J-Speaks: 2020 Western Conference Semifinals Preview

 

While it took one L.A. squad one more game to get past their First-Round playoff opponent, the other L.A. took care of their tilt rather easily after dropping the opening game. Now both squads from the “City of Angels” gear up for their next opponent in the Western Conference Semifinals trying to get one step closer to competing for the league’s ultimate prize next month

(1)   Los Angeles Lakers versus (4) Houston Rockets

        (52-19)                                   (44-28)

Regular Season Series: Rockets won 2-1.

Playoff Series History: Lakers lead all-time 4-2; Last Meeting: Lakers defeated the Rockets 4-3 in the 2009 Western Conference Semifinals.

Contrasting styles; a match of two former Kia MVPs versus a four-time Kia MVP are the headlines of this Semifinals tilt between the boys from Hollywood versus “Clutch City,” trying to get one more step closer to competing for the Larry O’Brien trophy.

The Los Angeles Lakers after dropping the opener of their opening-round series, made short work of the No. 8 Seeded Portland Trail Blazers after that winning the next four games by an average of 15 points to take the series in five games.

Their next opponent in the Houston Rockets, who defeated them 2-1 in the regular season series, bring their small-ball lineup that revolves around not just their high volume shooting from three-point range, but a much stingier defense that really showed itself in the winner-take-all Game 7 versus the No. 5 Seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.

This series as TNT’s “Inside the NBA” host and Hall of Famer Charles Barkley pointed out earlier in the week the Lakers present the “ultimate test of that small ball” given that the Lakers bring three talented big men to the table in this series in perennial All-Star Anthony Davis (29.8 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 1.6 bpg, 57.3 FG%, 38.9 3-Pt.% vs. Trail Blazers), eight-time All-Star and three-time Kia Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard (8.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 62.1 FG% vs. Trail Blazers), and JaVale McGee (6.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 71.4 FG% vs. Trail Blazers).

On top of that, the Lakers have the four-time MVP and three-time NBA champion on their side in LeBron James, who averaged a triple-double in the opening-round against the Trail Blazers of 27.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 10.2 assists on 60.0 percent shooting from the floor and 46.4 percent from three-point range.

In most series involving LBJ, he would take centerstage and would be considered the best player and focal point of a playoff series.

While he will play a vital role in the outcome, the spotlight for the Lakers moving on to the next round will be on Davis.

Despite putting up solid numbers in the opener of the First-Round with a double-double of 28 points and 11 rebounds, to go along with two block shots and two steals versus the Trail Blazers on Aug. 18, Davis shot just 8 for 24 from the field, including 0 for 5 from three-point range and 12 for 17 from the charity stripe in the 100-93 loss on TNT that put the Lakers down 1-0.

In the final four games of the series, which the Lakers won to take the series in five games, Davis averaged 30.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, five assists, and 1.5 blocks on 61.5 percent shooting and 53.9 percent from three-point range. Davis finished the series strong with 43 points and nine boards on 14 for 18 from the field, including 4 for 6 from three-point range and 11 for 13 from the foul line in the Lakers series-clinching 131-122 win versus the Trail Blazers on Aug. 29 on TNT.

The Lakers will need for Davis to play to the level he did to close out the Trail Blazers and how he played in two of the three games he played against the Rockets where he averaged 24.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.5 steals on 65.5 percent from the field.

Along with the rebounding category, particularly on the offensive glass as well as points in the paint, the one other main area that will dictate if the Lakers are dominating the Rockets in this series is free throw attempts.

In the opening-round against the Trail Blazers, Davis and James averaged 11.2 and 7.6 free throw attempts respectably.  

In their matchup Rockets during the seeding games of the restart back on Aug. 6, which the Rockets won 113-97 on TNT, the Lakers managed went 25 for 36 (69.4 percent) from the free throw line that night.

If head coach Frank Vogel’s squad can play with that kind of offensive aggression where the majority of their scoring is done in the paint and they can get to the foul line, they should take care of business against the Rockets. Counting this postseason so far, the Lakers are 30-0 this season when they shoot 50 percent from the floor or better.

However, when they get their chances at the foul line, they have to connect at a high rate. The 71.4 and 73.7 percent clip that Davis and James shot respectably in the opening-round will not cut the mustard against the Rockets.

Davis and James getting off offensively, especially if they are taking care of business in the paint and at the foul line will open things up for Kyle Kuzma (10.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg vs. Trail Blazers), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (11.2 ppg), Danny Green, Alex Caruso, JR Smith, and Dion Waiters, especially from the perimeter. 

For the Lakers to achieve their dreams of winning a title, they will need better play from Kuzma, who shot just 36.0 percent from the field and just 30.4 percent from three-point range in the opening-round; Caldwell-Pope, who did hit 40.6 percent of his triple tries, but shot just 38.0 percent from the floor overall versus the Trail Blazers; and Green shot just 35.7 percent overall from the floor and 34.6 percent from three-point range in the First-Round.

The return of veteran guard and fellow NBA champion himself Rajon Rondo, whose been on the shelf because of back spasms and a broken thumb since the league restarted should help the Lakers cause, especially at the defensive end against the Rockets explosive guards.

The Rockets are in the Semis for the fourth straight year for three main reasons. The play of the supporting cast outside their star-studded starting backcourt; their judicious handling of the basketball; and their play at the defensive end.

Headlining the Rockets is 2018 Kia MVP James Harden (29.7 ppg, 8.0 apg, 6.3 rpg, 1.6 spg 465 FG% vs. Thunder) and 2017 Kia MVP Russell Westbrook, and they have earned that moniker for sure with their play throughout their careers.

In their opening-round series against the team they respectably began their careers with in the Thunder, Westbrook was out the first four games of that series because of a right quad injury and when he did come back in Game 5, he looked nothing like his perennial All-Star self with just seven points on 3 for 13 shooting with seven assists and six rebounds in the blowout 114-80 win on Aug 29 on TNT. He played a lot better in the close 104-100 loss in Game 6 two nights later that tied the series at 3-3 with 17 points on 8 for 15 from the field. In the deciding Game 7, Westbrook contributed 20 points and nine rebounds on a respectably 9 for 20 from the floor.

In the case of Harden, who has been notable for bad performances in close out games in recent years for the Rockets had another clunker scoring just 17 points on 4 for 15 from the field, including 1 for 9 from three-point range.

Unlike past elimination games in which he struggled offensively, Harden made up for it by going 8 for 9 from the free throw line, and at the defensive end with nine assists, two steals and three blocks, including one on a three-point attempt on Thunder guard Luguentz Dort in the final minute of Game 7, which the Rockets won 104-102 on Wednesday night on ESPN.   

“It’s cool to, you know, get 40 or 50 points or be shooting the ball extremely well. Obviously, we all want to do that. Just to get recognition, and for it to pay off, you know, when it counts on the defensive end, it shows that I’ve been engaged and locked in,” Harden said in his postgame presser. “For it to show in a clutch moment means a lot.”

The rest of the Rockets picked up the offensive slack for Harden as Eric Gordon (18.1 ppg versus Thunder), who struggled with his shot the first six games of the series had a game-high tying 21 points going 5 for 9 from three-point range. Robert Covington (13.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.6 bpg, 2.4 spg, 50.0 FG%, 50.0 3-Pt.%) also had 21 points with 10 rebounds, three block shots and three steals, going 6 for 11 from three-point range. Jeff Green (13.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 50.7 FG%, 46.5 3-Pt.% vs. Thunder) had 13 points, going 3 for 4 from three-point range.

