Basketball from a fans perspective

The mouth that roared

I can acknowledge Charles Barkley was a particularly good basketball player. The game didn’t start and stop at his cubicle, he never seemed to rise to the occasion while a member of the Sixers, Suns and Rockets. Since his retirement he’s been a long-time analyst for TNT and plenty of folks enjoy his banter. I happen to be one of the few, he just talks and talks and talks. The latest Barkley quote, “If you ain’t driving the bus don’t walk around talking about you’re a champion”

Barkley’s quote was aimed at the Nets Kevin Durant. I’m unsure if Durant said something to cause this reaction, the poor play by Durant is not intended to be defended in this account. I will defend Durant in two areas, he’s been a two-time NBA Champion. The Nets forward has two rings one from 2017 and one the following season in 2018. Barkley seems to always has a ready quote but somehow, he never seemed to rise to the occasion for the teams he played. He seems to have forgotten that bit of information. A fan beat me with his comment, “Come on Chuck, Mike (Michael Jordan) got all your rings.”

The promise

Aidan Shaw entertained offers from 16 colleges across the nation. The 6 foot 8 small forward attends Blue Valley High School in Stillwell Kansas, in metro Kansas City MO. Shaw is a Rivals 4-star prospect and despite the number of choices (including Kansas) he verbally committed to Mizzou. Shaw became the highest rated prospect since 5-star prospect Michael Porter Jr. and two others committed in 2017. Everything was on an upward trend and then it occurred, head coach Cuonzo Martin was fired at the end of the 2022 season.

Almost immediately there were defections from Mizzou’s roster, although not yet signed Shaw changed his mind too de-committing. Mizzou would hire Dennis Gates to replace Martin and the new coach reached out to Shaw. Within days the young man announced “I think I can play in the coaches system” or words of a similar nature. This report as with all comes with a disclaimer, this is no declaration of future stardom after all an adjustment is required for college basketball.

An honor for the outstanding boys and girls high school basketball player in the metro is voted the DiRenna Award winner, in 2022 it was announced the winner would be Aidan Shaw. This award on top of his All-State selection also provide evidence of his basketball skill. As a sidebar, three assistant coaches have been added to Gates staff. Charlton Young hired as associate head coach; veteran Dickey Nutt agreed to join the staff along with Kyle Smithpeters. The head coach continues to recruit behind the scenes plus add staff as we move forward. So, the plan to raise the basketball conscious of Mizzou Nation is in full effect.

An ever-changing landscape

Jay Wright long-time Villanova coach retired recently. He didn’t say it, but others did, they claim he chooses now to leave the game he loves because part of it has to do with Name, Image & Likeness. Now don’t misunderstand, it’s not the one thing rather it’s a bunch of things over the years changing the basketball landscape. Once upon a time athletes were required to spend four years in college before they could play in the NBA. Then a thing known as “hardship” was added, it simply stated if there were lack of family financial support that player could leave for the NBA. Near this same time the American Basketball Association came into existence and this league placed no stipulation on being a student four years, they drafted freshman, sophomores and juniors. As for the NBA years later, it was decided to just allow high school players in the NBA Draft, that occurred with some success and some failures. Then another change, in 2005 the Lakers drafted Andrew Bynum from high school.

Bynum would become the last high school player in the draft with the exception of specialized cases. Since the rule specified “One year after high school graduation” many athletes became rent-a-player for their freshman season. No need of signing up for fall classes several were on their way to the NBA. In order to compete for talent schools such as Notre Dame, Duke and others who avoided recruiting one and done athletes followed suit and began enrolling them with full knowledge it was unlikely they would return for their sophomore year. The next change, the Transfer Portal…no more sitting out a semester. If an athlete wanted to transfer from State U. to Barker U., they became eligible immediately. The downside, there are players attempting to enroll at their third school. Now we have the Name, Image and Likeness issue to evaluate. The NIL is too new to fully comprehend the ramifications that it might bring about. We do need to consider the NCAA is the guilty party because NIL exists based on some of its past misdeeds. There are other coaches rather than deal with the changes might choose to retire or quit coaching all together.

Draft declaration

It’s not unusual this time of the year for a college athlete to declare for the NBA draft however this one is significant. That’s exactly what MJ Randolph did on Friday, never heard the name? Randolph is a 6-foot 4 170-pound shooting guard, he was named SWAC Player of the Year. The SWAC conference is comprised of HBCU schools of which Florida A&M University is a member. Randolph averaged 18.8 points a game for FAMU in leading the conference and played over 1,000 minutes during the season.

HBCU schools once provided the NBA with a significant amount of talent. The last few years have witnessed fewer and fewer athletes arriving in the NBA from HBCU institutions. Robert Covington of the Clippers is the lone HBCU player currently in the NBA. Covington played his basketball at Tennessee State in Nashville. We can name these NBA stars of the past Willis Reed, Earl Monroe, Bob Love along with a number of others who attended an HBCU university prior to the NBA. As for Randolph we have no idea if he will be drafted in June however, his action might spur other HBCU athletes to attempt an NBA profession.