Bits n Pieces
In a surprise move Frank Martin has decided to leave Kansas State in favor of South Carolina. It's been reported problems exist between the athletic director and Martin, it might be mentioned the athletic director did not hire Martin. The other reason for the South Carolina move are dollars, a huge raise is in store for Martin over the amount Kansas State was paying him. Big XII fans might miss Martin but Mizzou fans won't, for those unaware South Carolina is an SEC school.

We didn't have to wait long for Deron Williams to announce his intentions. Reports indicate Williams is not planning on waiving his early termination option with the Nets. I wonder if he sent a text message to his buddy Dwight Howard?

On second thought maybe I should have entered an NCAA pool. If I had entered a pool at least I would have done a better job off keeping up tournament developments. Norfolk State took all the wind out my sails after besting Mizzou.  Sorry sport fans I don't feel an allegiance to Kansas State, Baylor, Iowa State and especially KU.

There appears to be no shortage of people with large sums of money desiring to own a NBA franchise. Oracle's CEO Ellison is the latest and is inquiring about buying the Grizzlies. That's the good news, the bad news he wants to move the franchise to San Jose. If Ellison is serious about the move I'd like to ask him why? Google maps indicate Oakland is 40+ miles from San Jose and less than 100 miles from Sacramento. No Cal is the same as So Cal (the Kings planned move to Anaheim), three teams in a compacted area is really one too many!

I'm issuing an apology to Lakers coach Mike Brown. There was an explanation made why he continued to start Steve Blake over Ramon Sessions. He was "concerned the spark Sessions provided off the bench might be missing with the second unit." Brown did start Sessions against the Blazers and the stat line was good. 6 for 10 from the floor and 2 for 3 from the 3-point line and 20 points, 11 assists, 1 steal and only 3 turnovers in 36 minutes. I fully understand, the bench wasn't the only reason the Lakers were losers against the Grizzlies but your bench only scores 9 points!!!! .

I might have told this story before, Bobby Knight will not mention the name "Kentucky" whenever he is broadcasting a game. Knight's issues with Kentucky appear to be Calapari's "one n done" athletes. He made several public statements about Kentucky basketball which prove inaccurate and untrue. In typical Bobby Knight fashion to my knowledge he never apologized for his error and why is ESPN unable or unwilling to call him out on this? Knight is certainly not the best analyst in town.

There is an interesting twist to Kentucky playing Louisville this weekend, Lexington is less than 100 miles from Louisville. Over the years Kentucky refused to play Louisville, we can point the finger at long-time coach Adolph Rupp. "In the old days, Adolph Rupp refused to play the Cardinals or any other state team for that matter. Rupp always said it would be bad for the program at Louisville if the two team played each other often." In the 1970's Louisville hired Denny Crum who served as an assistant coach under the legendary John Wooden at UCLA. Louisville basketball became competitive, the schools finally met after the Kentucky legislature threatened to withhold state funds. The two schools now play more frequently now but I thought the story was worth sharing. (bleacherreport.com)

Don't just make up stuff

March 12 I wrote on a Fox Sports column by Jason Whitlock which I thought was inaccurate. Whitlock doesn't like Kobe Bryant and that's okay with me, not okay is an inaccurate account to validate your conclusions. He painted an inaccurate portrait of Kobe which could led a reader to believe Kobe Bryant is 1-dimensional and selfish, that is far from the truth. To refresh your memory read again what Whitlock wrote, I've changed nothing. "Kobe is a scorer. Period. He can’t touch Michael Jordan as a defender. Kobe is not in the same zip code as Magic and Bird as a creator and teammate-elevator." I pointed out Bryant had made the all-defensive team 11 of the 16 years he's played in the NBA. A couple more bits of information for you and Mr. Whitlock and I will put this baby to bed. Among active players Bryant is only behind point guard Jason Kidd in career steals, Kidd is 2,532 and Bryant is 1,706. Bryant is a shooting guard and not a point yet he has 5,361 assists through last season, a 4.68 per game average over the course of his career. I'd be willing to bet his assist total probably eclipses a number of point guards in the NBA. I stated this before and I will repeat it again, it's my designated duty to provide you the truth because if appears Whitlock has other things on his mind. Whitlock don't write stuff out of your imagination, you claim you know NBA basketball write on as if you do!

Change is coming

If Lin-sanity is over you can point the finger at interim Knicks coach Mike Woodson, Woodson's offense is quite different from that of Mike D'Antoni. For those unfamiliar with Mike Woodson he served as head coach of the Atlanta Hawks from 2004-2010. D'Antoni's offense had the point guard (Lin) taking a high number of shots. Woodson's offense is just the opposite so Jeremy Lin will take fewer shots and will score less the balance of the year. Woodson says Lin is the point guard for now and with another Baron Davis injury it would appear Lin will receive the larger share of time on the floor. The Knicks beat the Pacers 108-88 and Lin led them to victory. He scored 19 points on 6 of 10 shooting, 7 rebounds 6 assists and only 2 turnovers in 33 minutes. Lin was the games high scorer as teammates Anthony and Stoudemire each scored 16 points. Injuries will negate Lin-sanity as well, he missed Mondays win over the Bucks. Lin's name is not on the injury list so we should assume he will play in tonight's game against the Magic.

Question

If a team decides to retire a players jersey what should the criteria be, length of time with the team or the athletes record? I pose the question again because a number of Laker fans have continued to voice objections to management's decision to retire Shaquille O'Neal's number 34. I'm unsure if their logic is based on the circumstances of him leaving or something else. Just for sake of discussion Shaq was a Laker for 8 of his 19 year career and during a portion of his time with the Lakers they won 3 successive NBA championships. At the same time Shaq was sometimes a lighting rod for stirring up controversy and I'm not referring to his feud with Kobe. Without research I don't remember the exact time-frame but he waited till August or September for a surgery. Naturally he wasn't ready for training camp that year, when questioned by reporters he responded "I was injured on company time" meaning he could heal on company time. His constant battles with weight, the roster said he weighed 325 pounds which he probably hadn't seen since his Orlando days. Then again it could have been the training camp incident, his contract was under review for. During practice he was jogging down court and Laker owner Dr. Buss was in the stands he yelled in his direction "pay me!" I have a great deal of testimony to state an emphatic no to retirement of number 34 but I'm won't. Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal was key to the 3-peat Laker teams and that is reason enough to retire his number. My move was ahead of the Lakers I have his jersey hanging already in my man-cave.