On a night when the Rockets connected on just 39.8 percent of their shots, they managed to go 17 for 49 from three-point range, force 21 Thunder turnovers (11 steals) and committed just 12 turnovers themselves and register seven block shots on their way to series clinching win that got them to the Semifinals for the fourth straight season.

“If you want to win in a championship of win playoff games, you gotta do it with your heart, and I just thought we demonstrated that the whole game,” Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni said after the win versus the Thunder. “Guys were tired obviously but played through that.

No team has utilized the three-point shot more than the Rockets, especially under Coach D’Antoni. While they ranked just 11^th in three-point percentage so far this postseason at 35.9 percent, they led the NBA in attempts from long range at 51.0, making on average 18.3 in the opening-round against the Thunder. Those 18.3 makes from three-point range accounted for over 50 percent of the Rockets scoring.

There is no doubt that the Rockets are going to shoot threes at a high rate. If they are not going in at a high clip, that could ignite the Lakers in the open court.

Meaning that along with Gordon, Covington, and Green continuing to strike a match from distance, the Rockets will also need the same from Danuel House, Jr. (12.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 37.2 3-Pt. vs. Thunder), P.J. Tucker (8.6 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 37.2 3-Pt.% vs. Thunder), Ben McLemore, and Austin Rivers.

The Rockets also have to really be on point with their defensive switching, which they implore to speed up their opponent’s timing on offense, which they hope resorts to their opponent making quick decisions at the offensive end without exploring all the options and finding the mismatch.

If the Lakers take their time offensively, that will spell doom for the Rockets with their aforementioned disadvantage on the boards because of their lack of size, especially in the front court.

“We’re undersized,” Tucker, who had five points, nine boards, and four steals in Game 7 versus the Thunder said. “OK, so what? The elephant is in the room. It’s always going to be something we’ve got to deal with. We do it on purpose. It’s not like it’s something that somebody just threw on us and we’ve got to deal with it. We choose to be this size. We choose to play the way we play because we feel like we have an advantage. We have multiple advantages by playing that way with out personnel. So, instead of saying how we dealt with being undersized, I think the flip is really how do other people feel about playing against us, how did they feel in their match ups against us? I think that’s more of a question.”

Back in late January, the Houston Rockets led by head coach Mike D’Antoni and General Manager Darryl Morey made the decision through deals at the Feb. 6 trade deadline and through waiver signings before the hiatus to go all in on their small-ball lineup. It got them to the Semifinals for the fourth straight season. While the supporting cast of Eric Gordon, Danuel House, Jr., P.J. Tucker, Robert Covington, Ben McLemore, Jeff Green, and Austin Rivers have played well so far in the 2020 NBA Playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers are a different opponent entirely, and have their sights set on winning a title. James Harden and Russell Westbrook will bring their A+ game in this series, but LeBron James and Anthony Davis will be the stars that in the end take this series over.

Prediction: Lakers in five games.

(2)   Los Angeles Clippers versus (3) Denver Nuggets

        (49-23)                                        (46-27)

Regular Season Series: Clippers won 2-1.

Playoff Series History: First ever postseason meeting. 

If there is one thing that every good NBA team that plays well in the playoffs has is the ability to be consistent with their play. That is something the No. 2 Seeded Los Angeles Clippers and No. 3 Seeded Denver Nuggets did not show in the opening-round of the 2020 Playoffs. One of these two squads hopes to find that consistency in their Second-Round tilt as both look to inch one step closer to competing for an NBA title.

As from six quarters where they truly looked like a true championship contender, the Clippers had a devil of a time getting past the Dallas Mavericks in six games.

Aside from the performance of reigning Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, who led the Clippers in their six-game opening-round victory over the No. 7 Seeded Mavericks with 32.8 points, 10.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 2.3 steals on 53.8 percent shooting, the rest of the Clippers were up and down with their performance.

Fellow perennial All-Star Paul George (18.5 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 4.0 apg vs. Mavericks) outside what he did in Game 1, where he scored 27 points on 10 for 22 shooting and Game 5 where he scored 35 points on 12 for 18 from the field, including 4 for 8 from three-point range, really struggled in scoring 14, 11, 9, and 15 points in Games 2,3,4, and 6 on just 16 for 66 shooting (24.2 percent) from the field, including 6 for 32 from three-point range (18.8 percent).

Super subs in Kia Sixth Man of the Year candidates Lou Williams (16.0 ppg, 50.7 FG%) and Montrezl Harrell (9.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 61.3 FG%) did not impact the series as their respective award-worthy regular seasons would have suggested.

Marcus Morris, Sr. (12.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 53.7 FG%, 53.8 3-Pt.%) during this series made headlines for how he let his emotions get the better of him a couple of times with hard fouls and physical play on the Mavericks All-NBA selection to be in Luka Doncic. In the series clinching win in Game 6 (114-97) on Sunday on ABC, one of those hard fouls led to his ejection in the first half.

So far in the playoffs, head coach Glenn “Doc” Rivers has had to coach the situation as well as the circumstances in the bubble in Orlando as much as he has the X’s and O’s, along with the great expectations the team has had for the first time in its history.

The good news for the Clippers is they have a clear identity based on defense, commitment to each other and a respect and focus on the task at hand.

The Clippers will need to lean on that identity against a Nuggets team that rode the hot hand of their starting lead guard, provided his health to victory in their opening-round series that went the distance.

The Nuggets rode the hot hand of Jamal Murray (31.6 ppg, 6.3 apg, 5.6 rpg, 55.0 FG%, 53.3 3-Pt.% vs. Jazz) to a dramatic 80-78 win in Game 7 versus the No. 6 Seeded Utah Jazz on Tuesday night on ABC, where he scored 50, 42, 50 points the last three Games 4,5, and 6 to help his team stave off elimination.

That stellar three-game stretch Murray said is a credit to him working out really hard during the hiatus, which resulted in him gaining 12 pounds of muscle, and when he did get back on the floor after rehabbing from an injury he played at a high level that resulted in the spectacular level he played at in the opening-round versus the Jazz.

“The young man is growing up and turning into a superstar on the biggest stage,” head coach Michael Malone said in his postgame presser after his team’s 117-107 win in Game 5 on Aug. 25 on TNT to stave off elimination. “I couldn’t be prouder of him.”  

A knee to his left quad in the opening-half of Game 7 is the only thing that slowed down as he registered just 17 points on 7 for 21 shooting.

While Murray positioned them to be in Game 7, it was the play of All-Star Nikola Jokic (26.3 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 5.4 apg, 51.5 FG% vs. Jazz) with 30 points and 14 rebounds on 12 for 24 shooting that got the Nuggets over the finish line, even though the Jazz had a chance to advance but Mike Conley’s three-pointer at the buzzer missed, and the Nuggets became the 12^th team in NBA playoff history to rally from a 3-1 series deficit to win a best-of-seven series.

For the Clippers, they hopefully learned from their last series that just showing up to play does not guarantee you victory in the postseason. You have to take care of the opponent in front of you and not worry about what lies ahead.

