“Whatcha talkin’ bout
The was often the line uttered by Willis Jackson (Gary Coleman) in the ‘80’s television sitcom “Different Strokes”. Jim Buss might utter the same sentence replacing Willis’s name with his sister Jeannie. Buss made us a promise to step down as head of the Lakers apparently we discover he’s not a man of his word. Although nothing was said by Jim at the time Jeannie removed him he was only bidding time. Johnny and Jim Buss conspired to wrestle control of the team from their sisters’ hands.
I’m not going to detail the entire story it’s just I’m surprised. We don’t know all the inner workings however we can now conclude Jim Buss is not a man of his word. Need I provide a reminder again, Jim promised me and other Laker fans if he couldn’t turn the team around in three years he would step down. This is the end of the third year and Buss is still trying to hold on despite his promise. We now realize why the Lakers sunk into such a deep abyss after the death of Dr. Buss.
I’m wrong
Although I don’t remember all the cost details I remember my statement. At the time Barclays Center opened in 2012 and I read about the $1 billion dollar construction cost I said; “I don’t believe there will be anymore sports palaces built with taxpayers’ dollars.” Since my 2012 declaration Sacramento opened the Golden 1 Center last fall. In Milwaukee, San Francisco and Detroit construction is progressing on new arenas for the Bucks, Warriors and Pistons.
In the day of naming rights the Milwaukee arena is yet to have a name attached to it. As for San Francisco that’s a different story, ground breaking was held in January 2017 on the Chase 1 Center and the planned opening is 2019. In Detroit Little Caesars Arena will open in the fall of 2017. In both upper Midwest cities a milder than usual winter has allowed construction to progress at an unusually high rate. In truth funding for these arenas is actually a mix bag some are private equity while others utilize tax funds.
Tulsa
Can a university be considered a “training ground “, in this instance I’m referring to coaches and not the athletes. The University of Oklahoma 130 miles down I-44 west receives far more national media coverage. It certainly has nothing to do with a greater won-loss record in fact Tulsa most seasons could easily match the Sooners. What about the coaches, for now Frank Haith is the head man after leaving Mizzou? After winning 20+ games his first two years this years team has stumbled out of the blocks. As for past coaches Tulsa can count among its number Nolan Richardson, Tubby Smith, Bill Self and Danny Manning.
Mike Anderson now head coach at Arkansas was an assistant coach at Tulsa. There are others omitted however I wanted to provide you just a glimpse of the schools rich basketball history. It’s a shame the university is unable to retain the cadre of coaches that have led the program over the years. Universities with deeper financial pockets have picked Tulsa coaches one by one to lead their programs. The school’s Missouri Valley Conference history dates back to 1935. In 1996 they left for the Western Athletic Conference and remained a member until 2005. In 2006-06 Tulsa moved into Conference USA until 2014-15 when they moved into the American Athletic Conference.
I hope the standings change
I’m referencing the NBA standings, where we once had Eastern Conference teams making the playoffs it appears in the West too. By the time this is read maybe the standings will have changed. Currently in the East the Pistons are two games below .500 in the 8th playoff position, in the West the Nuggets make the 8th position at 28-33.
There’s talk of re-seeding the playoff field and I haven’t read enough to discuss it at length. One thing I do know it’s not good for sub .500 teams to be included in the playoffs. Somebody might say; “They won’t get past the first round” and that might be partially true. Consider this jewel in 1980 the Kansas City Kings (40-42) advanced to the Western Conference Finals before losing to the Rockets.
