Basketball from a fans perspective

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Bits n Pieces 

The ESPN NBA page headline on Saturday is the basis for my laughter. The headline: “Why LeBron fell from the number 1 spot for 2021-22” it read. 1. LeBron will be 37 years old before the season is complete. 2. Over the course of his career the LeBron at 36 is not the LeBron at 26. This poll is an artificial assessment by a person or persons, we can agree or choose to disagree if that is our view. I choose to disagree because its my belief it just ain’t that important. What is important is the last game of the NBA Championship game. Hopefully from this Laker fans view LeBron will be at center court holding the Larry O’Brien and The Bill Russell MVP Trophy’s.

There are whispers about Carmelo Anthony, the chief one heard. “He’s (Carmelo) is chasing a ring at this point”, that might well be the case but ask the others. Who are the others, Charles Barkley, Reggie Miller, Patrick Ewing and the late Elgin Baylor among others? All the names and others have numerous honors in basketball, but they are missing one element…no championship ring. Are you a lesser player with no championship on your resume, of course not but unfortunately, we tend to judge a players worth based on the number of championships won? Back to Anthony, despite more than one NBA stop he’s been a valued member despite anything former coach George Karl has to say. There is no guarantee the Lakers win it all 2022 but this should be his last season and Anthony’s been a good one.

Ben Wallace wasn’t drafted in 1996, last month he was enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame. Late word came today the Lakers converted guard Austin Reaves contract and he will occupy the 14^th roster spot. What does this mean, well I ain’t sayin’ he’s HOF material but it is interesting. The former Oklahoma guard went undrafted in the 2021 draft. Of the three rookies who played in the summer Reaves game appeared to be the best of the trio.   

Store the name Jon Bol in your memory bank, he’s only 15-years old. Bol is 7 feet 2 and a slim 205 pounds. He plays for St. Louis Christian Academy, in AAU ball he plays for Bradley Beal and you have an idea where this is headed don’t you? St. Louis is the prime recruiting territory of Mizzou coach Cuonzo Martin. Remember the name Jon Bol and the story.

The Big O

Oscar Robertson is one of the All-Time college and NBA greats. Robertson nicknamed the Big O was the first big guard in the NBA, he played the point at 6 foot 5 and 205 pounds. At the time most point guards ranged from 5 feet 11 to about 6 foot 3, none approached the weight and height of Robertson. Much has said about Laker guard Russell Westbrook and his triple-doubles, who was the first to it was Robertson? The Cincinnati Royals made Robertson a territorial pick in the 1960 NBA Draft, what’s a territorial pick you ask?

“In the first 20 years of the BAA/NBA, the league was still trying to gain the support of fans who lived in or near the teams' home markets. To achieve this, the league introduced the territorial pick rule to help teams get popular players from colleges in their area who would have strong local support. Before the draft, a team could give up its first-round draft pick and then select any player from within a 50-mile (80 km) radius of its home arena. Although the territorial picks were selected before the draft, these picks were not factored into the overall selection count of the draft; therefore, the first non-territorial pick of the draft was considered the first overall pick.”  Wikipedia

Despite having one of the best players in the NBA the Royals had difficulty playing for a championship. The gigantic shadow of Bill Russell’s Celtics blocked any hope for a Royals advancement. The Royals did the unthinkable they traded Robertson to the Bucks where he would team with Kareem Abdul Jabbar they would win the Bucks first NBA Championship. Robertson is enshrined in the Naismith, College and FIBA Halls of Fame. There are far too many honors to list them all for Robertson, let’s just say he plowed the ground in front of Russell Westbrook.

BYU is pleased too

Earlier we discussed the Houston entry to the Big XII Conference, what about the others? In the western part of the nation BYU has long played quality football but as an independent they haven’t received a great deal of love in the selection area. As a Power 5 member the Cougars will be competing for major bowl games with other power schools. For basketball BYU is a member of the West Coast Conference, basketball has been a source of pride for fans of the program for years.

If you were to ask the question how competitive the basketball is, we must return to the 2004-05 season to see a less than productive BYU team, in the last two seasons under Mark Pope BYU’s won 20 and 24 games with an NCAA invitation. As with Houston the same scenario should apply for BYU, having Kansas, Baylor, West Virginia and others on their schedule should bolster the school’s ability to recruit especially the western part of the nation. After fears of dying, it is clear the Big XII intends to be a practical conference in football and basketball into the future.