The hopeful return of their emotional leader in guard Patrick Beverly, whose been on the shelf since Game 1 against the Mavericks because of a left calf strain will provide a lift both as mentioned emotionally and defensively as he along with Leonard, and George will have their crack at slowing down Murray, who averaged 13.3 points on just 37.5 percent shooting during the regular season against the Clippers. He might also see Landry Shamet (8.0 ppg, 48.6 FG%, 45.8 3-Pt.%) guarding him also during this series.

It will be up to Ivica Zubac, who averaged 11.2 points and seven rebounds on 65.8 percent shooting against the Mavericks and Harrell to try to slow down Jokic, who averaged 19.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and seven assists against the Clippers during the regular season.

For the Nuggets, it will be vital for them to get any consistent offensive production from Michael Porter, Jr. (12.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 41.7 3-Pt.% vs. Jazz), Jerami Grant (11.3 ppg, 41.2 3-Pt.% vs. Jazz), Monte Morris (8.0 ppg vs. Jazz), Paul Millsap, Gary Harris, whose played in just two total games since Mar. 11 due to a right hip injury, Torrey Craig, and Mason Plumlee.

If this becomes just a two-man show of Murray and Jokic, the Nuggets chances of pulling the upset get even slimmer.

The Nuggets dating back to last season have gone the distance in their last three postseason series, winning their latest series in seven games. The Clippers are a way different animal from the Jazz. They have a bonified MVP in Kawhi Leonard, who is as unflappable as they come. That focus on both ends is the main reason why the Clippers came into this season as serious title contenders. The Nuggets are riding high entering this series. But will quickly be brought back down to earth.

Prediction: Clippers in five games.  

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy 8/5/2020 scores via www.nba.com; 8/6/2020 3 p.m. “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Zach Lowe, and Kendrick Perkins; 8/6/2020 11:30 p.m. “Inside the NBA” presented by Kia on TNT with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal; 9/1/2020 1:30 a.m. NBATV’s “Gametime,” with Chris Miles, Grant Hill, and Caron Butler; 9/1/2020 www.nba.com story, “Nuggets Join Rare Company With 3-1 Series Comeback;” 9/2/2020 www.nba.com story, “Series Preview: Clippers Haven’t Dominated, and Nuggets Sure To Provide Challenge,” by Sekou Smith; 9/3/2020 www.nba.com story, “Series Preview: Rested Lakers Ready For Small-Ball Challenge,” by Michael C. Wright;  https://www.espn.com/nba/team/stats/_/name/hou/den/lac/lal; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Los_Angeles_Lakers_seasons.

J-Speaks: The Passing of a Young, Iconic Actor and Person

 

The world at the start of this past weekend said goodbye far too soon to one of the proudest and most wonderful actors of our current day, who played some of the most iconic African Americans in our history. He was a person who through his work and his humility earned the respect of the fans that watched him on the silver screen, to those that he worked with in those great films. Above all he was an incredible person who brought his best even though privately he was not at his best health wise as later revealed.

On Friday, the world suddenly said goodbye to actor and Howard University alum Chadwick Boseman, whose rose to superstardom as King T’Challa in the 2018 Marvel Movie “Black Panther” died after a four-year private battle from Stage IV colon cancer. He was 43 years old and is survived by his wife in singer Taylor Simone, who he secretly married in the months before his death. The two did not have any children.

“It is with immeasurable grief that we confirm the passing of Chadwick Boseman,” his family stated on Mr. Boseman’s Twitter page @chadwickboseman on Friday night at 10:1 p.m.

“Chadwick was diagnosed with Stage III colon cancer in 2016 and battled with it these last 4 years as it progressed to Stage IV. A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much. From ‘Marshall’ to ‘Da 5 Bloods,’ August Wilson’s Ma Rainey Black Bottom and several more, all were filmed during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy.”

“It was the honor of his career to bring King T’Challa to life in ‘Black Panther. He died in his home with his wife and family by his side. The family thanks you for your love and prayers and asks that you continue to respect their privacy during this difficult time.”

To put how big of news this was on social media into context, Twitter confirmed that this tweet from Boseman’s family was the most liked Tweet ever at 472.6K, with 82.2K people that tweeted about this news with the message “A tribute fit for a King. #WakandaForever.”

Boseman was first diagnosed with Stage 3 Colon cancer four years ago, that would develop into Stage 4 Colon cancer.

The last image of Boseman was taken on June 19 where he appeared frail as he was being pushed in a wheelchair wrapped in blankets outside of a Santa Monica, CA hospital.

He somewhat revealed what he was going through when he told Entertainment Tonight’s (ET’s) Kevin Frazier at the International Comic Con Convention in San Diego, CA in 2017 about the iconic African Americans he portrayed on the silver screen saying, “To be honest with you, I’m just trying to take care of myself in between. That’s the main thing.”

“It is difficult but, you know, would I rather be doing anything else? Nah.”

 

In his last interview with ET’s in November 2019, Boseman talked about the future of the “Black Panther” franchise saying while promoting his latest project then “21 Bridges” saying, “That’s none of y’all’s business man, you know? You talk about Marvel like some actors don’t see the script the whole time. So, can’t tell you that.”

On that day also, Hip Hollywood asked about Boseman’s much thinner physique, to which he said that he had been doing a lot of running.

Boseman looked very thin in when he took to Instagram in April posting a video in commemoration on what is typically Jackie Robinson Day in Major League Baseball (MLB), fans were very shocked and alarmed about his dramatic weight loss.

Because of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic, the day honoring the late great Mr. Robinson took place last Friday.

He took that time to show his respect for Mr. Robinson saying while wearing a No. 42 dark blue baseball cap, “I can’t think of a better time to remember my hero.”

Two months later in June, Boseman was noticeably absent from Press Day for Academy Award winning director Spike Lee’s Netflix film “Da 5 Bloods.”

Lee, who also wrote the film said on YouTube that he had no clue that Boseman was ill when shooting in the spring of 2019, saying that he never complained and he was on set every single minute of filming. 

Over the weekend, many paid tributes to the actor who portrayed iconic African Americans in the late great baseball legend Jackie Robinson and the late great Supreme Court judge Thurgood Marshall.

The marquee at the famed Apollo Theater in paying respect to Boseman had the message “Rest in Peace Beloved Actor and Friend Chadwick Boseman.”

Actor and director Jordan Peele posted on his Twitter page @JordanPeele, “This is a crushing blow.”

Democratic Presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden tweeted @JoeBiden, “The true power of @ChadwickBoseman was bigger than anything we saw on screen. From Black Panther to Jackie Robinson, he inspired generations and showed them they can be anything they want—even superheroes. Jill and I are praying for his loved ones at this difficult time.”

Biden’s running mate and fellow Howard University alum Kamala Harris tweeted @KamalaHarris, “Heartbroken. My friend and fellow Bison Chadwick Boseman was brilliant, kind, learned, and humble. He left too early but his life made a difference. Sending my sincere condolences to his family.

Born in Anderson, SC on Nov. 29, 1976 to a nurse Carolyn and Leroy, who was a textile factory worker, Boseman’s journey into acting began in his junior year at T.L. Hanna High School where he wrote his first play, Crossroads, and it was staged following the death of a fellow classmate from a gunshot.

After graduating from T.L. High, Boseman attended the historically black college Howard University in Washington, D.C. where he graduated with his bachelor’s degree in Directing.

