Basketball

• An Oversight of Olympic Proportion

  Jul 21, 2021 Andrew Williams 0 Comments

  

  

   

  Over the last six weeks as the NBA season slowly wrapped up in an  awe inspiring fashion we were eagerly waiting to see this crop of NBA all stars represent our Country in the Olympics.  Of course once the roster was revealed immediately we as the media and fans started second  guessing the roster. 

   

    My first thought was “what happened to the most exciting player last season , Trae Young . Or better yet Ja Morant or LaMelo Ball.” All 3 very exciting to watch and all have the ability to make players better. So why were they left off?  First before we address the elephant in the room let’s look at the Olympic team.  Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, Jayson Tatum, Jerami Grant, Draymond Green , Zach Levine, Bradley Beal, and Kevin Love all round out the high profile players that makes up the meat of this team.  Some names that we were not so familiar with also were entrusted to bring a gold home back to the US. This includes Darius Garland (Cleveland Cavaliers drafted 2019), Saddiq Bey ( Detroit Pistons drafted 2020), John Jenkins ( last known NBA team Knicks 2019 drafted 2012), Josh Magette ( Orlando Magic undrafted 2012, Dakota Mathias ( Philadelphia 76ers , undrafted 2018) , Cameron Reynolds Houston Rockets undrafted 2018.  All players are very good but I list all the players to say this LaMelo, Trae or Ja was not on the squad. 

   

   Through the first 4 games  USA splitting it 2-2, I couldn’t help allowing myself to wonder would Nigeria been able to handle the explosive athleticism of Ja Morant on a fast break or would Australia be able to keep up with another round of precision full court passing from LaMelo Ball or how would Trae fair on the biggest stage in the world. Certainly he deserves to take a bow.  Not to question the great Coach Pop or the selection committee, they have always put together a team that will represent our country but why not Trae, Melo or Ja.

    I am possibly one of those basketball fans that were ruined by seeing the Dream Team and Redeem Team play in one lifetime. Maybe I was just overly exposed to Olympic Melo and Vince Carter dunking over a grown, competent Center. Maybe it’s my fault, after watching the world admire and fear USA basketball I expected them to put together the 15 best collection of killers that  can work in a cohesive manner.  Or maybe these guys may have something together, so just like Ja Morant, LaMelo Ball, and Trae Young  I will be watching from home as we look on to Tokyo. 

   

   

   

   While Young was named to the 57 man pool last March, Morant and Ball wasn’t even invited. The Hawks guard recently had a cryptic post on Twitter, showing a video of NBA legend Isiah Thomas explaining why he wasn’t named to the Dream Team. Young captioned it with a sad emoji and a USA flag. Of course Morant replied with the message “Keep working dawg”.  The snub was unexplainable, more importantly we all know that  all 3 future stars would have made this Olympic team damn near unstoppable. 

  https://twitter.com/jamorant/status/1415804882192318466?s=21

   

   

  Trae Young , LaMelo Ball and Ja Morant may have been left off Team USA for the Tokyo Olympics, but they’ll surely be center piece in future Olympics to come let’s hope they have a full roster of star talent.

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• Johnny Juzang Withdraws from NBA Draft

  Jul 8, 2021 SportZ 0 Comments

  Source: Breakout NCAA tournament star Johnny Juzang pulls out of NBA draft in favor of returning to UCLA Bruins (link)

   

  UCLA guard Johnny Juzang made a name for himself as the breakout star of the NCAA tournament as the Bruins advanced all the way to the Final Four. Some fans and media (me included) recognized him a potential sleeper in the 2021 draft due to his performance. But Wednesday, Juzang announced he was withdrawing from the NBA draft and returning to the Bruins.

  Juzang helped lead UCLA on a Cinderella run in the NCAA tournament in March, winning five games to go from First Four to Final Four. He had 23 points in the opening win over Michigan State, followed by 27 points against BYU. He was at his best in the final two games, a win over Michigan and a loss to Gonzaga. Juzang went for 28 points in the victory over the Wolverines, and his 29 points nearly led UCLA to an upset of the top-seeded Bulldogs in the Final Four.

  In the Bruins' six NCAA tournament games, Juzang averaged 22.8 points and shot 50.9% from the field. His 137 points were the second-highest NCAA tournament total in UCLA history. On the season, the 6-foot-6 shooting guard averaged 16.0 points and 4.1 rebounds.

  Despite the breakout postseason, Juzang was only projected as a late second-round pick in the NBA draft. He was ranked No. 53 in ESPN's latest draft rankings.

  Juzang's return likely cements UCLA as a preseason top-five team for the 2021-22 campaign. Cronin returns every player from the Bruins' NCAA tournament run, while also adding five-star prospect Peyton Watson, ESPN 100 guard Will McClendon and Rutgers graduate transfer Myles Johnson. Chris Smith, who missed the second half of the season, opted to leave for the NBA draft, while Cody Riley announced Wednesday he planned to return to UCLA.

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• Rachel Nichols Apologizes for "Diversity" Comments on Maria Taylor

  Jul 6, 2021 SportZ 0 Comments

  Source: ESPN's Rachel Nichols apologizes on 'The Jump' for comments about Maria Taylor (link)

   

  ESPN NBA sideline reporter and “The Jump” host Rachel Nichols issued a brief apology for comments she made about diversity and her colleague Maria Taylor to kick off “The Jump” on Monday afternoon.

