Basketball from a fan perspective
Rear view mirror
Media members who will remain unnamed (you
know many of them) will no longer be featured in Words eye view. There is a basis for the decision and none of
it has anything to do with raising my basketball IQ or my understanding. It seems be it radio or television the
reporting has bottomed out, this was mentioned in the past. A number believe their view of a subject is
the ONLY view and that is not right.
These media members often become clownish
becoming more story than the one they are reporting. We have discovered they have no more idea of
an outcome than our pre-teen children. I
know, I have made this statement in the past but this time I intend to follow
through. Truth is the policy has been in
place at least two-three weeks.
Publications will continue to be a source of subject matter however the
television guys are officially persona non grata. The actors have been placed in the rear view
mirror and will no longer play a part in this publication.
NBA coaches
Alvin Gentry was the latest, fired from his
head coaching job with the Pelicans, the Bulls dismissed Jim Boylen. Who is next, we have no idea however there
will be other coaches who will not return for the 2020-21 NBA season? The cbssports.com.nba page contained several
interesting names including two long shot candidates, they are Becky Hammon Spurs
assistant and Mark Jackson ESPN analyst.
These two are probably the most unlikely to
be hired as a head coach, it has nothing to do with their ability allow me to
explain. Hammon became an assistant with
Gregg Popovich in 2014 the first woman to serve in that role, question is the
NBA or rather are players ready to be led by a female? We do not have an answer for the question
other than to state perhaps not yet. Mark
Jackson, the long-time ESPN/ABC analyst once served as the Warriors head
coach.
Steve Kerr is an incredibly good coach
however that first championship team many believe Jackson was the architect
behind the success. Jackson is never mentioned
on any teams short list of candidates.
Besides the two profiled what is unlikely to occur is a “rookie” hire,
i.e. an assistant who is never served as a head coach. Question, how do you become a head coach if
you are never given the opportunity?
What is old becomes new
The University of Missouri-Kansas City after
moving from the ranks of an independent joined the Summit League in the 1994-95
season. The Kangaroos or Roos left the
Summit in 2013 for the Western Athletic Conference, the change in conferences
did not prove fruitful. The travel, whoa
the travel budget, flying from Kansas City to Washington and California probably
blew up the budget. The Summit is a
better fit for several reasons, all the schools apart from the University of
Denver are in the Central Time Zone. The
Roos experienced their best season in memory with a 16-14 in the WAC, they
certainly hope to improve on that now that UMKC has returned to the Summit.
Were number one
That college chant “were number one” is true
for Baylor Nation. The ESPN way to early
Top 25 poll places the Bears in the top slot.
In this instance it might be COVID (or something else), Jerad Butler
sophomore guard and junior guard Macio Teague return rather than head for the
NBA. With these two plus an experienced
roster we might see why ESPN raised them to the top of the heap.
Is ESPN stating the road to the Big 12
Championship runs through Waco Texas? Surprises
(for me at least), the Creighton Bluejays rated number 11. This mid major school continues to play
basketball with the big boys. Greg
McDermott is now in his 11th season at the helm, his Bluejays have
been consistent winners during his tenure.
How the mighty have fallen North Carolina, the Tarheels clock in at
number 15. This certainly not complete
just a tidbit on the thoughts of ESPN writers.
Sometimes you have no response
I have mentioned on several occasions in the
past my wife is a casual NBA fan, she hardly knows any of today’s NBA players. She is familiar with a few names, LeBron
James, the late Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and Dwayne Wade. Julius
Erving was her favorite player and she would view games with me anytime the
Sixers played. As for the players
mentioned earlier my wife might only be familiar with Wade due to his marriage to
actress Gabrielle Union.
She is acquitted with the Ball family thanks to
yours truly bombarding her with stories on the father. Lonzo’s first year in the NBA I informed my
wife he purchased a $300,000 Rolls-Royce as a Christmas gift to his
parents. The response was quite interesting, she said: “Did they ask for
it?” I had no further comment because I did not have an answer to her
question and its clear to me my wife was unimpressed.
