Middle of the day
I admit I’m spoiled and at the same time it’s the middle of the day. I tune into the Texas A&M Mizzou game from Atlanta, the game is being played in the Georgia Dome. If you tossed a rock at an angle you could miss hitting someone. An example of basketball games held in a football stadium. I change the channel for a quick glance at the Iowa State-Kansas State game played at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. The lower bowl on the sides appears to be mostly full. The point, Kansas City has a basketball connection especially with the Big XII; I cannot make the same statement regarding Atlanta and its SEC connection.

He’s headed east
It appears official Phil Jackson is headed to The Big Apple and will become president of the Knicks. Of course the domino effect will probably cost Mike Woodson his job as coach once the season is over. How do I know the coach is gone? I’m reminded of Vince Lombardi when he took over the floundering NFL Packers. In those days a number of head coaches served as general manager. In his role as GM he begins his task of building a team by trading and releasing a number of players on the roster.

Among those Lombardi released was the teams competent quarterback. He questioned the coach; “why did you release me?” The response from Lombardi was; “nothing personal, you represent the old Packers I’m building the new Packers.” Expect some form of housecleaning to occur once Jackson is in place. Although Steve Kerr has been non-committal its likely he will become head coach of this new Knicks team. Speculation can now begin whether Carmelo Anthony will remain in place or leave. This story is just beginning, stay tuned for further updates.

Change at the top
Ben Braun at Rice was terminated so too was Auburn’s Tony Barbee. Neither of these coaches managed to turn their programs into winners. Braun was 7-23 overall and 2-14 in Conference USA, his record after six seasons stood at 63-128. Barbee was 14-16 during the teams non-conference schedule and 6-12 in the SEC.  His four year total at Auburn was 48-75. Other than being a Mizzou fan you might wonder why I’m including Frank Haith in the discussion. Several in the Kansas City media have made loud noises stating the school should consider replacing him, let’s check his record.

Mizzou’s season is not complete however the team stands 9-9 in the SEC and 22-10, they have an upcoming match against number one Florida.  Haith’s record at Mizzou stands at 75-26 for a .743 winning percentage. Tiger fans would be the first to admit this years team has been disappointing, they have played hot and cold most of the conference season. We certainly expected much better play than was shown.  Does Haith deserve to be fired as some in the local media have stated? Barbee had one more year on the job than Haith, wanna do a comparasion on their records? It’s true Haith has had limited success in the NCAA tourney should that alone be the basis for terminating a coach with a winning record?

Bits n Pieces
I have mentioned on occasion my disagreement with a number of Colin Cowherd comments. It should be noted he provided listeners five good reasons why LeBron is not headed back to Cleveland. I’m not going to re-hash the commentary I’ll provide just one tidbit. “We clearly knew Victor Oladipo was the better player yet Cleveland picked Anthony Bennett who’s a bust.” The jury is still sequestered on Bennett however I agree with a portion of his observations.

I have difficulty attaching “super star” next to the name of Carmelo Anthony. Stephen A. Smith in a discussion on ESPN’s First Take used the term describing Anthony. He further stated his comment could be considered blasphemy. Let’s do a quick analysis of Anthony. Is he talented, most certainly? Is he an offensive machine, most certainly? Is he a good defender, (crickets chirping)! Anthony plays defense however that certainly isn’t his strong suit.

Kevin Durant is the NBA MVP; I know a number of folks believe I’m omitting LeBron James on purpose. Quite the contrary, I believe Durant (for a variety of reasons) has made the Thunder that much better especially during the period Westbrook was out. The only concern is will Durant throttle back his game with the return of Westbrook.

I’m pleased someone closer to the game then me has an issue with this. The NBA sleeved jerseys worn for the All Star game. Long-time Coach George Karl doesn’t like sleeved jerseys. The NBA guaranteed to generate revenue.