The schedule
Christmas Day games officially signal the beginning of the NBA season. We realize teams have been playing since November.  For some reason the networks approach the Christmas games as the official NBA start.  In any event the NBA always attempts to schedule those games which would gain the maximum number of viewers. Unfortunately plans don’t always materialize as planed. The league believed a Bulls-Nets match would be a great match to telecast. Unfortunately the Rose injury and the Nets poor play have caused the match to fall short of NBA hopes. We could make a similar claim for the Thunder-Knicks game, sure the Thunder are playing good ball as for the Knicks that’s another story. Next up was the Lakers and Heat, it was believed the Heat had a clear advantage but the Lakers would have Kobe back from injury. The NBA was partially correct Kobe returned but only lasted six games before succumbing to injury again.

The NCAA at it’s very best
I came across a story written in a June 2011 edition of Words eye view. Portions of this account are dated now, Kutcher became a cast member of Two and a Half Men the following September. In addition he and Demi Moore are no longer married but that’s not the focus of this story, this is the NCAA at its best, read and enjoy. Bottom line you too could be considered an agent of your alma mater I would guess.

I researched Ashton Kutcher's bio due to a USA Today story I read. Most are aware Ashton Kutcher replaced Charlie Sheen on "Two and a Half Men." Bet you didn't know Kutcher was an agent for the University of Iowa? Kutcher attended the school before dropping out and eventually heading to Hollywood. Ashton Kutcher and two former Hawkeye players met with high school recruits in September 2010. This is taken from the USA Today story. "NCAA rules prohibit recruits from having contact with people considered to be representatives of athletic interests.” The former basketball players and Kutcher were named as representatives in the Iowa report." I don't make this stuff up, I only report it.

Free throws
The emphasis is on “free” and nobody receives a pass on shooting them. Hall of Fame athlete Rick Barry once said; “nobody is guarding you, it should be the easiest shot in basketball.” I think we might conclude Barry knew the subject matter well. He shot .893 over the course of his 14 year career; separately it was .880 in the ABA and .900 in the NBA. Consider this, court length the 3-point line and other variables exist depending on the level of competition. Did you realize standing at the free throw line the distance to the basket is 15 feet. It doesn’t matter if we are discussing junior high basketball, high school, college or the NBA. The only difference is FIBA which measures at 15.9 feet. It’s my belief a portion of the difficulty shooting free throws kids don’t practice it enough. In addition it’s not exciting for the shooter; they grow up with the mind set of scoring a 3-point basket in the waning seconds of a game. Shooting free-throws is just not cool, sexy whatever adjective you wish to used. The honor of the worst free throw shooter in the NBA doesn’t belong to Dwight Howard. DeAndre Jordan of the Clippers holds the honor shooting a sizzling .407 from the line.

Bits n Pieces
It’s probably not that big a deal but I thought for sure Mizzou would drop out of the Top 25 after the Illinois game. They are still a good team they just didn’t play well enough to win the game. I make no predictions on the SEC race I’m certainly unsure at this stage if Kentucky is the best team in the conference.

I have been derelict in my duties; I intended to see UMKC play before in person prior to conference play. I hope fans of the program are not discouraged with the 3-8 record, its going to take time for Coach Richardson to turn this program around. I realize the coach was on Rick Pitino’s staff but why did he decide to schedule a game against Louisville?

There is fair amount of criticism emanating at times from Words eye view. There is one complaint I hope you never hear from me. I’ll read a letter on the NBA and this follows; “I quite watching the NBA once Michael Jordan retired.” I’ve often wondered if you don’t follow the NBA anymore why I should pay attention to anything you might say.

A week or so back I wrote Kansas may not be the best team in the State of Kansas; I bestowed the honor on Wichita State. The Lawrence school may not even be the best team in the Big XII Conference. Oklahoma State, Iowa State and Baylor all have better records to this point, the conference race this season might prove quite interesting.