Published Monday thru Friday   

Basketball from a fans perspective

 

“A little man must prove he can play, a Big Man must prove he can’t”

 

Unknown 

Danger Zone

I certainly am on the highway to the danger zone with this take. If you follow high school basketball prospects as I do the name Jayden Quaintance is familiar to you. As for others a brief update for you, he’s a 6-foot 10 235-pound center. With that height and weight you can imagine he plays power basketball, his school is Word of God Academy in Raleigh North Carolina. Quaintance is a 5-star prospect and high on the list of several schools across the nation including Mizzou. He visited Mizzou last month but made no commitment and there’s none as this is written.

This report covers two websites 247Sports and Rivals.com and proves quite interesting. 247 makes no prediction where Quaintance might be headed but hints it might be Mizzou, Rivals steps out on the shaky branch of the tree. Their FutureCast places Quaintance 100% sure for Mizzou. As I stated earlier he’s yet to make a commitment however I’m going to Kenny Loggins on you, I’m going to venture into the highway of the danger zone. As this is written Mizzou remains number one in the nation for Class of 2024 prospects, that says to me its likely Quaintance continues the spring and summer recruiting trend and commits to Mizzou.

The talent gap

The difference between play at the D-I, II or III level might not be the “Grand Canyon” we believe it to be. I’d like to cite a couple of examples for you, one from basketball the other football. In the 1999 NBA draft the Lakers with the 23rd pick chose Devean George from Division III Augsburg. The 6 foot 8 George proved his value to the Lakers in a reserve role and occasional starter. He retired in 2010 from the Warriors finishing with an 11-year NBA career.

I once read George believed he was better than most of the competition he faced but never decided to transfer to a Division I program. Fast forward to the present, Mizzou football’s leading rusher is running back Cody Schrader with 648 yards going into the afternoon game. Schrader began his collegiate football at Truman State a Division II school located in Kirksville, MO about 200 road miles northeast of Kansas City. I certainly cannot offer any proof except a theory, keep this in mind. I absolutely am not hinting that every basketball or football athlete could play at the Division I level, talent and opportunity must be a part of the big picture.

There is a case to be made

This exercise excludes Euro players and those who began their NBA journey in the G-League, OT Elite or Australia. There remains a considerable number of outstanding players who began the quest at other than Power 5 schools. 40-50 years ago the number was much larger than it is today, we could look at the past which includes Julius “Dr. J.” Erving, he came to our attention while enrolled at UMass. Nate Thurmond, Bowling Green University, Jack Sikma Illinois Wesleyan or Steve Nash Santa Clara could also serve as examples.

Perhaps the biggest and one of the most talented to develop from a small school is Steph Curry who emerged from Davidson College or Dame Lillard Weber State, we also have Ja Morant of Murray State. Excluding those of the past what occurred, how did Curry, Lillard and others began play at smaller schools? Most likely it was a combination of factors the chief one being they were overlooked. Face it friends that does occur, the scout(s) is sick or absent on the day that athlete has an outstanding game. Probably the greatest factor is the lack of ability to see what’s inside a person’s heart, the desire and willingness to succeed. I always root for the Steph Curry’s and Ja Morant’s of the world to make it to the NBA.

Step into his shoes

The late Gene Bartow took over UCLA basketball in 1975, can you imagine the pressure he must have felt following the legendary John Wooden in the number one chair. Bartow would depart after the 1977 season with a 52 win and 9 loss record, his first team finished third in the NCAA Tournament. This was followed by a Sweet Sixteen finish as Bartow left UCLA. There is no indication why he left however he was not fired the decision was his alone. Jon Scheyer took over last season from another legend however his was an advantage Bartow didn’t have.  

The first, Scheyer was a former Duke basketball player, he registered good numbers in his four years, his senior year being the best. After a brief attempt to play in the NBA he must have decided to re-direct his life pursuit. That’s where the second key came to the forefront in 2014 he returned to Duke becoming an assistant and later assistant head coach for Mike Krzyzewski. Scheyer’s first season as head coach saw his Blue Devil team finish with a 27-win season. What is expected in 2023-24, great things for an example four starters return from that team. Unless something unusual occurs it’s likely Scheyer is on the job for a number of years. Am I stating the same number of years on the job as his former boss, that’s a future we cannot see from here.

Outside my pay grade

“Are the Spurs a playoff caliber team” or similar words I was asked recently. “Do you think that rookie (Wemby) will make them better?” I have no gift to see the future but a few believe I have insight regarding the NBA. How about a bit of history first, last season the Spurs won 22 game while losing 60, the year prior they registered a 34-48 record. The last time the Spurs finished above .500 was the 2018-19 season when they finished 48-34.

This is what I expect to occur although a bunch of stuff could derail my prediction. The Spurs will be improved with Wemby in the lineup. Wemby most likely will have a good NBA rookie year, will he be named Rookie of the Year…that is unknown at this point. The Spurs starting five which now includes Wemby looks solid, as for the bench that is an unknown to me. Why the Spurs won’t earn a playoff spot, the Western Conference is loaded with “land mines.” All Western Conference teams appear to be improved including the Clippers, there you have a brief look at the Spurs and Wemby.