
How do we suppose the coronavirus will affect college
basketball? There was talk (just that
for now) seniors might be awarded an additional year of play. Teams could benefit from their capability. What about underclassmen, would they head to
the NBA in numbers like prior years. We
don’t have the answer with this a little past the middle of March. Daniel Oturu is a 6-foot 10 center, he was a 20
point 11.6 rebound and 2.6 blocked shots a game performer for Minnesota.
Oturu’s rebound total led the Big 10 this past season and he believes
he’s ready for the NBA. He’s declared
for the 2020 NBA draft and will not be returning for his junior season. Finally, Iowa State point guard Tyrese
Haliburton a projected lottery pick made his intentions known, he’s headed to the
NBA early. Haliburton would have been a
junior if he’d returned to Iowa State. So
much for the coronavirus and its impact on this portion of college basketball,
it would appear there’s been little change but its early.
An introduction
Unless you are fan of Mizzou basketball Kim English is likely
an unknown name. English was a quality during
his tenure at Mizzou. He was a “bridge” recruited
by Mike Anderson but remained in Columbia when Frank Haith took over. A few players left when Haith took over, that
wasn’t English. In 2012 English was
drafted in the second round by the Pistons but only had a brief time in the
NBA.
Most of his pro career was divided between the G-League,
Europe and Venezuela. In 2015 his former
coach Frank Haith hired English as an assistant for Tulsa, he would remain in place
until 2017 moving to Colorado in the same role.
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes added English to his staff in 2019 but it
doesn’t stop there. There are stories
circulating English desires a head coaching position which is likely at some
point in the future.
