Basketball
from a fan’s perspective
Punishment
Kansas acted swiftly, in lieu of the Tuesday brawl Silvio
DeSousa is suspended. At this point we
don’t know if it’s one game or 10 but he is permanently sidelined. Like me I’m quite sure you’ve read letters on
both sides of this issue. The one argument
heard the most is baseball and hockey fights, defenders of DeSousa point a
finger at these sports. As sometimes
occurs I cannot provide documentation to back up my claim.
It would appear there are smaller numbers of baseball fights
as there once were, even hockey has attempted to tone down the violence. Regardless of this information DeSousa is suspended
for a single reason. It’s got nothing to
do with his blocked shot, it’s nothing to do with DeSousa looming over the
K-State player. He picked up a stool and
intended to use it as a weapon. I’ve
witnessed the video on several occasions, did the Kansas coach convince him to
drop the chair? Better yet he might have
realized the consequences of his actions. Despite what might appear to be heavy
handed in my position that is not the case.
The other guy
For a variety of reasons in the State of Missouri the
university in Columbia receives all the sports headlines…why? For a variety of reasons beginning with
football. Mizzou plays football, St. Louis University fielded
a football team for 71 years but closed shop in 1949. Mizzou is a state university SLU is a private
Catholic university, SLU’s undergraduate enrollment is nearly 8,000 versus the 23,000
at Mizzou. We assume bigger is better,
that might not always be the case especially with basketball this season.
Mizzou has 0 chances of earning a post-season tournament this
season, on the other hand SLU is a totally different story. The Billikens are 12-4 in the Atlantic 10
conference to this date. Rest assured
the school likely receives its share of media coverage on the east side of the
state, as for the Kansas City metro totally different. The only occasion we hear anything regarding
SLU basketball is when they play a nearby university. Rumor is back in the day Norm Stewart refused
to schedule them and to date every succeeding Mizzou coach has followed
suit.
Why, the “Bill Self” excuse long held by the Kansas
coach. “If we play Mizzou and they beat
us that’s a boost for their program, if we (Kansas) beat them it’s supposed to
occur.” That might have been the belief
of Mizzou’s Norm Stewart.
The Billikens are not in first place that spot belongs to Dayton,
but coach Travis Ford’s has his team playing competitive basketball. Just in case you questioned Billiken as a
mascot for SLU. “The Billiken is a charm doll created by an
American art teacher and illustrator, Florence Pretz of Kansas City, Missouri,
who is said to have seen the mysterious figure in a dream. ... Billiken is
known as "The God of Things As They Ought to Be." 1.
1. Wikpedia
He’s not the first
Evansville University fired head coach Walter McCarty. This is big news; educational institutions
normally don’t terminate coaches until the end of the season. In 2013 Rutgers fired their head coach
however that occurred in early April after the season ended. Further research details Cal terminated its head
coach in 1996-97 as play began. As for
McCarty he’s from Evansville and attended Kentucky prior to an NBA career
mostly spent with the Celtics.
How to reconfigure
your body
I have no idea how this might be accomplished. Allow me to go there, there is a report Zion
Williamson is “learning” aspects of walking and landing. In football we have athletes with the size
and bulk (285 pounds) of Williamson, however there is a difference. NFL players are not leaping in the air attempting
to block shots or dunking the ball. I’d
really like to know how you teach this, is it possible a physical therapist is
involved in this process. Stay tuned there
will be a follow up I intend to share with you.
As this was being completed, I heard this on ESPN’s Get Up. Former NBA player Richard Jefferson said,
“He’s got to lose weight.”
