Basketball from a fans perspective   

Monday through Friday

Memphis is winning…without him

Richard Williams, LaVar Ball and Earl Woods taught their offspring the game and they excelled. Was it talent alone or did they outclass others based on the lessons? Who are the offspring, Venus and Serena Williams, Lonzo, LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball along with Tiger Woods? The Memphis Tigers after issues have now risen to the challenge, they are playing good basketball as this is written they have won 6 games in a row. Missing from the success is Emoni Bates, you remember him don’t you. Pronounced ready for the NBA at the age of 15, profiled in SI, we saw a change in his senior year of high school. Elgin Bates pulled son Emoni from public school and chose to create his own prep school. 

We are uncertain if the father was coaching the team however, he certainly participated in his son’s training and guidance. The son re-classified and after declaring his intent to enroll at Michigan State his destination became the University of Memphis and Coach Penny Hardaway. Injuries impacted young Bates however it might have been the adjustment to college basketball that’s been the largest obstacle. The young man is still a teen, he just turned 18 years of age last month. There remains time for Emoni to grow his game at Memphis or somewhere else, he can continue his pursuit toward an NBA career, his start at Memphis was just not what most of us expected. Injuries aside Emoni must prove to many of us he can play competitive basketball at the college level.

Bits n Pieces

I am so disappointed in Anthony Davis, wait a minute allow me to clarify the statement. In the Lakers Wednesday evening game against the Jazz AD suffered another injury. This time it was a sprain, preliminary reports indicate he will be lost for the next four weeks. Since the Lakers acquired AD in a 2019 trade apart from the championship won later, he’s missed a considerable number of games in two consecutive seasons. No argument the guy is super talented, the problem he cannot stay on the floor for extended periods. Nowadays NBA players don’t play 82 games and that’s certainly not what I’m stating nor expecting. Wonder if the Lakers might consider bubble wrap for AD? On a serious note, the Lakers might look at trading him despite the talent he exhibits when healthy.

Warriors management announced James Wiseman is now participating in 5 on 5 scrimmages. You might remember Wiseman is recovering from a torn meniscus he suffered last April. Many can remember a time an injury of this kind would have been career ending but not with the surgical capability of today. No timetable is set for the 7 foot 1 Wiseman to return to action, the hope is he sees limited action before the season concludes. Should the Warriors make a deep playoff run would the team take a chance on playing him? That question will remain unanswered until we arrive at that place and time.

Chet Holmgren continues to amaze; Gonzaga opponents are not NBA caliber that’s not the point. Playing conference rival Pepperdine, the skinny Big Man tallied 18 points and 17 rebounds on 55% shooting from the floor. He added 40% from the 3-line, 100% from the free throw line and 4 blocked shots. We have contended the 7-foot Holmgren at 194 pounds might not have enough bulk to manage the rough play he would face in the NBA. We must wait and see how this plays out; in any event should Holmgren decide on the NBA expect to hear his name announced early in the 2022 NBA Draft.

Who is at the top?

On graduation high school athletes now have a choice in front of them, they can decide in favor of the G-League or Overtime Elite. They can follow the path of LaMelo Ball and others and decide to play in Australia, despite the pro-opportunities college recruiting continues to remain of interest to many. Often, we find the youngster might only remain at a particular institution for their freshman year however we remain intrigued. We looked at the Class of 2022 and where they intend to play, this from 247sports.com and guess what…there is a pending change. Sure, Duke has the top recruited class but in second is Arkansas and third is Alabama, then comes Kansas and Ohio State.

The surprise of course is the two SEC schools, in the past both have been known as traditional football powers. Eric Musselman at Arkansas and Nat Oats at Alabama along with other SEC coaches has turned this football conference into one with heavy emphasis on basketball. This conference is no longer Kentucky and the rest of the pack, that’s a story for another time. We need look no further than the SEC/Big XII Challenge as proof. As for Mizzou their recruiting class is 55^th in the nation which is not shocking. With only one senior on the roster and one opening unless there is a coaching change not a great deal of movement possible. Coming on board in the fall for Mizzou is 4-star Aiden Shaw a 6-foot 8 small forward from Stillwell (KS) and 3-star Christian Jones a 6-foot 4 combo guard from East St. Louis (Ill).