Basketball from a fans perspective   

Published Monday through Friday

A noteworthy event

I don’t care if you think it’s noteworthy or not, I do. Over the weekend LeBron James passed Karl Malone to move into second place as the NBA’s All Time Scoring Leader in points. Beginning play in the association as an 18-year-old through his 37^th year. This accomplishment details for all the athleticism and skill of this once in a lifetime athlete. With his game remaining at a high peak and no desire on his part to retire Kareem better watch out. We could be writing in 2-3 years of LeBron breaking Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s point total, as for the current feat congratulations are in order for LeBron Raymore James Sr.

Mizzou got it’s man (maybe)

No dragging of feet in this age, if one must make a decision, it must be accomplished immediately. That is the case for Mizzou basketball in its search for a new coach. Reports circulated The Todd Golden late of San Francisco would be the choice as head coach, Florida wasted absolutely no time in hiring him out from under the nose of Mizzou. Late Friday and early Saturday morning the name Dennis Gates begin circulating. Saturday afternoon Rock M Nation one of the Mizzou fan sites claimed Gates is the hire although they didn’t confirm this. It’s quite possible by the time you read this today an announcement will have been made. Board approval would appear to be the only hold up at this point. We might ask the question what is known about Gates.

Prior to writing this piece truly little, info we uncover indicates Gates is 42 years old and a former player at Cal. Get this, the guy was a two time All American Academic honoree in the Pac-10 and graduated in three years. As for his time at Cleveland State this was his first head coaching assignment, Gates was an assistant at four coaching stops and two additional as a graduate assistant. His first season at Cleveland State the Vikings finished 11-21, the following season it was 19-8 and in 2021-22 they were 20-11. Two years ago, his team qualified for the NCAA Tournament, this season the NIT. There are two key questions which cannot be resolved, only time as head coach will provide us the answer on Gates. Can this coach recruit and coming from a mid-major program will Grant be prepared to battle other SEC coaches in one of the best Power 5 conferences in the nation?

Finally in closing allow me to impart some words of wisdom (I hope). Since about January 2022 we’ve heard a crescendo of complaints about Cuonzo Martin. He needs to be fired etc. etc., that’s all we heard as the season came to a climax and then it occurred. Cuonzo was fired and a replacement was sought for him, after the announcement of a possible hire in gates the complaints began to rain down again. Those voicing concern if he was the right guy for the job etc. etc. and so on. As I attempted to point out earlier, we have no idea if this is a good or bad hire, on the surface it would appear to be good…Gates checks all the boxes in a positive manner. Hey, you in Mizzou Nation STILL complaining hold off at least until Gates and his family unpack their suitcases in Columbia. 

A questionable record

Friday March 18 was the 54^th Anniversary of an NBA record we have reservations about; we’ve covered this previously. In a 1968 game the legendary Wilt Chamberlain accomplished a feat which will never be duplicated if it did indeed occur. Chamberlain then playing for the Sixers led the way in a 158-128 win over his future team. He would score 53 points pull down 32 rebounds along with 14 assists, 24 blocked shots and 11 steals.  The game is not in dispute however the box score is thanks to the rules at the time. At that period, the NBA only tracked points, rebounds and assists…the block shot, and steal totals were not captured as records.

It was shortly thereafter the NBA began keeping track of block shots and steals. Harvey Pollack longtime Philadelphia statistician was at the game, he claimed to have kept a running count including the total attributed to Chamberlain. We no longer have Pollack to question, he died in 2015 at the age of 93. In 1946-47 Pollack begin working as the assistant publicity director for the Philadelphia Warriors. There is no date attributed to Pollack’s retirement however we can add a footnote. He was the score keeper for the game Chamberlain set the single game scoring record of 100 points. There is no question the NBA will never credit the numbers attributed to Chamberlain due to the rules in place at the time. What do you think, did Chamberlain actually accomplish this phenomenal feat?

Not gonna do it anymore

It’s quite easy to decide Dame Lillard is a better point guard than Walt Frazier. LeBron James is a superior forward over Dr. J. Our measurement is time, Lillard (although injured plays in this age), Frazier was last in the NBA in 1979. We’ve stated over and over the NBA game has changed over time, it’s my belief it is unfair to compare players of different generations. We find ourselves caught up in these discussions (sometimes arguments) it seems continually.

How about this comparison, Lillard to Westbrook would be much fairer, both point guards represent this peer group of athletes? We could make the same statement regarding forwards, compare LeBron to Carmelo Anthony. The principal reason for my decision, Shaquille O’Neal, placed a competitor of his age group on the 75^th Anniversary Team yet kicks a player off the team from a prior age. This athlete just might be one he’d never seen play to even compare his game, grainy video of the past is not a solve all regarding this issue. Unlike Stephen A. Smith I have no problem if your take is different from mine.