Basketball from a fans perspective
“Lying in the Weeds”
Is it laying in the weeds or lying in the weeds, no matter. Which ever is correct those unfamiliar with the term it refers to a lethal life form usually a snake or alligator hidden waiting to pounce on unsuspecting prey. Can you say that might fit the San Antonio Spurs? Okay Dub fans don’t get too upset with me I still think your team is the one to beat. On the other hand should the Spurs emerge from the Western Conference I won't be surprised I believe they are that good.
I’ve stated previously and I will repeat it again we have been mesmerized by Steph Curry and crew all fall and winter. The Dubs only lost 9 games however the Spurs only lost 6 more. Of the 15 losses the Spurs suffered only 1 occurred at the AT&T Center. Just my thoughts doesn’t make it correct and most certainly don’t bet your life-savings. On the other hand don’t be shocked or even surprised.
Remain in place
This is old news now but I thought it noteworthy it was reported the Suns were pursuing Jay Wright to fill the role of head coach. The news was not shocking, in addition to winning the NCAA Championship he’s got a .663 winning percentage. Wright’s been at Villanova since the 2001-02 in that time he’s only had two losing seasons. The last three years his teams have gone 29-5, 33-3 and 35-5 not bad. Now for the question, why in the world would Wright want to leave Villanova for the rigors of the NBA?
I guess he could consider it a challenge to build a winning NBA on the other hand it might be best to remain in place, in this instance Philadelphia rather than anywhere in the NBA. Ultimately its Wright’s decision if he leaves for the NBA so be it. Even more interesting Dan Patrick thinks if coach takes another job it won’t be in the NBA. He says; “Wright will replace Coach K. at Duke when the coach decides to retire.”
I don’t believe
Have you heard stories of the “Clipper Curse”? I Goggled Clipper Curse and uncovered a number of negative incidents affecting this franchise dating back to their beginning in Buffalo (NY). Now we need to take into consideration Donald Sterling owned the team from 1981 through 2014. The curse story was revived again when Chris Paul and Blake Griffin both succumb to injury in the same game against the Blazers. CP3 broke a bone in his hand and will be out 4-6 weeks. As for Griffin the news is even grimmer, he re-aggravated the quad and will miss the remainder of the playoffs.
If you couple this with last year’s playoff implosion it’s easy to come to that conclusion. With a 3 games to 1 lead over the Rockets the Clippers would go on to lose the series. Despite my sometimes negative view of the Clippers they are a good team, are they a championship team healthy. This question will never be answered now however I wrote weeks ago when everyone was healthy I didn’t think so. I believed and still maintain the view there would have been great difficulty getting by the Warriors or the Spurs.
Hall of Fame wait
Michigan State’s Tom Izzo will be enshrined in the College Hall of Fame later this year. Coach K, Larry Brown and John Calipari are already enshrined in various halls. ESPN’s Fran Frashchilla says; “They should wait until a coach retires before electing him to the Hall of Fame. A coach could get in trouble (example might be Jim Boeheim and Rick Pitino) with penalties or something else.” We are not part of the election committee for the Naismith or Collegiate Hall of Fame and we can’t change anything. Do you believe it’s better if there is delay in the election process?
Bits n Pieces
Checking out ESPN’s Recruiting page for 2016 the usual suspects are present. You know them, Kentucky, Duke, and North Carolina along with UCLA. Interesting in that the site rated Mississippi State recruiting at number five and Harvard 11. Ben Howland can recruit and with this incoming group of youngsters he’s trying to improve on a 14-17 finish. In the case of Harvard after four straight NCAA invites “the wheels fell off the wagon” last season as the Crimson finished 14-16.
Say what---Scottie Pippen last played in 2008 for a pro team in Sweden. The writer certainly failed to research his subject matter. The publication chose the best basketball players born in each of the 50 states. They selected Joe Johnson (Little Rock) to represent the State of Arkansas. Johnson has been a very good NBA player however for some mysterious reason they overlooked The Bulls Scottie Pippen. Born in Hamburg (AK) he is in the Naismith Hall of Fame has two Olympic Gold Medals and is a 6X NBA Champion just to name a few of his accolades.
It’s probably just me I heard the voice of Jacob Poelti for the first time recently, I‘d seen him play of course. The Utah center is headed to the NBA after declaring for the draft. At the second annual College Basketball Awards Poelti received the Kareem Abdul Jabbar award as the top collegiate center. When accepting the award Poelti’s voice sounded similar to Arnold Schwarzenegger of course both are from Austria.
I understand a man-crush, what I don’t understand is several of the names mentioned to replace Byron Scott. First of all John Calipari is not leaving Kentucky for the Lakers. What can I say about Jeff Van Gundy, not much except I fail to comprehend the man-crush by many in the media regarding him? A name mentioned interesting to me is Kevin Ollie however like Calipari would he leave UConn for the Lakers?
"The only important statistic is the final score"-Bill Russell
