Basketball from a fans perspective   

Published Monday through Friday

How about this trade

Reports exist indicating the Lakers Anthony “Street Clothes” Davis will be traded to his hometown Bulls. Makes sense in a matter of speaking, one of the best basketball players Chicago’s ever produced returns to play for the Bulls. We might compare such a move to Derrick Rose who also once played for his place of birth. That’s interesting however the names we hear mentioned are guards, how about a Big Man-Big Man trade? The Lakers could approach the Wolves about Karl-Anthony Towns…wait before you say no way. In 2015 when Karl-Anthony Towns was drafted among the teams he worked out for was the Lakers.

It may have just been the wonderful thing to say but he expressed interest in playing for the Lakers. Charley, one of my co-workers brought this proposed trade to me and I thought on it for a moment. Everyone’s a winner, the Lakers acquire a solid Big Man, and the Wolves receive a solid Big Man in return. I know what you are thinking AD’s been quite injury prone throughout his NBA career. Would the Wolves sign off on such a deal might be the question, there is no doubt for me the Lakers would be willing to make the trade. Imagine this, two former Kentucky centers traded for one another, how about that for an NBA picture.

The Chair

Since the violence last weekend after the Michigan-Wisconsin game we’ve heard several conversations. A few well-known coaches have claimed the post-game handshake between teams should be eliminated. That’s an easy fix but is it necessary, not according to Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo? Probably the most extreme is not a fix but punishment. We’ve read a number of letters claiming Michigan Coach Juwan Howard should be fired, personally a 5-game suspension plus a huge fine works for me. What about the title of this account, “The Chair?” Bobby Knight former Indiana and Texas Tech coach had a temper that preceded him whenever and wherever his Indiana Hoosiers played.

While serving as the head man at Indiana in a game against Purdue. Knight became highly agitated with the officiating that occurred up to a point, to express his displeasure Knight picked up a chair after receiving a technical and tossed it across the court. One of the discussions I heard about Howard revolved around the “Coach being a leader of young men etc. etc.” We guess this person was unaware or had never witnessed the unruly behavior by Knight in tossing the chair. We can debate which is worst the Howard slap or the chair toss but consider this. Knight was later fired after this 1985 incident but not immediately, the coach would go on to exhibit this type of behavior until much later in his Indiana career. What Howard did was uncalled for, did it border on termination…I think not however that’s my opinion. Your view might be different on the matter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukpekodCQ-U

Sad times 

I'm watching a team with Hoyas on the front of their jerseys. I remember once upon a time a UConn-Georgetown game would be a thing of beauty, unfortunately Georgetown basketball is suffering this season. They have no Patrick Ewing, Dikembe Mutombo, Sleepy Floyd or Allen Iverson. This is not the Georgetown Hoyas I remember; they are 6-21 entering this game a much worst record than my Mizzou Tigers. They lost the game against UConn and now have an 18-game losing streaking, that’s not close to the NCAA all-time record but it ain’t good.

As I was leaving church, I told Dwayne "I cannot support Cuonzo Martin any longer. I think he is a good person he's just not winning." This was not a part of our conversation however just like Patrick Ewing the Georgetown coach Cuonzo Martin is trapped too. I think Cuonzo believed the transfer portal would prove beneficial with 3 additions to the team. That has not been the case nor have any of the freshman stepped forward to take charge. The SEC Tourney is on the horizon however there is not much hope at my house for Mizzou's fortunes.

Bits n Pieces

If we looked at most NBA mock drafts we’d see three names not in order, Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga, Jabari Smith, Auburn and Paolo Banchero Duke. Each has spent time at the number one slot however since August or so they have rotated positions. And as generally the case all three named are in their freshman year. We might ask the question are the potential NBA players better these days or does AAU ball or something else become the driving force. We are unable to answer the question however it is quite interesting.

We missed this one badly, the discussion centers around Ja Morant of the Grizzlies. He “blew up” his sophomore year at Murray State with his slick passing and dunks, we became acquainted with this budding talent. Did we project a nearly 27 point 7 rebound a game average by his third year in the NBA? If someone told you, they foresaw his skill four years ago they have told other lies as well. All we can say again the Pelicans are probably kicking themselves in the rear end. They had the opportunity to draft the swift point guard but chose instead Zion Williamson. It is understandable Williamson’s and potential talent might have looked more fruitful at the time over Morant.

Who starts at power forward for your expansion team, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Karl Malone, Kevin McHale, Elvin Hayes or someone else? Anyone of the names mentioned and perhaps others could be the choice. For me, it’s got to be Tim Duncan of the Spurs, it’s not his 19-year career and 26,000 points nor the Naismith or College Basketball Hall of Fame. It’s not being a 5-time NBA Champion or twice NBA MVP or 3 times NBA Finals MVP. I’m not exactly sure if I can explain why Duncan is the top choice for me.

There are other coaches on the hot seat besides Mizzou’s Cuonzo Martin. We could include Patrick Ewing of Georgetown in the count however he’s got an advantage. Ewing was Georgetown basketball under the late John Thompson as Ewing the player led the Hoyas to victory. As a coach it’s been a different story for Ewing. Would he be fired, it’s certainly possible based on the record as this is written. The Hoyas have only 6 wins versus 22 losses, last season it was 13-13 the season prior 15-17. Truth is the school’s only finished one season above .500 and that was the 19-win 14 loss 2018-19 season.