Smoke emanating
If you watched the ESPN Kansas State-Kansas game to the conclusion you were a witness. The outcome wasn’t in doubt as the Jayhawks held a 75-59 lead as the clock ticked toward zero. Both teams were standing waiting for the game to conclude, Brannen Greene of Kansas had the ball. With 2.3 seconds or so remaining he made the decision “I’ll think I’ll dunk the ball” which he proceeded to do, final score Kansas 77 Kansas State 59.
The players and coaches had begun lining up and several were already shaking hands when Greene pulled his stunt. Bill Self apologized to the Kansas State players and indicated “It would never happen again.” As for the headline title one of the local television stations had a shot of the Lawrence campus and the weather guy said “There is smoke coming from one of the buildings.” I concluded it was either Self still upset or Greene after receiving a tongue lashing from his coach.
On a serious note several letters were posted to ESPN page critical of the coach; “He (Self) should have addressed the issue in the locker room” read several of the letters. It’s been reported Greene has issues; he’s been suspended at least once before this latest incident. Maybe the best method for this youngster is to embarrass him publicly. I have no idea how Coach Self runs his team I don’t believe he runs it a dictatorial manner it’s likely he coaches for this generation of athletes.
Calm down
The Clippers were losers in their Wednesday evening game against the Wolves. They may have won the game if Chris Paul hadn‘t received a technical foul in the waning portion of the game. The game was one of the topics for Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon on their program Pardon the Interruption. I believe it was Kornheiser who said; “The Clippers lead the league in technical’s since Doc Rivers arrived.” Korheiser indicated Paul has a “history” with this particular referee. A foul was called on J.J. Redick who along with Paul was attempting to trap Rickey Rubio near mid-court.
Referee Laura Holtkamp whistled a foul on Redick and Paul immediately slapped his hands together, Holtkamp then called a technical on Paul. If it had been anybody other than Paul there may have been no technical. I figured I would check the Kornheiser statement and sure enough he was correct. The Clippers lead the NBA in technical’s with 56 and the Rockets are second with 50. This stat I discovered accidentally but found interesting, the Clippers lead the NBA with most players ejected--4. One of the 4 we presume was Doc Rivers son who received two technical’s earlier and had been asked to leave. Despite the athletic talent of this team will they ever win anything with their constant whining, begging and flopping?
On the move?
The Dwight Howard experiment has not worked out as the Rockets hopped. Rumors of problems with James Harden and injuries have impacted Howard. There are stories circulating on a possible trade to the Celtics, that‘s one of the latest destinations for Howard. His days in Orlando are a distant memory for many which once we believed he was headed for super star status. The guy can still play and does reveal signs of his Orlando past. Howard and the Coach (Stan) Van Gundy feud forced the Howard trade to the Lakers. He left the Lakers hinting he and Kobe were mismatched.
That might well be true because Kobe may have believed Howard was not playing at a premium level. He left Los Angeles for Houston leaving the larger amount the Lakers could pay him over the Lakers. This may have worked to a degree in his favor with no state tax in Texas versus California’s high tax base. Howard is now in his third year with the Rockets and his scoring average (14.4) is the lowest it’s been since his rookie year. Howard has now turned 30 and it’s highly likely he won’t improve in any area of his game less his attitude. Howard is at a point only he can control his destiny, he‘s got no control if he‘s traded however the other aspects are his to manage.