One of his professors at Howard was Phylicia Rashad, who we all come to know for her role as Claire Huxtable on the 1980s sitcom “The Cosby Show.”

Ms. Rashad was not only her student, but she became Boseman’s mentor, and he along with Academy Award winning actor Denzel Washington helped to raise funds for Boseman and some of his classmates for the opportunity to attend the Oxford Mid-Summer Program of the British American Drama Academy in London.

Boseman’s initial dream was to write and direct, and he first studied acting in order to learn how to relate to other actors.

After he returned to the U.S., Boseman graduated from the Digital Film Academy in New York, NY.

He then worked as a drama instructor in the Schomburg Junior Scholars Program that was housed at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, NY.

His first break into television came in 2003 in an episode of the NBC crime drama Third Watch. He also that year portrayed the role of Reggie Montgomery, the stepson to Susan Lucci’s famed character Erica Cane on the ABC daytime soap opera All My Children. He was fired from that role stating years later because he expressed his concerns to the producers about the racist stereotypes in the script. The role was subsequently re-cast and given to Boseman’s eventual co-star in “Black Panther” Michael B. Jordan, who ET learned that he is “struggling” and “trying to comprehend the loss…” While also figuring out the appropriate way to honor Boseman’s legacy.

“We had a chance to talk about it, and it was like we had a good laugh about it,” Jordan, who played the rival character N’Jadaka/Erik “Killmonger” Stevens in “Black Panther” said to “ET” back in 2018 about that time. “So, we were actually wondering when everybody else was going to figure it out.”  

Boseman’s other early work included roles on NBC’s Law & Order; CBS’s CSI: NY; and NBC’s ER. He also continued to write plays, where his script for “Deep Azure” was performed at the Congo Square Theatre Company in Chicago, IL, which was nominated for a 2006 Joseph Jefferson Award for New York. 

In 2008, Boseman moved to Los Angeles to fully pursing acting, and his first recurring role came on the now Freeform series Lincoln Heights, in the role as Nathaniel “Nate” Ray. He also appeared in his first feature film “The Express: The Ernie Davis Story.

Boseman’s first steady gig came in 2010 in another television series in the NBC mystery serial drama Person’s Unknown as Sergeant McNair.

Boseman’s first major break came in 2013 in the Warner Bros. biopic “42,” where he portrayed the baseball glass ceiling breaker and star Jackie Robinson.

While auditioning for the role though, Boseman had been directing an off-Broadway play in East Village, NY and considered giving up acting to pursue directing on a full-time basis.

Those plans changed when director of “42” Brian Helgeland chose Boseman for the role of Mr. Robinson after his second audition because he liked Boseman’s bravery.

“I can’t wait for my mom and dad to see it,” Boseman said to ET back in 2013. “I want them to see it at the premiere. My dad, you know, who is a baseball fan watching me play baseball.”

Boseman at the premiere, which was also his first big red carpet told ET that it was a little overwhelming calling it, “a lot.” He also said that he was “nervous” but he was taking it one thing at a time.

Boseman got the seal of approval from Mr. Robinson’s widow Rachel when she said that seeing him perform on the silver screen as her late husband was like seeing him again.

When Boseman passed as mentioned on Friday, it was on the same day that MLB recognized as Jackie Robinson Day, and on the 57^th Anniversary of the March on Washington

“We are devastated by the tragic loss of Chadwick Boseman,” Major League Baseball (MLB) tweeted @MLB. “His transcendent performance in “42” will stand the test of time and serve as a powerful vehicle to tell Jackie’s story to audiences for generations to come.” 

A few weeks before “42” premiered in theaters, the indie movie that Boseman also starred in “The Kill Hole” was released.

In 2014, Boseman took on the role of the “Godfather of Soul” in the James Brown biopic “Get on Up,” where he did some if not all his own dancing.

Two years later, Boseman played the role that brought him to mainstream prominence as the Marvel Comics character T’Challa/Black Panther first in “Captain America: Civil War,” in his first of a five-picture deal with Marvel.

“I didn’t have enough time with Chadwick. I mean that’s a statement that I know everyone’s making, and everyone can make because he was here far too short of time,” Don Cheadle, who played James “Rhodey” Rhodes/War Machine said of his colleague in “Avengers: End Game.” “He was consistently funny and thoughtful, and genuine, and generous.”  

Fellow colleague in “Avengers: End Game” Scarlett Johansen, who played Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow called Boseman a “deeply kind” person who was gentle, very present, and thoughtful to everyone, which were upfront in his work on screen.

Mark Ruffalo, who played the Hulk in “Avengers: End Game” called Boseman a “historical figure” as the Black Panther, who was also a “good and decent” human being.

In 2017, Boseman played the aforementioned Supreme Court Justice and fellow Howard University alum Thurgood Marshall in “Marshall.”

During production of the film, Boseman grew incredible close to co-stars Sterling K. Brown and Josh Gad, who poured out all their emotions about the passing of their colleague.

“He was just a good dude,” Brown said of Boseman on Instagram.

Gad, shedding tears said on his Instagram concurred saying of Boseman, “There aren’t words to express what an amazing human being Chadwick Boseman was.”

In 2018, Boseman headlined Marvel’s “Black Panther,” with the movie focusing on Boseman’s character King T’Challa and his home country of Wakanda in Africa.

This movie was hyped to a point that it became a worldwide phenomenon, where everyone was talking about from kids, tweens, teens, young adults to adults.

It especially struck a chord with African Americans who for the first time saw a superhero that looked like them. Who had the heart, determination, and charisma that made you stand up, and take be special? That allowed you to dream to be more than your circumstances.

It also hit a lot of those young kids to their core when they learned of the hero, who they saw on the silver screen passing suddenly on Friday.

Many parents posted photos on social media of their kids dressed as the Black Panther in remembrance of their hero.

There was the image of 5-year-old Carter of Greenville, SC with the Wakanda Forever pose in front of his action figures surrounding the figure of the Black Panther.

Carter’s mother said that when he watched “Black Panther” quote “…saw that he could be someone strong and powerful.”

There was another image of 7-year-old Kian Westbrook from St. Louis, MO who created a memorial for his hero with his Marvel action figures looking on. His mom said, “Seeing a superhero on a movie screen that looked like him meant everything.”

An image from the Instagram page @asnegasdoziriguidumoficial of a young man sitting in tears with “Black Panther” action figures to his left showing the “Wakanda Forever” sign.   

“It’s fun to watch just what it means to people,” Boseman said of the impact “Black Panther” has had on those who watched it. “At times in my head I will be like, ‘Well, what does this do for the world like actually? What is it, you know, is it actually valuable in this climate?’ And I would have to say, yes. It actually is. Not because it makes people escape. I think when done right, it gives people hope.”

According to “Black Panther” producer Nate Moore, it was Boseman’s performance in “42” that really made him and those involved in the movie to take a second look for the staring role.

“There’s such an honor and dignity to the way that he played Jackie Robinson that we knew we needed for the character of T’Challa, the prince of Wakanda,” Moore said.

Producer of “Black Panther” Kevin Feige concurred saying that Boseman was an “amazing actor” who everyone on the film thought would fit like a glove the Marvel Comics Universe.

He sure did as “Black Panther” became one of the highest-grossing films of the year in the United States in 2018 at $1.3 billion.

