There is a distinction between lack of talent and lack of effort!
-------Larry Laker


We don’t know if he can play
Laker rookie Julius Randle succumbed to injury in the first game of the season. The injury would force him to the sidelines for the remainder of the season. We don’t know for sure but the Lakers hope he can play effectively at the NBA level. One of the areas the Lakers have suffered this season is at the point. We have no idea if the story is true it was only a rumor. The Lakers were in the mix to secure the services of Rajon Rondo but the Celtics were reported to want Randle included in a trade. The Lakers turned them down so we must guess the Lakers believe he’s got NBA talent. On the surface no way would a Rajon Rondo lead the team to a championship. Rondo would certainly improve aspects however the Lakers must believe their future lies with Randle over Rondo.

They remain a good team
As this is written the Thunder is 13-15, naturally if the playoffs occurred today they would miss them.  I will boldly predict they will make the playoffs as for the Western Conference Championship round that might be another story. What happened to the Thunder? The injury to star Kevin Durant got them off on the wrong foot. If you’ve read Words for any length of time you recognize I’m no fan of Russell Westbrook however I must admit he’s talented. Westbrook would also be injured also missing a significant number of games which impacted the Thunder too. The western conference is so competitive it’s difficult to believe they can make it pass the conference round and NBA Championship. Has the window of opportunity closed for the Thunder? The question remains unanswered and will remain so through the 2014-15 season.

Pronounce my name correctly----please
There are a number of players in the NBA with very difficult names to pronounce. In fact some have difficult first names. Watching the Bulls-Celtic game and listening to the player introductions reminds me of a story. Public address announcers might need to be more conscience of the correct pronunciation than maybe a television or radio broadcaster. On a personal note when meeting someone for the first time I try and place a mental photo in my mind how to pronounce their name.

It doesn’t always work however it sometimes it does. Naturally the easiest name to remember is someone with the same as yours. Back to the story early in his NBA career a P.A. mispronounced Robert Horry’s name during player introductions. The announcer said; “From the University of Alabama 6-10 Robert Horrey.” The player visited with the public address announcer after the game and said; “My name is pronounced orrey, the H is silent.”

Prove it
At  some point during the Temple-Kansas game analyst Seth Greenburg made a comment regarding the strength of the Big 12 Conference. I don’t doubt his statement I doubt my earlier statement. At some point (don’t remember when) I pronounced Kansas 2014-15 Big 12 Conference champ. I made this observation prior to the basketball first being tossed in the air. Kansas is good, so are Texas, Iowa State, Oklahoma and possibly Kansas State. We can toss these teams into the mix as well TCU 11-0, West Virginia 10-1 and Baylor
9-1.   

My pre-season observation may have been premature crowning Kansas champion in advance. I believed Kansas would lose to Kentucky loosing to Temple 77-52 was totally unexpected, Temple finished the night as an 8-4 team. Point guard Frank Mason appeared to be the only Kansas player on the court as he led the way with 20 points. No other Kansas player scored in double figures; in addition Temple not a particularly tall team blocked 8 Kansas shots. At this point Bill Self’s team must prove to us they are as good as advertised.

Division II plays the game too
Unless you reside in a nearby city or maybe a student few opportunities exist to witness Division II basketball occurs. The networks appear to only telecast the games of “Big Boy” Division I teams. While searching for a game Saturday morning I came across the CBS Sports Network telecast of Northeastern State (OK) and Central Missouri. As recently as 2003 Northeastern State was NCAA Division II Champions; University of Central Missouri won it all last season. Current Mizzou Coach Kim Anderson was at the helm last season for Central Missouri.

Calipairi, how does he do it?
This is written Friday evening prior to the Saturday meeting. The match of two of the most storied basketball programs in the nation UCLA and Kentucky. Tomorrows game is not the focus of this account rather how Kentucky will look next season, Calipari appears to have done it again. Luring some of the best high school talent to journey to Lexington Kentucky. It’s too early to discuss who’s staying versus who is going but consider this tidbit of information. I’m looking at the ESPN 100 the top high school seniors in the nation. The signings thus far reflect those signed in the early period.

Skal Labissiere 6-10 210 center Memphis (TN) ESPN number 11
Isaiah Briscoe 6-3 200 point guard Union (NJ) ESPN number 13
Charles Matthews 6-5 175 shooting guard Chicago (IL) ESPN number 44

A couple of points to consider, a number of athletes are unable to transfer the game they displayed in high school to the collegiate level. Maybe we’ll discover one or more of these guys can’t play at this level. Point two these are early signers its likely dependent on the NBA draft there might be additions in the late signing period.