Basketball from a fan’s perspective

Another one bites the dust

Thursday afternoon came word another NBA coach will no longer be on the sidelines. This time it’s somewhat of a surprise as Rick Carlisle of the Mavs is leaving after 13 seasons at the helm. Carlisle led the Mavs to their lone NBA championship and why now? That subject will be detailed later for your reading. Carlisle becomes the 7^th NBA coach fired, resigned or promoted (Brad Stevens) since the end of the season to this point.

I’m unsure if there’s ever been a period when NBA teams were replacing this number of head coaches. Oh well, infuse some new blood…my call has been to stop recycling coaches throughout the association. Be bold, hire a name but someone brand new. Give them the opportunity to determine if they have the skill required to coach at this level. NOTE: There is trouble in Dallas with a capital T., it will be covered in detail tomorrow.  

Minimum wage

It’s been posted on several occasions the Lakers lack cap space enabling them to offer Andre Drummond and Dennis Schroeder the financial compensation they might desire. A member of the media must have questioned if Drummond was willing to sign for the veteran minimum. Before proceeding consider this past statement, on more than one occasion I’ve mentioned I have no desire to discuss salaries of athletes. It’s been my long-held belief for several years all professional athletes no matter the sport are paid an insane amount of money.

Back to the question at hand, the vet minimum for an NBA player is $925,000 annually, according to research information we believe the contract Drummond signed earns him $22.12 million. A better question might have been to ask the media person, “Are you willing to continue working at your same salary while the cost of living picks up speed?” The answer is simple no one wants less money even Drummond just to remain with the Lakers. If he leaves the Lakers don’t be shocked, there are other NBA teams who might be willing to meet his salary demand as a free agent. 

He reinvented himself 

Quin Snyder was either fired or resigned in February 2006 as coach of the Mizzou Tigers.  After initial success, the Mizzou program had run into recruiting violations all of which were laid at the feet of Snyder. Looking back perhaps Snyder was too young at the time he was hired (33 years old) and there might have been a maturity factor. In 2007 he was hired as head coach of the Austin Toros the Spurs G-League affiliate. We don’t know this to be a fact however we believe the Toros playbook might have come directly from that of the Spurs Gregg Popovich. Snyder remained in Austin until 2010 when he was hired as an assistant by the NBA Sixers. In 2011 he moved to the Lakers in the same role and 2012 saw him in Moscow with CSKA as an assistant.

Snyder returned as an assistant for the NBA Hawks 2013-14, the following year the Jazz hired him as head coach. The first two seasons the Jazz record was below .500, since then his teams have earned a playoff berth in successive years. The 2020-21 Jazz team is the number one team in the west, how far they go is unknown at this point. Quin Snyder is 54 years old now, the baptism of fire might be his tenure at Mizzou, it appears he’s grown and working for a succession of quality coaches (Larry Brown, Greg Popovich to name a few) he’s learned much. It might be added here Snyder is a highly intelligent dude holding a law degree from Duke and an M.B.A. from the Duke Fuqua School of Business. There are probably a few in Mizzou Nation that remain resentful regarding Snyder, I happen to not be one of them. He is successful now and hopefully he will be into the future because it all started for Snyder in Missouri. 

The college landscape 2021-22

The transfer portal leaves questions for most basketball programs across the nation. As for high school recruiting that’s a different story, we really don’t have an idea how the freshmen will adapt but we can guess based on recruiting talent. We can state with certainty Juwan Howard’s made the transition from NBA assistant to college head coach in a speedy fashion, it’s not only the X and O factor but Michigan recruiting,

Howard’s done a good job in that area as well as most .com sites award Michigan the top spot in recruiting for 2021-22. What’s most interesting the Big Boys don’t always win the recruiting wars if we consider the list of schools. If we look at the Top 25 recruiting it contains several mid major programs. We observe the fact Gonzaga, Creighton, Dayton and Memphis in the number to name just a few on the list. It should be noted Marquette is listed in the Top 25 on most of these sites, Shaka Smart should inherit a talented team.

Is change forthcoming

The Harden Rule might soon be in effect for the NBA, before proceeding let’s briefly check the past. It seems every time a player arrives on the scene and dominates or impacts the game change is usually made. In 1964 the NBA widen the lane from 12 to 16 feet to curtail Wilt Chamberlain, did it work you be the judge? Later Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul Jabbar) dominated basketball his sophomore year at UCLA. What did the NCAA do, they banned the dunk in college basketball the following season?

The ban would remain in effect for 10 years until the 1976-77 season when it was repealed? They didn’t identify Alcindor by name, but his prowess was written all over this rule. Back to the subject at hand, James Harden makes a move then attempting the shot he’s “somewhat leaning” into the defender. Whistle blows foul on the defender and that’s the issue. The prevailing belief is Harden and Trae Young have an unfair advantage with these moves. At this point there is no guarantee it will be passed, if it is we can blame James Harden first and Trae Young second.