UNC 2019 Season Review

This is my critique of the 2019 UNC basketball team.  It lacked post play. 
First of all let me say this tho.  Coby White is a stud and did an amazing job this year as a freshman to handle the responsibility of running the team and being the teams best offensive option and most reliable player this year.  This kid sound be the first PG taking in this years NBA draft.
 UNC traditionally has a post player they can throw the ball to in the post to get a bucket when needed.  This year team did not have that.  So when teams like Auburn went on a run UNC couldn't just throw the ball in the post and get a bucket or FT to stop the bleeding.  They would come down and jack up 3's too.  When they were off the routes were on.  I thought Sterling Manley could possibly develop into that this year but after his knee injury Roy didn't play him at all.  I didn't see him get more than 2 consecutive  possessions after returning from injury.  Maybe he was still injured and couldn't pay to many minutes. 
Garrison Brooks definitely isn't the answer.  He is a back-up big at best.  This just shows the late of talent they had in the post that he was the starting center this year.  He lacks ability to score in the post with his back to the basket, hands are suspect, struggles against length and scoring in traffic.  Plays below the rim and lack the explosion of catching that backside lob UNC fans were use to seeing guys like R.Wallace, A.Jamison, Brandon Wright and Brice Johnson catching.  Defensively he struggled with size and athletic bigs and was more of a position defender and not a shot blocker. 
Luke Maye is what he is.  He had a great UNC career and out performed any and all expectations anyone had of him.  He could score in the post but lacked the size and struggled to score over length to much for that to be a reliable option. 
Cam Johnson is a very good shooter. He is streaky. He lacks the ability to drive left.  He is a straight line right hand driver that has no change of direction. His handles is suspect, he struggles dribbling in traffic and against pressure and turns the ball over a lot in these situations.  He also struggled finishing at the rim on his drives.  He struggled on defense against wings and couldn't defend guards penetration.  He can possibly make an NBA team with his shooting but needs to work on all other aspects of his game if in is going to stay on an NBA roster. 
Nasir Little needs to work on everything.  He lacks shooting, ball handling, touch around the basket, finishing with the off-hand, decision making, post game, mid-range, change of direction you name it.  For anyone else it would be a no-brainer to come back to school but whenever you are projected as a lottery pick you need to enter the draft.  He just needs to stay motivated to improve and work on his game once all the money come.  I never understood when people say someone should come back to school when they are promised to get drafted.  You have alot more free time to work on your game as a pro than you do as a college student.  You just have to be committed to using all that free time to work on improving. 
Overall this UNC team overachieved.  After watching them lose to Texas early on I never expected them to share the ACC title this year.  To go 16-2 in conference play this year was an awesome coaching job done by Roy Williams this year.  I just new the lack of a presence inside would eventually come back to bite this years team. 

Muhammad Ali

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Muhammad Ali 

Now that some time has passed since the passing of the great Muhammad Ali I wanted to take a moment and put into words what he meant to myself, my community & a whole generation of young black men like myself.  He was know as the greatest. But he was the greatest not because of just his elite boxing skills he displayed inside the ring but the confidence, cockyness & self-love he displayed outside the ring. I am to young to even have seen Ali box live. So other than video footage of old fights the only Ali I know is the man outside the ring. A truly great man indeed. He taught us that it was ok to have a voice and stand up to injustice against our people and our community.  With some of the injustices our communities are facing today his words and what he stood for rings true more now than ever. Speaking of the issues of today, I hear a lot of people acknowledge that there is a problem but they dont have the answers. If you don't have the answers at least be open to others suggestions. Here are some of my thoughts.... 
1. We as a black community have to stop calling the police on each other for things that dont warrent them being called and then something tragic ends up happening. 
2. We as a country must acknowledge as a whole that there is a problem with police officers killing black men then the issue can be addressed and a resolution worked on. 
3. When the police are called to black/urban communities why not send two officers with at least one that looks like the people of that community he is called to police.
I would hope a cop would be less likely to shoot a suspect with a partner that looks just like the suspect right beside him unless the situation warranted it. But I could be wrong. 
4. The athletes,actors,politicians, & "people of power" with a voice and the resources who acknowledge a problem and want to make a difference have to realize change wont happen over night. Come together use these resources to invoke change at the grass roots level. Start programs in the community that education & fund our kids to become judges, lawyers, DAs, prosecutors, politicians and law enforcement officers so we can have people that are being accused that look like them on the other side if the law. 
Muhammad Ali taught us self-love but we must realize self-love isn't just love for ourselves but love for everyone that looks like us and are victims of the same struggle.

