Basketball from a fan’s perspective

A Closer Look

Late Night With Seth Meyers, for those unfamiliar with the program this occurs. Meyers begins his weeknight monologue with the daily news he titles A Closer Look. I’m posing the question what do we suppose occurs if the Bucks fail to win a championship in June? After all that’s what Doc Rivers was hired to do because Adrian Griffin couldn’t accomplish the deed. Well wait a moment, Griffin was dismissed after but 43 games, his Bucks team was in second place in the east.

I attempted to point out if the Bucks were in the west they would be tied for first place. Some reading this will assume I have issues with Rivers that is not the case, I just happen to be one of those who despite his record believe in Rivers. The Bucks become his 5th stop as a head coach first it was Orlando then Boston and the L.A. Clippers and Sixers followed. With the exception of the Magic the other teams were veteran laden, they made the playoffs but that’s about all. In 24 years as an NBA head coach teams coached by Rivers have competed for two NBA championships. In 2008 his Celtic team beat my Lakers, two years later 2010 the teams faced one another again, this time the Lakers were winners. As I pointed out earlier the resume of Rivers is one of winning, you don’t win 1,860 games accidently.

Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Joel Embiid I could go on. Those named are just a few of the All Star caliber players Rivers has coached over the course of his career with various teams. If you are a Doc Rivers fan so be it, I certainly am making no attempt to persuade you to my side. I don’t dislike the coach I just happen to believe he’s overrated. In closing I hope Adrian Griffin receives another head coaching job someday, 43 games is certainly not a fair amount of time to determine one’s ability as a head coach.   

Extinct

There are plenty of things extinct, probably the first thought might be dinosaurs but there are more. We have the Passenger Pigeon, Sabre-tooth Cat, Wooly Mammoth and the Dodo bird. Those are but a few are now many living things now extinct. A species that soon will no longer exist, the pure point guard. Once Chris Paul retires the last pure point guard will no longer be active in the NBA. Sorry folks, although Steph is close to retirement too I’ve always considered him a combo guard rather than a point guard. So what occurred, I just said it, the development of Steph Curry and Warriors success.

The Warriors championship success story is partially responsible for the change in how the game is played. Once upon a time in the recent past teams were looking for quality Big Men, second to that was a quality point guard in the draft. Many argued the Lakers Magic Johnson at 6 foot 9 wasn’t a point guard due to his height, I believe his 11.2 assist per game lifetime average says otherwise. He wasn’t the only one, John Stockton with the Jazz, Oscar Robertson for the Royals and Bucks. I must mention Steve Nash, Walt Frazier, Bob Cousy and Gary Payton. These guys could shoot the ball but it was their duty to run the team’s offense and to score on occasion. The NBA will never return to those days, Big Man basketball and pure point guard play have just about become extinct.

Growth spurt

It was over the summer between the end of my 6th year and beginning the 7th grade in the fall. I hit a growth spurt and gained almost 3 inches in height, this was me. “Boy I’m on my way to 6 feet,” needless to say that would not be the case, I stopped growing short of my goal. What about basketball players, some are naturally tall Kareem and Wilt were 7 feet tall at the time they graduated high school, as for others they hit the “growth spurt.” David Robinson stood 5 foot 9 as a 16-year-old, two years later it was 7 foot 1.

Anthony Davis handles the ball effectively for a tall guy and it is easy to understand the why. As a high school sophomore he stood 6 foot 2 and played guard, by his senior year he’d grown 8 inches to his present 6 foot 10. You’ve read accounts of Scottie Pippen being in the band at Central Arkansas and not the basketball team at 6 foot 1, in the NBA we’d witnessed his ability to handle a basketball, his senior year of college Pippen stood 6 foot 8. By his 19th birthday Dennis Rodman was 6 foot 8, that’s quite a growth spurt from his reported 5 foot 6 at a point. There are other NBA players with dramatic increases in height, these are but a few to check out.

Urban basketball

What was once the hope for the University of MO KC now Kansas City displayed on the jerseys never materialized. The University of Kansas City was a separate educational facility, the University of MO took over operations in the recent past. The former school had a basketball program which disappeared, it was resurrected once it became a part of the University of MO system. It would be NAIA basketball and then move up to the NCAA Division I level, most saw a UCLA, Memphis or St. John’s scenario. An urban basketball program in the heart of the city which never came to fruition. In 34 years of play there are only 10 years the school finished above .500 and worst still is the revolving door with the coaching staff. Other than Lee Hunt who coached the program early there have been 7 other head coaches.

During this time only one coach, Billy Donlon, had a winning record (46-39), he led the program but two seasons 2020-2022 but resigned. He took on the role of associate head coach at Clemson where he remains to this day. Another Rich Zvosec led Kansas City to an 84-91 record between 2001-2007, he was terminated and today he’s Senior Deputy Athletics Director at UCF. The other coaches were unable to turn the tide of losing for the university, you might ask the question where are we going? I presented much of what you’ve just read to my co-worker Keenan, and this was his response. Maybe they need to go to the Division II level, that might not be as unusual as it might seem. Oral Roberts University downgraded its program to NAIA level before returning to Division I, who knows maybe Kansas City should consider doing the same. By this move they could aid the program significantly although income would be reduced.