Tag Archives: professional basketball

On Basketball Coaching

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March-June is college/pro basketball at its best. A lot of people only worship at one of the churches, I happily switch back and forth.

An observation. There is zero correlation between how successful a person was as a player and how successful they are as a coach. Examples are everywhere, but Patrick Ewing’s Big East Georgetown record of 0-19 is one particularly glaring one*.

In fact, if you compare former top college and pro player coaches versus all the remaining ones, I’ll bet you come up with a negative correlation.

Which begs the question, why? When Magic Johnson quickly flamed out as the Lakers coach, analysts said he had a hard time relating to the vast majority of ordinary players for whom the game didn’t come as easily. I also suspect, they get outworked by their less famous, less wealthy counterparts.

So wisen up athletic directors and pass on the former stars.

*For some strange reason(s), Ewing thinks he should be back next year.

Stat Of The Day

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Professional basketball division. Luke Kennard of the Los Angeles Clippers is making 44.6% of all his shots this year, but 44.8% from three. The further away he is from the basket, the (slightly) better he gets. Last night he was 8-9 from 3 in a 142-111 victory over the Houston Rockets.

My “j” is similarly filthy, but I plan on continuing to dunk when the opportunity presents itself.

Are You Not Jazzed?

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The hottest basketball team in the world is quietly positioning themselves for the #1 seed in the Western Conference. Of course, whether winning or losing, by default, a Salt Lake City-based team is quiet.

Dig this box score from last night’s 132-100 victory over the 18-12 Portland Trailblazers. The starters scored 67, the bench 65. They made over half of the 55 3’s they took. Super impressive, but one blemish, the starters turned it over too much.

How do the flashy teams everyone always talks about beat the Jazz in a seven game series given their bench and three-point shooting?

Postscript: Upon further review, imagine being Georges Niang. Pre-game, coach says, “I’m only gonna play you 16 minutes tonight.” “Okay then,” you think to yourself, “I’m going to jack it up from everywhere and get us 21 points.”

The Main Challenge For the Brooklyn Nets’ New Big Three

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Jesse Washington says its character.

“In all fairness, there’s more to Harden’s and Irving’s character than basketball. Irving is a generous and passionate advocate for social justice. Harden helped buy food for 5,000 Houston families during the pandemic. But when it comes to their profession, they seem entitled. Which makes it hard for any partnership to work.”

Bam Adebayo’s Mom

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Is going to be okay. Because Bam is getting paid. From ESPN News Services.

“The Miami Heat and Bam Adebayo have agreed to a five-year max extension, Adebayo’s agent, Alex Saratsis, told ESPN’s Zach Lowe. The deal includes escalator clauses that can take its total to $195 million over five years.”

Let’s not forget, social mobility is extremely low in the (dis)United States these days. And if one wants to improve their lot in life, education is still a much safer bet than professional sports. Neither of those two facts mean we can’t celebrate Bam’s and his mother’s changed fortunes.

“Adebayo had told The Associated Press during the NBA’s restart earlier this summer at Walt Disney World that his lone financial goal was to take care of his mother, Marilyn Blount. She raised him by herself in North Carolina, making about $15,000 a year from her multiple jobs and with the family calling a single-wide trailer their home.

‘That competitive nature comes out when I feel like I’m playing bad and when things aren’t going right,’ Adebayo said in the September interview with the AP. ‘I think about how she fought through struggle. … You see that for 18 years straight, you take that load on and feel that responsibility. And my responsibility is to provide for my mom, and the best way to make sure I can do that is to help us win.'”

Consider her provided for.