Basketball from a fans perspective
Confused, that’s me
Kansas City lies 350
road miles from Oklahoma City, yet Thunder games are blacked out. Tonight I discovered Kansas City is also
included in the black-out games involving the Denver Nuggets despite the fact
we are 600 miles from that city. This is the confusing part, Thunder and
Nuggets games on ESPN/ABC and TNT are available however the games telecast on
NBA TV are blacked out. I have no idea
if this rule applies to Kansas City area fans with NBA League Pass I don't have the subscription service. Stay tuned as I investigate the black-out rules further.
North American Premier Basketball League
The KC Buzz, scratch
that nickname its now the Tornadoes will soon begin play in a brand new pro
basketball league. How do you change
nicknames prior to your first game? You
do it when threatened legally, the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets mascot is
nicknamed Buzz. The school contacted the
KC ownership group and the decision was quickly made to change the team
name. The North American Basketball
League is an 8-team league comprised of the following cities:
Albany, New York
Owensboro, Kentucky
Mesquite, Nevada
Akron, Ohio
Rochester, New York
Richmond, British
Columbia (Canada)
Yakima, Washington
Kansas City, Missouri
In 2019 Bellevue
Washington will begin play in the new league. As for Kansas City's team it's likely former Kansas guard Sherron Collins will be the only
familiar player to Kansas City spectators.
I certainly don’t wish to paint a gloom and doom picture but I can’t
help but wonder if the timing is right for a brand-new basketball league. After all we have the NBA, G-League plus the revitalized
ABA founded in 2000, I’ve not included college basketball in the picture. We shall see if this new league can gain a
toe hold with basketball fans across the nation.
I’m old
Nobody needs to
remind me of my age, my once somewhat competent jumper has abandon me. My leaping ability which was good for my
height has departed my legs. My knees ache and I am winded much
sooner than I was at one point in life. You ask how old, old enough to remember LeBron James play for St.
Vincent-St. Mary’s High School in Akron (OH).
I’m writing this December 30th which is LeBron’s 33rd
birthday, my oh my he’s 33 now? Slow
down, forget that LeBron continues to play at a high skill level….Happy
birthday LeBron.
Technology
It should be
apparent by now technology has outpaced the speed of today’s game. An example might be Friday evenings game
between the Bucks and Thunder. Bucks forward
Giannis Antetounmpo stepped out of bounds in his last drive toward the basket
before he scored what became the winner 97-95.
In the NFL and MLB, the officials call a timeout turn to instant replay
and make the call good or bad depending on your perspective. Basketball certainly has replay capability
but not on a similar type play. Basketball
has become too speedy a game to make the correct call all the time.
If you check out the
replay the official is within 5 feet of Antetounmpo at the time the player is driving
toward the basket. The officials focus
is on Antetounmpo’s upper body he’s not looking at the location of the players
foot. Was the official in error, likely
not he was in the position he should have been in. Thunder broadcasters were not pleased with
the outcome of the game however there is really nothing that could have been
done to prevent the result in my view. NOTE:
As this was being completed came word the NBA Competition Committee will
explore viable solutions to late-game out of bound plays. All I can say to that is good luck.
