Basketball from a fans perspective
One and done
I’m going to speculate, Cheik Diallo was likely a one and done prospect. It’s my belief Bill Self didn’t expect him to return for a sophomore year at Kansas. Last week we discussed the NCAA’s delay in clearing players academically. The guardian for Central Florida’s Tacko Fall threatens a lawsuit against the NCAA if Fall is not granted a waiver. For no clear explanation reason Fall was declared “eligible “recently. Someone might question why the concern because the 6-9 Diallo “Was headed to the NBA anyway.”
We can speculate all day if we wish, is he coming or is he staying? Since the NCAA is involved in this process shouldn’t they set a time limit to establish the eligibility of an athlete? In our hypothetical situation the University of “A” admits student athlete “B” based on high school transcripts. He enrolled at the school in June or late July, the fall semester begins in August. We are now in the middle of November and the NCAA is yet to announce a yes or no regarding player “B“. Doesn’t make great deal of sense to me the amount of time, how bout you?
Bits n Pieces
Have you heard it yet; the chorus that says; “Can the Warriors win 80 games?” I’m not a hater I like the Warriors especially Steph Curry. It just seems every time an NBA team has a swift start the media begins the discussion. I have no problem should they break the all-time won-loss record, that’s what records are for to be broken.
Here’s a name we haven’t heard for awhile Donald Sterling. I didn’t realize the former Clippers owner had filed a lawsuit against his wife. He was attempting to overturn sale of the team and return ownership to himself. The court ruled in Mrs. Sterling’s favor so maybe this might be the last bit of Donald Sterling news?
We knew there was a connection but how close is it you ask? Projected number one (or two depending on your mock draft) Ben Simmons is at LSU because___________. He’s at LSU because of his godfather, I’ll fill in the blank for you, LSU associate head Coach David Patrick is a former teammate of Dave Simmons. Dave is Ben’s dad, now you know the closeness of the relationship.
Reports have circulated on the subject of a nickname for Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis. It seems he doesn’t like any of them he’s heard and is trying to provide one himself. Porzingis is from Latvia he doesn’t realize he’s violating a cardinal rule. In this nation “You cannot provide your nickname it must be supplied by someone.” We just accepted the fact James Brown anointed himself “The Godfather of Soul.”
We don’t know
One of the barbers in the shop I get my hair cut made this statement when I walked in. “The Lakers should have drafted (Jahlil) Okafor.” Leading up to the 2015 draft all indications pointed to the fact the Lakers would draft either Karl-Anthony Towns or Okafor. A week or so prior to the draft it was clear the Wolves with the first pick would chose Towns which meant Okafor was destined to be a Laker even he said as much. The Lakers may have known all along whom they were going to draft. I believe I wasn’t the only one shocked when the commissioner said; “With the second pick in the 2015 NBA Draft the Los Angeles Lakers select D’Angelo Russell from the Ohio State University.” I must confess I almost fell off my couch when I heard the commissioners’ pronouncement.
This is not one of that player A is better than player B we don’t know its way too early in the game, the NBA season isn‘t a month old yet. It’s still a Big Mans game and at 6-11 and 275 pounds it would appear Okafor is a stud. At the same time can we state with conviction the 6-5 195 pound Russell will not be a stud by the end of the season? It’s interesting all the talk we are hearing from the media is “The Lakers made a mistake in passing on Okafor and Kristaps Porzingis.” Two factors of concern, the Lakers had combo Jordan Clarkson in place prior to the draft. He excelled last season for a rookie but is considered more a combo guard. This is fact Russell is playing no 4th quarters to date, what’s that about coach?
First NAIA then Division I
Louisville basketball has a unique distention winning a national championship at two different levels. They won the 1948 NAIA Tournament and moving up to Division I they won the NCAA Championship in 1980, 1986 and 2013. While researching this account I discovered several other schools which first competed at the NAIA level would become Division I. Louisville is not alone below is a short list of schools which first competed at the NAIA level before becoming Division I.
San Diego State
Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State)
Indiana State
Tennessee State
Grambling
Grand Canyon
Southern Illinois University
Oral Roberts (D-1, later NAIA and returned to D-1 in 1991)
That 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 improve the standing of their sports programs. It’s likely we’ll never see another Willis Reed (Grambling & Knicks) or Jack Sikma (Illinois Wesleyan & Sonics) make it into the NBA.