  A bombshell report from The New York Times on Sunday detailed the alleged heavy internal strife at the network over comments Nichols made in 2020 while Nichols and Taylor were both being considered to host coverage for the NBA Finals.

  According to them, Nichols was told by ESPN that Taylor, who is Black, was going to host the network’s coverage of the NBA Finals instead of her. Nichols was speaking with a longtime adviser of LeBron James, Adam Mendelsohn, on a call that was accidentally recorded and then later leaked.

  During that call, Nichols can be heard saying that she thinks Taylor was only being promoted because of ESPN’s "bad record on diversity". As it turns out, that recording was accessible to numerous ESPN employees, one of whom eventually leaked it. That employee is the only one to have been disciplined over the incident so far, something that remains an “active source of pain” among other employees. The comments also upset plenty of her coworkers on “The Jump” and among those involved in NBA coverage, including Jalen Rose, Adrian Wojnarowski and Jay Williams.

  Amidst this brewing controversy, Nichols made the apology. "The first thing they teach you in journalism school is don’t be the story, and I don’t plan to break that rule today or distract from a fantastic Finals,” she said. “But I also don’t want to let this moment pass without saying how much I respect, how much I value our colleagues here at ESPN, how deeply, deeply sorry I am for disappointing those I hurt, particularly Maria Taylor, and how grateful I am to be part of this outstanding team.”

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• NCAA Allows Athletes Profit off of their Likeness

  Jul 5, 2021 Andrew Williams 0 Comments

   

   The NCAA an institution that has been built on the backs of amateur athletes and under the premise that these athletes participate in these lucrative events in exchange for free education has changed their whole point of view. The NCAA on Wednesday June 30th agreed to allow college athletes to make money of their Name, Image and Likeness as of July 1 2021. In layman’s terms these athletes are now able to ink endorsement deals, sell autographs and even profit off YouTube and other social media outlets. 

   

    Why the sudden change of heart, has the mighty NCAA and board of directors finally seen the error of their ways. Is this a moment of repentance or just way to stay ahead of the negative publicity that will loom within the legacy of the NCAA.  This decision was actually prompted by the not only pressure growing increasingly unbearable from political point of views but legal stand point was in question as well.  States from Alabama to Oregon were hours away from implementing laws that would challenge the NCAA’s old amateur rules when the board of directors rescinded the rule (even in states that were not in danger of these new laws).  To be clear the original rule stated players were not allowed “to advertise, recommend or promote directly the sale or use of a commercial property or service of any kind”.  Just the thought of rescinding the before mentioned rule should blow your mind when you calculate the possible millions that awaits these children.

   

    Though I am happy to see that these kids who have worked so hard are now have an opportunity to earn fraction of what the schools are earning off them. It would be quite an ignominious display to celebrate these steps forward without questioning how will NCAA rectify it’s past. Will Reggie Bush get his Heisman back? Will the Fab 5’s legacy be vindicated? Hell , will Myles Bridges get his $40 back? Only time will tell. Many people from the barber shops to the boardrooms differ on the opinion of what should happen but what’s not questionable is the immediate effect it will have on recruiting. 

   

   Now schools with very high powered Alumni will be feared due to possible added endorsements for the schools recruits pick. I wonder will this change how AAU will be viewed? Will top tier EYBL games be filled with more commercial entities than college coaches? Most importantly with the ongoing issue of wage disparities between male and female sports how will this translates to this new terrain of the NCAA  and possible endorsers? Like I said before I am happy for these kids and  excited they will be paid. It seems the rule change has led to more questions than answers . This rule change and how things are moving forward will be legacy over the NCAA. Those that sacrificed their college career to pursue the life their hard work has afforded them you are the martyrs. This is your win too, and the NCAA can never take that away,…..again.

   

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• BallCourt - Is Devin Booker The New Kobe?

  Jul 1, 2021 CWN Publisher 0 Comments

  Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker has made it no secret that he considers the late Kobe Bryant to be one of his biggest idols. Many believe that Booker’s game has been patterned after the Los Angeles Lakers legend. And it has truly been on full display this season as Booker has helped lead the Suns to a stellar campaign. But their style of play isn’t the only thing Kobe and D-Book have in common. As a matter of fact, we were able to dig up six interesting facts that eerily connect the careers and lives of the two shooting guards.

  This week on Ballcourt - The World of Basketball - Coach Drew looks at the NBA Championship games and the surprises and heartbreaks and discusses the similarities between Devin Booker and Kobe Bryant.

  Topics include:
      ◦   Is Devin Booker the New Kobe
      ◦   Suns vs Clippers Nail bitter
      ◦   Trea Jones sending chills through the East
      ◦    Alex Caruso caught flying high

      ◦    Phoenix Suns and Atlanta Hawks finished dead last in their divisions in 2018.

      ◦    Former WNBA all star snubbed by Olympic  committee.
  
    A Coaches Look
      ◦    Can Philly fans trust Ben Simmons and the process any longer
  76ers fans may never forget Ben Simmons’ epic fail, says Reggie Miller
  
      ◦    Shaq out here living several Goat lives
  
   Word from our Coach  - Work on your Craft:

  
  Stay active,  Stay Healthy , Stay Safe

   

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