One of the great joys of my basketball career was the time I spent working for the Marty Blake Agency in Atlanta as a professional basketball scout.

I was always flattered to have the opportunity to watch college basketball players and minor league players have at it, trying to hone their skills in hopes of getting to the big show that the National Basketball Association provided.

Most of what I did was take phone calls from the agency and travel to Orono and scout a specific player from a University of Maine opponent. I would then fill out a report, mail it to Atlanta and that, dear readers, was that.

Some of the notables who received my own scrutiny were guys like Jeff Roland of Iona and Brad Davis of Maryland, who played in Bangor for the Continental Basketball Association’s Alaska entry. The Maryland guard finally hooked up with Dallas. Others included: Rick Carlisle, who played with UMaine before transferring to the University of Virginia before playing with the Celtics and the Nets; and, of course, Maine’s own Rufus Harris, who played here at UMaine and toiled briefly with the CBA’s Lumberjacks in Bangor.

Rufus was a last cut in Boston and finished his career overseas.

With all the publicity of the 2008 presidential primaries, I thought today might be fun to evaluate Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s skills from a hoop perspective and apply those strengths and weaknesses to the level – the presidency of the United States – which he is trying to attain.

First of all, Obama probably has the most athletic experience of the three presidential contenders.

A solid former player and 1979 graduate of the Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama’s got – as they say – game.

I’ve seen enough film on this guy to fill out the following report.

What Sen. Obama brings to the table is quickness. As a left-handed point guard, he is able to advance the basketball, and he has showed that he is more of a dribble-penetrator than he is a perimeter threat.

Barack is a bit of a showman, which suits his current needs in the political arena.

Problem is, Obama is not a great shooter. His release from his shot is too low in his jump upward. This will cause misfires, if he should get elected president. But, he’s aggressive and quick, a combination which has served him well thus far in his run for the top job in American politics.

Critics of the Illinois senator have called him a political flash in the pan. Maybe, but as a former scout, I would say that he has enough of a base talent to mature well and make a dent in the entire process.

Those who make athletic comparisons to the two remaining contenders, Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton, would have to turn to other sports to follow this line of thinking.

Sen. Hillary Clinton looks like a softball catcher who has had to block the plate a time or two and field some tough questions about things that were not her doing. In actuality, Hillary was a decent swimmer, and her mastery of several strokes would serve her well in the choppy and sometimes treacherous waters off the Potomac.

Sen. McCain looks like an aging baseball coach, who has been at it so long that, in a pinch, he’d be the guy voters would turn to. In essence, he would be the Bobby Cox or Earl Weaver of the political scene, directing the younger ones in how to perform.

Oddly, McCain was quite a wrestler at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Va., and if he is elected president, he will have to tackle and pin a host of issues after being sworn in as commander-in-chief.

All in all, sports analogies may serve this threesome well in their quest to become the leader of the free world.

30-Second Time Out

As the Detroit Pistons travel to Boston for tonight’s Eastern Conference finals, I couldn’t help thinking that newly acquired reserve players Sam Cassell and P.J. Brown have, ironically, had a hand in the recent malaise that the team has demonstrated on the road. Even though Brown had some key baskets down the stretch vs. Cleveland in Game 7, I believe that general manager Danny Ainge and head coach Doc Rivers might have tinkered too much with a substitution rotation that worked almost perfectly throughout the regular season.

Now we must factor in the possibility of disgruntled players who aren’t getting the time they once did.

In the end, the ride to the title may, in fact, end with this series.

bdnsports@bangordailynews.net