Bruise Brothers
Rick Mahorn was featured in an ESPN 30 for 30 feature on “The Bad Boys”. This account has nothing to do with the Pistons rather it’s a report on the tandem Mahorn was part of dubbed the Bruise Brothers. Back in the day if you played the Bullets (Wizards) you had better prepared yourself to be bumped, bounced around and maybe bruised. The pair was really not brothers, they were big, and they played bruising basketball (which was allowed at the time). In addition both were nearly identical in height and weight, the difference Ruland was white and Mahorn was black. 6-10 275 pound Jeff Ruland played center and 6-10 260 pound Rick Mahorn was the power forward.

Neither of them were particularly good shooters but that’s not why they were on the floor. Win or lose opponents of the Bullets knew by the time the game was over it was necessary to spend an inordinate amount of time in the whirlpool. The pair arrived in the NBA from Iona and Hampton respectively, the combo was eventually broken up when Ruland was traded to the 76ers and Mahorn to the Pistons. Ruland retired in 1993 while Mahorn retired in 1999. Since retiring both have served as head coaches in a number of locations. Funny when I we hear players of today complaining about “rough play”, they would refuse to walk on the court against the “Bruise Brothers” Jeff Ruland and Rick Mahorn.

Kansas basketball needs help (maybe)
As usual Bill Self and Kansas continue to recruit talented players to Lawrence, there is an exception. There is a continuing problem with the point guard position. It’s not the fact Self failed to address the issue, the highly touted point guards in the Class of 2014 chose locations other than Kansas. Point guard was shaky last year and now Naadir Tharpe who played minutes has transferred. There are three point guards on the roster however each comes up short and one is an incoming freshman.

The Jayhawks have returning talent Perry Ellis and Wayne Selden Jr., in addition highly touted freshman Kelly Oubre and Cliff Alexander arrive on the scene. This crop of players requires someone to “get them the ball. “ Kansas had another outstanding year however as was pointed out problems at the point were evident. Can Self manage to circumvent his teams’ problem this upcoming season or will one or two of the returnees step up their game? Kansas fans are anxious for the answer. Interesting in that several fans believe there is no problem.

A name change (for me)
At the end of the 2012-13 season the Hornets became the Pelicans, the close of the next season saw the Bobcats change to the Hornets. We are one move short of a name
change----the Thunder. The name Sonics belongs to Seattle and we realize the name had to remain there; there is nothing unique about the name Thunder. If we hear Knicks, New York City immediately comes to mind, how about the Rockets? How about the Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston?

Whenever we see Celtics the belief is Boston should be in front of the name, it’s an iconic connection. If we read or hear the name Lakers we identify the Los Angeles team.  Of course we realize there are no large bodies of water except the Pacific Ocean yet the name prevails. The Lakers will never change the name it arrived with them in 1960 from their Minneapolis move. Minnesota is the Land of 10,000 Lakes a motto which is still used on occasion.  .

A new arena?
Note the question mark at the end of the headline, allow a brief explanation. The Los Angeles Clippers are signed to a 20+ year lease at Staples Center and that’s part of the problem. “They (whoever they are) declare the Clippers don’t have the most lucrative lease in the NBA they would be better off in another arena.” If the previous statement is true could new owner Steve Ballmer break the lease and somehow “build” a new arena? All we can do at this point is speculate however consider the following conditions.  In these tough economic times it’s highly doubtful a new arena could be built entirely with public funds. Ballmer an owner with deep pockets would be expected to make a substantial contribution to any planned arena. Just check out construction costs of the last three arenas built, the figures provided are based on 2014 dollars.

The $259 million dollar Toyota Center (Houston) opened in 2003. Next up was Amway Center in 2010 (Orlando) with construction cost totaling $519 million. The latest is Barclays Center in Brooklyn which opened in 2012; it was built at a cost of $1 billion dollars. Please note these arenas were constructed with a mix of public, private and owner funds. As costs escalate it might be more and more difficult for citizens to believe these coliseums are necessary for the welfare of the community. This is pure speculation on my part however this could occur. Several years back before Seattle the Maloof brothers former owners of the the Kings were exploring a move to Los Angeles. Reports circulated the Honda Center in Anaheim was to undergo an upgrade. Honda is fairly new opening in 1993, it seats 18,336 for basketball and once served as home base for the Clippers from 1994 through 1999.