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How about the basketball

BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF are now official, it will be at least 2024 before play begins but they are in. The quartet of schools is now part of the Big XII Conference, this move like others is strictly a “football move.” Despite the previous statement this is a basketball blog, let’s check out the basketball programs at each of the new Big XII partners. First is the University of Central Florida, they have a former Dukee Johnny Dawkins as head coach. After a very brief NBA tenure Dawkins turned to coaching. He was a Duke assistant then associate head coach before running the program at Stanford for a time. In 2016 Dawkins took over at UCF, since that time his teams have finished 94-60.

Last season UCF finished with a record of 11-12 however that is not the norm, apart from last season Dawkins teams have been winners. Dawkins was the UCF coach while Tacko Fall who is now a member of the Cavs played at the school, expect them to continue playing competitive basketball. The University of Houston is led by veteran Coach Kelvin Sampson. On the job at Houston since 2014 this past season saw the Houston Cougars reach the Final Four, last year’s team finished with 28 wins versus only 4 losses. Since his 2014 arrival Sampson’s Cougars have won 167 games losing only 64, expect continued good play from Houston. The University of Cincinnati holds a unique distinction, they become the third Big XII team with a NCAA Championship on their resume.

If we check the NBA history Cincinnati has turned out a great number of NBA talent including the great Oscar Robertson.  There is a new man in charge at Cincinnati Wes Miller, he takes over the basketball program after attaining success at UNC-Greensboro. We close with a brief look at Brigham Young University or BYU. Mark Pope is entering his third season as head coach of the program however his first two seasons appear noteworthy. BYU finished last season with a 20-7 record, the previous year it was 24-8. Fans of BYU are likely as proud of their basketball program as football. For those of us in the former Big XII we must become accustomed to the newbies, BYU’s home is Provo Utah. The University of Cincinnati is in Ohio, while the University of Houston is Texas and UCF is in Orlando Florida.

Naismith Hall of Fame

No one individual or team earns more praise than another, if he were alive, we believe the late Lowell Gibbs “Cotton” Fitzsimmons would agree. Born in Hannibal Missouri in 1931 the 5 foot 7 Fitzsimmons would play the game at Hannibal-LaGrange and Midwestern State College. He moved into the coaching ranks at Moberly (MO) Junior College, and it was on to Kansas State before being hired by the Suns his first as an NBA coach. Fitzsimmons had several stops during his coaching tenure and certainly he may have won more at other stops, but it was the Kansas City Kings he may have impacted the most. You might have remembered reading the franchise was not very successful under several coaches while here.

In 13 seasons while in Kansas City (1972-1985) the Kings finished above .500 few times only once under Phil Johnson. The other times there was a plus .500 team and a playoff appearance it was Fitzsimmons. The Kings team earned, a playoff berth every season under Fitzsimmons except one, they exceeded expectations when they played for the Western Conference Championship in 1981.  Fitzsimmons led teams won over 1,000 games if we combine his college and NBA coaching record. The coach died in 2004 so his induction to the Hall of Fame was posthumous, this two-time NBA Coach of the Year was certainly more than deserving and this honor was overdue a few might believe. This is all speculation on my part, but it is the belief Fitzsimmons foresaw the future of the franchise in Kansas City. He surprised many when he chose to resign, he might have thought Kings ownership was misdirected perhaps that’s why he chose to resign. Fitzsimmons wasn’t burned out because he would go on to coach the Spurs and later return to lead the Suns. 

Bobby who?

His last name is Jones, his given name Robert Clyde Jones although he played as Bobby Jones. If you are unfamiliar with the name allow a brief account on this member of the Naismith Hall of Fame. He was a member of Big Blue Nation i.e., the Carolina Tarheels. The 6-foot 9 Jones had a choice when he emerged from college so instead of the Houston Rockets, he chose, no it occurred in this manner. Larry Brown (yes that guy) was in the middle of this move. The Carolina ABA franchise had moved to St. Louis and the former Carolina player (and now a coach) wanted Jones on his Nuggets team. The Nuggets made a trade for Jones and outbid the NBA Rockets for his services. Although Jones played well for the Nuggets management was concerned about his health problems.

Jones had an irregular heartbeat which required daily medication, in addition asthma and a history of epileptic seizures caused concern. After Jones was traded to the Sixers, he changed roles. A starter during his tenure in Denver, with the Sixers he agreed to become the teams 6^th Man.  Jones would sparkle in that role, by the time he retired in 1986 he’d been nicknamed “The Secretary of Defense” for obvious reasons. Jones was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 1983, he made the NBA All Defensive First Team 8 times. He was an NBA All Star 4 times and NBA Champion (1983) with the Sixers. One might think Jones couldn’t score the ball however that was not the case, he did the dirty work, rebounds and defender. With Moses Malone, Dr. J. and others Jones sacrificed his scoring to play defense so his teammates could. His 12.1 ppg average provides us proof he could score when called on. Bobby Jones a name from the ABA and NBA past you should be acquainted with. 

A name we’d forgotten

In the trade for Marc Gasol the Lakers acquired the draft rights to Chinese center Wang Zhelin. You might not remember the story; the Grizzlies drafted the 7-foot 270-pound Zhelin with the 57^th pick in the second round of the 2016 draft. Although he played in the NBA Summer League, he never decided in favor of play in the NBA. Zhelin is now 27 years old is he ready for the rigors of playing in the NBA, at this point we are unsure of his status since it appears he prefers to remain and play in China?

Perhaps this just might be another case of a traditional Big Man unable to adapt his skills to the 21^st Century NBA or small ball we just don’t know. On the other hand, perhaps an NBA decision might have been impacted by the team holding his draft rights, we don’t know. It would prove interesting if Zhelin decided in favor of the Lakers and the NBA. The numbers Zhelin put up for the Fujian Sturgeons certainly indicate there is degree of skill however the Chinese Basketball Sturgeons are not the Bucks or Nets. I wonder with the much larger Asian population in Southern Cal if that might be more appealing than possibly playing in Memphis…just sayin’ don’t make it so.