Basketball from a fan’s perspective

Mike Storen

ESPN anchor Hannah Storm is probably better known rather than her father Mike Storen unless you are a certain age.  Late Thursday evening came word Storen died at the age of 84.  What exactly did he do, there is much in the world of professional basketball he accomplished?  Storen was commissioner of the American Basketball Association for a time, once the NBA-ABA merger took place Storen served in the front office of the Pacers and Hawks.  He was a co-owner of the Memphis Sound an ABA franchise.  Storen held jobs in other sports besides basketball, R.I.P. Mike Storen a basketball pioneer.

Mizzou Nation

Those of us who are part of Mizzou Nation can state the 2019-20 season was certainly disappointing, much more was expected than the 15-16 record the Tigers registered.  Rather than look backward this is a glance ahead to the future.  As mentioned previously 6-foot 8-inch 3-point shooting specialist Ed Chang is headed to Columbia (MO) from San Diego State and Salt Lake Community College. 

Also headed to Mizzou is 6-foot pass first point guard Drew Buggs from the University of Hawaii, both will be eligible to play in the fall.  Also added to the cast is Jordan Wilmore from Atlanta by way of Baltimore, he stands 7 feet 3 inches and 245 pounds.  On Thursday Mizzou received its first 2021 commitment, combo guard Anton Brookshire from Springfield (MO) made it known he plans on playing for Coach Martin. 

Junior college 

Jay Scrubb 6-foot 6-inch shooting guard was headed to Louisville for the 2020-21 college basketball season, he is the best junior college basketball player in the nation playing at John A. Logan. Scrubb decided instead to head for the NBA, whether he is drafted is an unknown at this point. As for his school John A. Logan Junior College is in Cartersville Illinois 100+ miles from St. Louis Missouri.

Like NAIA basketball junior college talent in the NBA has dwindled over the years.  Probably two of the best junior college players in the NBA today are Jae Crowder, who attended Howard Community College (TX) prior to Marquette and the NBA. As indicated the numbers are smaller the best player from the junior college ranks currently in the NBA is Jimmy Butler. Not heavily recruited from high school Butler attended Tyler Junior College in Texas and he too attended Marquette and was drafted by the NBA Bulls.

Said it best

I hope this is correct, I believe it was Jay Williams of ESPN discussing Stephen A. Smith.  Williams said, “Sitting next to NBA players doesn’t make you an expert on the game.”  Okay, we discover Smith attended Division II Winston-Salem State in North Carolina on a basketball scholarship.  We are unable to locate any record of his basketball prowess while in school perhaps that is why he turned to journalism.  Now we are fully aware why Smith believes he knows all there is to know about basketball. 

On Tuesday I am not sure how the discussion began however former coach and current ESPN/ABC analyst Mark Jackson was a guest on First Take.  In his infinite wisdom Smith decided Knicks player Patrick Ewing did not deserve a statue outside MSG.  The basis for the Smith argument Ewing never won a championship.  Jackson was an opposing player and teammate to Ewing during his NBA career, Jackson without raising his voice one octave said, “I disagree, Ewing deserves a statue.” 

Legacy

Phil Jackson is one of the NBA’s all-time great coaches, there is some debate. If you leave in Celtic territory Red Auerbach’s name is in the discussion. After he left the game in 2011 many of us believed he was retired. His name came up in conversation regarding the Knicks and he was hired in 2014 as president. Although PJ never held a front-office position previously we believed he would be successful.

June 2017 he was relieved of duties after tasting little achievement. We might ask the question did PJ damage his basketball legacy? The answer to the question might depend on who answers. If we look at his coaching record over 20 years, the nearest he came to a losing season was 2006-07 while coaching the Lakers. That year his Laker team finished 42-40. As for his front office tenure three years fails to cancel the earlier success as a coach.