A change
A
recent NCAA ruling represents a change in policy by the body which never
occurred in past years. Bradley
University is not the 1950 NCAA Champion City College of New York remains champ,
the same scenario for the 2003 Kansas Jayhawks, Syracuse is champion. Both schools, CCNY and Syracuse were
discovered later to have committed violations which caused a negative light to
shine on their program. There have been
hints regarding other schools over the years however up till today no NCAA
Championship was ever vacated.
2018
has brought about a change, the NCAA determined the 2013 NCAA Championship win
by Louisville is now invalid. Runner up Michigan
becomes the de-facto champion for 2013, does it really change anything for the
Wolverines and their fans? My point of
reference is the Missouri State High School Championship. In the late 1990’s Pembroke Hill led by
brothers Jaron and Kareem Rush won three consecutive state championships. Years later the championships were vacated
due to improprieties uncovered. Those of
us who witnessed the play find it difficult to see the runner-up as
champion. (A future story on Louisville
will follow soon)
A starting point
Fran
Fraschilla of ESPN was describing the play of Luka Doncic who hails from Slovenia which I found interesting, Doncic will be a
lottery pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. Fraschilla
compared Euro basketball to AAA baseball, for those unfamiliar with AAA allow a
brief explanation. “AAA or triple A is the highest MLB level, and where players are
most likely to be called up to the parent Major League team.”
An
increasing number of players from Europe have arrived in the NBA but as I
stated in the past I wasn’t quite sure of the level of play. I will hold onto the Fraschilla comment the
next time a potential NBA player from the EuroLeague might be headed for the
NBA. If you are reading this in France,
Germany, Spain or some other Euro nation don’t take this as a slam at
basketball in Europe. Just consider a
few athletes born in this country with star emblazoned on their forehead fail to
carve out a niche in the NBA.
Wow
A report from Brian
Windhorst of ESPN is unfortunate if true.
His narrative on Markelle Fultz indicates the Sixers might choose
to sit the point guard down for the balance of the season. Injuries are sometimes difficult to overcome,
his shoulder which has impacted his shooting might be as much mental as
physical according to Windhorst.
The news is not
quite as damaging as it could be considering the outstanding play of Joel
Embiid and Ben Simmons and other Sixers.
As for Fultz if he is forced to sit out the balance of the season all he
needs to do is talk to Embiid and Simmons.
Injuries kept both of them off the court in their rookie year however look at their outstanding play now, hopefully Fultz will be able to duplicate their accomplishment.
This is funny to me
I wish you heard it,
Jalen Rose shut down Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman this morning on ESPN’s First Take. The co-hosts are certainly entitled to their
opinions however there comes a point. I love when a former player such as Rose can be a guest on the program and articulate enough to destroy their point of view. Afterall Rose saw the discussion as a former player something neither Smith or Kellerman can claim.
Thanks, but no thanks
Disney Corporation
owners of ESPN, ABC and several others are a commercial enterprise. The companies have been established to yield
profits, in the following few sentences an explanation why I refuse to
pay. ESPN.com for years has teased us
with “news”, we check the site and it’s under ESPN Insider. The website is
free however the Insider portion is a pay to read column. Most of the time the information eventually
becomes public knowledge. If it’s an
earth-shattering story, we’ll be provided the information the same day by ALL
news sources. I will say once again to
ESPN, thanks but no thanks.
