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Lob City A’ Deux

Two issues, the Lakers lack of production from the center position. After the exit of JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard the team required replacements and they found it in Marc Gasol. Unfortunately, Gasol’s play was less than spectacular that’s why Andre Drummond was later acquired on waivers. For several reasons his play was also found to be wanting, the Lakers made no effort to sign Drummond long-term after the season. There were doubts Gasol would return, there were reports he was considering retirement. The 2021 free agent period saw Howard return to the Lakers on another 1-year contract, surprise.

The initial thought of many Gasol could retire if he desired, Howard would become the starter with Anthony Davis as the backup. That was then this is now, in a series of moves DeAndre Jordan indicates he will sign with the Lakers (he signed on Thursday) . So, what occurs now you might ask. Jordan will likely also sign a 1-year contract since the Lakers have little cap space. Will Gasol retire leaving play to the duo of Howard/Jordan or will he remain and allow for even more flexibility in reserve play at the center position? With Jordan’s return to Los Angeles the thought of Lob City might return once again with the passing skill of Westbrook/LeBron/Rondo. We could visualize the leaping ability of Howard and Jordan around the basket this upcoming season.   

Their resume is outstanding

It appears BYU, Houston, Cincinnati and UCF will be extended an invitation to join the Big XII Conference as soon as today. As you are aware Texas and Oklahoma bolted for the SEC, it was feared for a time the Big XII   would disband, those schools remaining would scatter for parts unknown to conferences across the nation. This latest proposal to add schools is good on several levels, the proposed entrants have good football programs, in addition they play highly competitive basketball.

We don’t know if this is true however there were reports UCF has wanted for several years to join a Power Five Conference for football alone. As for the travel in this age schools are no longer bound by geography with air travel being the mode of transportation. Recruiting for each of the schools would receive a giant boost since they would be tied into SEC and Pac-12 territory. Houston would immediately gain foes from the State of Texas with Texas Tech, Baylor and TCU on their schedule. There might be other incentives we failed to cover that will provide an enhancement to the Big XII Conference, these are but a few that come to mind.

Who are they?

More than likely the names are unfamiliar to you, the passage of time plus none are presently at the school is vital. Their names are Gene Bartow, Joey Meyer, Mike Davis and Jon Scheyer, let’s see if we can provide you a little history behind the names. Bartow replaced legendary John Wooden at UCLA in 1975; Meyer replaced his dad, Ray Meyer after the 1984 basketball season. The elder Meyer was DePaul’s head coach from 1942-1984, finally Davis took over the Indiana program succeeding Bobby Knight in 2000.

As for Jon Scheyer he’s not begun yet, this assistant will take over the Duke basketball program for Coach K. a role held from 1980 through the 2020-21 basketball season. The veteran coach will retire after the upcoming season. Coaching especially at the collegiate level is difficult as is, to replace a winning legendary coach is even more difficult. Scheyer will face the same pressure the trio faced when they replaced the legend. One huge difference social media was non-existent at the time of these coaching changes except for Joey Meyer and Davis, ESPN had made its debut by the time they took over DePaul and Indiana. Scheyer realizes the huge shoes he is attempting to fill, the only advice to live by is simple. You are not Coach K., be the best version of yourself you can be.   

When is a story no longer valid?

The question asked in the headline is easy to answer for me perhaps you as well. It’s easy when you’ve heard the story so many times you lose count the number of times you either read it or heard it reported. What is this all about, the Lakers signed Luol Deng in 2016 and he played little for them before he was later waived in 2018. Was it a mistake, of course it was since the Lakers are still paying him in 2021?  Recently an NBA website reminded us once again how much Deng is being paid for not playing.

The baseball Mets signed Bobby Bonilla to a huge contract, Bonilla has not played for them since 1999 yet every July 1 since that year a large check arrives in the mail payable to Bonilla. The Lakers and Mets front offices errored in signing Deng and Bonilla, when it was first noted it was news not now. Both stories have been told over and over and over, a few in the public might be unfamiliar with the payout story, but most are.

An earlier Glory Road

The 2006 movie drama told the story of the 1966 Texas Western Miners (now Texas-El Paso). Don Haskins all black starting team defeated the all-white Kentucky Wildcats for the 1966 NCAA Championship. Haskins was quoted about this historic game in this manner, “I really didn’t think about starting five black players. I just wanted to put my five best players on the court. Later he said, “I just wanted to win that game.” Later he would say, “I certainly did not expect to be some racial pioneer or to change the world” yet Haskins was one of the keys that brought about change. A name from the past largely overlooked is that of Babe McCarthy. James Harrison “Babe” McCarthy was born October 1, 1923, from 1955 through 1965 he was head coach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs, he would go on to coach George Washington University.

Much later after the American Basketball Association was begun, he found success at the pro level. His last job was coach of the Kentucky Colonels, and that state was an important portion of his life. McCarthy was coaching at the height of the civil rights movement in the American south and his Mississippi State team would play a unique role in history. At that time there was a strict policy in place white teams did not play teams comprised of black players. McCarthy teams had been denied the opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament in the past, in 1963 events would take a different course. The prevailing view McCarthy intended to compete no matter who Mississippi State faced. The legislature of the state even became embroiled in this issue, a restraining order was to be served on the team.

Mississippi State was scheduled to leave early Thursday morning and law enforcement aware of the plan intended to serve them with the injunction. This is the series of events that would transpire over the next few days. “McCarthy, the athletic director, and the assistant athletic director drove to Memphis, and then flew to Nashville. The team itself sent the freshman squad to the airport as scheduled posing as the varsity team. The real varsity team hid in a dorm on campus. The next morning, they boarded a private plane at the airport and flew to Nashville to meet the coach and team officials. From Nashville, the whole group took a commercial flight to the game at East Lansing, Michigan.”1. Mississippi State would play Loyola of Chicago (the eventual NCAA Champion) in that first game, the Bulldogs would lose 61-51 against Loyola with its four black starters. It was not only McCarthy but others who proved how remarkably ridiculous   the lengths the State of Mississippi undertook to stop Mississippi State from playing a game. McCarthy died in March 1975 at the age of 51 from colon cancer, Babe McCarthy a name from the past all basketball fans should know.

1. Wikipedia