Basketball from a fan perspective

2012

In 2012 Damian Lillard earned THIRD TEAM All American honors at Weber State.  Rest assured those at Weber State had a hunch the 6-foot 2-inch point guard was good; they had no idea how good he would become.  As for most of us we had no idea who Damian Lillard was, Weber State plays in the Big Sky Conference which fails to receive its share of publicity.  NBA scouts must have appreciated what they witnessed; Dame was made the 6^th pick in the first round of the 2012 draft by the Blazers.  Dame has improved each succeeding season since his rookie year, not only can he score like mad (51 & 61 pts) being a point guard he can dish the ball with the best of them    

Dame is another one of those gritty athletes from Oakland playing his high school ball at St. Joseph Notre Dame in Alameda.  The talented surrounding Dame at Portland has not been at the same skill level as that which supports Steph Curry.  I am probably going to get roasted for this next statement however it is my belief Dame is on the same level as his counterpart.  The problem Dame has no championship rings to back this claim.  In closing we might check to determine those college players ahead of Dame forcing him to a third team All American listing.  As for my sampling of friends and associates none agree with me, all chose Steph Curry over Dame Lillard, and so it goes. 

How did they accomplish it?

I read an article recently, the writer posed the question “How did Auburn basketball bypass Mizzou?”  That is certainly a good question however blame can be laid at the foot of departed AD Mike Alden.  Without looking for the day and date consider this; Frank Haith had left Mizzou for Tulsa and Mizzou was searching for a replacement.  The name of Bruce Pearl and several others were floated about.  This Mizzou fan wanted Pearl but coming off NCAA probation from his time at Tennessee I believed Mizzou would not touch him. 

That is the sequence of events, again I am not sure without looking for the actual dates, Auburn hired Pearl and Mizzou hired former Tiger and Mizzou assistant Kim Anderson.  Anderson was coming off an NCAA D-II Championship at the University of Central Missouri, no need of rehashing the story completely.  Let us just state after two losing seasons that third year Auburn finished with a winning record.  Two consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and the pandemic curtailed what would have been a third NCAA trip.  As you can see Auburn basketball has been on an upward trend since then, Cuonzo Martin is late to the party, he was not hired by Mizzou until 2017.  

2020 NBA Draft

Much has been written regarding the 2020 NBA Draft most of it incorrect, that includes anything yours truly wrote or stated.  Why report earlier articles incorrect, what is the deal you might question; it is simple the order of the draft has yet to be decided?  We really have no idea of the order until the draft lottery.  August 25 will partially resolve a direction, that is the evening the NBA Draft Lottery will be held. 

The draft order for 14 teams will be governed by ping pong balls placed in a hopper.  Friday evening October 16 the NBA Draft will be held, and an actual determination will be made of who goes where.  Depending on which mock site you check we see Anthony Edwards, James Wiseman, LeMelo Ball, Obi Topping, Killian Hayes, and Deni Avdija most often.  There certainly could be a surprise however one of the names above is likely to be chosen with the first pick.   

Everyone at maximum capability

We just read Thunder guard Russell Westbrook suffered a quad injury.  The report indicated Westbrook would be reevaluated prior to the playoffs.  That is not good news for the Thunder and their potential opposition, injuries impacting the playoffs always are a concern.  We could make a similar statement regarding the Sixers Ben Simmons who is injured and will miss the playoffs.  This is a sample conversation you might hear. 

John:  My _____ beat the crap outta your team!

James:  Well if _____ had not gotten injured it would have been a different series.

John:  You cannot say that.

James: Yes, I can

The argument (discussion) goes on and on with neither side budging are giving an inch.  This imaginary scenario might play throughout the NBA.   

News you might not know

The Blazers C.J. McCollum played his college ball at Lehigh University.  The Pennsylvania school is known as a private research university and not for producing NBA talent.  Weber State University in Ogden Utah became a 4-year institution in 1964, prior to that the school was a junior college.  Weber State is where Damian Lillard honed his basketball skill allowing him to grow into an NBA talent.  Larry Legend after beginning at the University of Indiana would transfer to Indiana State in Terre Haute. 

Bird indicated (at that time) the student enrollment was much smaller, and he felt more comfortable there. As for others, Robert Parrish is a Celtic for life in several minds, his college Centenary in Louisiana.  We could make the same statement for Karl Malone and Dennis Rodman who attended Louisiana Tech and Southeastern Oklahoma State.  It has been mentioned on more than one occasion many of these schools moved up to Division I over the course of time.  That might be a key reason it might appear few talents now arrive in the NBA from these schools.