Basketball from a fans perspective

He was present for the historic event

Tom Meschery is a name from the NBA’s history that few may recall. Meschery, now 86 years old, had a notable 10-year career in the league, spending six of those years with the Warriors. In 1967, the team retired his number 14 jersey, which currently hangs in the rafters at the Chase Center. Additionally, Meschery was part of the Warriors lineup on the night Wilt Chamberlain scored his famous 100-point game. In today's era of social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook, some question the authenticity of Chamberlain's scoring feat, likening it to phenomena like Bigfoot, crop circles, and UFOs, skeptics often ask, "Where's the video?"

This historic game took place March 2nd,1962 when the NBA was a major league in name only. Television coverage back then was limited, with only a weekly game broadcast, far less extensive than today. We have weekly double-headers on TNT and ESPN in addition to a Saturday or Sunday game. There is NBA League Pass the complete 82 games for cable and satellite customers if they desire. At that time, there were only nine teams in the NBA compared to the 30 of today. The league occasionally held home games at alternative venues. The match against the Knicks on the night of Chamberlain's record-breaking performance was held in Hershey, Pennsylvania, approximately 100 miles east of Philadelphia. Fewer than 5,000 spectators attended the game; yet, along with Meschery, others may have witnessed the historic event. In the game Chamberlain made 36 field goals and, despite his reputation for poor free-throw shooting, remarkably succeeded in making 28 of 32 attempts.

The lasting evidence of this achievement is a photograph of Chamberlain holding a placard with the number 100 written on it. A radio broadcast of the final quarter was later discovered and is now preserved at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. After retiring from professional basketball, Meschery embarked on a career as a high school English and creative writing teacher, he’s also a poet. His daughter would become an educator too, the story goes the subject of the Chamberlain game was discussed and her middle school students didn’t believe it occurred. With her father’s assistance she had this video shot and presented to her class. Some might still refuse to believe Meschery, the choice is strictly yours.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Efg-AxeQv4

The look ahead

For the most part college basketball, which impacts the NBA Draft is over except the NCAA Tournament with 4 remaining schools. It’s April and there could be changes between now and the June draft however let’s take a brief look. All three mock drafts I routinely follow continue to place Duke’s Cooper Flagg at the top, at this point a change would only be forthcoming should he decide to return to school in the fall. What about my Lakers, later you will read my critique of Big Men possibilities but for now these are the thoughts of others. As an example nbadraftroom.com points the Lakers with the 53rd pick toward Sion James the 6 foot 6 inch Duke guard, tankathon.com indicates the pick will be a Big Man.

The tankathon choice with the 54th pick will be Illinois’s Tomislav Ivisic, 7 foot 1 and 255 pounds. Finally we arrive at nbadraftnet.com list and here is a complete deviation, this site implies the Lakers have the 51st and 53rd pick. At 51 they place Johann Grunloh 6 foot 11 from Germany and with 53 it’s Dink Pate a 6 foot 8 guard from the G-League. What do I think in advance of the draft is easy. For sure the Lakers need a Big Man, will that become Ivisic or Grunloh or maybe one of the others mentioned below? Truth of the matter I could foresee any of the names these sites selected as being a worthy addition provided they transition to NBA play. I will check again in May and perhaps a week ahead of the June 25th draft for additional updates.

The true picture 

We’ve read and heard a great deal of complaints regarding NIL, the portal and college players in general over the past two years. While a portion of the criticisms are certainly valid we tend to ignore the coaches whenever these issues are the topic of conversation. That particular area is overlooked for unexplained reasons however it should be. Several college coaches have been fired because the teams failed to meet the expectations of the administration of that particular school, what about the others? Several coaches were able to lead their teams into the NCAA Tournament…what about their fate?

To date there have been 9 college coaches changing jobs over the last 10 days, they have done this despite their teams tournament play in some instances winning in the tournament. They made the move because an opportunity presented itself to earn more income or the school’s prestige was perceived as superior they decided to depart. There is another issue here, what about the players they recruited, probably the vast majority of those players will be left with a decision. “Do I stay here or should I look for another school too?” I hope no one misunderstands my intent here, I am not stating they shouldn’t make an effort to better themselves that is not the case. My belief always is to see the big picture, if there is a problem with college basketball it includes the coaches as well.

Is he the problem

There is no disagreement that Ja Morant is a confirmed talent. Despite his skills, controversy seems to follow the mercurial guard. Most recently, during a game this week, he gestured toward the Warrior bench with his finger as if it were a gun while heading to the Grizzly bench during a timeout. Morant has been suspended twice by the NBA for gun-related issues. He was once suspended for 25 games for possessing a gun in a nightclub. In another incident, a friend recorded and posted a video of him with a gun in a vehicle on social media.

Earlier this year, his father Tee Morant was ejected from a game for berating officials. A little background on Ja’s father reveals that he played semi-professional basketball and considered playing overseas. Tee decided to stay home when Jamie became pregnant with Ja. Tee pursued a career as a barber and began training his son at an early age for a future in basketball. The issue of Morant and firearms affects people differently. Following news that the NBA would launch an investigation, some letter writers expressed concerns that the NBA was being “too soft.” What is your view of the incident?