Basketball from a fans perspective
Division II
What is going on in Maryville (MO)? Northwest Missouri State won the football championship last winter December 17 and now the school is playing for the Division II basketball championship. The Bearcats faced Fairmont State located in Fairmount WV about 140 miles NW of Charleston. Once again the residents of Maryville about 160 miles north of Kansas City are dancing. The Bearcats win 71-61 and accomplish a rarity winning the football and basketball championships in the same season, the Bearcats finish 34-1. Who beat them you ask, Missouri Southern Joplin won a game last month 88-71. Congratulations to Coach Ben McCollum and team.
Bits n Pieces
The Suns Devin Booker had a game for the ages. His team lost but he managed to score 70 points in a 130-120 loss. Booker wasn’t just tossing up shots as his field goal percentage was a healthy .525, It’s too bad a classic game didn’t come with a win---oh well.
The Lakers reached back to the past on Friday. The Lakers unveiled a statue of Shaquille O’Neal a key contributor to three championships. Sorry haters Kobe attended the dedication and had kind words for Shaq. At the same time The Big Aristotle made complimentary comments regarding Kobe, can you say “Bromance?”
Many of you unfamiliar with the landscape might not be able to locate Pittsburg on the map, not Pittsburgh that city is located in Pennsylvania. The city without the h at the end is located in Kansas about 160 miles due south of Kansas City (MO). Kim Anderson former Mizzou coach has been hired by Pittsburg State an NCAA Division II school.
38-year old Archie Miller is a rising star in the nations coaching ranks. After several stops as an assistant he was hired at Dayton‘s head coach. His teams earned NCAA berths the last four consecutive years. Now the major challenge of his life as he’s accepted the head coaching position at Indiana.
Close the barn door
There’s an old adage that says; “It’s difficult to close the barn door after the cows have escaped. “ Simply stated I read it to detail how difficult it is to address an issue(s) after it’s grown to gigantic proportions. That might be the case for AAU basketball in this country. Truth is it’s actually better than it once was but the issues go far beyond the few words on this piece of paper. Although elements have changed a good book to read is: “Sole Influence: Basketball, Corporate Greed and the Corruption of America’s Youth.” The book was written by Dan Wetzel and Don Yaeger and was published in 2000.
As I stated after publication of the book steps were taken and many on the problems detailed no longer exist. With that said there remain problems with AAU basketball, two former players Kobe Bryant and Steve Kerr have spoken on the evils of AAU basketball. Kevin Garnett says AAU has killed the NBA ’These kids are not being taught anything.’ I’m unsure if Garnett’s words are totally correct however there is an issue with today’s athletes. They are better conditioned due to an abundance of training equipment, have healthier diets and are less schooled in the fundamentals all due to AAU basketball.
