First time since forever
One of my favorite coaches is tasting success once again. Southern Methodist University cracked the AP Top 25 for the first time since 1985. SMU moved into the number 23 slot after beating number seven Cincinnati over the weekend. Probably happier than the athletes is 73-year old Coach Larry Brown hired in 2012. Brown has proven he still has teaching skills for athletes of this generation.

There are limits
“Freedom of speech does not give you permission to yell fire in a crowded theater.” I’m unsure who first made the statement however its one that has always stuck with me. The First Amendment of the US Constitution contains several guarantees; freedom of speech is one of them. It’s my understanding government (or others) cannot prohibit a citizen from exercising their freedom of expression. This is for the defenders of the Texas Tech fan Jeff Orr and others who believe fans have the right to say anything they wish. As for Marcus Smart he deserved to be suspended, we can debate if the number of games was fair.  An athlete in any sport should never leave the court or field to verbally or physically attack a fan. There should be an acceptable form of behavior for fans, yell, scream do whatever but there is a line you should never cross.

I believe all of us can understand passionate fans, the concern did alcohol or something else causes a 50-something fan to verbally attack a 19-year old. He claims he made no racial slur toward Smart however referring to Smart as crap” I wonder who’s the adult here. This fan has other issues, this morning ESPN ran tape of this fan at another game standing up gesturing toward an opposition player and sticking out his tongue. I admit sticking out your tongue is not the same as a verbal insult, the point this 50-something fan needs to grow up. It’s been reported Orr has been a habitual offender of bad taste in the past. Those around Orr claimed he said nothing racial toward Smart. For the folks defending Orr I have a question for them. Why did he volunteer to skip the remaining home and road games of Texas Tech?

They are hired to be fired
Serving as head coach in this day and age is certainly difficult in any sport. Management and fans have very little patience; they expect a microwave approach to success. That’s the case with former Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks. You note I said former; he’s been fired after but 50 games at the helm. I admit I haven’t followed the Pistons closely maybe there are issues I’m not aware. If the Pistons were close to a championship team firing the coach might be understandable. Prior to the season I don’t believe any in the media believed the Pistons were a championship caliber team. The firing remains a mystery.

Schools “over-recruit”
A discussion the other day with an acquaintance who affirmed what I believed. He said; “it’s far easier to turn around a bad basketball program than a poor football team.” There are so many working parts required to compete effectively in football. He went on to state; “you surround an average basketball team with two or three superior athletes you have a formula for a winning team.” Of course reality says it’s more than two or three to guarantee success but hopefully you see where I’m going.

As for the over-recruiting headline I’ve often thought “Mizzou has recruited too many forwards (or guards) at one time. Right or wrong this might be a partial basis for over-recruiting. There are numbers of athletes who will be unable to transfer the skill exhibited at the high school level to the college game. In addition there are players who will not remain due to lack of playing time, the coach or other issues not covered. Lastly the injury factor, a few will succumb to injuries which derail their dreams of a successful college career. As an example as this is printed Mizzou only has two scholarships left for 2014.

The other Isaiah
I’ve never read this anyplace, my guess is Kings point guard Isaiah Thomas may have been named after another Thomas. You remember him, Isiah who was the leader of the Bad Boy Pistons in the ‘80‘s. This Isaiah has proven he can play at the NBA level. This was no easy path, Thomas had at least two road blocks in his path to the NBA. In a sport that promotes itself as a big mans game Thomas stands 5-9 inches tall, that’s number one. Number two he was the last pick (60) in the 2011 NBA Draft, rarely does a second round draft choice manage an NBA career. His current numbers, 20.0 ppg, 6.3 assists and almost 3 rebounds a game for the diminutive point guard.