Basketball
from a fan’s perspective
The longest step is
the first
Dayton’s Obi Topping received exactly no offer from a single
Division I school, he played a 5th
year at Mt. Zion Preparatory School in Maryland. The 6-foot 9 Topping would go on to play at
Dayton and was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year as a freshman. The 2019-20 season would see him lead the way
as the Flyers registered one of the best records in collegiate basketball.
AP Player of the Year, Oscar Robertson Trophy, NABC Player of
the Year and one more honor. Topping was
named Naismith Player of the Year following his coach also being honored with a
Naismith award. Topping is headed to the
NBA after this outstanding sophomore season.
Don’t you find it interesting just three years ago nobody thought enough
to offer a scholarship. In June or some
point there after Topping will become an NBA lottery pick.
NCAA recruiting
The NCAA schedule for 2019-20 provides us a degree of
direction on recruiting. April 10-12, 20-23
and the 27-30 are dates college coaches can meet with prospects, I’m unsure if
this involves home or campus visits for potential talent. This schedule was set up prior to coronavirus
locking down the nation. The next few
weeks should prove interesting, as additional information is available updates
will be published if possible.
Naismith Coach of
the Year
If we look back over the history of the award it looks like a
who’s who of college coaches. We see the
name of Coach K., Roy Williams, Bill Self and Jay Wright to name just a few in
the history. We can now add the name of Dayton’s
Anthony Grant to the list of coaches winning the Naismith Coach of the Year.
The 2019-20 season witnessed the Dayton Flyers finishing the season 29-2 with
an 18-0 record in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Congratulations to the coach on a successful season.
NBA draft
The draft was scheduled for June 25th, we have no
idea at this point if the date is valid.
The coronavirus has run asunder among dozens and dozens of scheduled
events. Will the draft be one kicked to
the curb; we don’t know at this point?
Whether it’s the 25th of June or some other date the Warriors
pick might be different than first believed.
The Warriors might surprise and choose Israeli small forward Deni Avdija
who stands 6 foot 8 and weighs 210 pounds.
We’ve not witnessed him in action only a few YouTube
videos. We tend to believe because
Avdija is listed as a lottery pick, he must have a degree of game. Currently sitting in front of him on the
depth chart is veteran Andrew Wiggins. Wiggins
turned 25 years of age last month, would the Warriors be willing to initiate a
trade in order to provide room for Avdija? This question and a vast number of others
will only be answered
once the season begins.
Point forward
We cannot decide if LeBron James is a point guard or point forward. We covered the term point forward awhile back, just in case you missed it this
is a brief history. Former NBA player
Marquis Johnson now a broadcaster claims he “invented the term point
forward.” He indicates Don Nelson his
coach with the Bucks then sent him in the game replacing the starting point
guard.
Johnson says the conversation went something like this with
his head coach, “You want me to play point forward?” Johnson was a small forward but a very capable
passer. Much later the passing skill of
Paul Pressey also with the Bucks witnessed the term applied to him as well. If Johnson wants to claim it was him that
first coined the phrase no argument from me.
As for LeBron it’s my belief he’s a point-guard, he only occasionally
plays on the wing now. Generally, LeBron
is at or near the top of the key where he can see the floor.
