Basketball from a fans perspective

For the haters
It’s being reported ticket sales have increased for the remaining Laker games. We can conclude fans will not be attending the game to see the Lakers especially in light of their poor play this season. They will attend the game to gain a last glimpse of Kobe Bryant on an NBA court; I wonder how the legions of Kobe haters will explain this series of events. There explanation; “He’s (Kobe) to demanding and sometimes demeaning to his teammates.”

Sound familiar well maybe but we could have made that very same statement about Michael Jeffrey Jordan. I don’t believe any of us have read an account of Kobe’s critical remarks causing a teammate to shed tears. When Michael Jordan was a member of the Wizards his demands on Kwame Brown’s play forced the 6-11 260 pound center to tears. As for Kobe he never became Michael Jordan but he might have come closer than any player of this generation with five NBA Championships 2X Finals MVP and other honors.

A good read
Joe Nocera Sports Business New York Times wrote an insightful piece on the mess that I can title the NCAA-Diallo fiasco. His story is titled; “NCAA Clears Players, then absolves itself.” It’s dated November 25 and is a detailed account of the NCAA farce.

To be fair
Matt Norlander wrote a column for CBS Sports titled; Top 100 (plus one) College Basketball Players for 2015-16. The author pointed out there are 4,500 division I players throughout the nation but he provided us those he believed are the top in the nation. I looked over the list but it got me to thinking and had a thought to share with you. We often use NBA success as a measurement of a player’s accomplishment. That’s unfair but we do it on the other end as well. Charles Barkley is a Top 50 all-time NBA player BUT---there is NO NBA Championship on his resume, is that fair? College success doesn’t always translate into professional basketball.

Its likely Jimmer Fredette’s NBA career is lover as he was unable to transfer his success at BYU into the NBA. How about sharpshooter Adam Morrison from Gonzaga? Morrison was the glue that held the Zags together but couldn’t sustain an NBA career. I can give you another name, how about Keydren Clark. Clark was a 5-11 point guard and played for St. Peter’s in New Jersey from 2002-2006. He scored 3,058 points and averaged 25.9 points per game for his college career. Un-drafted at age 31 he’s still playing just not in the NBA. There are others not mentioned next time you have one of those conversations about basketball success it doesn’t always result in an NBA career.

Its coming
“They” changed the landscape on us not quickly but dimly. The “They” are those network executives who changed and or continuing to transform sports television broadcasting. The day is fast approaching when there will be little if any sports on the major networks. Once upon a time we tuned into NBC, CBS or ABC if we wanted to view a game. CBS covered college basketball exclusively and the NBA rotated between NBC, CBS and ABC. Much later Fox Sports would begin telecasting and snatch a share of the market. Once ESPN went on the air in 1979 the movement from broadcast to cable and satellite began to accelerate. College basketball began an affiliation with ESPN and only connected with broadcast audiences on CBS Saturdays and during the NCAA Tournament. Fox Sports would arrive and take a little more of the college basketball broadcast and a portion of MLB.

In addition NBC and CBS now have sports networks only available by subscription. Once upon time the mention of “Pay-TV” sent folks into the streets screaming “NO WAY am I paying for what I can receive over the airwaves.” Well soon unless you have cable or satellite that will be your only means to view sports. Another example; Monday Night Football a staple for the ABC Network moved to ESPN a number of years ago. The NBA and college basketball have also moved to Turner Network, ESPN, Fox Sports and other cable networks. In addition NBA League Pass, the NFL Network and MLB Network are in place too. Face it fans you got to pay for it if you want to see it. It’s here and real soon there might be no sports available on broadcast television.