Basketball from a fans perspective
Ratings
Are they really that important, i.e. ratings? We pay plenty of attention to the Top 25 college basketball teams same for top power NBA teams etc. We do the same with athletes as well in any event you get the idea. Ratings are important to those of us who pay attention to them. Often they are not a reflection of reality yet we enjoy reading them anyway. This certainly caused this Mizzou fan to smile with pride, I don’t check the ESPN Recruiting page everyday but I did this morning. There it was right in front of me, Mizzou had moved into the Top 10 in the nation for the Class of 2017 basketball prospects.
Under Pressure
The classic Queen hit from the 1982 opening lines are:
Pressure pushing down on me
Pressing down on you, no man ask for
Under pressure that burns a building down
Split’s a family in two
Puts people on the streets
16 teams face pressure once the playoffs begin however it’s my belief the Clippers face the greatest amount of all the teams in the playoffs. My reasoning is quite clear, the Clippers MUST advance past the Western Conference Finals something they have never accomplished thus far. Regular season success has not translated to the playoffs. If they fail this will be the last version of this version of the Clippers free-agency looms after the season. In addition it’s time for Doc Rivers to provide evidence of his coaching ability. Talk about pressure, I can almost hear the opening lyrics of “Under Pressure.”
Zach who?
If I informed you Zach Collins declared for the draft there would be questions, the first might be who the heck is Zach Collins? Before Gonzaga’s NCAA run and the west coast factor few of us were aware of his name. The “west coast factor”, Gonzaga located in Spokane (WA) afforded few of us in Midwest and East time zones an opportunity to see Collins in action.
The 7-foot 230 pound power forward wasn’t a starter during his freshman season but contributed as a reserve player. Collins excelled in the school’s strong NCAA run; can he play at the NBA level? That question is yet to be answered Collins hired an agent which indicates he’s serious about a pro career whether in the NBA or Europe. Sorry Bulldog fans hiring of an agent is clear Collins is not returning to school.
Surprising
The Celtics finished the regular season 2 games ahead of the Cavs. For the first time in a number of years a LeBron led team failed to finish in first place in the east. I’m certainly not calling them out injuries or something else it’s my belief they will eventually be crowned Eastern Conference Champions. I’m not making any predictions beyond that.
Recruiting
It’s a gimme; we know recruiting is extremely important to the success of any college program. Perhaps more important to basketball than football or any other sport. As an example a school has a 5-star quarterback but little if any offensive line what occurs? That QB is likely running for his life every weekend, he doesn’t have time to pass the football or hand it off. Basketball is still a team game however one outstanding player can make the difference between a winning and losing record.
The exception might be having a Shaquille O’ Neal type at center but a below average point guard unable to deliver the ball. This is an assumption I am unable to provide documentation but we can look at Mizzou. I believe (I could be wrong) Kim Anderson’s offense and defense was likely little different from the one he ran at University of Central Missouri versus Mizzou.
The difference between Division II and Division I my belief is talent, Anderson was unable to recruit at a level that allowed Mizzou to be competitive. Recruiting talent has allowed North Carolina, Kentucky, UCLA, Duke and others to always field competitive teams. Finally I’ve returned to my boycott of sports talk radio. Before I left one of the hosts indicated “I don’t pay a great deal of attention to recruited players”, It works both ways I’ve decided to once again not to pay a great deal of attention to your radio station.
