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The strangest retirement in history

I don’t believe there is any disagreement, Jim Boeheim former Syracuse coach experienced a Hall of Fame career, in fact he actually is already enshrined. The public witnessed what I believe is the strangest retirement in history, will he or won’t he? I’m referring to the interview most of us witnessed. After 47 years at the helm apparently Boeheim is retired but maybe not. He’s got to be gone officially the school’s named Adrian Autry head men’s basketball coach.

I mentioned the 47 years what about the NCAA Championship and the huge number of NBA players his program produced over those years. Who stands out for me, it’s got to be Carmelo Anthony because he too will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame eventually. Although most of the NBA players from Syracuse might not have been all pro the list is quite extensive. We knew the clock was ticking for Boeheim and he would be retiring at some point either this year or next, but it was the manner the “retirement” interview occurred. Boeheim sounded as if the school was ready for his retirement, but he wasn’t.

Bits n Pieces

The Lakers retired Pau Gasol’s 16, Tuesday his jersey was placed alongside other Laker greats. After checking the numbers of past Laker power forwards, I concluded the 7-foot Gasol was the best ever at the position. Basketball remains a team sport, but Gasol was a key to the 2009 and 2010 NBA Championships. Quite appropriate, his jersey was placed beside that of teammate Kobe Bryant. Congratulations Pau Gasol and thank you for being a vital contributor to Laker Championship basketball.

When is a triple-double not awarded…when it is clearly bogus. On site game officials had credited Giannis Antetokounmpo with a triple-double however the league overturned it. This from AP News, “He (Antetokounmpo) grabbed a defensive rebound with about nine seconds left, knowing that left him one rebound short of 10. He hustled the ball downcourt, not near the rim the Bucks were shooting at, hesitated for a moment before throwing the ball intentionally into the bottom of the rim and catching it.”

The University of Houston along with BYU, Cincinnati and UCF will join the Big XII next season. Our focus is on the Cougars, they have been the top team in the polls most of the season. I have only seen bits and pieces of them in action this season, with the tourney upcoming I certainly plan on checking them out. What’s interesting to me is the projected move next season. The Cougars are joining maybe the toughest basketball conference in the nation, they better be prepared.

You might have heard someone make this statement in the recent past. “These players (NCAA Tourney) are trying out for NBA jobs,” that’s a bunch of horse pucky. NBA scouts and front office people are aware right now who is going to be drafted in June. Despite this previous statement of fact there are occasional surprises, they usually come out of the Draft Combine or individual workouts.

The Grizzlies Steven Adams is likely to miss the balance of the regular season. The 6-11 Adams might be almost as valuable to his team as Ja Morant being out of action. His right knee will require a stem cell injection and he will be re-evaluated in four weeks. The piece of good fortune in this injury, Adams should be able to return for the Grizzlies playoff run.

Have you checked them lately

Some (especially in Knick Nation) might remember a little while back my draft story. I hinted the poor draft history might be partially responsible for the fact the Knicks were not playing better basketball. While that might have been a contributing factor in the recent past Knick fortunes appear to have changed shortly after I published my story. They are now 10 games above .500, in addition as this is written they are on a 7-game winning streak. Even more interesting is there a rivalry with their borough competition?

The Knicks appear to have stolen some of the thunder associated with the Nets. You remember what occurred don’t you? The Nets had Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden; the Knicks couldn’t lure any free agents unlike that team in Brooklyn. They were able to acquire Jalen Brunson from the Mavs, he certainly has been a contributor to the on-court success. It’s certainly not the one player alone basketball still remains a team game. Julius Randle’s stepped his game up along with RJ Barrett and lately returning from injury center Mitchell Robinson. As for the Nets, one by one the trio left with Durant being the last.