Basketball from a fans perspective
Shrewd business
1/7 doesn’t amount to much return unless you are discussing television revenues. Ozzie Silna died this week; the name might be unknown to a great number of readers. Allow me to update a number reading this; he and brother Dan owned the ABA Spirits of St. Louis. As the ABA-NBA merger was consummated a number of the ABA teams were dissolved including the Spirits.
Instead of taking a one-time payment as one owner did the brothers negotiated another arrangement. As compensation for losing their franchise the brothers agreed to a 1/7 share of the television revenue of the four merged ABA teams this financial arrangement was to last until perpetuity. It’s estimated the brothers have earned about $750 million including investments since the deal was struck in 1976. R.I.P. Mr. Silna you and your brother were very shrewd businessmen. Your family and off-spring are well compensated for life.
Won’t be missed by me
Skip Bayless is leaving ESPN and his co-hosting duties on First Take. Several weeks back I ceased viewing their program since he and co-host Stephen A. Smith had worn out their welcome with me. Bayless is leaving for Fox Sports so I will never see him again; I rarely view the channel except for sports events. Fox sports talk programming doesn’t appeal to me; I did not gravitate to the network at the time Colin Cowherd moved to Fox. This might appear to be mean-spirited on my part however that is not the intent. I’ve had an on-going issue with Bayless; despite his journalistic background I believed he is an agitator.
He takes position expressly intended to get fans riled up; I admit it worked on yours truly for quite awhile. I often found myself saying; “What a dumb thing to say. “ As for his basketball wisdom let’s just say it was lacking for the most part. Similar to his co-host Bayless is full of opinions without a great deal of substance. First Take was often a match who can make the most outlandish statement. In discussing football I will forever remembering his constant preaching “Tim Tebow was a NFL quality quarterback.” That might have been the view of Bayless but not any general managers who passed on signing him.
Hmmmmmm!!
Is what we do when pondering something and that is the case here? DeAnde Ayton is Rivals number one prospect in the Class of 2017. His Rivals page indicates there are eight schools seeking his services in the fall of 2017. Recently I had an opportunity to view video of him being interviewed. It took place in a noisy high school gym and during a portion of the interview Ayton claimed “Kansas is the only school serious in recruiting him.”
You gonna tell me a 7-foot 250 pound center and Bill Self is the only coach interested in recruiting this youngster. That sounded a little strange considering his Rivals page lists Duke, Kentucky, Michigan and North Carolina as schools of interest. There is speculation why Ayton is not being heavily recruited despite being number one on most prospect sites. Word is circulating Ayton might go the “Thon Maker” route and declare for the NBA Draft.
The easier fix
I’ve been vocal this winter and into to the spring with my disappointment. My two favorite basketball teams the Lakers and Mizzou Tigers are suffering. The Lakers finished with the worst record in their history while the Tigers were close. The Tigers finished 10-21 while the 1966-67 Tigers finished 3-22 in that day college teams played fewer games. As for the question which team has a clearer path in front of them to a .500+ season? In theory we might believe it would be the Mizzou Tigers however both could be on the same plain. As I pointed earlier the Lakers could land a quality free agent and match him with Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram.
The holdovers from the back court improve a notch and the bench improve slightly the Lakers could be .500 team. The Tigers could improve too, five more recruits will arrive in Columbia this fall. The roster only contains athletes recruited by this coach, that certainly doesn’t entail everything runs smoothly but at least these are Anderson's players. Three teams ahead of them, Tennessee, Auburn and Mississippi State are likely to improve but could slide in the other direction. There are far too many variables to paint an accurate picture for next March lets just say improvement is possible in Columbia and Los Angeles.
"Attitude is altitude"-Julius "Dr J." Erving
