BASKETBALL FROM A FANS PERSPECTIVE
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Tennessee is good, or Mizzou is bad and maybe in this game Mizzou was plain ugly. There is no excuse offered for competing against the number three team in the country. The Mizzou managed to hang with Tennessee for about 10 minutes or so in the first half. Truth is they had a double-digit lead early, Tennessee had shots but either missed them or turned the ball over.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Tennessee is good, or Mizzou is bad and maybe in this game Mizzou was plain ugly. There is no excuse offered for competing against the number three team in the country. The Mizzou managed to hang with Tennessee for about 10 minutes or so in the first half. Truth is they had a double-digit lead early, Tennessee had shots but either missed them or turned the ball over.
Toward the end of
the first half Tennessee recovered it’s game and raced out to a 42-31 at the
half. The second half of the game was
all Tennessee resulting in a final score of 87-63. I told a friend I’m disappointed but not depressed,
I guess I’m rationalizing having witnessed the number three team dismantle
Mizzou and realizing one thing. They
were not rated that high playing average basketball, they came into Mizzou
Arena and spanked some Mizzou behind.
Diversity, can you say it with me
The NBA continues to hire and they ain’t all men. Last month it was Kelly Krauskopf who became an assistant general manager with the Pacers. The Sixers announced on Tuesday they hired Annelie Schmittel as vice president of player development. She arrives from the NFL Oakland Raiders where she spent three seasons. According to Libertyballers.com the Sixer website; “She will be responsible for creating, managing and overseeing the holistic development and implementation of programs that support the professional and personal growth of 76ers players, staff and families.”
The NBA continues to hire and they ain’t all men. Last month it was Kelly Krauskopf who became an assistant general manager with the Pacers. The Sixers announced on Tuesday they hired Annelie Schmittel as vice president of player development. She arrives from the NFL Oakland Raiders where she spent three seasons. According to Libertyballers.com the Sixer website; “She will be responsible for creating, managing and overseeing the holistic development and implementation of programs that support the professional and personal growth of 76ers players, staff and families.”
The NBA has continued to demonstrate it’s not a
boy’s club as NBA management and its teams have sought quality skilled
talent. The NFL, MLB, NHL and soccer are
lined up behind the NBA in diversity hiring.
With the recent firing of black coaches in the NFL we were reminded of the
Rooney Rule. It simply states anytime an
NFL head coaching position is open a minority person must be interviewed. Guess which league never had to implement
such a policy? Am I stating the NBA is
bias and gender free…. of course, not however it’s been a leader in
hiring. Don’t just take my word read
Richard Lapchick, annually his group explores racial and diversity in sport and
the NBA almost always receives A’s across the board.
Is this the year
Kansas has won the Big 12 championship outright for 30 or 40 consecutive years. Okay I embellished that a bit, they have won or tied for 12 consecutive Big 12 titles. Every year the question is asked, can anybody beat the Jayhawks? The Jayhawk program has two clear advantages over the other 11 Big 12 schools, 1. Reputation and 2. Coach. Kansas basketball can recruit with the Kentucky’s, Dukes and the North Carolina’s of the basketball world.
Kansas has won the Big 12 championship outright for 30 or 40 consecutive years. Okay I embellished that a bit, they have won or tied for 12 consecutive Big 12 titles. Every year the question is asked, can anybody beat the Jayhawks? The Jayhawk program has two clear advantages over the other 11 Big 12 schools, 1. Reputation and 2. Coach. Kansas basketball can recruit with the Kentucky’s, Dukes and the North Carolina’s of the basketball world.
Attracting talent from all over the nation and
the world is a clear advantage over the other Big 12 competition in attracting
top notch talent. As for the coach Bill
Self is one of the best, although he’s only won a single NCAA Championship
Kansas basketball always earns a berth every year. We are early in the conference race but could
pose the question could 2019 be different from prior years? The standings on January 8th list
Kansas in a strange and usual place. The
Jayhawks are in 5th place after two conference games.
He gets away with it!
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is quite passionate about his team, we’ve witnessed Ballmer seated in the front row of Staples wildly cheering for his team. Some might remember the late Larry Miller owner of the Jazz, Miller could also be listed in a group of owners who were zealous regarding their team. There is another owner to be profiled, Mavs owner Mark Cuban whose been a long-time thorn in the side of game officials. Monday evening in the Mavs game against the Lakers we witnessed video of Cuban on the court or on the sideline “discussing” an official’s call.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is quite passionate about his team, we’ve witnessed Ballmer seated in the front row of Staples wildly cheering for his team. Some might remember the late Larry Miller owner of the Jazz, Miller could also be listed in a group of owners who were zealous regarding their team. There is another owner to be profiled, Mavs owner Mark Cuban whose been a long-time thorn in the side of game officials. Monday evening in the Mavs game against the Lakers we witnessed video of Cuban on the court or on the sideline “discussing” an official’s call.
Even more
interesting I checked the box score and saw no technical foul on Cuban. At what point did it become okay to just saunter
over to a game official to discuss anything?
If it is permissible as we witnessed can we do it too? I’ll answer my own question; if Joe Fan had
attempted to talk to an official, they would have been escorted out of the
arena by security and law enforcement. I
appreciate the fact owners such as Cuban want the best for their team but there
is a stop point. At one time Cuban
received numerous technical fouls and it was believed he’d calmed down,
apparently not true.