NBA Draft 2015

 

With the 2015 NBA draft approaching I usually give analysis of some of the best players coming out of college and offer up my opinion on who the local team (Charlotte Hornets) should consider drafting.  Last year they agreed with my opinion and drafted PJ Hairston.  To my surprise some have already given up on him after only his first season.  Let me say this in reference to that. No shooter figures it out after one season.  Even the best shooters in the game today struggled a bit there first season. So the call from most is for the Hornets to draft a shooter since they shot 31% from 3.  I don't think its the players I think its the system.  If you play a slow pace half-court offense you are more than likely going to shoot a lower percentage than if you play an up-tempo fast pace offense like the Golden St. Warriors play.  Players play more loose and the shots come more freely and you will make a better percentage. Playing an up and down fast pace game provides more space i.e more open shots as compared to a half-court with less open space therefore less open shots. As far as who they should draft, I have to admit I have soured from college basketball.  The game has become unwatchable at times.  I can't remember a season with so many games where teams failed to reach 20pts by halftime. So I'm not as keen on as many college players as past years.  But with the way the NBA game is played now I think you could never have enough shooters.  With that being said the guy I suggest for the Hornets is RJ Hunter a 6'6 shooter out of Georgia St and/or Jerian Grant the PG from Notre Dame.  He is a big PG at 6'5 and a good shooter and defender.  You add him and you can make Kemba Walker the six man scorer off the bench.  Kemba is a scorer first and this will put him more in his natural role and not have to worry about getting others involve or playing off Al Jefferson and spot up shooting witch is not his strength. 

NBA Playoffs 2015

The NBA playoffs 2015 with be decided by attrition. My view of the playoffs this year will be injuries. Not just injuries but injuries to major stars. Start out with teams that would have but didn't even make the playoffs due to injuries.  Kevin Durant foot injury kept OKC a title contender out. Chris Bosh (blood clots) derailed the Heat who would've been fun to watch after they acquired Dragic in a trade. Then once the playoffs started Kevin Love separated his shoulder vs Boston in the 1st round.  It would've been fun to see if LeBron could've brought a healthy Cleveland squad their first title. Now Shumpert (hamstring) and Kyrie (foot) are hampered by injuries too. Next up Chris Paul.  CP3 injured his hamstring trying to get pass the defending champs in round 1 and haven't been the same since. Speaking of point guards John Wall then falls and breaks his wrist & is out for the playoffs. Man I can keep going, Memphis PG Conley broke his face (ouch)  Man i'm tired of typing i need a comma or something. Just added to the hamstring list is Pau Gasol as he is now listed as questionable. I know injuries happen, but to this many stars is crazy. The two healthiest teams seem to be Golden St. & Houston. Maybe one of these two will win the NBA championship or as its called in 2015 "the NBA battle of attrition." Bye the way I was hoping for a Cavs vs Clippers or a Cavs vs Warriors NBA finals. Now i'm just hoping for two healthy teams playing in June.

How College Football player can get paid NOW!

 
 
 

      With the news that the new BCS Championship generated a $50 million contract and a bowl game can generate anywhere from $27 million. Also the other five FBS-level leagues will split $75 million. That's more than five times greater than their combined payday in 2013. With college coaches contracts also at an all-time high, money is flowing into the Billion dollar college football industry to everyone except the guys generating all the revenue, THE PLAYERS. As long as the players keep playing and waiting for the powers that be to devise a concept of which they can be played, the will not get paid.  If the players know it or not the power is in their hands if they want to get paid now for the money they are generating.  The 2014 college football season is scheduled to start Thursday, August 28th with a big ESPN/SEC network kickoff game of Texas A&M vs USC. All the division 1 college football players should come together and agree to protest being exploited and not play opening week August 28th until an agreement is made where they are paid for the revenue they are generating.  In a multi-billion dollar industry a college scholarship isn't enough.  Especially when you are risking your health thru possible injury, future health problems, and brain damage thru concussions.  The time to get paid in now. As long as the players keep waiting on Presidents and commissioners to think of a way and an  amount to pay them, they will continue to procrastinate. Its time for them to take charge of their own fate and agree to not play another game until they are compensated.  With the money that would be lost thru the TV revenue by not playing, my guess is ti would take a week or two at the most for them to come up with some type of compensation for the "student-athletes" to get them back on the field ASAP.  Throughout history protest, marches, and boycotts have been a driving force to generate change with issues far greater than this.  But with the amount of money that is involved this will get the ball rolling on an issue that has been discussed long enough with no action having taken place. 

