Basketball from a fans perspective
NAIA Champion
Texas Wesleyan 29-7 (Fort Worth, TX) won the 80th Annual Division I NAIA Tournament Championship over Life University 26-11 (Marietta, GA) in Kansas City. The final score read 86-76 as Texas Wesleyan won its second ever NAIA Championship. Bet you didn’t get this score on SportsCenter?
He was the Bulls
Jerry Krause died Tuesday at age 77, you might not remember the name. We must return to the Michael Jordan Bulls to know his name. Krause was a lighting rod for controversy at times; he hired Phil Jackson as coach and drafted Scottie Pippen. Krause traded for players who would become key contributors to the six NBA Championships.
As for the trouble portions of Krause’s tenure he was also responsible for breaking up the Bulls. He asks Phil Jackson to not return instead hiring Tim Floyd head coach at Iowa State. That move was key to Jordan’s desire to retire. Krause wasn’t exactly a novice his resume was extensive when he took over the direction of the Bulls. R.I.P. Jerry Krause you will be remembered as the architect who built the Bulls.
2017 draft
Both of the mock draft sites I utilize have the Lakers choosing Lonzo Ball with the second pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. As strange as it might sound I would be okay if my team chooses someone else. I‘ll accept Ball if he’s the choice I really can’t do anything about it. Maybe Ball can’t play at the NBA level, it might be extremely difficult dealing with Lonzo's over the top daddy.
Speaking of the draft
More and more the NBA Draft contains a number of Euro players some of whom we are unfamiliar with. In most instances we little opportunity to see them in action but check mock draft sites. In addition it should be noted a number of Euro and African players are on the roster of college teams, they are not listed in this account. I’m forever reminded of the moaning and wailing by Stephen A. Smith when the Knicks drafted Kristaps Porzingis. I’ve seen none of these players in action but believe if the NBA is willing to draft them they must have talent.
Frank Ntilikina 6-5 guard Strasbourg International
Rodions Kurucs 6-8 forward Barcelona 2
Anzejs Pasecniks 7-0 center Gran Canaria International
Jonathan Jeanne 7-2 power forwardf/center Nancy International
Jonah Bolden 6-10 power forward Radnicki Basket
Alpha Kaba 6-10 power forward Mega Vizura
Aleksandar Vezenkov small forward/power forward Barcelona International
Laurynas Birutis 7-1 center Zalgiris 2 International
The home country is not listed only their teams. This is certainly not set in stone perhaps there are other players who might be taken ahead of the names mentioned above.
No more
Once upon a time I considered winning teams to reflect the strength of a conference but no more. The NCAA Tourney is a one n done series; if you don’t play well you are on the way home. How can you say the Big 10 is superior to the Big 12 or ACC? It might be good for an argument but there is no method to prove which conference is actually superior. Truth is we could take this one step further and state the team winning the NCAA Championship might not be the best.
As example I continue to believe the 2015 Kentucky team was a more talented team than Wisconsin but I couldn’t prove it based on the NCAA winner. In 1983 Houston’s Phi Slama Jami high flyers were dunk specialist. Facing North Carolina State I’m sure no one believed limited talent NC State was capable of beating them. In a relatively tight game an NC State air ball was rebounded by a NC State player and laid in the basket. Jim Valvano’s crew beat Houston 54-52 for the championship that year.
In 1985 Georgetown was the defending NCAA Champion they had only lost two games (30-2) and faced Villanova (24-10) for the championship. Few probably figured Villanova stood much of a chance against Patrick Ewing and company. In a back and forth game Villanova managed to upset Georgetown 66-64. Those are but a few of the NCAA Champions who were not expected to advance much past the field of 32. The “best” team failed to win a championship on more than one occasion.
