Basketball from a fans perspective   

Published Monday through Friday

Practice

A light’s out shooter from distance, on the free throw line it becomes a different matter...why? The explanation is simple it’s the belief of many, coaches no longer emphasize shooting free throws. The question might be why, rest assured there is certainly little emphasis at the AAU level. We point the finger at AAU ball, but this trend probably exists at the high school level too. A number of athletes arrive in college with little aptitude for shooting from the line and guess what, it continues on into the NBA for some. How do you become a better free throw shooter, it’s simple practice? Over the years especially in the NBA we’ve witnessed players who were average or below that become better shooters from the line.

What does it take to become a better free throw shooter, “I mean, listen, we’re talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, we talking about practice. Not a game.” Those are the words of Allen Iverson at the time he was a member of the Sixers. He wasn’t discussing free throws, but you get the point, he failed to see the need (in this instance) of practice. There is always a requirement in whatever you do to practice, how do you expect to improve without it? Many fans at the time laughed at Rick Barry when he played for the Warriors & Rockets, Barry shot the ball underhand. They said shooting the ball underhand was girly. As for Barry over his NBA career the lowest he ever shot from the line was his rookie year and that was at 86%. Barry had 7 seasons he shot over 90% from the line.

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

Best of the Best

Who are the 10 best players in KU basketball history? The Kansas school has produced a considerable number of talented players over its 100+ years of basketball history. Many who wore the jersey went on to distinguished careers in the NBA however similar to our earlier account about Mizzou basketball this list is not professionals. This is comprised of the best players in the school’s history no matter if they had an NBA career. There might be unfamiliar names to a number reading this, in addition this list is an opinion. Rest assured there are players someone else might include in their Top 10. One other note, this is list is not in any order.

Wilt Chamberlain 1956-1958

JoJo White 1965-1969

Paul Pierce 1995-1998

Clyde Lovellette 1949-1952

Bill Bridges 1958-1961

Danny Manning 1984-1988

Joel Embiid 2013-2014

Cole Aldrich 2010-2018

Raef LaFrentz 1994-1998

Jacque Vaughn 1993-1997

A friend suggested Ochai Agbaji would soon add his name to the list of Kansas City metro talent, he might soon be on this list too. 

 

Can he play

One of the athletes brought on board at Mizzou was Amari Davis. He’s a 6-foot 2 combo guard who played his first two seasons at Green Bay. The coaching staff viewed Davis as adding needed offense, the only problem he didn’t. Davis boosted his scoring from 15.9 points to 17.2 points a game his freshman and sophomore season at Green Bay, can he play? That certainly was a question since his average at Mizzou was 10.3 points a game, there appeared to be a disconnect here.

Mizzou Nation asked the question, “why is he not putting up numbers close to at least his freshman year?” Can the adjustment from The Horizon League to the SEC be that much more difficult? We had all sorts of questions until January 18, that was the date Davis led Mizzou to victory scoring 23 points in a 78-53 victory over Ole Miss. Not only did he lead in scoring he was 10 for 10 from the floor shooting a blistering 100%. Should we expect this type of production in the future, it would be nice but highly unlikely? The hope for the balance of the season is for Davis to approach numbers near those of his first two seasons at Green Bay.

The NBA’s broadcaster 

Kevin Harlin is not the NBA’s lone broadcaster but is likely the one best known. He started his professional broadcast career at ancient age of 22, fresh out of college at Kansas University he began as the radio/television voice of the Kansas City Kings. From there he began broadcasting KU basketball and in 1985 he would became the radio voice of the NFL Chiefs. Harlin’s work with the Chiefs would last until 1993. It was Wolves of the NBA and then back to the NFL this time in a network capacity. Harlin would go on to announce NFL games for NBC and Fox Sports.

The NBA came a calling once again and he would become a broadcaster for Turner Sports. Although he’s bounce back and forth broadcasting all sports now it is primarily the NBA on TNT. Alternating between the NFL and NBA at a time Harlin joked, “The dog growled at me when I walked in the house, it was so unusual for me to be at home.” One other note, although Harlin was born in Milwaukee we guess because he attended KU, he settled in the Kansas City Metro to marry and raise his family. Although a broadcaster of all sports Harlin is now more closely identified with basketball and especially the NBA now.