MarkInAustin

In the Summer of 1960 I was an almost 17 YO recent HS grad in NJ, destined to go off to Rice on academic scholarship in the fall. I was then 6-2, 172#, and the best guys I ever played against were not in baseball in HS but at night in pick up basketball at the gym in Demarest School. You may never have heard of these guys but they were all pro athletes at some point, a couple were stars. Gary Cuozzo, later Fran Tarkenton's backup QB at Minnesota; Willie Naulls then of the Knicks who would only do shoot arounds; Wally Lamb, later a Giants LB [practice squad, not starter, Jersey guy who went to Purdue]; Dick Lynch, starting CB for the Giants [scored the TD for ND that broke OU's 47 game win streak], and Sherman White, former All American wing barred from the NBA by a college gambling scandal. I never had to directly guard any of them except Lamb. Once, I had White blow by me in the air [on a switch] for a dunk. I was up as high as I could get, figure my hand just a bit above the rim; White tucked his legs as he flew by and I swear his red shoelaces went by my nose. But my worst experience repeated. Lynch would slide over and just take the ball away from me. Every time. I had to get rid of the ball before he got to me. Dick told me that his reaction time had been tested as twice as fast as that of a normal human, and that it allowed him to play corner against guys who were a half-step faster. He could break on a pass as fast as the WR and his hands were faster than anyone's. On the basketball court you just could not see his hands coming. I think he led the league in interceptions while I was in college.

Wow

I was fortunate enough to see him play in college when I was in HS. My dad was a friend of Joe Lapchick, then the St. John's coach. He got us tix for the WVa game in Madison Square Garden. St. John's had a prospective All American wing named Tony Jackson, who was eaten alive by West. After the game, Lapchick told us that two college seniors, West and Oscar Robertson, were going to change the game at guard the way Russ, Wilt, and Pettit had changed it up front. Great athletes were indeed taking over hoops. W.Va had a 6-10 Center named Lloyd Sharrar, but West jumped center. West averaged 13 rebounds a game. West was an octopus on D. In fact, he was 6-3 barefoot; 6-4.5 by modern NBA measurement in shoes. He had 40" sleeves and could jump over the moon. There is a clip on YouTube of him more than a foot over the rim in an NBA game at the age of 35. Aside from pure athleticism what West and Oscar brought to guard play was distance shooting. They averaged around 50% from the floor in the NBA when no guards had ever shot 44% previously. Had there been a three point shot then West would have been the first Steph Curry. Again, you can find a clip of him shooting a 40' shot over Walt Frazier as a buzzer beater, in perfect form. Magic Johnson tells a story about West hitting 25 straight shots from the top of the circle while giving a talk to the assembled Lakers - when West was the Laker GM. I would have played him next to Michael on my imaginary all time team because he was an insane defender as well as a fine lead passer and a very high percentage shooter. The only knock on him? As a first year NBA player he only drove right. But then, after that, he easily went either way. Apparently worked his whole off season on it. He had a rep as the best executive and talent evaluator and as a great guy, as well. I will be 81 in August, and losing West, for me, is like one more reminder of my own mortality. So, again, RIP, Logo.

Mickey Herskowitz on the "Colt 45s" name change to the "Astros": So what we will call them, for short? That was an era when Texas sports writers were simply the best, In Houston, DFW, and SA. And before Craig? There was Kern Tips.

2 words: Casey Thompson.

cWhat are the host and guest Conferences for the Rose?

So...Utah or AZ could win the B12 and have to play, say, K. St. or Okie Lite in a possible rematch of the B12 champ game. I can see why Alamo Bowl was not thrilled.

DKR.

Not Appalachian - Charles Wright is back in Austin. But you have forgotten Purdue!

Shedrick shot pretty well from both the arc and the perimeter. He could be the stretch 4 on offense if Toppin is in with him. But as I think you suggest, Toppin should be seen as 15 min at Center, with other minutes on occasion. Toppin should eliminate the need to play Onyema for any substantial time.

Those vertical numbers would have been ordinary in 1961. Not bad, but about 2" low for expectations on a 6-9 PF who wasn't a Wide Body. I thought current training had evolved.

Going back more years, Odessa Permian, Midland Lee, Amarillo Tascosa... at some point, west Texas lost its MOJO.

Disappointed.

Do we even think Codie will have recovered in time to play before January? Also, has the Rutgers Center who was a shot blocking machine in the B1G made his new home yet?

Clifford Omoruyi? He had an astonishing number of blocked shots in B1G games.

Gerry, you list Onyema as a "PF". I have never seen him play facing the bucket or outside the paint. He is the reason Texas needs another BIG. Shedrick cannot play 40 min/p/g and Onyema provides nothing against a decent team but fouls given. I am not usually one to take a harsh tone, but I just haven't seen anything from Onyema. Get Cam Williams to play after January if the design is to have someone pound away and foul opponents inside.

