Basketball from a fan’s perspective

A rare record

On Sunday Purdue’s Zach Edey accomplished a rare feat, in his game against Wisconsin his second block of the game allowed him to join a limited ensemble of basketball players. Edey now has 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds 200 blocks and at least 60% shooting for his 4 years at Purdue. Edey now joins David Robinson of the Naval Academy at Annapolis and Patrick Ewing who played at Georgetown, there are reasons for the large gap in years. Consider the fact Robinson and Ewing played their college basketball during the late 1980’s.

College offenses have changed over time, no longer are teams offenses center oriented that’s explanation number one. Number two, players with NBA aspirations are usually history after their freshman year having declared for the NBA draft. Number three, we now have NBA G-League Team Elite and Overtime Elite plus Australia. Several players decide quite early they have no desire to attend college, they want to begin their pro career early with hopes of eventually playing in the NBA. With such a gap in years at the present pace it might be another 35-40 years or longer before another college athlete gains membership in this exclusive club.

The French will arrive…a few have already

All of us are aware the impact Victor Wembanyama’s made in his NBA rookie year. I’m sure there are GM’s and other front office folks hoping there is another Wemby coming to these shores from France or somewhere internationally. We cannot speak to that as a fact however there are more French youngsters who might be on their way in the 2024 NBA draft. Some of these players might change their mind and not submit their name or could change their mind period about playing in the NBA. With that said here goes a list from nbadraft.net’s latest mock draft.

The first name is Zacchaire Rishacher mentioned previously, he’s a 6-foot 9 200 pound forward playing for JL Bourg in the Euro League. Rishacher listed as the number 2 pick. Next up is another name mentioned earlier, at number 4 is Alexandre Sarr a 7-foot 1 205-pound center, Sarr is playing for the Perth Wildcats in the National Basketball League (Australia). The number 7 position is held by Tidjane Salaun a 6-foot 9 forward, he plays for Cholet in the Euro League. At number 27 is Melvin Ajinca a 6-foot 8 200 pound forward for Saint Quentin. Listed as the number 47 pick is Pacome Dadiet also a 6-foot 8 210 pound forward, he’s on the roster of Rationpharm Ulm.

Some of you….

Said in the spring of 2022 “Who is he” referring to the Dennis Gates hire at Mizzou. By the spring of 2023 you were shouting “Great hire,” now in the winter of 2024 you’ve decided “He can’t coach.” Listen folks especially you in Mizzou Nation you bet I’m disappointed in the play this season. I thought in October they are probably not going to be as good as the previous season but I had no idea it would be like this. I certainly have no intention of blowing smoke in your face however I remain the optimistic guy.

The glass is half full rather than half empty, better yet the glass can always be refilled. In August 2024 on paper at least Mizzou will have the best class of prospects they have had in the school’s history. All that’s good but what about right now, I am glad you ask the question. The SEC is the second toughest conference in the nation ranking only behind the Big XII. If I checked the conference losses Kentucky and Florida were double-digit losses for Mizzou. The other games if Mizzou makes a shot or two, a free throw or grabs a crucial rebound the win-loss total might look totally different from the present. Much as we’d like to have instant gratification it fails to occur at times.

This is interesting 

Imagine this, a town of 3,000 folks in Maine is home to the best high school basketball player in the nation. That town is Newport and is the home of Cooper Flagg, as for the town it’s located about 30 miles from Bangor the state capital. If we stop a moment and consider where the best of the best might call home there are locations that come to mind other than Newport. We might think Atlanta, Los Angeles, maybe Chicago or NYC. Some reading this might believe it’s a slam on the size of the town, far from it. We could use this example, French Lick Indiana has a current population less than 1,800 people. Imagine the town’s population in 1956 when Larry Bird was born. Bird’s hometown back then might have been about the same size Newport is today.

Leaving behind the discussions of small-town America basketball what about Flagg? We could say basketball definitely runs in the family, his mom played college basketball at the University of Maine, his dad at Eastern Maine Community College. Flagg has a twin brother teammate and an older brother who also played basketball. What makes the 6 foot 9 Flagg special, as my friend Rory says he’s got the IT factor. Last summer Flagg played at the legendary outdoor court Rucker in Harlem, the 6 foot 9 Flagg wowed the crowd with his shooting and overall play. Few white players have been able to have the Rucker gathering enthralled with their basketball skill. The IT factor, an extra gear which is far too difficult to describe. In any event Flagg, in his senior year at Montverde Academy will enter Duke as a freshman in the fall. Because he reclassified Flagg will be ineligible for the NBA draft until the spring of 2026.