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

A sense of entitlement
A number of Kansas fans will be upset with this account, this is advance notice don’t read it.for it’s likely to offend. I’ve mentioned on several occasions media coverage in the Kansas City market leans heavily in the favor of Kansas. This past Saturday Oklahoma State was an upset winner over Kansas, Oklahoma State fans rushed the court at the conclusion of the game. I believe this is dangerous and I wish fans would refrain from it. At the same time I understand the enthusiasm of some fans when their team is an upset winner over a team they were not expected to succeed.

What I fail to understand are members of the media only critical of the practice when it occurs against their Jayhawks. If these folks were part of the Kansas broadcast crew I might understand their objection. The first time I remember hearing this type of complaint was last season, Iowa State upset Kansas and Cyclone fans rushed the court. As I stated previously I believe the practice is hazardous however I never heard either comment on the safety issue. They appear to be more concerned with the fact their Jayhawks were losers. Have they failed to understand the winning tradition from the basketball program at Kansas over the decades is the key.

Dead man walking
The term “Dead man walking” became familiar to many who saw the 1996 Sean
Penn-Susan Sarandon movie. For those who may not be familiar with the term it applies to prison inmates facing execution. A little over two weeks ago this writer pronounced Cavs Coach David Blatt a “Dead man walking.” A number of different stories were circulating about the coach and his team. I speculated Blatt might be terminated. Funny how winning cures all ills, the Cavs are on a 12-game winning streak as this is written. I‘m certainly not declaring them 2015 NBA Champs however they are definitely playing better ball at this point. Despite my doom n gloom prediction it appears David Blatt is safe----for now.


Lead leader in
Technical fouls have become the mantra of the Clippers. The other Los Angeles team leads the league in this unflattering category. After the Thursday evening game against the Cavs the Clippers now have a league leading 58 technicals. Matt Barnes is tied with two others for the league lead with 11. Sitting in fourth place is Blake Griffin with 9, from there we drop down to Chris Paul and Jamal Crawford both with 4. Spencer Hawes 2, J.J. Reddick and Austin Rivers 1 tech apiece. Where am I going with this account, it was pointed out this is the third consecutive year the Clippers have lead the league in technical fouls. ESPN’s Jalen Rose said and I paraphrase; “Officials develop “rabbit ears” they hear constant comments and complaints from the same players.”

Maybe once you get into the playoffs you don’t get a call you think you should have received.” We end this account by detailing a portion of the tirade Paul aimed at rookie official Lauren Holtkamp. He said; "That's ridiculous. If that's the case, this (NBA officiating) might not be for her.” Holtkamp has several years of officiating behind her, it’s not Paul’s job to judge the competency of league officials. At the end of the season the NBA grades its roster of officials, if she receives below par grades she will be terminated. We cannot read between the lines to determine Paul’s intent, we have no idea if his tirade was aimed at the official was not qualified due to her gender. In my view Paul is guilty of lack of respect for the official, there I said it.

NAIA first then Division I
Louisville won the 1948 NAIA Tournament before moving to Division I. Researching this account I discovered several schools begin competing at the NAIA level prior to becoming Division I schools. Listed below is a short list of several familiar schools which began competition first at the NAIA level.

San Diego State
Southeast Missouri State
Indiana State
Tennessee State
Grambling
Grand Canyon
Southern Illinois University
Missouri State

This should give you an idea why the NAIA Tournament no longer holds the prestige it once did. For a variety of reasons these institutions decided to enhance the standing of their sports programs. It’s likely we’ll never see another Willis Reed (Grambling & Knicks) or Jack Sikma (Illinois Wesleyan & Sonics) become an NBA draft choice.

What happened?
I’m looking at the Wichita State-Drake game and wondered what happened to Drake basketball. At one time the school was a force in the Missouri Valley Conference but no more; they entered this game with only 3 wins and would suffer defeat number 10. Does the school no longer want to compete? Over the last 14 years the Bulldogs have only experienced four winning seasons, the best was 28-5 in 2007-08. Winning for Drake became a thing in the ‘70’s twice making it to the NCAA Elite Eight even facing down the mighty Bruins of UCLA.

Coach Maury John would leave after the ‘70-‘71 season and the downfall began. Despite a number of coaching changes over the years only Keno Davis’s ‘07-’08 team would taste success in the NCAA. At the current rate this edition of Drake basketball will finish below .500. I have no proof just a theory, sometimes schools feel they no longer want to contend. A school wants to continue athletic competition but not at the expense of challenging the UCLA’s, Kentucky’s and Duke’s for the services of athletes.