Basketball from a fans perspective
One of two things
I am going to quit listening to Mike & Mike or cease writing about the duo especially Greenberg. Greenberg is always proposing something idiotic this time he’s complaining about the late start time for the NBA Finals. He states; “We should all have one time zone, why is there a need for more than one time zone?” I’m not going to discuss the science facts. ESPN headquarters are located on the east coast hence a four hour difference. The game will start at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time which means the game would end at 11:30 or possibly 11:45 p.m. Overtime would entail an after midnight completion.
A Central and Eastern Time weeknight start affects a number of persons who might have to work on Friday. This is the problem for Greenberg and Golic once again they take an issue from a micro view rather than a macro view. This duo appears to only explore time zones as it relates to the U.S. Let’s play along with their stupidity and say the U.S. has a single time zone unless the world’s nations change people in Paris France must continue to rise at 2:00 a.m. to view the series when its played on the west coast.
Walking on hot coals
Okay let me see if I understand the big picture; a coach has a playoff caliber team and at least three All Pros. With that you might ask how the coach of that team could be walking on hot coals. It would appear the coach has a number of positives working for him but. The coach could be walking on hot coals if his name is Fred Hoiberg. Can I say with conviction Bulls fans are well under whelmed with the hire of the Iowa State coach? The Iowa State-Bulls connection rears its head once again. Former GM Jerry Krause and former Iowa State Coach Tim Floyd, in fairness to Floyd he inherited a Bulls team minus MJ.
We know the Krause-Phil Jackson drama that existed, bottom line it turned out Krause and Floyd were buddies. Believe it or not it’s occurred once again. When Fred Hoiberg sold his Chicago home it was so to------you guessed it Gar Forman GM of the Bulls. Remember the Yogi Berra quota; “Deja vu all over again.” This might sound as if it’s an indictment against Hoiberg far from it. Hoiberg has already won over his friend Gar Foreman, the more difficult job is winning over the team and most all Bulls fans who among the most loyal in the NBA.
No longer funny
Jokes about Cleveland have been prevalent for several years; I certainly have no intention to repeat any of them. Perhaps some of the negativity aimed at Cleveland might also reflect on its sports teams. The Indians have fielded a baseball team in the American League since 1901; they won the 1920 and 1948 World Series that’s it. In more recent years they competed in the 1954 series but were losers against the New York (San Francisco) Giants. The 1997 Indians were primed to win in spite of this they suffered a 7th game loss to the Marlins. As for the NFL Browns their story has been quite different. These Browns are not descendents of the 1946 founders, those Browns moved to Baltimore changed their name to the Ravens. The name Browns remained in Cleveland same as Seattle and the Sonics name. These new Browns came into existence in 1999 as an expansion team. The original Browns were winners; they won the 1964 NFL Championship against the Baltimore Colts 27-0. The Browns would continue to play football at a high level; they almost beat the John Elway Broncos who would go on to win a Super Bowl. A Browns fumble in the end zone cost them the game.
Now it the Cavs turn on the championship run for the city. The basketball team founded in 1970 as an expansion team first tasted playoff success in the ‘80’s. The only problem there was a certain guy and a certain team that always dashed the hopes of the Cavs and their fans. You might remember the Michael Jordan shot over Craig Ehlo in the ‘89 playoffs with seconds left. The shot stunned the Cavs crowd as the Bulls won 101-100. The video has been shown over and over and over again, too many times if you are a Cavs fan. After a number of sub par years the Cavs were able to win the lottery in 2003, in June they drafted LeBron James of nearby Akron (OH). LeBron was supposed to lead the Cavs to the Promised Land an NBA Championship. With so much negative sports history imagine the anger when LeBron left in 2010 for the Heat. His leaving was compounded by winning two championships for the Heat. Last summer free agency would allow him to “return home.” A new coach, a new Cavs team and an older more mature LeBron would renew his leadership. Will the Cavs win a championship and allow long suffering Cleveland fans to rejoice? That and other questions will soon be answered, regardless of the outcome Cleveland and Northern Ohio are still winners.
Bits n Pieces
I have two cousins playing at the Division II level. The eldest brother is a 6-11 235 pound power forward in Tennessee. The younger brother is a 6-3 175 pound point guard; he’ll begin play at a Division II program in the fall. I admit live a portion of my life vicariously through my relatives basketball exploits.
Two teams from the Big 10, one from the ACC and one from the SEC. That comprised the Final Four for 2015. If we use the RPI as our reference the strongest conference in the nation is the Big 12 which was no place to be seen. Kansas beat Michigan State during the non-conference portion of the season; Michigan State played in the Final Four while Kansas sat at home.
The world has certainly changed on the recruiting process. I just read a player announced he was attending a school via twitter. In another instance the athlete announced he was transferring to a new school by instagram. In this day of social media it’s become more and more common for players to utilize social media as their announcing tool. Methods of the past have become dinosaur means of communicating.
Johnathan Williams III former Mizzou forward announced he’s transferring to Gonzaga. He led the Tigers in scoring (11.9 ppg) and rebounds (7.0) in the worst season in school history. JWIII must sit out next season but will have two remaining seasons. Gonzaga should be good fit for him; he chooses the coach (Mark Few) rather than the other way around.
