Basketball from a fans perspective
The Departure
Sometimes there are sports stories unrelated to basketball. Sports stories that day after day week after week seem to dominate sports talk. That is the case with De-flategate the never ending account of under inflated footballs. It seems within weeks of the February Super Bowl the story of under inflated footballs and the Patriots first surfaced. “De-flategate” as it was termed began during baseball spring training and continued through the opening weeks of the baseball season.
The conversation was unrelenting all through the off-season training regiment of NFL players. It was persistent all the way through the middle portion of the baseball season up to baseballs All Star Game. Its early August NFL training camps have opened again and dialogue around Tom Brady and the Patriots continues own with no ending in sight. I’m at a point I don’t care if Brady is guilty or not sports media close this frigging matter, please find something else to discuss.
Bits n Pieces
A plethora of pre-season Top 25 basketball polls exist for us. ESPN surprised (are shocked) many with their choice at the top. They have the Maryland Terrapins number one in their poll. We all realize polls are about bragging rights and really offer no proof. They continue to please fans (me included) of the program they boost.
What’s up with Kansas recruit Cheick Diallo, the Big Man from Mali by way of NYC is yet to be cleared to play? He’s still waiting on NCAA clearance which is a mystery. Athletes
re-classify to move into an earlier class are cleared more rapidly than this, Diallo was a Class of 2015 prospect. What goes here NCAA?
I cannot foresee “one and done” going away anytime soon. It’s my belief the NBA Players Association is in charge of this issue rather than management. The association has remained none committal every time it comes under discussion. Is there a concern for job security regarding that 13th and 14th player on the roster?
I know it’s just me so I offer no excuses for my view. Recently the NBA page of ESPN.com contained a story on new Laker Roy Hibbert; I stopped by to check it out. The video was from the His & Hers program on ESPN, host Jemele Hill and guest co-host Michael Rapaport. They were interviewing comedian Mike Epps originally from Indianapolis. I actually like all three however I take exception to Rapaport and Epps knowledge of the NBA, Rapaport is an actor and Epps is comedian/actor. Views expressed by the two are those of a fan and that’s all.
It’s likely there will be five NBA games played on Christmas Day December 25. The complete schedule is yet to be released however two games are rumored. Bet you can’t guess, okay I’ll help you with the first one in case you didn’t want to guess. The defending Eastern Conference Cavs will fly west for a match against the NBA Champion Warriors. As for the other game it appears the Lakers will host their Staples Center co-tenets the Clippers.
Basketball Brothers
A number of basketball playing brothers have come forth over the years several have made it al the way to the NBA. In the Kansas City metro we are familiar with the Rush brothers, Jaron, Kareem and Brandon with the Warriors. Certainly more noteworthy are the sons of former NBA great Rick Barry. Brent, Jon, Drew and Scooter Barry all had NBA careers with the exception of Scooter. There are others however the Rush and Barry brothers come to mind as this is written. Chino Hills is in the Greater Los Angeles metro and also home to the Ball brothers. Lonzo is a 6-5 guard and 5-star prospect, this 2016 prospect committed to Steve Alford’s UCLA Bruins.
Entering his junior year is 6-5 LiAngelo, at 220 he’s a little bigger than his older brother, and his projected position is small forward. The younger brother has verbally committed to UCLA too. LaMelo is not only the youngest brother but also the smallest. This 13-year will be a freshman when school starts; he’s 5-8 and 120 pounds. Don’t allow his size to fool you he can ball, in addition it’s likely he will continue to grow in height and weight. Naturally this is written with a disclaimer, this is no declaration of future success on the basketball court.
Peanuts
Remember the Charlie Brown Peanuts cartoons? Did you take into account you never saw any adults in the cartoon series just the Peanuts gang. Whenever the kids were at school or talking to an adult they didn’t talk they just went wah, wah, wah, wah. Adults were never visible and when they did talk the wah, wah was all the audience heard. That’s the problem with many in sports media today they are talking but you cannot understand sometimes their true intentions, is it to be controversial or is the opinion expressed truthful?
I’m sure they have a point to express but so often they allow their bombastic rhetoric to take over and they begin to sound like the Charlie Brown adults. In first place and holding a slight lead is Stephen A. Smith, in second place but steady climbing is Skip Bayless both of ESPN. In third place and gaining on Bayless is Mike Greenberg also of ESPN, in fourth place also rising is Chris Broussard. In fifth place is Doug Gottlieb of CBS, interesting that Gottlieb is the only one of the mix to have played basketball professionally. Stephen A. played in college however I’m not sure about Bayless or Broussard‘s athletic prowess.
