Talk about dumb questions
Please engage brain prior to asking a question at the press conference. The Andrew Wiggins announcement brought forth the usual dumb questions. One stood out over others in my view, a reporter ask Wiggins; “Did you reach out to any NBA players before making your decision?” If I’d been there I would have answered for Wiggins, I would have told the inquisitor; “Dude Andrew’s dad played in the NBA, why would it be required to go outside his family for a question of this magnitude?”

I wondered how soon
Monday evening during the 10:00 p.m. sports news the reporter pronounced Kim Anderson “the best basketball coach in the State of Missouri.”  A morning sports talk program the host said; “when is Missouri going to wake up and hire Anderson?” Maybe they are too young to remember or simply don’t know the facts on the other hand maybe they intend to stir up controversy. Anderson’s Central Missouri team has just won the 2014 NCAA Division II Championship. Anderson has become a good coach but probably wasn’t seriously considered for the head coaching position in 1999. That was the year Norm Stewart was forced into retirement after 32 years at the helm.

In addition to playing for Stewart he was serving as an assistant coach for his mentor. A very well-healed “friend” of the program wanted Stewart and anything and anybody history. The amount of money he was donating to the athletic department provided input into the next coach Mizzou would hire. Input from this financially sound “friend” of the program may have forced Mizzou’s hand. It was widely perceived the “friend” was not a fan of Norm Stewart and possibly wanted every vestige of him gone. The school hired Quin Snyder over Bill Self then at Tulsa and Anderson serving as Mizzou assistant coach. Anderson has served as head coach at Central Missouri since the 2002-03 season. The 2014 NCAA Championship was his first however his coaching resume is outstanding. This years team finished with a 30-5 record and he’s 274-94 over his career (.741).

Say what?
Often you tear down somebody or something it turns out it reflects poorly on you. I believe that is the case with SEC basketball and the media in this part of the country. We were overwhelmed by media reports on the superiority of Big XII basketball. BAM----then comes the NCAA Tournament and the conference has seven teams selected. The “football” SEC Conference had only three teams chosen. Local media critical all season long of the SEC proudly pointed to the 10 consecutive conference championships of Kansas.

The conference from the southern portion of the nation only had three teams entered in the contest. We are down to the Final Four teams, where does the SEC stand? The football conference has two teams contending for an NCAA Championship, where is the Big XII well let’s just say maybe next season? Truth is SEC Tennessee lasted longer than Big XII Kansas with its 10 game winning streak. The Big XII has several very good teams but to anoint the conference as the best falls a little short.

Rumors
As I stated previously I don’t often print rumors, we’ll entertain this one due to its possible domino effect. Wolves Coach Rick Adelman has been dealing with his wife’s ill health for at least the last year; it’s possible he will not return next season to the helm. His replacement could be Fred Hoiberg presently serving as head coach at Iowa State. After an NBA career first as a player he later was hired and worked in the front office of the Wolves.

All sorts of stories circulate that power forward Kevin Love is unhappy and wants to leave the Wolves. A report surfaced indicating the Lakers were willing to trade their lottery pick for Love. Of course if this trade should occur the Lakers would include several warm bodies as well. The Lakers have a number of players working with one year contracts so a package is not beyond the realm of possibility. A better question might be why make the trade if Love is to become a free agent anyway?