Brad Cesmat
When putting together the Mt. Rushmore of Arizona high school basketball coaches, Sammy Duane Jr. would have to be one of the faces(so would his father). Saturday afternoon I leaned back against a wall in the main gym at Mesquite high school with the humble bench boss of the Perry Pumas. It’s an interesting time for Duane Jr. . This Thursday, one of his former pupils, Marvin Bagley, will be one of the top picks in the NBA Draft. We spoke about the journey of Bagley for quite some time. I’ve stated many times, that had Bagley stayed at Corona Del Sol under Duane Jr. we’d still be talking about him this week as one of the top picks. Instead, Sammy and Bagley left Corona for different reasons and now Duane Jr. has built one of the top programs in the state at the corner of Queen Creek and Val Vista, On this day, I dropped in to check on the progress of Duane Jr.’s new big man, who’s been talked about in the club scene for the last couple of years. I’ve resisted putting anything about him on the site while he was in Jr. high school and we don’t rank players. (never will rank players, silly exercise) .
In the case of 14 year-old Dylan Anderson, it’s time for those of you who aren’t die-hard hoop-a-holics to be aware of Anderson. A size 18 shoe, with a laser 3-point shot. He already sports offers from Arizona and Arizona St. and will likely become the next big man to watch on the Arizona high school scene. He has plenty of time to mature and grow into his body. I will be interested to watch his progress under a terrific head coach…
If the New York Yankees truly did call twenty teams this week looking for starting pitching, I would hope that there were a few return phone calls from the 602 area code. The Diamondbacks are in first place, while the 33-million dollar man has 6 quality starts in 14 outings. He’s tied for the team lead in losses. Simply put, Zack Greinke isn’t the lock down pitcher that he once was. He’s being paid big bucks for his past performance. That’s not right!! …
Nothing more tiresome in the sports “news” cycle than ink and breath wasted on players not showing up in June for football workouts. Low hanging fruit to fill the nightly 90-seconds on the tube…
Ditto for “Should the Suns trade the top pick for Kawhi Leonard”. Um, sure, the Suns will trade the top pick for a player who is a free agent a year from now. Quick…run to twitter and see if it’s trending and we will put in the A block. Let’s put up a poll and see how many clicks we get…our industry…SMH…
Heard the great Kaley O’Kelly is jumping back into the Phoenix TV market from Dallas. Good things happen to good people…
John Holmberg talking sports on 98 KUPD, makes me sit longer in the parking lot. Smart dude…
I’m not so much worried about the Suns blowing the number one pick on Thursday night. Look, about half of the players taken with the top pick DON’T turn out to be superstars. I want them to take Deandre Ayton and that’s that. What is more concerning to me is what they do at number 16. This isn’t that hard. Trade 16, any combination of Chriss, Bender, Warren, Jackson and/or a future first-round pick and move back into the top ten to take Colin Sexton or Trae Young. Get the point guard and the big man NOW. Don’t stay safe at 16. Be bold…
Took my 13 year old to Incredibles 2. Incredible!!!…
On this Fathers Day, I have to acknowledge Mike Williams, Bob Johnson, Dennis Keating, Greg Lane, Russ Jackson, and Dan Regis. Four were coaches/teachers, two were pastors. It was tricky growing up without a dad. Somehow I lucked out and had each one of them pour their time and efforts into me as a kid…
