Basketball from a fans perspective

Published Monday through Friday

Just sometimes

I’ve seen and you as well players arriving from college without missing a beat. In fact in some instances the NBA allows them to play at a higher skill level or maybe it’s as simple as adjustment to the NBA. Magic power forward Paolo Banchero is that guy, the one who’s not missed a beat thus far. The 6-foot 10 250-pound talent left Duke with a 17.2 point 7.8 rebound and 3.2 assist per game average over 39 games. Banchero’s hardly come close to that number of games played in the NBA, yet his start certainly is noteworthy.

The numbers registered currently are 23.3 point, 8.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. Banchero will probably not gain any fans in Oklahoma City based on his pre-draft comment. Prior to the world being aware of where and who would draft him he made off the court news, Banchero informed the Thunder he didn’t want to be drafted by the team. There was no indication there was a problem with the city it’s the franchise which is the catch. This Seattle born and raised resident claimed he watched the Sonics leave town when he was a child, evidently Banchero still holds a grudge against the Thunder. All this for a teen, the 19-year-old turns 20 on November 12^th.

Home court

My friend Jerome posted a photo of the Cow Palace on social media recently. This arena was home court for the Warriors when they first arrived from Philadelphia. This subject has been mentioned previously but worth a look at the arenas which served as home court. At the time the Warriors moved to San Francisco in 1962 games were played in the Cow Palace an arena which opened in 1941. The Daly City arena was home court until the 1964 season, Civic Auditorium became home and served the team until 1966.

That season the Warriors moved back to the Cow Palace and remained there until 1971. Besides those locations also serving briefly was San Diego Sports Arena (six games 1971-72), San Jose Arena (1996-97 renovations at Oakland Arena). Prior to Chase Center opening in 2019 the arena across the bay was home court for the longest period. It was known by a number of names over the years, but most identify with the arena in Oakland now known as Oracle. This was home court from 1971-2019. As you can see over time the Warriors have played in a number of arenas even some outside the general area.

A coaches worth    

Who is valued compared to who might be the first question you might think. All coaches have limited value, notice I didn’t say any because all have knowledge of the game. Sometimes circumstances and often talent leave that coach short of his peers. Allow me a few examples, the late John Wooden at UCLA was considered an outstanding basketball coach. His UCLA basketball teams won 10 NCAA Championships between 1964 and 1975 when he retired yet we heard this. “Coaching Alcindor (Kareem Abdul Jabbar), Bill Walton and others it’s easy to see why he won.” That statement might only be partially correct, UCLA did dominate college basketball back then it was indeed a different era.

This is my belief, and I certainly can be challenged on this, another head coach with those same teams may have won 2-3 championships. The coach in this instance John Wooden made the difference. Since he left the game, we’ve heard similar complaints about Phil Jackson. “How good a coach was he, when he arrived with the Bulls they had (Michael) Jordan, and Scotty Pippen in place.” Someone might make the same statement about Jackson’s time with the Lakers. ‘Ya, there was Kobe, Shaq…the team was already assembled.’ The statement about the Bulls and Lakers is true however the missing element the coach. In the NBA it’s a different story in my view, a coach must have the ability to convince NBA players to his style of coaching.

Oftentimes these players are making two or three times what the coach earns in salary. On the other hand, we have the case of the late Dick Versace. Versace was an assistant under Chuck Daly with the Bad Boy Pistons during much of the time the team was quite successful. The Pacers would hire Versace believing he had the tools to lead them successfully, unfortunately that was not the case. He only lasted two seasons as head coach before he was fired. A member of the media wrote, ‘I’m unsure how he (Versace) could sit so long next to Chuck Daly and learn so little about coaching basketball.’ As with any account there is certainly more to the story however it closes our interpretation regarding coaches and their value to a team.  

No stars

Over the weekend Mizzou coach Dennis Gates received a verbal 2023 commitment. From Southeast High School in Augustana Illinois Danny Stephens a 6-foot 8 inch forward made his choice known. Stephens hometown of Augustana is located about 100 miles southwest of Peoria. The announcement indicates Stephens will join Mizzou as a preferred walk-on. As for the headline Stephens is awarded no stars by any scouting website. 

I’ve always believed stars are a method for us in the general population to assess the potential talent of a prospect, it certainly is no indication of talent. Stephens chose Mizzou over Western Illinois, Eastern Illinois, South Dakota and Southeast Missouri State. Athletes must produce on the court however this I find quite interesting. 247Sports places Mizzou’s Class of 2023 number 15 in the nation. I’m scratching my head; I don’t believe the Tigers have ever been as highly ranked as this in the past. We in Mizzou Nation hope Gates can produce on the court as efficiently as he’s been able to recruit thus far.