SAY WHAT?

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This may be the worst comment ever…

Bennedict Mathurin on LeBron James:

“A lot of people say he’s great. I want to see how great he is. I don’t think anybody is better than me. He’s going to have to show me he’s better than me.”

(Source: Ben Golliver, Washington Post)

Yo Bennedict, he’s great, trust me.

Greatest Players of all-time:

1-Michael Jordan

2-LeBron James

3-Magic Johnson

FAB 5

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“To get to draft night you have to get better each and every day.” -Scott Drew

Leading up to last night’s NBA draft, everyone was talking about Jabari Smith from Auburn going first to the Orlando Magic. I never understood why?

Chet Holmgren and Paolo Banchero are better players than Smith.

Smith is good, don’t get me wrong but sometimes these draft “so called” experts have it twisted.

The draft is all about potential, I get it but come on man…

I will be following the players listed below very closely. All high character, team guys. And oh yeah, they play the right way.

Paolo Banchero: Number one pick by the Orlando Magic. Back a few months ago when Duke played Gonzaga I was texting with a junior college coach and told him Banchero is the best player in the country, he’ll go number one in the draft. The coach said Holmgren.

Chet Holmgren: Taken #2 by the Thunder. “Getting to work, as soon as I can,” Holmgren said on what he plans to do when he arrives in Oklahoma City.

Jabari Smith: Rockets got him at three.

Keegan Murray: Kings picked him at four.

Jaden Ivey: Went 5th to Detroit.

ESPN covered the two rounds and I thought Jay Bilas did well. Kendrick Perkins was just okay. Twitter was jumping on all his mistakes which Twitter likes to do but come on, he tries. I thought ESPN should of had Jeff Van Gundy or Tim Legler.

Can’t help but think about Emoni Bates. As a freshman in HS he won a state championship & people were calling him the next Kevin Durant & predicted he would be the #1 overall pick in the 2022 draft. Hope he’s doing okay.

Mark Tatum, Deputy Commissioner of the NBA and the guy who subs for Adam Silver for the 2nd round went to Brooklyn Tech High School. Same school as the late Lorenzo Charles.

Moussa Diabate from Michigan goes 13th in the 2nd round to the LA Clippers. Ryan Rollins of Toledo goes 14th in the 2nd round to the Warriors.

Max Christie of Michigan State goes 5th in the 2nd round to the Lakers. His one year in East Lansing he averaged 9 points per game. Caleb Houstan from Michigan goes 2nd in the 2nd round to the Magic.

Gabe Brown from Michigan State went undrafted – he’s going to have a better career than both Christie and Houstan. Teams are going to look back and wonder why they didn’t choose him. Brown is going to have a nice NBA career. Love his energy. Love his passion.

Here is a look at Brown, Christie and Houstan’s 3-point shooting from this past season.

Houstan 60-169 .355

Christie 39-123 .317

Brown 73-191 .382

I once wrote a letter to every NBA team asking if I could spend a couple of days watching practice. Maybe get a chance to spend some time with the coaching staff. Sam Presti of the OKC Thunder was one of just a few who actually wrote back. Will never forget that.

Pretty cool to see a shot of Draymond Green at the Warriors draft headquarters sitting with Steve Kerr.

Watching some of the guys drafted last night who were sitting in the cheap seats, I couldn’t help to think back to seeing Georgia Bulldog Eric Marbury sitting in the stands at the Felt Forum for the 1982 draft where he was chosen by the San Diego Clippers in the 6th round. “Sky Dog” had a nice game.

And, whenever I think of the NBA draft first two players that come to mind; Len Bilas and Michael Jordan.

I expect Canada to compete for a Gold Medal pretty soon. They have some outstanding players…

Have a positive day…

E-Mail: SteveFinamore@yahoo.com

2022 NBA DRAFT

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It’s that time again. The NBA draft is set for tonight, 8:00 PM on ESPN.

Attended the draft in 1980, 10 rounds. Sheraton hotel in NYC. We weren’t allowed in the ballroom but we found a way. Joe Barry Carroll 1st pick taken by the Golden State Warriors. New York Knicks picked Kurt Rambis at 58. They also drafted Kelvin Hicks from NY Tech in the 6th round.

I don’t know who’s going where or when tonight but here are my 5 favorite players.

Chet Holmgren: Freshman from Gonzaga. Love this guy. Can do it all. Great teammate.

Jaden Ivey: Sophomore from Purdue. Plays with a ton of energy. High character.

Paolo Banchero: Freshman from Duke. Big-time player. Will fit in nicely with any team.

Keegan Murray: Sophomore from Iowa. Great kid. High hoops I.Q.

Jabari Smith: Freshman from Auburn. High character. Going to be a good one.

GIVE AND GO

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Sad news about former Purdue Boilermaker Caleb Swanigan. The big man was found dead earlier this week. He was 26.

Kryie Irving: Too much drama. Not worth it.

Why so much hate on Russell Westbrook?

NBA draft Thursday night. Five good players in my eyes; Jabari Smith, Chet Holmgren, Paulo Banchero, Jaden Ivey and Keegan Murray.

Why does Kevin Durant care about what people say about him?

Same for Draymond Green? Who cares…

By the way, I like the “new media.” I would much rather listen to Draymond than those clowns on ESPN.

Jordan Ott is joining the Lakers coaching staff. J.O. is one of the good guys.

In coaching it’s all about relationships. Build them with players and other coaches.

Bill Russell won 46 finals games.

Tom Heinsohn 38.

UPDATED: (Thanks to Jim Casey) Bob Cousy 26 finals victories.

Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan won 24.

Steph Curry 21.

Happy birthday to the late Pete Maravich. “Pistol” died in Jan. of 1988, he was 40.

Maravich is the NCAA all-time leading scorer with 3,667 points. He averaged 44.2 PPG. (No 3-pt shot, no shot clock and missed his freshman season)

Have a positive day…

E-Mail: SteveFinamore@yahoo.com

THREE THE RIGHT WAY

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Steph Curry (Drafted 2009), Klay Thompson (Drafted 2011), and Draymond Green (Drafted 2012) have been together for 10 seasons.

That’s incredible when you think about it.

There hasn’t been many teams that can claim three big time players on the same team, for this long who are as good as the Golden State three. These guys not only play the right way, they are good guys.

In today’s game, players are leaving teams left and right. Draymond, Steph and Klay have been in Golden State their entire careers.

I wish we would see more of this; but I get it, things happen.

Have a positive day…

E-Mail: SteveFinamore@yahoo.com