Bulletin!!!!!!!!!!!

The Big 12 Conference has ruled the Longhorn Television Network cannot telecast high school football games at least for 1-year period. Hopefully the conference will continue to play hard ball with the University of Texas and this edict will remain permanently in place.

They run few plays
A recent article in the Kansas City Star pointed out the shortcomings of AAU basketball. The writer pointed out little if any offensive schemes are utilized by most AAU teams. He attributed this to the limited amount of time players had to become acclimated to one another. I could agree with a portion of his statement however I think even casual fans prefer a more up tempo game. I can't think of very many (except Carolina fans) who enjoyed Dean Smith's four-corner offense. Younger readers are probably familiar with the term spreading the floor, in this instance it meant just that! Each Carolina player would be in a designated area in four corners at the time they were the offensive team. The ball would be passed back and forth till an opening presented itself and the Carolina player would drive to the basket for a layup. Naturally this was before the days of the 30-second clock, I can remember a similar type of game as if it were played yesterday. Back in the day my alma mater Central High School had a high powered run and gun offense predicated on man to man pressure defense. The opponent they were to play that evening, East High School was a .500 team and they probably knew going into the game they couldn't play at Central's level. I will give the East coach credit, he did what was necessary to win, he had his team hold the basketball for 3/4 of the game. The East guards would inbound the ball dribble down court and just hold the ball, when a Central player would attempt to defend the guard would pass to an open teammate. This slow down game went on all evening, the only time it speeded up was on Central's offensive end. The game ended 19-16 in favor of East something along those lines, this was a period Central was scoring 60-70 points a game. Of course there was no clock nor was there a requirement to move the ball other than to advance it across half court. An opposing player could stand there and hold the ball till the cows came home if they wanted. Thanks but no thanks---I've seen enough of slow paced basketball.

Double Duty
The basketball Hall of Fame ceremony will require Phil Jackson to introduce Dennis Rodman and Tex Winter to the gathering. This is interesting how both chose the Zen Master to introduce them. I believe Rodman has a genuine affection for Jackson and respects him as a coach and man. Thinking back over his NBA career there were two coaches he respected greatly, the late Chuck Daley and Jackson. The mercurial Rodman could be a head case off the court but only one incident comes to mind while he played for Jackson. Playing for the Bulls Rodman fell out of bounds and for reasons still unknown chose to kick a photographer seated nearby, the incident resulted in a fine and suspension for Rodman.  

89 year old Morice Fredrick "Tex" Winter is almost the opposite of Rodman. This Texas native has been around the game so long I had to research portions of his resume. He played at USC then began his long basketball career first serving as head at Marquette from 1951-1953. From there he coached at Kansas State ('53-'68), Washington ('68-'71) and then the NBA Houston Rockets ('71-'73). He went back to the college game first at Northwestern ('73-'78) and later Long Beach State ('78-'83). In 1985 Winter was to began his long association with Phil Jackson while serving as an assistant coach of the Bulls. Winter brought the triangle offense to the team and it's head coach. Health issues eventually forced him to the sidelines, he had served as a consultant their 2008-09 season with the Lakers. Although Winter didn't invent the triangle or triple-post offense other than Phil Jackson he is the one individual most closely associated with it. (A portion of the Tex Winter bio from Wikipedia.org)

Is it really that bad

As this is written the lockout is now in it's 41st day. I wanted to present what I thought was a  view not covered by anyone I've read.  Is it important to the current state of affairs of the NBA, I think so see what you think. The issue before us is new ownership in the NBA, you might not realize this but even in a down economy at least five franchises have changed hands since 2009. The Nets were first up, they were purchased by Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov. The Nets deal was followed in succession by the Warriors, Wizards, Pistons, 76ers and Hawks. I don't wish to paint an inaccurate picture these deals were completed over an extended period of time however all were begun after the recession of 2008. Of all the franchises the Pistons probably were on the market for the greatest period of time. The Pistons were not lacking bids in fact two owners were vying for the team at one point. The Pistons were eventually sold to billionaire private-equity magnate Tom Gores. The Hawks deal was recently announced and has yet to be formerly approved by the NBA, on the surface it appears the sale will be approved. You think billionaires are willing to throw away money on failing franchises?