In baseball there was a coaching fix for us as 11 year olds judging fly balls: Always take three steps BACK on any ball in the air, then judge it. If one did not have Willie Mays' instincts it still protected against misjudging a long ball. I did not play football. Is there some analogous coaching fix for DBs that doesn't rely on the DB's speed, change of direction, and instincts? Or is constant practice the only real way to develop proper response? What would a different set of DB coaches do? Asking, because I simply don't know.

Bobby, is it possible that is a limit to PWOs? The Service Academies are technically all walk-on, correct?

Self got 2 real good 'uns in the portal but they were a different team when McCullar went down. But then he took Arterio, as well...

I think Mitchell improved quite a bit from his freshman season. On offense, he increased his FT % significantly and was aggressive on the boards. That he did not develop the 12-15' shot he needed to become a threat was certainly not on the coaching staff, and he may never become much of a shooter. On defense, he was called to guard all shapes and sizes of opponents and did so well, without committing the many fouls he was charged with as a freshman. There was a lot of development there, but I think many of you are mistaking failure to become a shooter as failure to develop.

Tre. right. Brain fart.

Chris Johnson is no longer with the team. I worried this would happen when he was not played enough in the pre-conference season to get his feet wet. Chris was actually a tall PG, not a wing, and we were without the benefit of a tall PG late in the season when the two smurfs were sometimes overwhelmed by big guards. I would compare Kent with Timmy Allen for his ability to move without the ball and his moves near the basket, but he does not appear to be as sturdy. He can shoot an open trey. I agree that Larry is a PG, but we need a second distributor who can also run the ball club and I have not seen Mark come near being that, in fact, in the only two games I saw him play, he was turnover prone like Hunter. Pope, or a near facsimile of Pope, would be suitable. Garrison is a good take, I think, with this crew of shooters, and I also think a healthy Shedrick can play the stretch 4-5, if a rim protecting rebounder is in the post. If you saw several Indiana State games do you think if Texas secures Garrison as an inside banger and rim protector that Kent provides enough rebounding and interior defense to be played as a stretch 4? Mitchell, were he to return, could provide the interior defense, but he would remove credible shooting from the position.

Assuming Hunter and Mitchell do not return and Tre stays with Texas, then: the team is now one PG and one BIG away from a potentially decent eight man rotation. Gerry has pointed out that if it is the Okie Lite Big he is a back-to-the-basket guy who must be surrounded by shooters, and these three fit that description. Better, as Gerry has also pointed out, would be adding two BIGs, one of whom is a stretch 4. Question for Gerry: Can Kent suffice as a stretch 4? [I tend to think not, but a versatile long wing is still a good mix on the floor]. If Hunter returns I think he becomes a situational sub and not even the 7th man. He does not solve for the lack of a good PG, as he is a shooting guard in a small package, wildly inconsistent on offense and a poor decision maker. His defense is generally very good and he hits his foul shots. Good energy, but no Weaver. Pure sub on a balanced team. If Mitchell returns I think he may become a situational sub as well, but with more possibilities to play than will remain for Hunter. He is an excellent defender and a fine rebounder, but a limited shooter, as we all know, not a true stretch 4. If everyone else on the floor with him can make space he becomes dangerous on offense because he moves very well without the ball and can take advantage of spacing. There might be a mix and match combination among the new three, Tre, and Shedrick that would showcase Mitchell's offensive talent. Weaver will probably get starter minutes next season even if he is the anointed gem of a sixth man. He will make his own upside. If Weaver's range on his shot improves, and there is some reason to believe it will because he shot better as a freshman, he would become a star. If it does not, spacing provided by the others will still spin gold for Weaver on offense. Summary: these three additions should seal Hunter's decision to leave. The right 2 [or 3] additional in - portals will determine the ceiling for next season. I think a decent floor has been set.

Another lawyer and I watched the trial and second guessed it all the way through. We did this long distance. He was in San Jose and I was in Austin. Our first joint realization was how different criminal trial procedure was then in CA from Texas. California did not enforce a cumulative evidence rule in state criminal proceedings. This meant that the defense in CA could carry on virtually forever, with multiple experts, where in Texas each party would have been most likely limited to one expert for each technical proffer. The prosecution started well and made a solid case. But then the case spun out of control from a Texas perspective, and even my San Jose buddy thought that the trial judge was allowing a circus by California's easier standards. After closing arguments, we thought a hung jury would result, the prosecution's clear prima facie case then having become merely a distant memory. Compared to that prosecution that somewhat lost control of its own messaging we later saw a different result in the civil case, in which the very experienced lawyers for the victim's family rode herd on the trial and won easily, and with no doubts whatsoever. This is just a random historical comment from an old retired lawyer who thought the trial came to a predictable outcome because of how it was tried and not because OJ wasn't actually guilty, and not even because the jury was "unfair." I don't know what CA criminal trial procedure is like today, but at that time what would have taken five days of testimony in Austin would have required five weeks in L.A. -- really.

Majors' compliment to Bryant is worth noting. Have any of us heard that sort of lavish praise about AB from anyone else? Has Majors let a secret cat out of the bag? Inquiring minds want to know.