Basketball from a fan perspective

Can you say he was a champion?

If you checked the late K.C. Jones NBA numbers, you might wonder why he was held in such high esteem in NBA circles.  During his career, his scoring average was a lowly 7.4 ppg along with 4.3 assists, numbers which certainly fail to display his championship pedigree.  Jones might be proof we sometimes focus too much on numbers rather than heart.  As former Rockets Coach Rudy Tomjanovich once said, “Never underestimate the heart of a champion.”  Can you say Jones was a champion, the term certainly fit the former Celtic player and coach who died on Friday?

Jones was a winner prior to his arrival with the Celtics, he was a 2-time NCAA Champion with the University of San Francisco along with teammate Bill Russell.  He would join Russell with the Celtics and win 8 NBA Championships; from there he was a 2-time NBA Champion assistant coach.  Later Jones won 2 championships coaching his former Celtic team.  He was enshrined in the Naismith and College Basketball Hall of Fame.  Patrolling the sidelines as a coach Jones always seemed calm and restrained, beneath that reserved appearance was a guy who always wanted to win.  R.I.P. K.C. Jones, the basketball world will miss you. 

M.I.A.

Every Top 25 poll for the last two weeks contained two SEC schools, one of them Tennessee, somewhat expected under Rick Barnes over the last several seasons.  Cuonzo Martin and Mizzou certainly would be a surprise in almost all circles.  Most SEC writers had the Tigers pegged for middle of the pack in the conference race.  During half time of the Virginia-Gonzaga game on Saturday CBS analyst Seth Davis and Clark Kellogg were questioned which teams were a surprise thus far. 

Davis named the University of Texas and Kellogg named Cuonzo Martin and Mizzou.  Prior to conference play there is one team we always expect to see in the Top 25 is M.I.A. in the early season.  The Kentucky Wildcats are nowhere to be seen in fact they have a losing record for the first time since John Calipari arrived.  As we indicate conference play is yet to start and the coach has a history, do we expect Kentucky to remain M.I.A. the balance of the season.  That question remains unanswered at this point, stay tuned for further updates.

“Oh no you ain’t”

I held a conversation with a friend over the summer, although he played football in college, this was a basketball story.  John told me an account which had me rolling on the floor with laughter, he said during a portion of a pickup game he decided to go up for a dunk, he said his body told him “You are not going to try to do that are you?”  He finished the account by informing me he dunked the ball but said “that was the last time for me.” 

More recently I read an account of former NBA player David West, drafted in 2003 he retired in 2018 after playing for several teams.  When did he know it was time to retire, “I tried to post up Josh Hart a couple times…And I couldn’t post him up.  Literally during the game, I’m (telling myself), Yo, if you can’t move this cat, you gotta go__it’s time.”  This just reminds us of the statement we’ve often heard, “Father Time remains undefeated.” 

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego James Hardin

A number might remember the old PBS series which ran in the early to mid ‘90’s, I took liberty by changing the end title.  Where in the World is James Hardin, we ask the question, but we have the answer.  His body is in Houston, his head is elsewhere because he certainly indicates he wants his head to join his body at some point.  Jeff Van Gundy must believe we know nothing about basketball, during a brief discussion while providing commentary on the Mavs-Lakers game he mentioned Hardin and his talent.  No one to my knowledge is disputing the talent it it’s the other things he brings to the table.  The NBA trade deadline is January 25, I’m going to join the chorus in stating James Hardin will be traded by that date.  To whom is the question at this point since Hardin has a short list of possible destinations.