Basketball from a fan’s
perspective
Did I miss him?
This writer remains unsure when a story is
published. Most of the time a story
might be published several weeks after it is written, that might be the case
here. Our discussion regarding successful NBA coaches who moved from the
college ranks, we failed to mention the Celtics Brad Stevens. Stevens is 43-years old now, he was the
youngest coach in the NBA when hired by the Celtics.
After his playing career concluded Stevens was hired as an assistant at Butler University. In 2007 he moved to the head seat running the program until 2013. His Bulldog teams were a success on the court, Stevens never experienced a losing season in the four years he served as head coach. Stevens head is wrapped up in basketball, his wife tells the story on their third date they made an hour and half drive to a high school basketball game. Celtics GM Danny Ainge contacted Stevens regarding the head coaching job in Boston, that first team led by Stevens finished 2013-14 season with 25 wins and 57 losses.
From that point on the winning totals have increased each year until 2018-19, the win total was down slightly. The Celtics were in second place in the Atlantic Division with a 43-21 record when play was halted this season. Except for his first season at the helm his Celtics have made the playoffs each season. So, there you have it, Brad Stevens a college coach who's managed to transfer his collegiate success to the NBA level.
After his playing career concluded Stevens was hired as an assistant at Butler University. In 2007 he moved to the head seat running the program until 2013. His Bulldog teams were a success on the court, Stevens never experienced a losing season in the four years he served as head coach. Stevens head is wrapped up in basketball, his wife tells the story on their third date they made an hour and half drive to a high school basketball game. Celtics GM Danny Ainge contacted Stevens regarding the head coaching job in Boston, that first team led by Stevens finished 2013-14 season with 25 wins and 57 losses.
From that point on the winning totals have increased each year until 2018-19, the win total was down slightly. The Celtics were in second place in the Atlantic Division with a 43-21 record when play was halted this season. Except for his first season at the helm his Celtics have made the playoffs each season. So, there you have it, Brad Stevens a college coach who's managed to transfer his collegiate success to the NBA level.
The Re-Start
NBA teams will play an 8-game seeding schedule
with the re-start of the season. This seeding
will determine the final order for the playoffs. It is likely the basketball might not be top
notch at the beginning of play. By the time the playoffs begin we should witness an improvement in play.
“Who are those guys?”
The line was uttered by outlaws Butch Cassidy
and the Sundance Kid in the 1969 movie classic.
The two were being pursued by a posse of lawman, our group is being
pursued by NBA teams. I have stated in
the past the difficulty of foreign names in the NBA Draft. With Euro teams being 7+ hours ahead of U.S.
Time and little visibility on television we do not often know the names.
In addition, in most instances we have not even
witnessed play, we must depend on information gleaned from several sources. Here goes, these are the names likely to be
heard in the 2020 NBA Draft. There are
additional factors to consider, it is possible those announced in the second
round might decide to remain in Europe.
In addition, there are names you will possibly hear not detailed in this
brief report. Finally, foreign players
matriculating at American universities are not included in the number nor is LaMelo
Ball and RJ Hampton.
Killian Hayes 6-5 195-point guard
France-American who grew up in France.
Deni Avdija 6-9 210-small forward Israel
Theo Maledon 6-5 175-point guard France
Aleksej Pokusekski 7-0 190-center Serbia
Leandro Bolmaro 6-6 180-shooting guard
Argentina
Shock the world
Mikey Williams is a 5-star guard in the Class
of 2023. Although he’s made no decision
on his future school of choice, he created a mini tsunami recently, Williams
indicated he would be open to attend an HBCU school. For those who might be unfamiliar with the
term it applies to black colleges established after the civil war. They were founded as segregation prevented
black students from attending state sanctioned schools with whites. As the nation moved into the 20th Century and social and racial change occurred black students were no longer prohibited from attending state schools.
Overall student enrollment might not have
suffered with integration however sports programs took a back seat. Talented black athletes no longer chose HBCU
schools. In the past Hall of Fame
players like Willis Reed, Earl Monroe and others were products of these schools. Jackson State, Grambling, Florida A&M,
and others continue to compete on the basketball court and football field
however they no longer attract the top athlete.
Williams made no mention of a school however he found an ally in Carmelo
Anthony who said essentially you only need one. One athlete to change the landscape and history, it might not be Williams however the concept is interesting.