Hornets Draft 2014

 
     
         It's that time again.  Time for my annual (former Bobcats now Hornets) entry on who the Hornets should draft in this years NBA Draft.  Let me preface this as I always do by saying I am not a Hornets fan, but I am a basketball fan who lives in the Charlotte area and I would love to see the product improve so I can attend some games not solely to see the stars on the opposing teams.  Last year I said they should've drafted Ben  McLemore, the shooting guard out of Kansas, because they needed a SG with range to spread the floor. {I still stick by that even thou he only averaged 9 ppg and shot 38% from the field and 32% from the 3 point line.  I blame most of this on being drafted to a dysfunctional Sacramento Kings organization and being a rookie.  Give him a couple years and he'll figure it out, trust me}. After not following my advise what do the Hornets need again in this years upcoming draft? A shooting guard with range to help spread the floor to give Kimba room to drive and Al Jefferson room in the post. The best two candidates to fill that void in this years draft in my opinion are Zach LaVine, and PJ Hairston. Most of the experts have Gary Harris the guard out of Michigan St. ranked higher but these two are better prospects to me.  Zach LaVine is a super athletic guard out of UCLA with deep range, a good handle, and enough athleticism to defend the position.  His numbers from UCLA in his only season there doesn't reflect how good this kid will be. His only issue is his slight frame which he will obviously fill out once he becomes a professional.  If he isn't available at 9 when the Hornets pick then they should go with PJ Hairston.  Hairston is a big guard who also have unlimited range, is athletic and is a physical defender as he proved by defending the 4 position at UNC.  His issue is that he proved to be a knucklehead with off the court issues at UNC that prevented him from (imo) playing what would have been a breakout Jr season at UNC.  A season that would have definitely propelled him into the lottery. As long as he can prove he has matured from the off the court issues he to will be a star in this league in due time.  Hopefully the Hornets will take my advise this year and address a need and take one of these 2 guys, and realize there is a lot of validity to what I'm suggesting and add me on the scout team to put all this knowledge to use with some professional assistance and tools. 

NBA Summer League 2013

  

  Some of my thoughts from the NBA Summer League for 2013.  First of all we didn't get to see a lot of the lottery picks due to injury.  The #1 pick (Anthony Bennett), #5 (Alex Lin) & #6 (Nerlens Noel) were all out with different injures. Picks #2(Oladipo) #8(Caldwell-Pope) #9(Burke) #11(Carter-Williams) #12(Adams) & #13(Olynyk) were all in the Orlando Summer League. So that only left picks #3(Porter) #4(Zeller) #7(McLemore) #10(McCollum) &#14(Muhammad) left to play in Vegas. Standouts in Orlando to me were Reggie Jackson (19.5ppg) & Jeremy Lamb (18.8ppg) for OKC.  They alternated games played, won every game and ultimately won the Orlando Summer league championship.  R.Jackson dominated pick & roll play scoring 23 of his league high 35 in the 4th qtr of one game.  J.Lamb not to be outdone dropped 32 the next night and proved he is ready to step in and make up for the loss of Kelvin Martin this upcoming season for OKC. Other standouts there were V.Oladipo (19ppg) who proved he can shoot from the outside and run the point. Kelly Olynyk (18ppg) who proved he can score from the inside and out, and Andre Drummond who avg a lead leading 14.8 rbs.  My sleeper from this league was Dwight Buycks whose play earned his a partial guaranteed contract with Toronto.
    Standouts from the Vegas Summer league were Reggie Bullock (18ppg) from UNC. I'm not sure how many mins Bullock will get behind Reddick & J.Crawford, but he proved he is ready for the NBA game with the way he shot the ball and defended.  CJ McCollum (21ppg) Jeffery Taylor (20.3ppg) and John Henson (14.7ppg & 13.7rbs) proved they are ready to contribute next season.  Cody Zeller (16.3ppg & 9.3rbs) was a pick I didn't agree with for the Bobcats at #4, but he has impressed in Vegas. Ben McLemore (15.8ppg) the player I thought the Bobcats should've taken at 4 struggled with his shot in Vegas but showed what he is ultimately capable of last night scoring 19 of his game high 27 pts in the 3rd qter on 7-8 shooting from the field.  He proved he needs to work on shot selection but showed he could be one of the few stars of the 2013 draft.  Another sleeper I think has the potential to become a star is 18 yr old Archie Goodwin from Kentucky.  To me this kid has Russell Westbrook potential, and it appears he is still growing. They list him at 6'4 but when standing next to other players he looks to be approaching 6'6 already.  He fell to 29 in the draft but could definitely prove to be a top ten talent.  He just needs to work on his jump-shot and cutting down on turnovers.