Boseman reprised the role that sealed his iconic legacy in “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: End Game,” which were released in 2018 and 2019 respectively, and were the highest grossing films of 2018 and 2019, with Endgame becoming the highest-grossing movie of all-time.

It was not just the fans that admired what Boseman did in the role of T’Challa but the fellow actors that he worked on screen with, especially those that were a part of the Marvel Universe, particularly in “Black Panther.”

Letitia Wright, who played Shuri, T’Challa’s 16-year-old sister in the movie said that Boseman as an actor has a lot of “depth,” and that it was “amazing” as an audience member to look into his eyes on screen and see what was happening.

Lupita Nyong’o, who played T’Challa’s former lover and was an undercover spy for Wakanda said that Boseman as T’Challa was “regal and grounded,” and brought a gravitas to the character, where he wore the crown of the character with “dignity.”

Director of “Black Panther” Ryan Coogler said that a lot of the things that made up King T’Challa were also the makeup of Boseman that he is extremely knowledgeable, athletic, and very into martial arts.

Jordan, who said he has known Boseman since he was 17 years old when they were both starting their acting journeys in New York thought he did an “incredible” job in the lead role of “Black Panther” because he was “true” to the character.

Veteran actress Angela Bassett, who played the mother of Boseman and Wright’s character in the film Ramonda, Queen Mother of Wakanda said she had a “great time” working with Boseman, and she really respected him as an actor from his previous work.

“So, when I looked at him with proud eyes, you know, they were as mother and also as comrade and colleague,” Mrs. Bassett said.

“He’s had a lot of experience playing roles that come with a lot of weight, you know. So, I think he as a person, he as a guy has a lot of weight to him,” Coogler added. “I think he brings all of that stuff to the role, not to mention that he’s incredibly gifted as an actor and as a performer. And also has as a storyteller in his own right.”

He also had the perspective of what this film meant to a lot of people, especially the African American community, which he stated at The 25^th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Jan. 27, 2019 TNT.

“To be young, gifted, and black, we all know what it’s like to be told that there is not a place for you to be featured. And that is what we went to work with every day,” Boseman said that night on stage at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, CA alongside Mrs. Basset, Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Jordan.

Boseman also in 2019 starred and also was a producer in Brian Kirk’s American action thriller “21 Bridges,” where he played NYPD detective Andre Davis, who shuts down the eponymous 21 Bridges of Manhattan, NY in search of two suspected cop killers.

On Monday, Netflix was scheduled to preview what may have been Boseman’s final film “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” alongside actress Viola Davis of ABC’s recently completed series by Shondra Rhimes “How to Get Away with Murder.” The preview of the movie has been delayed.

As good of an actor as Boseman was, he was just as good as many of his colleagues in the Marvel franchise have said off camera.

If there was one positive that came out of this tragedy is that there was a raise in awareness of how people took stock in seeing how they can prevent cancer from happening to them.

According to ABC News, Colorectal cancer is the second deadliest cancer in the United States that disproportionately affects communities of color.

The American Cancer society told ABC News that their website saw an 8,000 percent in traffic to their Colorectal cancer signs and symptoms page.

Paul Rudd, who played Ant Man in “Avengers: End Game” said of Boseman’s character T’Challa, “The guy who played him is an even bigger hero in real life.”

To bring perspective to what Rudd just said about his Marvel colleague, Boseman would visit children at St. Jude Children’s Hospital that were fighting cancer, while he quietly battled it on his own.

Boseman specifically became a real life here to two young children that were also battling cancer.

In a Sirius XM interview alongside Jordan, Nyong’o, Gurira and director Coogler, Boseman said throughout the filming of “Black Panther” he was in constant communication with the children that were in a terminally ill state from the cancer.

“Their parents said, ‘They’re just trying to hold on till this movie comes out,” Boseman said while fighting tears. “And when I found out that they-Yeah, it means a lot.”  

What allowed him to battle this grave disease and still be the epic actor that he became was having great perspective on what he did and who he was at his core.

“I’m just praying. It’s not me,” Boseman told ET’s Brooke Anderson at the 2014 Oscars.

He added later on in 2014 to “ET”, Boseman said of his profession, “At the end of the day, acting is acting. You can look at with a glass half full or glass half empty. So, I chose to look at with a glass half full.”

As private as he was about his battle with cancer, he was especially private about his personal life, especially with his aforementioned longtime mate Taylor. But during the 2019 NAACP Image Awards, the two shared a public moment affection where he said after winning the Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture Award, “Simone, you’re with me every day. I have to acknowledge you right now. Love you.”

Taylor was by her husband’s side in his last public appearance on Feb. 16 at the NBA All-Star Game in Chicago, IL.

While Boseman rose to great heights as an actor because of his talent and commitment to his craft, his career might have taken a different path had it not been for what the aforementioned Ms. Rashad and two-time Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington paying for him to attend the previously mentioned Oxford Mid-Summer Program of the British American Drama Academy in London.

When Boseman was promoting “Black Panther” on NBC’s Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon back in 2018, he said that he met Mr. Washington at the New York premiere of the Marvel film and he told him that he was one of the student he paid for to go to school, to which he said, “Oh, so that’s why I’m here. You owe me money.”

Washington said of that moment meeting Boseman when he appeared on CBS’s The Late Show with Steven Colbert, “I like the movie ‘Black Panther’, yeah, Wakanda Forever, but where’s my money?”

In this moment in our nation’s history as thousands from all backgrounds protest in demand for social justice, Chadwick Boseman played a significant role in defining the current culture. He played some of greatest African Americans in our nation’s history from Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall, James Brown, and then made history as King T’Challa, the first black superhero as the lead of his own movie.

It was sad when at the start of this past weekend we suddenly said goodbye to a gentleman who made us see the world for how it should be. A gentleman who was an inspiration to kids, tweens, and teens of all backgrounds, especially minorities that they can be special and that they have the right to dream as big as they want to. A gentleman who gained the respect of other prominent figures like our country’s first African American President and First Lady, and the Queen of Talk shows.

“Chadwick came to the White House to work with kids when he was playing Jackie Robinson. You could tell right away that he was blessed. To be young, gifted, and Black; to use that power to give them heroes to look up to; to do it while in pain-what a use of his years,” Mr. Obama tweeted on Saturday.

Mrs. Obama echoed those same feelings on her Instagram @michelleobama, “I’ll always remember watching Chadwick in 42. Barack and I were alone in the White House, on a weekend night with the girls away. I was so profoundly moved by the rawness and emotion in the barrier-breaking story. And not long after, when he came to meet with young people in the State Dining Room, I saw that Chadwick’s brilliance on screen was matched by a warmth and sincerity in person.”

“There’s a reason he could play Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall, and King T’Challa with such captivating depth and honesty. He, too, knew what it meant to truly persevere. He, too, knew that real strength starts inside. And he, too, belongs right there with them as a hero-for Black kids and for all of our kids. There’s no better gift with which to grace our world.” 

“The way he handled his life and managing cancer with such humility and grace and dignity lets us all know that he truly was a superhero,” the great Oprah Winfrey said.

