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Allen Fieldhouse

Once upon a time the mere mention of Allen Fieldhouse would cause trembling. Whether it was the building or the fact Kansas turned out dynamite teams every season or something else. If you had an opportunity to attend a game in the arena you would almost always leave with a smile on your face. The mighty Jayhawks had pummeled another visitor team into the floor of the venerable arena, some arenas have a mystique about them, that is the case here. The building is named after Forrest Clare “Phog” Allen, he lettered in basketball under the inventor of the game Dr. James A. Naismith.

As for Allen he began coaching the Jayhawks in 1919, he led them until his forced retirement in 1956. He was the architect for the success basketball experienced during his tenure. According to Wikipedia 20 times since the arena opened the Jayhawks finished the season undefeated at home. That provides you an idea was Kansas basketball has been so formidable especially playing at The Phog. More recently with the collegiate change in the landscape the home team has not been nearly invincible as they once were. Allen Fieldhouse opened its doors in 1955 and similar to other arenas (Cameron Indoor, The Palestra) will probably never be replaced. Over the years there have been 5 major renovations of Allen Fieldhouse.

The Great White Hope

The title belongs to a 1970 movie based on a 1967 play written by Howard Sackler, it was loosely based on the life of Jack Johnson heavyweight boxing champion of the 1900’s. The movie starred the late James Earl Jones in the role, “the title refers to the hopes some fans had for a white boxer to end Johnson’s reign as heavyweight champion and is a symbol of racism and suppression.” Beginning in the 1960’s the NBA saw an ever increasing number of black athletes added to team rosters, today the association is 70% to 78% black.

The 1979-80 season witnessed Larry Bird being added to the lineup of the Celtics and in some circles it was quietly whispered Bird was “The Great White Hope.” There was plenty of evidence Bird could hoop and he proved it over and over again until his retirement from the NBA. During and immediately after Bird several other white players thought to move into the Bird role, injuries or lacking the skill to adapt to NBA play they were left on the side of the road until now. Then we received word, “The best high school player in the nation hails from Maine.” He first came to our attention while he played at Nokomis Regional High School but would transfer to Montverde Academy in Florida for his senior year. “2023-24 Accomplishments: Gatorade National Player of the Year, Naismith Prep Player of the Year, and McDonald’s All-American.” The best in the nation, how could that be, according to the U.S. Census 2.5% of the population of Maine is black. Well it turns out Cooper Flagg is white, he’s not black and was the best baller in the nation in high school, later he would play his freshman year at Duke where he continued to grow his game and distinguish himself on the basketball court.

As he’s moved into the midway point of his first year in the NBA and playing for the Mavs do we dare say “budding NBA superstar?” Flagg is not there yet however as his game continues to grow and his team improves we are likely to see the continued improvement of his game. Can we see a comparison between him and “Larry you know who,” am I placing too much pressure on Flagg…I don’t think so. My observation of him from interviews and his play at Duke and now in the NBA indicates he is able to handle the media and NBA opponents alike. White youth have “transformed” themselves into MJ, Kobe and now Wemby on the basketball court, soon they will become “Cooper Flagg.” The key question, doesn’t matter the skin color black, brown or white…the key question, can he hoop?

Gilbert Arenas is an entertainer

Once upon a time Arenas played in the NBA, nicknamed Agent 0 he was good. As for his entertainment value that remains under question, allow me to explain. He attacked the legendary George Mikan of the Minneapolis Lakers and his playing skills. For those who might be unfamiliar Mikan was 6-foot 10 and 245 pounds a large player for that era. He played for the Minneapolis Lakers from 1947-1954 a period the NBA was in its infancy, Arenas began pontificating about “Mikan dominating the NBA shooting 40% from the floor for his career.” He even poked fun at the “Mikan Drill” which was used at the time to teach Big Men how to play the game at this level. Let’s take into consideration a few facts which Agent 0 ignored or failed to take into consideration.

8 teams existed during the period Mikan played versus the 30 teams of today. At that period, the game was played at a much slower paced than today, shooting wasn’t the art form it would later become. Teams were proficient in dribbling the ball because there was no shot clock. A team could stall as long as they desired, there was no hurry to score and give the other team an opportunity to do likewise. At the tail end of Mikan’s career the league implemented the 24-second shot clock which increased the requirement to score baskets, everyone became better shooters or they were soon out of the league. There was no 3-point line at the time which certainly could increase shooting and scoring. This is what I fail to understand from Agent 0 and others, what is the purpose of denigrating players of the past. Bottom line from this point going forward I will consider Agent 0 an entertainer over that of a former player.