He's on the way to UNLV

For reasons only he knows freshman Khem Birch left Pitt recently. All sort of rumors began circulating "Birch is headed to Mizzou." I can only conclude the rumor began circulating due to Jabari Brown. The first reason he was never on Mizzou's radar. The second reason would be the make up the team in the fall. Mizzou is small now compared to most teams. All that will change in the fall, they will have Laurence Bowers and four players 6-9 and taller. If all four of the incoming freshman qualify they are going to be scrambling for playing time. Why would they need another 6-9 player?

He's on his last leg according to Jason Whitlock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZFN_5riRqU

Did you know

Michael Jordan's son's choose the same path of their father, Jeff and Marcus. The path has taken the two brothers in different directions. The path has been relativity smooth for younger brother Marcus, not the case for Jeff. Jeff began his journey as a walk-on at Illinois and he made the team. Later the school awarded him a scholarship. After Marcus graduated high school Marcus he headed off to the University of Central Florida on a scholarship. Exactly what occurred at Illinois with brother Jeff is a mystery, the next news we received Jeff was joining his brother at UCF. Marcus is a starter for the Knights while Jeff is unable to escape the bench. Jeff announced he wouldn't be returning to school for the spring semester. He thanked the coach and the school but gave no indication why he leaving. He just stated was leaving for "personal reasons, " Jeff is a senior, if he wasn't red-shirted at Illinois or UCF he's down to one semester of eligibility.

I love it

Tuesday's Best Andrew Ayres ESPN.com had one of those lines I love reading. He gave the Lakers Andrew Bynum a 10 on the "By-no-mite meter." Bynum had a magnificent game against the Rockets 21 points, 22 rebounds 3 block shocks. One of the studio analysis on NBA TV said "he's the second best center in the NBA." Bynum's history of injuries have caused many to question that statement. Chris Mannix of CNNSi.com had an interesting take, he said "people say Bynum is injury prone, not so Greg Oden is injury prone. The last injury Kobe Bryant fell into (Bynum's) knee." I reflected on the injuries and Mannix is correct, people have crashed into Bynum. How does he stack up, well he doesn't have the finesse of Kareem, he can't pass as well as Shaq. He lacks the scoring and rebounding prowess of Wilt. Those past Laker centers had skills Bynum lacks but he's got one clear advantage. He might be the best maybe second best free throw shooter of the bunch. I admit Bynum has shown some maturity issues in the past but healthy I certainly wouldn't trade him. The prime need of this team is a point guard that's why Gasol would have been history rather than Bynum. The center position is in capable hands, the point guard position is another matter. Factoring in the pluses and negatives I say Bynum's remains in place, did I fail to mention Bynum is 23 years old! Did I say I wouldn't trade Bynum for Howard?

No Rooney rule here

In order to resolve hiring complaints the NFL adopted the Rooney rule in 2003. Simply stated the Rooney rule requires NFL teams to interview minority candidates which had not been customary up to that time period. The NBA has had issues the same as other sports however a Rooney rule never had to be implemented. Perhaps part of it has to do with the history of the game, the NBA at that time had a "minor league" image with the general public. In 1947 Jackie Robinson had to endure a significant amount of racial taunts and threats as he broke the color barrier in baseball. Although baseball was the first sport to break the color barrier it existed for players managerial hiring was still reserved for whites only. Frank Robinson was hired by the Cleveland Indians in 1975 thus becoming the first African American manager. Unlike major league baseball the NBA never had the turmoil as it added African American players to it's rosters. Without any fanfare three African American players began play in the 1950-51 season. Chuck Cooper was drafted by the Boston Celtics in the 1950 draft, Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton was signed as a free agent by the Knicks. Earl Lloyd had been drafted by the Washington Capitols franchise which folded in 1951, Lloyd would later play for the Syracuse Nats and Detroit Pistons. Bill Russell was the first African American head coach in the NBA, assuming the position of head coach in 1966. Currently 15 of the 30 head coaches in the NBA are African American which exceeds MLB and the NFL combined. (Wikipedia)