Information and quotations are courtesy of 8/29/2/2020 https://www.newsday.com story by “The Associated Press,” “‘ Black Panther’ Star Chadwick Boseman Dies at 43;” 8/30/2020 https://www.vulture.com story, “Hollywood Mourns the Death of Black Panther and Da 5 Bloods Star Chadwick Boseman,” by Halle Kiefer; 8/30/2020 10 p.m. ABC News Special: “Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King,” with Robin Roberts and Deborah Roberts; 8/31/2020 6:30 p.m. edition of “ABC World News Tonight with David Muir,” hosted by Tom Llamas; 8/31/2020 7:30 p.m. edition of Entertainment Tonight on WCBS 2 with Kevin Frazier and Nichselle Turner; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurgood_Marshall; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Panther_(film)#Cast; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avengers:_Endgame#Cast; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/42_(film);  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/25th_Screen_Actors_Guild_Awards; Chadwick Boseman’s Twitter page @chadwickboseman; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chadwick_Boseman.

J-Speaks: NBA Mourns The Sudden Death of a Former Trail Blazer and Hall of Fame College Coach

 

It was a tough week for the basketball community with not just the stoppage of the NBA playoffs to close out the week in the wake of the shooting of Kenosha, WI native Jacob Blake that left him paralyzed from the waist down, but the passing of a key member of the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1990s and one of the greatest collegiate basketball head coaches ever.

Early Saturday morning, Clifford Robinson, who first stared at the University of Connecticut and then 18 seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors and the then New Jersey (now Brooklyn) Nets to the NBA Finals died as confirmed by the UConn Huskies and the Trail Blazers. The cause of death was later revealed to be from lymphoma.

Robinson was 53 years old and is survived by his wife Heather Lufkins and his son Isaiah.

He is the fourth member of Trail Blazers squad that reached the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992, falling in five and six games respectably first to the Hall of Fame led Isiah Thomas  Detroit Pistons and then to the Hall of Fame Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and head coach Phil Jackson led Chicago Bulls. Starters from those teams in center Kevin Duckworth and small forward Jerome Kersey, and fellow reserve Drazen Petrovic are also no longer with us.

Robinson’s former coach at UConn in Hall of Famer Jim Calhoun said that the No. 36 overall pick in the 1989 NBA Draft had a stroke in March 2017 that paralyzed the left side of his body but did recover much of his arm and leg movements. In March 2018, Robinson had a tumor removed from his jaw. In March 2019, he underwent surgery for cancer. was in a coma last week.

“It’s really sad to hear of this because he was one of my kids, my players, ad guy I watched grow into a man,” Coach Calhoun told “The Associated Press.” “It’s not an easy thing.”

On Thursday, the basketball world lost Hall of Fame basketball head coach Robert Luther “Lute” Olsen, who built the University of Arizona Wildcats basketball team into a national power house and guided the school to their only NCAA title in 1997 at the age of 85, which was confirmed by Olsen’s family to the media outlets of Arizona.  

Coach Olson, who was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006 and 2019 was hospitalized last year after suffering a stroke and recently was moved to hospice care. He is survived by his wife of a decade in the former Kelly Fischer, his five from his first marriage to the former Roberta “Bobbi” Russell in Jodi, Greg, Steve, Vicki, and Christi, and 14 grandchildren, which include assistant coach of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury Julie Hairgrove and Matt Brase, an assistant with the NBA’s Houston Rockets.

Before the national anthem of each of the six playoff games over the weekend, a moment of silence was held to honor the loss of Robinson, Coach Olsen, and actor Chadwick Boseman.

Nicknamed “Uncle Cliffy” and being well known for his trademark headband, which he change colors from one half of a basketball game to the next depending on his mood of whether he would play defense or not won the 1993 Kia Sixth Man of the Year when he averaged 19.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and a career-high 2.2 blocks off the bench on 47.3 percent from the field for the Trail Blazers. He earned his only All-Star selection in 1994 and was a two-time NBA All-Defensive Second Team selection first in 2000 with the Suns and in 2002 with the Pistons.

Olson retired from coaching in 2008 with a 781-281 career mark, with 589 of those wins as the head coach of the Wildcats, the winningest coach in the basketball history of the school, an honor he also in his first stop at the University of Iowa winning 192 games in the mid-1980s, when he surprised many by leaving the thriving Hawkeyes program after leading them to the Sweet 16 in 1983. Those 781 career wins by Olson are No. 14 on the all-time list of Men’s Division I basketball coaches.

The silver-haired basketball savant guided the Wildcats to seven Elite Eight four Final Four appearances (1988, 1994, 1997, and 2001), winning the school’s only NCAA National title in 1997. In total, Olsen guided U of A to 23 straight NCAA Basketball Tournament appearances, an NCAA coach-and-school record that was recently broken by another great head man on the collegiate basketball sidelines in Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski of Duke University.

In their run to their lone title in 1997, the Wildcats knocked off NCAA blue bloods of the Kansas Jayhawks, the North Carolina Tar Heels and the reigning champion Kentucky Wildcats (84-79 in overtime). They also needed overtime to defeat the University of Providence in the Elite Eight that year.

Arizona’s victory over the Kentucky 23 years ago is the most recent national title for a team from the now Pac-12 Conference.

In addition to his stellar mark during the season, Olson is just one of 14 colleges coaches to take two different schools to the Final Four. In his 24 seasons with the Wildcats, he led them to then 11 Pac-10 conferences titles and in his final 20 seasons had the third best winning percentage of any men’s college basketball coach according to the university. His 327 wins still stands as the most in the history of the Pac-12, and the only coach in the conference to have a better winning percentage is the legendary late John Wooden. 

Those wins and legacy of Olson are were also the result of having incredibly talented and hardworking players, where 34 of them were drafted into he NBA, including Mike Bibby and Jason Terry, who each played in “The Association” for a decade-plus and won titles. Current head coach of the three-time NBA champion Golden State Warriors Steve Kerr, who also won five titles as a player with the Bulls and San Antonio Spurs. Andre Igoudala, the 2015 Finals MVP with the Warriors, who now plays for the Miami Heat is the only player recruited and coached by Olson that is still playing.

“It’s hard to put into words how much Lute Olson meant to me,” Coach Kerr said on his Twitter page @SteveKerr on Friday. “He was an amazing coach & wonderful man. Being part of the U of A basketball family changed my life forever. I will never forge Coach O, those awesome nights at McKale and all my teammates. Thank you Coach-I love you!”

Robinson was one of the original front court players in the league who at 6-foot-10 had the size of a center but was a skilled outside shooter, becoming a predecessor of today’s NBA big man who can shoot and guard multiple positions.

Robinson, who connected on 1,253 three-pointers in his career was one of three NBA players 6-foot-10 or taller with more than 1,200 made triples in his career.

During the Saturday afternoon’s TNT pregame show “NBA Tip-Off,” Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal said that Robinson and former Net, Philadelphia 76er and Charlotte Hornets All-Star Derrick Coleman were the “toughest” guys he had to play against because they were centers who played power forward on offense who can play on the perimeter.

“So, I can remember Cliff saying, ‘Shaq, I know you’re going to score on me but you got to bring your big ass to the three-point line,” O’Neal said about when he and Robinson played against each other during their playing days in the West when the Trail Blazers played the Lakers in the regular season and postseason in the late 1990s.

Along with that, Robinson was a player who early on in his career never missed games compiling a streak of playing in 461 consecutive games, which remains today a Trail Blazers franchise record. He ranks all-time No. 2 in block shots, No. 5 in points and games played, No. 6 in steals, No. 7 in three-pointers made and No. 10 in rebounds. He averaged 14.2 points and 4.6 rebounds in those aforementioned 18 seasons in the NBA, playing in 1,380 games—the 13^th most in NBA history.

