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

A Shock(er)
Wichita State was beaten by Notre Dame 81-70 but that’s not all the news according to one source. A local talk show host announced at the beginning of his radio program; “Gregg Marshall has coached his last game at Wichita State.” In this day of constant movement among coaches hardly anyone believes Marshall will be at Wichita State for the next 7-10 years. At the same time should or if he leaves the offer has got to be one worth leaving for greener pastures. As an example why would he leave for Alabama, DePaul, Missouri or some other struggling Division I program? This host has Marshall leaving for Texas or Indiana, then he states Marshall could be waiting for the Kansas or North Carolina job to open.

I can speculate with the best however the only possible opening Marshall might consider of the schools the host mentioned might be Texas. Rick Barnes leaves the helm with plenty of talent on the roster and the entire State of Texas fertile recruiting grown. As for the Shocker program Marshall will lose two seniors from the 2014-15 team “He (Marshall) wants to leave the program in good shape. “ It should be noted this is the same guy who has “fired” Mizzou Coach Kim Anderson after but one season. His view on Mizzou “A new athletic director probably wants his man in place.” No disagreement with the last statement however you can’t fire somebody after one season especially if he has none of the players he recruited on the roster.

Quadruple-Double
Fans and the media are fixated anytime a player has a triple-double during a game. As difficult as it is to accomplish a quadruple-double is significantly tougher to achieve. This even rarer feat has been accomplished by four players during the NBA’s history. The first NBA player to accomplish the accomplishment was center Nate Thurmond at the time he played for the Bulls. He scored 22 points had 14 rebounds dished out 13 assists and blocked 12 shots. Spurs guard Alvin Robertson repeated this same feat 12 years later with 20 points 11 rebounds 10 assists and 10 steals. In 1990 the Rockets Hakeen Olajuwon skillful enough too with 18 points 16 rebounds 10 assists and 11 blocked shots. Four years later Spurs center David Robinson also had quadruple-double 34 points 10 rebounds 10 assists and 10 blocked shots.

Offense or Defense
Dan Patrick said this morning “I’m unsure about Kentucky’s offense there is no question of their defense.” Remember the close of the game seconds left on the clock and Notre Dame’s Jerian Grant is racing down the sidelines. Stride for stride with Grant was Kentucky’s Andrew Harrison along with teammates Willie Cauley-Stein and Trey Lyles. Harrison with a slight height advantage went up in an attempt to block Grant’s shot. 
6-10 Lyles went up also to block the shot.

7 foot Willie Cauley-Stein was a few feet from the basket in a position to either rebound a miss shot or cut down on Grant’s vision of other teammates. In previous action Cauley-Stein closed on Grant partially blocking his shot attempt near the top of the key. I hesitate considering Kentucky a “bad” offensive team for a single reason. The roster plays such limited minutes I’m sure it’s difficult to gain an offensive rhythm. Kentucky might not win Saturday or Monday however they are certainly a very strong defensive team.

Pretender or contender
From time to time we often hear or read comparisons of a present day athlete with one of the past. The assessment is not always fair or accurate but often the only means to compare an athlete. You might not believe Larry Laker how about Bob Cousy? You know Cousy the former Celtic great and broadcaster. Cousy is the guy in the Naismith Hall of Fame and College Basketball Hall of Fame. I wrote awhile back my impressions of Heat center Hassan Whiteside. I believed Whiteside had clearly demonstrated he’d “turned the corner” in his short NBA career.

Listen to these words; *"I have never said this in the 40 years since I retired," Cousy said, "but he (Whiteside) is the first big guy, not (Patrick) Ewing, (Hakeem) Olajuwon, Shaq (O'Neal), who reminds me defensively and on the boards of Russell. He runs the floor well, he has excellent timing, he blocks shots and keeps them in play the way Russell did.” This is certainly not to say Whiteside is headed for the Hall of Fame it simply states this youngster has an NBA future. Finally we might understand this glowing report by Cousy if Whiteside played for the Celtics so we’ve got to believe there is a degree of frankness in his evaluation.

*Worchester Telegram