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Basketball from a fans perspective

“Being a professional is doing the things you love to do, on the days you don’t feel like doing them.”

Julius “Dr. J.” Erving  

basketballnetwork.net

From time to time I’ve read stories in basketballnetwork.net that have been source material. That ends with this, I will no longer use the site based on the latest account. Here’s what occurred, the .net site used former Celtic Brian Scalabrine as its source for this story. This is the Scalabrine quote, “Kobe Bryant isn’t a Top 10 player all-time.” Those are his words but let’s do a background check. Scalabrine was a second-round draft choice by the Nets in 2001, he played for them along with the Celtics and Bulls.

Scalabrine’s NBA career ended in 2012 with a scoring total of 1,594 points (3.1 ppg) and 1,034 rebounds (2.0). Now some reading this will believe I’m hatin’ on Scalabrine, that is not the case I’m simply trying to point out a fact. Scalabrine was a journeyman player who managed a 12-year career so that portion is a positive. As for his view who might be the best of the best I’m going to say thanks but no thanks. I am going to read from a source other than Scalabrine if I’m considering a Top 10 list. I question why basketballnetwork.net considers this a good account to cover. Well no more from me on anything from this internet site. 

Bits n Pieces

Tennessee is extending head coach Rick Barnes contract through the 2027-28 season. I don’t find that particularly surprising, Barnes continues to turn out winning teams no matter the location. He did it at Texas for 17 years, all the time only one losing season and that was the one they failed to make the NCAA tourney. Yet it always seemed Barnes was in trouble at Texas and I am not exactly sure why. One of the criticisms I believe of Barnes while head coach his teams failed to beat Kansas. That’s really no indication of his coaching ability a great number of schools have faced difficulty beating Kansas over time. As for his measure at Tennessee his teams have earned NCAA berths 5 of the last 6 seasons, the one season missed was the covid year when everything was shut down. Allow me to say this, I don’t know the psyche of Barnes as I do several other coaches. I do believe he’s a winner all we need to do is check his coaching bio.

I’m unsure if this reported earlier however Joel Embiid is now an American citizen. September of 2022 it became official, the Sixers center is an American. Of course interests here want the NBA MVP to play for Team USA in the Paris Olympics in 2024 however that may not occur. Embiid holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and France, and the French want him, Wemby and Rudy Gobert to form an impenetrable front line. That would appear interesting if it would occur however many here want him to play for Team USA. Embiid is similar to many others who hold dual citizenship. Embiid’s been given until the end of October to decide if he wishes to play for France. This is a developing story, I will update when a decision is made.

Maybe he was just plain worn down, who am I talking about? How about new Laker center/power forward Christian Wood. It’s been reported Coach Ham called him daily while Wood remained a free agent. “Are you ready to become a Laker, are you ready”, maybe being bombarded with telephone calls every day may have been the deciding factor. I question if the story is valid however it just might be. If you remember there were at least two other NBA teams that were supposed to be making an attempt to sign Wood. Did Ham’s persistence turn out to be the decider? Was something else the decider, possibly the opportunity to play at home…was it Long Beach calling.

He was rewarded

Back in the day 6- foot 7 170-pound Michael Cooper played a valuable role for the Showtime Lakers. If you look at his career scoring you might laugh, 8.9 points along with 4.2 assists. I once read Celtic great Larry Bird claimed the Laker forward played the toughest defense in the NBA on him. Cooper was the NBA Five times All Defensive First Team and three times All Defensive Second Team, in addition he was 1987 Defensive Player of the Year. Where am I going with this account, its headed toward Laker forward Jarred Vanderbilt.

Acquired at the trade deadline from the Jazz he took on a valued role as a defender, Vanderbilt was one of the keys to the deep playoff run the Lakers made. The Lakers realizing his value signed him to a four year-$48 million contract. Vanderbilt is 24 years old, which says he might be capable of having a long and successful career in Purple and Gold. Was this simply a case of NBA maturity or was it the right team and right time for Vanderbilt to fully display his talent? Drafted by the Magic he would be traded to the Nuggets, from their it was Minnesota and then Utah. It’s clear to all the Lakers believe they have a gem in the 6-foot 8 214-pound power forward. It’s good to score the ball, it might be just as good to keep the other guy from scoring.

It could happen (I hope)

Rivals 5-star prospect Jayden Quaintance is high on Mizzou’s list of prospects and a number of other schools. He was in Columbia to meet with the coach and staff plus tour the campus September 21. Standing 6 foot 10 and 235 pounds and with skill it’s easy to see why a great number of schools around the nation want him to play for them. On the other hand Mizzou’s already received a commit from 7-foot 300-pound Peyton Marshall also in the Class of 2024.

It’s easy to see why Quaintance might choose another school with the number of schools desiring him to play along with the prior Marshall commitment. Let’s suppose despite what appears an impossibility Quaintance decides instead of another school he chooses Mizzou. Could Coach Gates implement a twin tower offense/defense for the Tigers with both in the lineup? There is no announcement yet when a decision will be reached by Quaintance. I know what you are saying “The picture you anticipate will never occur?” I rarely say never, Mizzou Nation could speak this into existence, stand by.