Basketball from a fans perspective
Will anybody be a winner?
Is your bracket busted? I’m sure with the amount of upsets Thursday and Friday is anybody gonna win is the question? Don’t you find it interesting the so-called little schools have done a beat down on the Goliath’s of college basketball. I realize number one’s are still alive however the number of upsets in Thursday and Fridays game surely wrecked most everyone’s bracket.
Only in basketball
Calvin Hill played football at Yale and for a number of years with the NFL Cowboys. Calvin and Janet would marry and have son whom they named Grant. The youngster would depart from his dad by choosing basketball rather than the football. Grant at Duke and later in the NBA would distinguish himself on the court in a manner his dad had playing in the NFL.
Yesterday afternoon Duke and Yale faced off against one another in the NCAA Basketball tournament. This match up would never occur in football Yale in the Ivy League is FCS Division I-AA while Duke in the ACC is FBS Division I-A. Football is unlike basketball in this manner both schools are Division I. Duke was able to defeat Yale 71-64.
Who plays center?
I just read a story on Joel Embiid, you remember him don’t you? Embiid 7 foot and 250 pounds arrived in the NBA with all the potential in the world. He was a virtual unknown and played his way into the starting lineup while at Kansas. Embiid would leave after his freshman year for the NBA and became the third pick in the 2014 NBA draft and then disaster struck. An injury had sidelined near the end of the season at Kansas but that was just the beginning. Continued rehab then surgery another rehab and there are questions if he will ever play at the level once envisioned. Embiid is thought to be ready for action next season but questions remain if that is actually the case.
In between time the 76ers have continued to stockpile players. They drafted 6-11 Nerlens Noel a center in college who was moved to the power forward position. Last season the Lakers passed on Jahlil Okafor and the 76ers would chose him, although there have been “bumps in the road” the former Dukee has adapted to the NBA. The 6-11 275 pound Okafor has scored at 17.5 points per game along with 7 rebounds, a clear demonstration of his future talent. I don’t believe any move will be immediate however the 76ers must come to a decision. If Embiid is healthy and ready to play who stays, who goes? They have the known (Okafor ) versus the unknown (Embiid) who remains a question mark if healthy.
Rivalries
Kentucky and Indiana played one another in the NCAA Tournament. Once upon a time this was an annual basketball event for this SEC and Big 10 rivals. The two schools are located less than 200 miles apart, this rivalry begin in 1924 the first time they played. The last time they played was 2012 after then the series was not renewed. Kentucky leads all-time with 32 wins versus the 24 of Indiana.
I heard a local sports radio guy get this wrong, he claimed Rick Pitino was responsible for the series end when he coached Kentucky. The present coach John Calipari is the guilty party. We can address complaints to the present coach who believed a four game series was too difficult to accomplish in this day and age. The Indiana proposal was two games to be played at Lucas Oil Stadium one at Indiana’s Assembly Hall and one at Rupp Arena, Calipari rejected this.
