Basketball from a fans perspective

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It was 1975

Prior to the Steph Curry Warriors the last championship was won in 1975, that team was led by Hall of Fame players Rick Barry and Jamal Wilkes. Of course Barry and Wilkes had help from a deep bench as they swept the Washington Bullets 4-0. That team was led by former Warriors point guard turned head coach Al Attles, he was drafted by the Philadelphia Warriors from HBCU North Carolina A&T in 1960. He moved with the team once they relocated to San Francisco.

Attles would remain with the Warriors initially as a player, then it was player-coach and then a move to the bench. His teams won 557 games including the 1975 NBA championship. Once Attles retired from coaching he didn’t leave the game in the rear view mirror he remained with the Warriors as general manager, vice-president and consultant. On Wednesday it was announced 87-year old Al Attles died after spending several weeks in hospice care. Attles once said, “Me and Wilt Chamberlain combined for 117 points in a game.” Of course this was Chamberlain’s 100 point game which set the NBA record. Al Attles was a 2019 Naismith Hall of Fame honoree as a contributor to the NBA.

Soft or easy schedule

A sizable number of schools program soft schedules in order to inflate their resume. At the same time there is the prevailing thought if the schedule is tough it prepares the team for an NCAA run in March. How about a team’s schedule being somewhere in the middle not too easy nor tough. After checking the non-con portion of the schedule that appears to be the case for Mizzou. It begins on the road against the always dangerous Memphis Tigers and coach Hardaway, the game is November 4. A few days short of a month on December 8 to be specific Mizzou will return to Lawrence to face the Jayhawks once again. 

On December 14, a road trip will see the team travel to New York City to play Long Island University coached by former NBA player Rod Strickland. A few days before Christmas the annual Braggin’ Rights game will occur, this is the match where Mizzou faces Illinois it will occur on December 22. The game will be played at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. I hope anyone checking out the balance of the schedule believe I am shortchanging the remainder of teams. Far from it every team has ability, coach Gates has practically a new team considering the portal transfers and freshman, all must adapt to new teammates to determine how the Mizzou system is intended to work.

A way too early look at the 2025 NBA draft

You are reading this now, by the time June rolls around it could all change. Not the names but the order of the draft. An early look finds wunderkind Cooper Flagg at the top in all three mock drafts. From 3 through 5 the names are the same only the position, let’s take a look:

nbadraft.net                           nbadraftroom.com                   tankathon.com

Cooper Flagg Duke                   Cooper Flagg Duke                    Cooper Flagg Duke

Drake Powell N Carolina           Nolan Traore France                  Ace Bailey Rutgers

Ace Bailey Rutgers                    Dylan Harper Rutgers                Dylan Harper Rutgers

VJ Edgecombe Baylor               Ace Bailey Rutgers                    Nolan Traore France

Dylan Harper Rutgers                VJ Edgecombe Baylor               VJ Edgecombe Baylor

The “experts” have given us their opinion

I cannot provide you the date however I wrote of Oliver Rioux the 7 foot 9 basketball prospect earlier. Rioux played his senior year at IMG Academy and now has taken his game to the University of Florida. There is YouTube video of him in action of course it’s against high school competition, in college he won’t face anyone close to his height however an adjustment will certainly be necessary. At this stage I have no idea if Rioux can play at the collegiate level or if the NBA is in his future. As for the headline the letters came flying in after the story on Rioux was published.

I can inform you 95% of those written indicated a belief “He can’t play.” Why not wait until he appears on the basketball court before deciding he can’t play. I mentioned his height at the beginning of this account, he checks in at 290 pounds. With that height and weight he needs to gain a few pounds if we look at some post players of the past. Wilt Chamberlain was 7 foot 1 and 275 pounds, as for the 7 foot 1 Shaquille O’Neal it was a different story. Shaq was reported to be 325 pounds although its believed he exceeded that figure. I checked NBA rosters, although there are many heavy weights the Suns Jusuf Nurkic at 290 pounds is the heaviest current NBA player. Bottom line Rioux might not see much of the game his freshman year as he adjusts to the college game.