Basketball from a fans perspective

Published Monday through Friday

See you on Monday

The first week of the Monday through Friday publishing cycle is complete. Enjoy your weekend and check back with us next week.  

I’ve chosen my side

The Wednesday night match featured the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics. These two storied franchises date their history to 1946 and the anniversary of the league. This double overtime match would see the Knicks winning 138-134 as both teams were bombing away from the 3-point line. The game had to be played in New York for a simple reason, Madison Square Garden refurbished and all is a celebrated arena, the original Boston Garden has long since been demolished and replaced by the TD Garden.

This has no relation to this game however it is noteworthy, I’ve chosen my side in the Battle of New York City. I have aligned myself with the Knicks, I know…I know. Much of the media has anointed the Nets 2022 NBA Champions before the NBA tipped off year 75. I like coach Tom Thibodeau, I like Julius Randle and Kemba Walker. Center Mitchell Robinson continues to justify the Knicks drafting the 7-foot center, at age 23 barring injury his ceiling is unlimited. So, there you have it, with Kyrie Irving or without the mercurial guard it’s not the Nets for me its Spike Lee’s Knicks.

No more characters

Once upon a time all sports had an assortment of characters. These were players or coaches who defied the norm by being funny and sometimes even controversial. We’d mentioned long-time Mizzou coach Norm Stewart had his share of classics. The coach was once asked, “Do you have any McDonalds All Americans on your team?” The response, “No we don’t but we eat at McDonalds.” Stewart hated spending any amount of money in the State of Kansas, he got around this in the following manner. Rather than spend any added time in Lawrence Mizzou players boarded a bus and headed 150 miles west to Kansas City Missouri.

The team would spend the night in a Kansas City hotel and be bussed game day to Allen Fieldhouse. No opportunity to spend a dime in Kansas by the Mizzou team. One more from Stewart, “We are shooting 100%-60% from the floor and 40% from the free throw line.” The late Al McGuire long time coach of Marquette said; “A team should be an extension of a coach’s personality. My teams are arrogant and obnoxious.” Hank Iba former Oklahoma State coach, “I’m not against taking shots, but I am against taking bad shots.” Dean Smith, North Carolina, “If you make every game a life and death proposition, you’re going to have problems. For one thing, you’ll be dead a lot.” Finally, this classic from the late Billy Tubbs who was then head coach at Oklahoma. I don’t own the rights to this video, the audio is a little difficult to understand so play it a couple of times to hear the words of Tubbs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xotnfhDNUyE

Who is Austin Reaves?

He’s a 6-foot 5-inch shooting guard who played his college ball at Oklahoma. Reaves went undrafted in the 2021 NBA Draft which might not be as bad as it sounds. Former Piston Ben Wallace is in the Hall of Fame, and he wasn’t drafted either so allow that fact to sink in. Now don’t think we are saying Reaves is headed for the hall of fame. Reaves signed a free agent contract with the Lakers and because it was a two-way contract, it was expected he would split time between the South Bay Lakers and the Big Club.

After playing for the Summer League team, he began to impress with his game savvy. Grizzly veterans Rajon Rondo and LeBron James have gone on record saying they are impressed with the play of Reaves. The question for now where does Reaves go from here with this veteran Laker team? It’s clear playing time will be limited however he’s got an advantage…LeBron likes him. Does he fill the role held by the departed Alex Caruso? Although Reaves played at Oklahoma, he hails from Newark Arkansas a 2 hour and several minutes’ drive from Memphis Tennessee.

A closer look

In a recent edition of Off the Dribble we profiled prep schools with extraordinarily talented basketball programs across the nation. We used the term “Basketball Factories” and its hoped this is not a criticism of prep schools. Consider this bit of information, Adem Bona is deciding on UCLA, Kentucky or another school. Bona is a 6-foot 10-inch 225-pound power forward, he hails from the African nation of Nigeria however he plays at Pacific Prep. Jalen Green was the number 2 choice in the first round of the 2021 NBA Draft, the Rockets chose the 6-foot 6-inch 180-pound shooting guard.

Green played his college basketball at Pacific Prep. This institution founded in 2014 is in Napa California 60+ miles northeast of San Francisco. Prep schools are not new, although some are with recent founding and emphasis on their basketball programs. Below is a partial list which certainly is not complete nor an endorsement of any of these schools. These schools have sent athletes to colleges and universities across the nation, they have also produced a considerable number of NBA talent. Don’t consider this account complete, it profiles institutions sending the most talent to colleges and the NBA.

Pacific Prep, Napa, California

Minnehaha Academy, Minneapolis Minnesota

Admiral Farragut Academy, St. Petersburg, Florida

IMG Academy, Manatee County, Florida

Montverde Academy, Montverde, Florida

Sunrise Christian Academy, Wichita, Kansas

Word of God Academy, Shreveport, Louisiana

Brewster Academy, Wolfeboro, New Hampshire

Findlay Prep, Las Vegas, Nevada

Ypsi Prep, Ypsilanti, Michigan*

Bishop Gorman, Las Vegas, Nevada

*Ypsi Prep was begun by the father of Emoni Bates, he withdrew his son from public school to begin this    school. At this point we are unsure of the school’s future since Bates has graduated and enrolled at the University of Memphis. Will Elgin Bates continue his effort to build a prep school basketball program at Ypsi is an unknown as this is written?