J R Smith Denver Nuggets G
Carmelo Anthony Denver Nuggets F
Chris Anderson Denver Nuggets F
Kenyon Martin Denver Nuggets F
Delonte West Cleveland G
Stephon Marbury Boston G
Henry Bibby Atlanta G
Shaquille Oneal Phoenix C
Lebron James Cleveland F/G Captain
Cherokee Parks Retired Lifetime Achievement Award
Dennis Rodman Retired Naismith Hall of Fame Tattoo Wing for Ink of a Lifetime
Recruiting can be an inexact science. In basketball, it has been take to a crazy level and in some cases, 8th graders have verballed to colleges in recent years. The one that comes to mind in Houston is when Lute Olsen offered to Nic Wise when Nic was in 8th grade.
Last December, I went to a John Lucas 8th grade camp and immediately went to a court and noticed 2 young men, twins. My first thought was they cannot be 8th graders. They could shoot and handle like college players and could start for 99.9% of all high school teams. Let me put it another way...they would have started for my college team in 72, the University of Miami. Remember, this is an invitational camp for the top 100 players in the country.
Fast forward to today. I went back to the Coach Lucas camp. It has gained steam and has the top 100 players from 10 states, the majority being from Texas. Coach Lucas puts on this gig at University of Houston at the new Wellness Center. It is first class all the way. The players are 8th graders and they are very talented. There are compliance talks, talks to the parents, and the deal is very grounded and first class. John Lucas has helped so many people for so many things and knows the ins and outs of basketball. I know I speak for a ton of geezers my age that wish we were lucky enough to have a mentor of that caliber.
Miscellaneous
Pau Gasol is starting to define a new position from his play this year in the playoffs and from last year against Boston...Powerless Forward.
I met former NFL great Sean Jones today. Sean has a son at Lucas's camp and is doing investments, and yes, still doing them in this economy. Very nice guy.
It's been awhile since I wrote one of these and since that time the NCAA tourney has come and gone. UNC looked like the same team it did in early December when it beat Michigan State going away. Too much speed and depth.
Has anyone stayed up and seen Denver play? When they play at night and at Denver they look unbeatable. It is almost humorous. The Bird Man, Chris Anderson, comes in and blocks 6 shots in 15 minutes, J R Smith comes in and scores a ton, and by the 4th quarter, the opponents mouth is open from the altitude. They will be a tough opponent for the Lakers or the Rockets in the finals and will have the advantage at point guard no matter who they play. They are a double digits better team that they were 2 months ago.
Speaking of the Lakers....what an inconsistent team. Kobe yells he is the greatest when things are going good and yells at his team mates when they are not. I cannot ever recall any championship caliber team showing up in the playoffs with such a poor effort. Maybe in the regular season, but not the playoffs. Would a Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Bill Russell, Bad Boy Pistons, Larry Bird Celtics, or Tim Duncan led team tank like the Lakers have twice now against Houston. Who knows, they may win it all, but they seem to be missing something.
