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Basketball from a fans perspective

We stand on the shoulders of others

It’s been mentioned in this blog multiple times, the American Basketball Association went out of business in 1976. Historians have politely referred to it as a merger, everyone is included in a merger. That was not the case as the Nuggets, Spurs, Pacers and Nets were the only teams that moved into the NBA. With that understanding what occurred with ABA players, the majority were placed in a dispersal draft and chosen by NBA teams. What about the remainder, there were players not selected by the NBA. With their teams no longer operating they were tossed into neverland. Most of these players went to work on 9-5 jobs and today those who remain alive are retired from those jobs. Since that time a group has been in dialogue with the NBA, NBA Players Association over some type of pension or payment. An agreement was reached in July and payment of $24.5 million to these former players.

From Bleacher Report, “The NBA deemed that 115 players who played three or more years in the ABA or combined in the ABA and NBA were eligible for ‘recognition payments,’ not pensions.” There is no indication of the amount rendered although in Bleacher Report “Scott Tarter, the co-founder and president of Dropping Dimes, described former players’ reactions to the payments this month: “They were all literally sitting around going, ‘What the hell?’ These checks were so much bigger than many expected. Tarter called the timing ‘a Christmas miracle.” Keep in mind most of these former players are in their late 60’s and early 70’s. Whatever the amount these former players receive is long overdue and despite the length of time details a fix has been applied. As for the headline, whatever level we rise to we stand on the shoulders of others, those who came before us.

Medical emergency

I was somewhat uncomfortable with the latest development for the Lakers; Anthony Davis was out and would not return until the middle of January. Perhaps the Lakers could soldier on with Thomas Bryant occupying AD’s position. Monday afternoon came news LeBron James would be out for Monday evenings match against the Suns. I decided to check and see who else might be missing. Guards Austin Reaves and Randy Beverly would also miss the game. Before this was completed, I discovered Russell Westbrook won’t play either. I am becoming increasingly frustrated, I realize injuries are part of the game, but these Lakers…whoa.

They seem unable to remain on the court for any extended period of time. How can they even ponder a playoff run based on their current status? They are in last place in the Western Conference but has played better lately. Darvin Ham speaks of the Lakers moving in a positive direction and I have no reason to doubt him. Afterall, he sees the team up close but even the coach cannot predict an injury. It would certainly be great if the Lakers could adopt a “Next Man Up” attitude but even that might not be possible. They need the youngsters to have a baptism of fire…play them even with the prospect of losing. You cannot learn how to play in the NBA by sitting next to the coach.

Father and son

Generally this type of discussion centers on the father coaching his son, that might have occurred in the past, without research I’m unsure. This time it was a father facing the son or vice versa as opposing coaches, we had long-time coach Rick Pitino and son Rich Pitino. The elder Pitino was named coach of Iona men’s basketball in March 2020. The covid season witnessed Iona finishing with a 12-6 overall record and 6-3 in the Metro Atlantic Conference, last season it was 25-8 along with 17-3 in the conference.     

Rick is in the College Basketball Hall of Fame; son Rich probably hopes that occurs for him one day in the future. New Mexico becomes the third stop for him and after a 13-19 (5-12 conference record) last season his Lobos are 10-0 headed into this game. Sunday night would see the father-son face one another on the basketball court at the Pit in Albuquerque. The son was the winner with his Lobos winning 82 to 74 over the Gaels, and then the question what’s a Gael? Since I raised the issue, I figured I’d provide an explanation for those like me unsure. As Wiktionary explains “A member of the Gaelic-speaking peoples inhabiting Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man.” For us who didn’t know the definition of a Gael we do now.

Not that unusual anymore

SI.com recently published its list of the Top 60 NBA draft prospects for 2023. After checking the names where they played, I began a count, their list contained 5 seniors. The bulk of the prospects were either college freshman, international players, Australia, G-League or OTE. I showed the list to a co-worker and after informing him about the limited number of seniors he said this. “Evidently they can’t play”, not necessarily I assured Keenan, sometimes players are slow to adapt their game.

I used Ja Morant as an example, he was drafted from Murray State after his sophomore season. Was it possible he could have been drafted after his freshman year…maybe. On the other hand the talent was evident but there were other aspects of his game requiring work. He accomplished this during his sophomore year and was made the second pick in the 2019 draft. Morant might be an exception, a larger number of prospects after tailoring are ready for the NBA after but one collegiate season. In June when you hear of a college junior or senior drafted it has little to do with lack of talent, the issue quite often is improvement in that prospects game.