Drive and Dish Tidbits

By Trashtalk Superstar

It's February. It's the heart of college basketball season. Drive and Dish has lots to talk about. But not everything demands a long form Drive and Dish post. Hence, we introduce the first 2008 edition of Drive and Dish Tidbits:

1.) Joe Henricksen writes about the "art of ranking, evaluating big men" in the Chicago Sun Times' City/Suburban Hoops Report.

This is an interesting article, and everything that Henricksen says is right on the money with regard to evaluating high school big men. But unfortunately, the type is screwed up in this article. Sentences are cut off in mid stream and are continued at the beginning of new paragraphs.

But if you can get past the annoying sentence breaks, the article is a valuable read.


2.) Also in the Sun Times' City/Suburban Hoops Report, Henricksen writes about the role that new Illinois assistant coach Jerrance Howard has played in turning the Illini's basketball recruiting fortunes around.


3.) The NBA's two year suspension of former Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Hornets big man Chris "Birdman" Anderson has expired. Anderson is now free to apply for reinstatement to the league.

Chris Anderson is one of the few players in the history of the NBA to be effectively kicked out of the league for using illegal drugs.

Most of the league smokes weed and uses drugs casually. So you've really got to be hard core to get kicked out of the league for your drug use.

But Chris Anderson wants back in the league. We'll see what happens.

Drive and Dish just has a difficult time believing that Anderson has actually cleaned up his act, and can actually stay clean for an extended period of time.

Everything about this guy's existence just screams out "hard drugs."

Just like Scott Pollard and Dennis Rodman.

I'd sooner expect Kevin Federline or the singer from Korn to stay clean than this guy.


4.) Here's an interesting thread from the Bradley Braves' fan message board (Bradleyfans.com) regarding the current collegiate playing status of former Boys to Men Academy and Decatur Christian basketball players. Now defunct, Boys to Men Academy and Decatur Christian were the only prep schools from the state of Illinois that competed in the world of high caliber prep school basketball.

Both schools appeared on the prep school scene almost overnight. Both schools had basketball teams that were loaded with big time players. Both schools were frequently criticized for being little more than "basketball academies." And both schools disappeared almost as quickly as they appeared.

What's really alarming is to note how many of the Boys to Men and Decatur Christian players (nearly all of whom were Division I signees/prospects) are not currently playing basketball for NCAA Division I institutions (several aren't even playing basketball anywhere).

DePaul's Mac Koshwal is just about the only guy from either school who's currently playing big time college basketball.


5.) In Thursday night's NBA action, Cleveland's Donyell Marshall was sent into a game against Seattle. Nothing out of the ordinary there, right? Well, there wouldn't have been anything out of the ordinary if Marshall had been wearing his jersey. But unfortunately for Marshall, he hadn't bothered to wear his full uniform under his warm ups.

Donyell Marshall has fallen pretty far down Cleveland's bench. It's possible that he wasn't expecting to play. But still, Donyell Marshall is a PROFESSIONAL athlete. His failure to adequately suit up for the Seattle game is absolutely ridiculous.

Donyell Marshall should be embarrassed.

Maybe he was so high that he just forgot to put his jersey on.

It really doesn't matter. It's just hard to believe that after 13 years in the league, Donyell Marshall doesn't know enough to put his jersey on BEFORE the game.


6.) J.J. Redick has, reportedly, asked Orlando for a trade.

The former Duke star and 2006 Orlando 1st round draft pick has barely seen the floor since arriving in the NBA.

Redick, a shooting guard, is stuck behind Keith Bogans, Keyon Dooling and Maurice Evans on Orlando's depth chart.

Redick is an outstanding outside shooter. But his offensive game is limited to perimeter shooting. And his lack of quickness and speed makes him a defensive liability in the NBA.

Good luck, J.J. Redick.