Words eye view

Basketball from a fan perspective

The season is complete  

On Saturday Kansas basketball achieved the improbable…they beat number 2 Baylor; the score wasn’t close it read 71-58.  Baylor hadn’t played in 21 days due to COVID issues no matter to the victor goes the spoils as they say.  Although Jayhawk Nation will deny this comment the basketball season is now complete. 

Bits n Pieces 

Unsure if this issue was explained recently regarding the NCAA tournament.  Any tournament team forced out due to a positive COVID test will not be replaced.  The game will go into the record books as a forfeit.  This is the portion I’m unsure if it was fully explained in detail.  No replacement team would be named for the team forced out due to a positive test, hope this clarifies the issue for some. 

Never in the history of the NBA has this ever occurred.  On Friday, the Thunder and Hawks played the first half in almost the same color theme.  Orange was the color of the Thunder jerseys while the Hawks wore their red.  With the color scheme so close it was difficult to discern the difference between the teams.  At the half, the home team Thunder changed to white jerseys which made it much easier to determine the difference.     

The interim tag has been removed from in front of Isaac Brown’s name.  You might remember the name; Brown took over the Wichita State program after they fired Gregg Marshall.  The issue as I remember Brown was hired shortly prior to the season, now that he’s been hired for 5 years given time the athletic department will be able to fully analyze his ability.  He’s led them to a 9-2 conference record and 13-4 overall. 

“Damn if you do, damned if you don’t” might be the theme.  Remember the critical remarks once aimed at Michael Jordan the player, it was said he had no social conscience because he wouldn’t speak to issues.  Michael Jordan the owner has now taken on a different tone since retirement.  LeBron James has been criticized because he does have a social conscience and speaks to issues.  One point for sure there are members of the public who will hardly ever be satisfied with your take on a subject.   

A pioneer

LaVannes Squires died last week in Pasadena California at the age of 90.  If his name is unfamiliar to you no worry, I’d never heard of him either until I read the story after he passed.  We must go back in time to appreciate his contribution to Kansas and basketball history.  The racial climate in the State of Kansas was somewhat different versus its next-door neighbor Missouri.  History says Kansas schools on all levels were never purposely segregated as they were in Missouri. 

Numbers of black students attended Kansas University over the years, but none played basketball.  None until 1952 when LaVannes Squires arrived on campus, Squires became the first black player on the basketball team, in addition he was a member of the NCAA championship that year.  No professional pro basketball career awaited him, but he would become successful in the banking and real estate world.  So, we profile LaVannes Squires another life well lived and a pioneer.