Basketball from a fans perspective

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I don’t agree 

Mike Wilbon of ESPN is one of those in the media I enjoy listening to his take on sports. This time I am in disagreement with him. “USA treated rematch with South Sudan with proper respect,” of course his comment was based on the last time the teams faced one another Team USA only won by one point. This time around it was a different story, the rematch saw a win by the score of 103-86 for the second victory in Group C. I didn’t see the game nor the interview so I might be unfair to Wilbon. Wilbon was probably claiming Team USA took South Sudan lightly the first time they played them.

I continue to preach the world is catching up in basketball but no one seems to pay attention. Someone like Wilbon, who is much closer to the game being a member of the media fails to take this fact into consideration. There will be no more 30-40 point wins for Team USA, I still believe Team USA will win Gold although it’s my belief they will be tough wins. Bam Adebayo came off the bench scoring 18 points, he was aided by LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Ant Edwards. Jason Tatum missing against Serbia played however Joel Embiid was absent and did not see action in the game. Next up for Team USA is Puerto Rico tomorrow at 10:15 a.m. Central Time.   

This wouldn’t occur today

Imagine this, the NBA Bulls draft you and its “Thanks but no thanks” from you. That event occurred in 1969 and the principle reason Pee Wee Kirkland turned the NBA down, he was making more money in his criminal enterprises. Kirkland is now 79-years old but at one time he was one of the legends of playground basketball in New York City. The scene in Rucker Park is difficult to describe except to say there are games being played sunup to practically sundown.

The list reads like a who’s who list of players who went on to great NBA careers. Kareem, Tiny Archibald, Dr. J. and Wilt are just a few of those names, Kirkland might have been there if not for the other. It was said he might have made $30 million selling drugs no wonder he brushed NBA efforts aside. Despite his prowess on the basketball court the law eventually caught up with Kirkland, he served time in 1971 at Lewisburg (PA) and 1981-1988 he was incarcerated at the Federal Penitentiary in La Tuna Texas. Today he travels the country as a motivational speaker for the youth of today. He continued his education earning a master’s degree from Lincoln University.

We can only imagine what he accomplished on the Rucker Park court back in the day. After all he must have been rather good if the Bulls saw If you care you can join me welcoming Charles Barkley into the real world. Charles Barkley upset because the pending NBA package leaves TNT out of the broadcast picture. Mr. Barkley, I'd like to welcome you into the real world, in this world we don't always receive what we desire. Oftentimes we are disappointed however we keep on moving.

Are you sure

Big 10 commissioner Tony Petitti indicates there are no more expansion plans for now. Next month they add Southern Cal, UCLA, Oregon and Washington to become an 18-team conference. All of us realize moves of this type are $$$ driven but the movement is mind boggling. Just like the Big XII both conferences now contain a larger sum of schools than the number behind BIG. I’m not sure how the Big 10 plans on operating but there are teams in the Big XII that will not play home and home series as is normal.

The football is another matter for both conferences, what I find even more interesting about these moves is the after affect. An example, the University of Central Florida now in the Big XII and SMU in the ACC were considered mid major schools two years ago. The move into so-called Power 5 Conferences now make them majors in some eyes, nothing changed except they changed conferences. They likely didn’t increase their athletic budget or anything of the sort. What occurs for the future, continued confusion as schools continue an endless search for the best fit economically and advantageously. We could expect a move from Florida State and possibly UConn at some future date.

Is there a concern

Much of what you are about to read is not me, as I explained there was an issue. Between my schedule and the Lakers I was unable to devote the time routinely set up to watch Summer League play. Based on this fact I only witnessed bits and pieces of number two pick Alexander Sarr. This is fashioned on my read of others Sarr had a ho-hum experience in the Summer League. It appears some are questioning whether he was a legitimate number two pick in the June 2024 draft.

I don’t get too concerned because play is a snapshot of potential. An Si.com guy mentioned Micheal Beasley was on the road to be an All Pro while Derrick Rose was stuck in park, unable to shift into drive. Two issues, Sarr stands 7 foot in height, as a general rule Big Men sometimes have difficulty adjusting to faster pace NBA play. The most critical part to me, Summer League teams are put together with practically no opportunity to practice. Until its proven Sarr can’t play I’d rather depend on scouting reports. This from nbadraft.net is a portion of strengths and weaknesses of Sarr.

First the strength, “Tantalizing prospect given his combination of length and mobility/overall athleticism…Plays with excellent aggressiveness…Extremely mobile and won’t find a 7-footer who handles a guard on a switch or a pick and role better than Sarr…Excellent rim protector…Reportedly measure 7’1” with a 7’5” wingspan and has defensive anchor potential. Now a portion of the weakness, Solid wiry strength, but appears that he will never be an imposing athlete from a strength standpoint…Questionable whether he develops into a high level scorer at the NBA level…While he does take threes, he doesn’t make many…Consistently a sub-30% three point shooter. The hope is that he develops in this area and make it more reliable part of his game, given his potential as a face-up threat.”

Introduce the coach

Two surprises for me, John Calipari leaving Kentucky and his replacement Mark Pope. I had read some in the alumni community were becoming more critical of Coach Cal due to the lack of success come NCAA time. Cal’s contract contained a huge sum of money to be paid if they fired him, he did the next best thing. He took a job he believed could continue his legacy…Arkansas. As for Pope, the AD remained “in-house” hiring a former Kentucky player turned coach. In 1996 Pope was drafted in the second round by the Pacers, he would play for 3 other NBA teams before beginning his coaching career.

 There were stops at Georgia, Wake Forest and BYU all as an assistant coach, in 2015 Pope was hired as head coach at Utah Valley. He turned a losing program into a winner and maybe that’s why BYU came calling. His Cougar teams at BYU were also winners, his team earned a post-season tournament 3 of the 5 years at BYU. His first year was the covid year and no tournament was held, in 2023 that team finished with a 19-15 record.  I have no idea at this point if Pope is able to continue the Kentucky tradition however he’s got one step above most first year coaches…the built in tradition.