Bits n Pieces
There are questions regarding the return of Derrick Rose what about Kobe Bean Bryant? Medical reports indicate the window for Kobe’s return is 6 to 12 months. Six months would mean he’d return in October in time for training camp. Twelve months would mean a February come back probably after the All-Star Game. It’s my belief Kobe’s return lies someplace in between probably the December to January timeframe.

Kansas has a mighty tough non-conference schedule for 2013-14. They will face Duke, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, Georgetown and San Diego State. The games are not scheduled back to back; in addition we don’t know the returning talent on many of the opposing squads. We can take this into consideration all the above teams won 20+ games last season.

I’m gonna plead guilty it’s my age; throughout my adult life I have always maintained a sense of fashion. Russell Westbrook and Dwayne Wade offer little if any fashion sense based on their pre and post-game wear. On the other hand as I stated earlier it’s probably my age.

Marcus Smart of Oklahoma did it now Creighton’s Doug McDermott does too. McDermott announced he was returning for his senior year. His name was listed on several mock draft sites however his draft stock might not have been as high as he might have hoped.

He’s good but he’s not that good!
Dave Telep ESPN.com is one of those basketball reporters I believe in, he knows his stuff. He’s been following and reporting high school and college basketball for a considerable period of time. I listened with interest an interview with him on one of the Kansas City sports talk radio programs. Prior to discussing Andrew Wiggins Telep provided us insight on a former Kansas player. You may remember Josh Selby, he declared for the draft after an unimpressive freshman year. Discussing Selby Telep stated; “Josh Selby was un-coach able.” I remembered back to the time period he left school, he’d done little to provide an indication he was ready for the NBA. Where is Selby currently? He was drafted in the second round of the 2011 draft and now plays for the Maine Red Claws of the NBADL. As for Andrew Wiggins Telep said and I paraphrase; “(Andrew) Wiggins is truly great but the comparisons to LeBron James are not valid. Wiggins doesn’t have the power of a LeBron."  One area weight and power, Wiggins is a trim 205 pounds, James was at least 225 his senior year in high school.

Prepare for change
I hope this is the view of the reporter rather than the Thunder front office. I checked out an Oklahoma City staffer view of the series with the Grizzlies. It was his belief there was no need for panic, Russell Westbrook was the primary reason the Thunder lost the series. I think it would be foolish for me or anyone else to discount the value of Westbrook to the team however it’s more than that. I believe it’s the “James Harden” factor, beyond Durant with no Westbrook there was little if any offense. Harden’s replacement Kevin Martin could not or was able to sustain the offense. It’s not my desire to be Donny Downer but the same situation could technically occur next season. Instead of Westbrook its Durant who sustains the injury. The Thunder play good defense that’s not the issue, their issue is sustaining offense. Unless management addresses the issue they will be stuck, a perennial contender but never getting over the hump. Remember what happened to the Magic, played the Lakers for the NBA Championship and lost. Since that time the Magic have never gotten close to that level since then. The window of opportunity opens and closes quickly for a number of teams.

A change in plans
The University of Iowa was originally scheduled to play in the Great Alaska Shootout November 27-30. The school has withdrawn and they are now headed to Paradise Island in the Bahamas near the same timeframe and compete in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. Seems like an easy decision if we check the weather. Wikipedia says the average high in Anchorage is 27.6 degrees F while the low can reach a chilly 16.7 F. The all-time record cold is -21 degrees F; incidentally I didn’t bother to check the snow report. Citizens of Anchorage this is not intended as a knock on your city, Kansas City has never recorded a -21 degrees F with maybe the wind chill. As for the average temp, we’ve experienced similar high and low temperatures in December too.