Basketball from a fan perspective
2012
That was 8 years
ago, 2012 the last time the Lakers won a playoff series. Saturday evening witnessed them defeating the
“Dameless” Blazers 131-122 winning their playoff series 4 games to 1. The Lakers shot nearly 55% from the floor
with AD leading the way with 43 points.
LeBron recorded a triple double with 36 points 10 rebounds and 10
assists, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 14.
Danny Green again
did his impression of The Invisible Man scoring 5 points on 2-8 shooting from
the floor. The espn.com box gave Green a +17 rating, so
they registered something fans missed. 47%
shooting by the Blazers is likely to win most games but when you give up 55% to
the opposition you see the result. Sure, wish Dame were able to play, oh well now to wait for the winner of the Thunder-Rockets match.
There is time
How about this
interesting twist, the Warriors trade the number 2 pick in the 2020 draft? This would be no one for one trade additional
players would be included from both sides in this proposed trade. You say I have gone a little silly, consider
this fact the Warriors would receive a veteran player. This vet would be plugged into the lineup
immediately rather than having a rookie who might require a season or two
adjusting to NBA play.
Who might be available
to make a trade with the Warriors, it depends on the team willing to entertain
this possibility? There are numerous contenders
we could name who might be interested in that number 2 pick. The Sixers could offer either Ben Simmons or
Joel Embiid, we hear the name Bradley Beal of the Wizards mentioned in trade
talk prior to this scenario. Note both
teams mentioned are Eastern Conference, it might be difficult for a Western Conference team to be included in any possible trade.
Municipal Auditorium
This was published
in July 2020, but I thought it was worth a repeat, the arena here belongs up
there with The Palestra, Cameron Indoor and Hinkle Fieldhouse, enjoy. Kansas City’s basketball arena opened in
1936, once Kemper (HyVee) and Sprint (T-Mobile) Arena opened the Muni witnessed
fewer and fewer basketball games being played. The venerable
building has seen many giants of the game both college and NBA grace the court
over those years. At present the arena is home court for the
University of MO-Kansas City.
Beginning in 1937
the arena served as host site for the NAIA since its inception, the only years
missing were 1994 through 2001 when the tournament was held in
Oklahoma. Tennessee State won 3 consecutive NAIA Championships 1957-59 in
the Muni and was duplicated later by Kentucky State 1970 through
1972. The American Basketball League Kansas City Steers called the
Muni home the 1 ½ years the league was in existence. At the time the
Cincinnati Royals arrived in town and rebranded as the Kings their games were
in the Muni until Sprint Center was later opened in 1974.
Prior to the NCAA
moving championship games to football stadiums the Muni held the record for the
most championship games played in a one building. The triple overtime NCAA
Championship game in 1957 won by North Carolina over Kansas was played at the
Muni. The list of Hall of Fame players on the floor over the years
reads like a who is who of college and NBA history. Kareem Abdul
Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Tiny Archibald, Jerry Lucas, Elvin
Hayes, and John Havlicek are just a few of the hundreds of names written in the
annals of history of Municipal Auditorium or the Muni. This brief
look back in time omits the number of high school games played in the building
over the years.
There are others
Five NBA head
coaching jobs are open currently, as pointed out there could be more. Would an NBA team be willing to hire a
college coach for the position? There
are several names but at this point it is all speculation as to their
status. The first name is that of Jay
Wright long time Villanova coach. As
mentioned previously it would be like “moving across the street” since the
coach lives in the Philadelphia are the Sixers calling? Is trouble brewing in Lawrence Kansas for
Bill Self? His problem with the NCAA has
been smoke but no fire for nearly two years.
Will the NCAA lay the hammer on the Kansas program forcing Self to head
for the NBA?
Would Juwan Howard leave
Michigan for the NBA after such a short time on the job? There are other college coaches besides those
mentioned however Wright and Self might be the most sought. What about assistant NBA coaches who were
once head coaches? That certainly applies to the Lakers Jason Kidd and Tyronn
Lue now with the Clippers. We also have
Ime Udoka Sixer assistant in the mix along with Sam Cassell. Being fired is certainly no disparaging
concern, several coaches have been fired at one location and hired at another. In closing there are names left out of this
account due to the number. You can take
the time and compile your own list utilizing this account plus names which may have
been omitted.