In a statement on Twitter by the Portland Trail Blazers, who played in the nightcap of the NBA playoff schedule in Game 5 of their opening-round series against the Lakers said @trailblazers, “The Trail Blazers organization is deeply saddened by the passing of Trail Blazers great Cliff Robinson…His personality and energy were unmatched, and his contributions on the court were unmistakable, helping the Trail Blazers into the playoffs each of his eight seasons with the team… We extend our heartfelt condolences to Cliff’s family & loved ones. Uncle Cliffy will be greatly missed by the Trail Blazers & all of ‘Rip City.’”

“Clifford was the consummate professional who loved the game and played with an incredible sense of both joy and intensity during his outstanding 18-year career,” the four-time NBA champion Warriors, who Robinson played for from 2003-05 said in a statement.

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra, who grew up in the Portland, OR, attended and played basketball at the University of Portland said he was still processing the news about the passing of Robinson after the team’s practice in preparation for their Semifinals tilt against the Bucks saying, “I can’t believe it.”

“It’s shocking to me because I was in college and just right after college, so I’m not that much younger than the players on the Portland Trail Blazers team. And if you just look at that team, there’s four players that are not with us anymore. Starting with Drazen Petrovic, Kersey, Duckworth, and now Cliff Robinson. I’m shocked, I’m stunned, all you can do is send your prayers and condolences to the Robinson family.”

Robinson, a native of Buffalo, NY began his basketball journey as mentioned at the University of Connecticut, where he became the centerpiece of Coach Calhoun’s early teams from 1985-89, where he helped them rise from the cellar of the then Big East basement to NIT Champions in 1988, where he was named to the that year’s all-tournament team.

Though it took a serious conversation between Calhoun and the player he once called “our first great player.” That conversation happened after his freshmen year where he averaged just five points and Coach Calhoun told him that he was either going to “kick him” off the team if he continued to play below his potential or he was going to see him rise to the level where he was going to “watch” Robinson play a lot of years in the NBA.

“He chose the latter, which was good,” Calhoun said to “The Associated Press” about Robinson becoming the player he did.

On Feb. 5, 2007, Robinson No. 00 was retired at Gampel Pavilion during halftime of the Huskies game against the Syracuse Orangemen as part of the “Huskies of Honor” ceremony where 13 former players and three coaches received recognition for their personal accomplishments to the basketball team.

“He was our first great player,” Calhoun said of Robinson and his contributions to the Huskies. “He gave legitimacy to the program. As a player coming in, here’s this guy playing on TV for the Trail Blazers, watching him play, watching UConn being mentioned. You could not pay for the exposure that he gave us.”

Coach Olson was born on Sept. 22, 1934 in Mayville, ND. He helped lead North Dakota High to a state title and would go on to be a standout football, basketball, and baseball player during the 1950s at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, MN in the middle 1950s.

“Growing up, it was fine because I didn’t know any better,” Olson said about the winters in Minneapolis as a collegian. “People from North Dakota go south to Minneapolis for the winter.”

After graduating from college in 1956 with a double major in history and physical education, Coach Olson taught and coached high school basketball for 13 years, first in Minnesota at Mahnomen and then Two Harbors. He and his first wife Bobbi then moved to California, where from 1962-63 where he coached the freshmen basketball squad at Western High School in Anaheim. In 1963, Coach Olson became the varsity coach at Loara High, which was also in Anaheim, CA. One year later, he was hired as the varsity head coach at Marina-Huntington Beach High School.  

His first job as a college basketball head coach was at Long Beach City College, saying to the press about the move at age 35, “I wanted a college job and at 35 I felt I couldn’t wait much longer.”

In his four (1969-73) as the lead man on LBCC sidelines, Coach Olson compiled a 103-22 record at LBCC and won the 1971 Junior College title. That success got the attention of Long Beach State University.

“I was perfectly content there, and had no plans to go anyplace, I loved it there,” Coach Olson said of wanting to stay at LBCC. “Del Walker, a great guy, was the athletic director, and I recall his telling me when he hired me that he wanted me to recruit players strictly from the Long Beach area, which I did.”

Coach Olson did decide to go coach at LBSU to become a part of the late great Jerry Tarkanian staff, which gave him the opportunity to finally coach in the NCAA. In his lone season, he led them to an undefeated conference record at 12-0, going 24-2 overall, which still stands today as the school’s best winning percentage in a season at .923. Their only two losses that season were by two points at the University of Colorado and at No. 6 Marquette University.

Coach Olson though was not interested at the time of going to at LBSU because of the rumors he heard of the school about to go on NCAA probation. The school told him that there were not going on probation.

When Coach Tarkanian, who had built LBSU into a National power left to coach at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas left and Coach Olson took over, the team was ranked as high as No. 3 behind Coach Wooden’s UCLA Bruins and eventual NCAA champion North Carolina State. Because LBSU finished No. 10 in the regular season rankings, they were banned from appearing in that year’s tournament after they were put on a three-year probation mid-season because of the many recruiting violations that occurred under Coach Tarkanian.

That team though had five players get drafted into the NBA: Cliff Poindexter (Bulls) and his brother Roscoe (Boston Celtics); All-American Glenn McDonald (Celtics in First-Round), Leonard Grey (Seattle Supersonics); and a year later, Bobby Gross (Trail Blazers).

Coach Olsen left Long Beach State for the University of Iowa, where he would coach for nine years, compiling a 167-91 mark and then later for the University of Arizona and the rest his college basketball history. A history that led to college basketball in 2009-10 introducing the Lute Olson Award, which has been given to the best player who has been at their school for at least two full seasons. The most recent recipients of this award were now Memphis Grizzlies starting lead guard Ja Morant of Murray State University and Payton Pritchard of the University of Oregon.

While Coach Olsen had a less than graceful exit as he retired from coaching less than a month before the 2008-09 season began because of some schisms and bumpy behavior after he suffered an unknowing stroke that his doctor later stated to the public led to depression and irregular behavior.

That did not affect Coach Olsen’s excellent standing in the Arizona community or with fans there and in Iowa.

Coach Olson following his retirement had spent the last 12 years living in Arizona and occasionally was seen at games Wildcats games as late as 2018, and in that same year had a statue of himself unveiled outside the McKale Center.

In 2003, the school named the basketball court at the McKale Center Lute and Bobbi Olson Court for Coach Olson and his previously mentioned late wife of 47 years “Bobbi,” who died of ovarian cancer on Jan. 1, 2001. She was 65 years old.

To put into context how much of a part Coach Olson and his first wife “Bobbi,” who he first met in high school in North Dakota were a part of the Tucson, AZ community, when the Wildcats were becoming a serious player in college basketball, the two were amongst the most prominent and beloved married couples in the collegiate sport.

“Since I arrived in Tucson almost 12 years ago, I have been asked hundreds of time, “What made Coach Olsen so successful’” current Wildcats head coach Sean Miller said in a statement. “Having asked his former players, coaches and people in our community the same question, I came to a final conclusion: He had no weaknesses as a coach. He was a tremendous teacher of the game. He was a relentless recruiter. He was an astute evaluator of talent. He was a fierce and confident leader. He was more than a coach to all of his players. To this day, there is a connection and closeness between generations of Arizona players that will last forever.”

