Basketball from a fans perspective
He said what?
Long ago I realized sports talk is often unscripted; on the other hand it’s not rocket science either. With those two observations I wonder how a football player turned broadcaster could ask such a stupid question. Mike Golic of Mike & Mike had basketball analyst Jay Williams as a guest on their program. Golic focused on one of the issues of Ben Simmons and his grade issues. This matter caused Simmons to sit out portion of a game; in addition he was declared ineligible for the Wooden award.
Golic said something similar to this; “I understand he (Simmons) is likely a one and done player but should the class issue reflect on his draft status?” I could have answered the question for Golic, “The NBA doesn’t care about his academics they care if he can be coached and if he can play at this level.” Needless to say the NBA along with other pro sports desires players of high character, missing a class is not likely to set off any alarms. I certainly could think of more serious issues which might cause the NBA to hesitate on drafting Simmons. This is a none issue for the NBA me and I’m sure several others.
Stop if you’ve heard this previously
Dwight Howard wants to play for ________. You can fill in the blank with the team you believe might be the best fit. Reports are circulating Howard wants to go to New York and play for the Knicks. Let’s see if we can begin a count once again, he fell out with his coach in Orlando and forced a trade. After a year playing with the Lakers he left in free-agency pointing a finger at Kobe. We cannot be certain but this might be accurate, Kobe may have questioned the seriousness of his conditioning and effort.
Free agent Howard departed Los Angeles for the Rockets with James Harden already dominating the basketball. After three years in Houston he is ready to move once again. Howard is now 30 with 11 years of wear and tear on his body, is he worth the amount of money the Knicks would be forced to pay? He still a talent when motivated but that’s the question, it’s likely when we compile a list of all-time centers his name will be there but no place toward the top of the list.
The game
Pau Gasol did not shoot particularly well from the floor (4-14), the balance of his game made up for his poor shooting. 12 points, 17 rebounds, 13 assists, 1 steal and 5 block shots as the Bulls beat the Bucks 100 to 90.
He’s every where
It seems every time I turn on my television to a sports event Kevin Harlin is conducting the play by play. I tune to the NBA on TNT and hear his voice; later in the week I check in with CBS Sports for a college game and hear his voice once again. Often this can occur two or three times a week, “Is the guy ever at home I wonder.” We claim him as a local guy; he was born in Wisconsin although suburban Kansas City is now his home. After graduation from Kansas University Harlin began his radio-television broadcast career for the Kansas City Kings in 1982. He would later become the radio voice of the NFL Chiefs where he remained for a number of years.
Next Harlin would move north to Minnesota were he became the voice for Wolves basketball. The rest is history as he moved into all phases of sports broadcasting. Harlan broadcast NFL football for a time but appears most comfortable covering college and NBA basketball. Down time for Harlin is the end of the NBA/College Basketball season up to the beginning of pre-season NFL. Marv Albert has always been the number one broadcaster due to his long association with NBA basketball, there is now tie Albert is 1A and Harlin is 1B. Harlin has now leaped ahead of the late Chick Hearn legendary Laker broadcaster in my view.
Tournament time
It’s that time of the year and it’s appropriate to establish some historical facts on the post-season tournaments. The NCAA Division One Tournament commands the most attention but it’s not always been in the forefront. Two other tournaments pre-date it but now play second banana to the more prestigious NCAA Tournament. The initial start date for the first NCAA Division One tourney dates back to 1939. The tourney is rotated annually once upon a time Kansas City (MO) served as host for the most number of tournament held. A year earlier (1938) the National Invitation Tournament was first played in New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
The second oldest post-season tournament has suffered in recent years in national fan interest. As the NCAA expanded the number of teams less and less quality teams would appear in the NIT. Finally we arrive at the oldest basketball tournament in the nation the NAIA which represented smaller schools throughout the nation. The tournament has been held continuously since 1937 (1944 being the exception) in Kansas City (MO) except for an eight year period. In 2002 the NAIA Tournament returned to Kansas City and has remained in place since that time.
