Contenders versus Pretenders
Every season we filled with stories of contenders to the reign of Kansas basketball. Unfortunately, we later discover the Contenders are merely Pretenders to dethrone the Jayhawks. For the 14th (or 15th consecutive season I’ve lost track) Kansas will be crowned Big 12 champion once again probably by late February or early March. Who are these pretenders, we looked at the Iowa State upset and believed the mighty Jayhawks had come down to earth, instead its been the Cyclones of Iowa State who have managed to crest? Texas Tech was making a great deal of noise in the non-con portion of their schedule they too have settled, who remains?
Every season we filled with stories of contenders to the reign of Kansas basketball. Unfortunately, we later discover the Contenders are merely Pretenders to dethrone the Jayhawks. For the 14th (or 15th consecutive season I’ve lost track) Kansas will be crowned Big 12 champion once again probably by late February or early March. Who are these pretenders, we looked at the Iowa State upset and believed the mighty Jayhawks had come down to earth, instead its been the Cyclones of Iowa State who have managed to crest? Texas Tech was making a great deal of noise in the non-con portion of their schedule they too have settled, who remains?
I believed Shaka Smart would be a great
coach for the talent laden State of Texas and its high school basketball and AAU
programs. To date Texas is M.I.A. in any
discussion regarding outstanding programs.
The Kansas State Wildcats perennial whipping boy of their in-state rival
have a pretty good team this season the question becomes are they good enough
to beat out the Jayhawks? I wish I was
brave enough to say with conviction they beat Kansas, in fact I’m unsure if
they can beat them at home. This is
certainly no knock at Kansas rather a barb aimed at the Big 12 conference and
its coaches. How can the Big 12
conference be anything than what it is, a conference dominated by Kansas and
the first 6 teams good?
The phone rings at midnight July 1
That free-agent receives a midnight phone call, who receeives the first? A recent Bleacher Report contained 2019 NBA free-agents, I wanted to reflect on ALL rather than the total THEY designated possible for the Lakers. Seated in Magic Johnson’s seat I have 3 provisions key to my attempt to sign one or more.
That free-agent receives a midnight phone call, who receeives the first? A recent Bleacher Report contained 2019 NBA free-agents, I wanted to reflect on ALL rather than the total THEY designated possible for the Lakers. Seated in Magic Johnson’s seat I have 3 provisions key to my attempt to sign one or more.
Age-30 years and younger
Position-1. Small forward 2. Center 3. Shooting
guard
Unrestricted-No entanglements, must be
able to sign w/o previous team involvement
I might add the names are not in any
order they meet the criteria designated above.
Kawhi Leonard
Boogie Cousins
Klay Thompson
Khris Middleton
Boogie Cousins
Klay Thompson
Khris Middleton
Was my pre-conference assessment off-base?
Mizzou losing to Tennessee we can understand, after all they are the number 3 team in the nation. Losing to Frank Martin’s South Carolina team is a different matter, this is no slam at the Gamecocks just my belief the teams are on the same level. At the beginning of the match South Carolina was 7-7 and Mizzou was 9-4. Once again “talented” but foul-prone Jeremiah Tilmon demonstrated why he cannot remain on the floor for an extended period. He scored 4 points and yes, he fouled out of this game too.
Mizzou losing to Tennessee we can understand, after all they are the number 3 team in the nation. Losing to Frank Martin’s South Carolina team is a different matter, this is no slam at the Gamecocks just my belief the teams are on the same level. At the beginning of the match South Carolina was 7-7 and Mizzou was 9-4. Once again “talented” but foul-prone Jeremiah Tilmon demonstrated why he cannot remain on the floor for an extended period. He scored 4 points and yes, he fouled out of this game too.
It wasn’t Tilmon alone, 19 turnovers
didn’t help the cause in losing 85-75.
One bright spot is freshman guard Javon Pickett scoring 21 points and
starting for the 10th straight game.
Feisty Jordan Geist aided the cause with his 14 points and 5
assists. No excuses offered by this
Mizzou fan, they must do a better job if they hope for a post-season berth. Unfortunately,
the poor play continued as Mizzou battled Alabama at home losing 70-60, Mizzou
fans don’t give up hope we must look toward the 2019-20.
Bandwagon fans
You are familiar with the above term, fans attracted to winning teams. As an example, it might be easy to become a fan of Kentucky, Carolina or Duke. These teams don’t win all the time however success allows them to win most games, same for the NBA Warriors, in the past it’s been the Celtics, Lakers and Pistons. It’s my belief supporting a team is more than rooting for a winning program. This began as a “football” discussion, one of the local talk radio guys said, “The Chiefs attempted to market St. Louis since it was no longer an NFL city.”
You are familiar with the above term, fans attracted to winning teams. As an example, it might be easy to become a fan of Kentucky, Carolina or Duke. These teams don’t win all the time however success allows them to win most games, same for the NBA Warriors, in the past it’s been the Celtics, Lakers and Pistons. It’s my belief supporting a team is more than rooting for a winning program. This began as a “football” discussion, one of the local talk radio guys said, “The Chiefs attempted to market St. Louis since it was no longer an NFL city.”
On the surface nothing wrong with
reaching out to the 2 million metro
population of St. Louis. Our guy noted
the Chiefs had gained little from their effort.
It caused me to scratch my head, why did this radio host figure St.
Louis was willing to join Chiefs Nation.
Loyalty to a team is built over time and is not fair weather. We are accustomed to those folks who become
fan favorites after a couple of successful seasons. The true fan in my view is one who sticks
with his or her team through the bad times waiting on the good times to
come.