The basketball world lost two prominent people over the weekend. First on Friday with the passing of Hall of Fame head coach Lute Olson and then former Portland Trail Blazers’ All-Star forward Clifford Robinson. One was a coaching legend in Coach Olson. The other, was a player in Robinson, who first was a reserve on a championship caliber team in and then became a starter where he displayed an ability to consistently be available for every game as well as a versatility to score both inside and out, and guard nearly all five positions.

Both Robinson and Olson made a lasting impression and impact on the NBA and college basketball respectably and gave us a lot of memories that will be cherished for a long time.

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 8/28/2020 https://www.cbssports.com story, “Legendary Former Arizona Coach Lute Olson, Who Built The Wildcats Into A National Power, Dies at 85,” by Matt Norlander; 8/29/2020 6 p.m. TNT “NBA Tip-Off,” presented by Autotrader with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal; 8/29/2020 3 p.m. “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN, presented by Mountain Dew with Rachel Nichols, Matt Barnes, and Paul Pierce; 8/30/2020 www.espn.com story and “The Associated Press” “Former Portland Trail Blazers Star Clifford Robinson Dies at 53;” https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/robincl02.html;  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_Robinson_(basektball,_born_1966); and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lute_Olson.   

J-Speaks: Milwaukee Bucks versus Miami Heat: East Semifinals Preview

 

After some shaky moments in the restart in Orlando and a falling in Game 1 of their opening-round tilt against the team from Walt Disney World, the No. 1 Seed in the East the Milwaukee Bucks found themselves, and finished off their opponent and sent them home for the offseason. Their Semifinals tilt against the team from South Beach though will not be easy sledding as they try to get one step closer to becoming NBA champions.

The Bucks next opponent in the Miami Heat is not the Orlando Magic, who they took down the final four games of the series, after dropping the opener of their last series to win it 4-1.

They were able to not only shake off some bad play in the Game 1 loss (122-110) against the Magic, but they got back to playing their style of basketball, which they did not do a lot of in going 3-5 in the seeding games.

In the Miami Heat, who swept their First-Round opponent in the Indiana Pacers 4-0 are a team that is tough, aggressive, and is not afraid of the Bucks or the reigning Kia MVP and recently named 2020 Kia Defensive Player of the Year in Giannis Antetokounmpo, who averaged 30.6 points, 16.0 rebounds and six assists on 59.0 percent shooting against the Magic.

During the regular season, the Heat won two of the three regular season matchups against the Bucks in impressive fashion in the spoiling the Bucks home opener 131-126 in overtime on Oct. 26, 2019 and on Mar. 2 105-89 on Mar. 2 in Miami on NBATV.

The Bucks in their lone win on Aug. 6 (130-116) on TNT, the Heat did not have five-time All-Star Jimmy Butler or reserve All-Star guard Goran Dragic in the lineup because of injury.

The Heat though are brimming with confidence after their aforementioned opening-round sweep of the Pacers led by Dragic (22.8 ppg, 5.0 apg, 48.0 FG%, 41.4 3-Pt.% against/ Pacers) and Butler (19.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.5 spg, 57.1 3-Pt.% against/Pacers).

As good as Butler and Dragic were against the Pacers, the play of the youngsters in rookie Tyler Herro (16.5 ppg, 45.8 FG%, 36.4 3-Pt.% against/Pacers), Kia Most Improved Player candidate Bam Adebayo (15.0 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 5.3 apg, 47.9 FG% against/Pacers), and Duncan Robinson (12.5 ppg, 46.9 FG%, 44.4 3-Pt.% against/Pacers), and veteran Jae Crowder (9.8 ppg, 6.5 rpg) are why the Heat feel like they are going to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

While the current starting quintet of Dragic, Butler, Robinson, Crowder, and Adebayo did not start a game against the Bucks in their three regular season tilts, they played nine minutes in the Mar. 2 matchup and were a plus-nine on the floor together.

That lineup should be effective against a Bucks defense that will give up three-point shots to their opposition, which in this case the Heat shot 43.3 percent from three-point range against the top seed in the East, the best in the league against the Bucks during the regular season. The Heat made on average 18.3 triples in the three games against the Bucks, compared to the 13.0 three-pointers the Bucks made against the Heat.

Also, the Heat averaged 29.7 assists in the three meetings, while the Bucks averaged just 22.7 assists.

That is why it will be important for the Bucks that Khris Middleton (15.0 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 5.2 apg, 37.5 3-Pt.% against/Magic), who shot just 36.1 percent from the field in the opening-round against the Magic; Brook Lopez (13.4 ppg, 53.8 FG%, 36.0 3-Pt.% against/Magic); and Eric Bledsoe (11.6 ppg, 6.6 apg against/Magic), who shot just 27.8 percent from three-point range really supply secondary scoring with what Antetokounmpo will do.

The Bucks, who went 36-5 against the rest of the Eastern Conference compared to their 1-2 mark against the Heat during the regular season will also need consistent production from George Hill (9.2 ppg, 52.0 FG%, 40.0 3-Pt.%), Wesley Matthews (8.2 ppg, 42.9 3-Pt.%), Kyle Korver (7.8 ppg, 37.5 3-Pt.%), Pat Connaughton, Marvin Williams, Donte DiVincenzo, and Robin Lopez on both ends.

That consistent production will make life a lot easier for Antetokounmpo, who will get a lot of defensive attention from the Heat defensively, whether they play him straight up first with the 6-foot-9 first time All-Star in Adebayo and forward Derrick Jones, Jr., who will bring the energy, athleticism and defensive focus.

While the Heat will build the so-called wall in the paint that the Raptors used very effectively in the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals, the question for them is can they do it for an entire series. 

The other key matchup in this series is Butler versus Middleton, who both carry major responsibilities for their respective teams on both ends.

Butler along with Dragic have proven to be the Heat’s go-to guys offensively, especially in the fourth quarter, which they demonstrated against the Pacers in opening-round.

While Butler may spend some time guarding Antetokounmpo, he will be right in the shooting pocket of the Bucks No. 2 offensive threat in Middleton.

Both the Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat like to defend the paint and protect the basket, preferring to have their opponent beat them from the perimeter. The Bucks have thrived playing that way the last two regular seasons, and earned the East best record, but the Heat bring into this serious some sharp-shooters in Duncan Robinson, Jae Crowder, Tyler Herro, Kelly Olynyk and Goran Dragic that will put the Bucks defensive philosophy to the test. The Bucks perimeter shooting in comparison is very streaky, specifically when George Hill and Kyle Korver are not on the floor.

If the Bucks are streak in this series from the perimeter, the Heat can really focus on putting the clamps on Antetokounmpo’s drives in the paint.

That being said, the Bucks after what happened in last season’s Eastern Conference Finals where they lost four straight to the eventual NBA champion Toronto Raptors in six games and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s jump shot, particularly from three-point range getting better and better should be enough to get the Bucks past the Heat in seven games.

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 8/24/2020 11:30 p.m. “Inside the NBA,” presented by Kia on TNT with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal; 8/292/2020 www.nba.com story, “Series Preview: Can Bam Adebayo, Heat Slow Down Giannis?” by Steve Aschburner; https://www.espn.com/nb/team/stats/_/name/mil; and https://www.espn.com/nb/team/stats/_/name/mia.