Basketball
from a fan’s perspective
The villain
After viewing the first two episodes of Last Dance have you concluded
who was at fault? Are you ready to declare someone the villain for breaking up
the Bulls? On the other hand, perhaps, you believe there might be more than one
person. I posed the question and several friends provided their view. Who was
the villain if there was one? That last Bulls team might have been capable of
winning 2 or maybe 3 additional championships.
We have the role of several party’s front office and players we
could point toward. How much did the ego of Scottie Pippen impact the picture? Pippen
was underpaid and management indicated they had no intention of amending his
contract. How about owner Jerry Reinsdorf or GM Jerry Krause? Michael Jordan
must be included in the mix as well. Who was responsible for locking Krause out
of the locker room after a game? Phil Jackson was unnamed but is it possible he
might be a culprit as well?
John Brisker
If John Brisker is still alive he would be 73-years old;
Brisker would have retired from the NBA at least 40 years ago. The reason this
tale begins in this manner he disappeared in the African nation of Uganda in
1978 when the nation was in upheaval. Our story begins in Detroit where he was
born in 1947, in his young adult years he played basketball for Toledo
University but left school for the ABA. The game is quite tame from the days
Brisker played he scored baskets as easily as he threw a punch.
Numerous fights might occur anytime the 6-5 210 pound Brisker
was in the game. It was reported he was ejected from a game once for throwing
an elbow two minutes into the game, can we say there were anger issues for
Brisker. In 1972 Brisker left the ABA for the NBA Sonics where he remained
until 1975. We don’t know if his volatile temper was responsible for leaving
him without an NBA job it certainly was not his talent. Reports indicate he
bumped heads with Sonics coach Bill Russell. He may have been black balled from
the NBA we really do not know.
Brisker’s combined ABA-NBA numbers detail ever how brief he
was a 20 point 6 rebound a game talent. In 1978 after traveling to Uganda he
was reported missing, unconfirmed reports indicate he was executed by an Idi
Amin firing squad. In 1985 the King County (Seattle) Medical Examiner at the
family’s request had Brisker deemed legally dead. So that is the condensed
version of John Brisker a talented basketball player who might have been so
much more. He would have been but age 30 when his life apparently ended.
Winningest
basketball programs
A portion of the figures have not been updated as this is
written, they reflect the all-time win-loss totals for collegiate teams through
the 2018-19 season. If we checked the list you might be surprised at several of
the teams, I was. As an example, UCLA with all it’s winning under John Wooden placed
at number 7 with 1,887 wins. The number 15 program was a surprise for me, the
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers with 1,792 games won.
How about this one, number 9 St. John’s recorded 1,854 wins since
the school began play in 1908. In my home state another surprise for me, Missouri
State in Springfield has 1,670 wins versus the University of Missouri in
Columbia with 1,655. Louisville with its rich basketball tradition was further
down the list than expected, they were listed as 26 with 1,722 wins. Kentucky
and Kansas battle for the top spot with Kentucky ahead by just 16 games. These
numbers are through the end of the 2019-20 season, Kentucky’s win total is 2,318
and Kansas stands at 2,302.
Another
re-visit
He’s at it again, Nick Ziegler that is because he’s compiled
another list. This time Lonzo Ball is the focus, the writer mentions 3 players the
Lakers could have drafted. If you remember Ball was made the second pick in the 2017
draft. Ziegler names Bam Adebayo, Jason Tatum, and Donovan Mitchell as players the
Lakers could have chosen. Tatum was taken 3rd by the Celtics while
Mitchell was number 13 by the Jazz and Adebayo was the Heats pick at 14. Of this trio
Mitchell had the best season runner up to Rookie of the Year Ben Simmons,
remember the story.
In some circles a number believed Mitchell should have been
ROY due to Simmons being drafted in 2016 and Mitchell in 2017. As for Tatum he
scored nearly 14 points a game for the Celtics in his rookie year, Adebayo was
a “late bloomer.” Adebayo’s break-out
year became his sophomore season. As for Ziegler’s assessment he’s correct, the
Lakers could have drafted any of the three. We know the story, they drafted
Ball and he’s now in New Orleans. Was the choice a bad one, probably not the
issue that might have impacted his career as much as his shot…injuries. Ball
played but 52 games his rookie season and 47 in his sophomore year.
