Basketball from a fan’s perspective

I’ve overlooked them

Are the Wolves for real this time around, we don’t know but they sure appear to be? With a 27-win record and first place in the West they appear ready for a deep playoff run. The mix of starters certainly is good, they have a veteran but not old presence. Mike Conley might be the last of the pure point guards, guys who pass the ball rather than looking to shoot. His 45% shooting informs us Conley can shoot the ball it’s just with all the talent around him its far easier to set up teammates. At shooting guard is Anthony Edwards maybe the most talented “unknown” in the NBA, he’s shooting nearly 26 points a game.

We move to Karl-Anthony Towns at power forward and Rudy Gobert at the post. The 7-foot Towns is scoring at a 21 point and 9 rebound clip while playing improved defense. 7-1 Gobert is known for his defense over the other stuff, he’s rebounding the ball at a 12.2 per game effort. He too can score when called on, his 63.4% field goal shooting provides the proof. I’ve not seen Jaden McDaniels play however as the starting small forward he must have proven his worth to the coaching staff. My only question is reserve depth, I’m unsure the effectiveness of the bench over the course of the season. In any event let’s not overlook the Wolves they appear for real.

Best of the best

The job certainly is considerable, for the record let’s just check won-loss records as we begin our search of active coaches. Jim Boeheim at Syracuse is in his last season, 47 of them and 1,015 wins prior to the 2023-24 season, he’s at the top of the list of active coaches. Now that Bob Huggins is retired in second place is John Calipari with the Kentucky Wildcats, Cal in 31 years has registered 790 wins at UMass, Memphis and Kentucky. On his heels is Bill Self Kansas coach, Self has 787 in 30 years at Tulsa, Illinois and Kansas.

And a surprise to some the name Rick Barnes, he’s got 779 wins in 36 years at George Mason, Providence, Clemson, Texas and Tennessee. In 34 years at Washington State, Oklahoma, Indiana and Houston Kelvin Sampson has 732 wins. Right behind Sampson with 731 in 34 years is Dana Altman Marshall, Kansas State, Creighton and Oregon. Jim Larranaga in 39 years might be a surprise, he’s accumulated 725 wins at American International, Bowling Green, George Mason and Miami (FL). With 711 wins in 35 years is Rick Pitino at Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville, Iona and St. John’s. Mark Few has compiled 688 wins in 24 years all of them at Gonzaga. In 38 years Tom Izzo’s never left the State of Michigan except maybe recruiting. He moved from an assistant to the head coach at Michigan State, that was 28 years ago, and since then his Spartan teams have won 687 games.

https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2023-07-26/mens-di-college-basketball-coaches-most-wins

A lighting rod of controversy

In the glory days of the Bulls the mention of the name Jerry Krause would upset a number of Bulls fans. Despite the controversy surrounding Krause he was the architect for the 6 NBA championships. Back then it would have been easy for a Scotty Pippen to miss the draft, Krause scouted him. When the Sonics drafted Pippen in 1987 Krause traded for him and the balance of the story is well known. It wasn’t just this one instance there were other players acquired or traded for aiding the Bulls during those years. We could add the name Dennis Rodman to the list of Krause attainments. Why this account on Krause who long ago left the Bulls the reason is simple, he died in 2017.

The Bulls held a Ring of Honor ceremony recently, players and other key members from the playoff success years were honored, among the names was Jerry Krause. When his name was announced a scattering of boos could be heard from those gathered in the United Center. It was said the widow of Krause was in attendance and clearly upset hearing the boos. Stacy King current Bulls broadcaster and former player was critical of those in attendance who expressed themselves in a derogatory manner. Later Bulls president Jerry Reinsdorf addressed the issue as well. Reading the headline its understandable Krause in his role created problems for Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan, Scotty Pippen and others. Despite this fact there would be no championships if not for Jerry Krause.

Not in this age

There is no doubt in my mind, there could be no case of Roger Brown, Connie Hawkins or others today. I wrote of the college basketball scandal that impacted the game in 1960, all were guilty being acquainted with someone. The name Jack Molinas was mentioned in an earlier account, he was one of the principle architects of the 1960 college betting scandal. Brown and Hawkins were introduced to Molinas while in high school, Molinas a former player himself but now banned from the NBA for gambling.

It was reported Brown never took any money although Hawkins borrowed $200 which his brother repaid prior to the scandal breaking. After the news story broke Brown along with Hawkins and others were banned from play in college and the NBA issued an edict as well. Before going further we’ll take a look at Brown’s career, from Brooklyn (NY) he played at Wingate High School. Brown was a 6-foot 5 205-pound small forward, he’d received a scholarship to play at Dayton. At that time colleges had freshman teams so he and Hawkins (Iowa) never played at the varsity level with the story breaking their freshman year. Brown competed in amateur leagues around Dayton until the ABA began play in 1967, the history indicates he became the first player signed by the Pacers.

Brown was a three-time ABA champion player, 1970 ABA playoff MVP plus a number of other honors. There is no indication of the year however the NBA later cleared Brown to play but he chose to remain in the ABA. After retirement Brown remained in Indianapolis serving on the city-county council at a point. He died at the age of 54 in 1997. Imagine this, expelled from college without any evidence of wrongdoing. In addition he was banned from the NBA because he was acquainted with a person of questionable reputation. Could a similar case occur in 2023, of course it could however there is a huge difference. I believe there would be attorneys offering their services pro bono to take on the case of Brown, Hawkins and others. An apology is overdue to the families however its likely many of the participants yielding the sword of justice have likely died as well.