Basketball from a fan’s perspective

He speaks

We have yet another fan incident, during the Sixers-Wizards game a fan rushed the court. He was tackled by security and escorted from the arena, there appeared to be no attempt to assault or contact any players. Wizards coach Scott Brooks was highly upset and made mention of if after his team won the game. He raised a couple of questions we discussed but took it a couple of steps further.

These are Brooks words, “Banning them and this and that,” he said. “What does that mean? Is there facial recognition that you can’t get a ticket on the secondary market and don’t shave for a week and wear a hat and still come in. I don’t know if there’s criminal charges, but they’ve got to get something on their record, and they’ve got to be exposed and they have to pay money out of their own pocket.” So, there you have the assessment of Scott Brooks, they make perfect sense to me. Hopefully, NBA owners will take stock in severe punishment for future offenders.

USA Today

Seattle or Minnesota?

This is in the realm of speculation, none of what you are about to read has been confirmed. According to reports the purchase of the Wolves is in limbo, the sale has not been finalized. We reported earlier a minority owner indicated there is no provision in the sale that will keep the franchise in Minnesota. In addition, its reported Alex Rodriguez wants to move the team to Seattle but is facing opposition. Former Wolves player Kevin Garnett who desires to be part of the ownership group is opposed to any move. Garnett is not part of the group yet does his view carry any weight? The reported impasse will eventually be resolved but in what manner is unclear at this point. 

“Help the sky is falling”

It’s been so long for me I don’t remember portions of the story. For whatever reason, some unknown objects fell on Chicken Little, and he panicked and went about the barnyard yelling “The sky is falling.” Is that what Auburn’s Bruce Pearl is doing believing the sky is falling? In this instance we are discussing college basketball. The Auburn coach weighed in on the subject due to three high school players opting for pro careers rather than college. “Is the end nigh for college basketball” read the headline. I’m unsure of the number, last season it was either 3 or 4 high school players choosing pro basketball over college.

This season to date there have been 2, if we witnessed 20-30 high school players choosing a pro career over college then I could understand we might have an issue. If we consider there are roughly 400 division, I programs across the nation containing at least 12 members, you do the math. If you’ve read Words eye view any length of time you understand I have issues with the NCAA. The manner the organization is run and the archaic rules it enforces. It’s my belief and I could be wrong, these athletes and others in the future are choosing pro careers over college. The simple fact they believe that’s where they are headed, a basketball over a book. Rest assured college coaches will continue to recruit prospective talent as they always have. A small percentage will choose the professional route and that’s not a bad thing, the sky is not falling.   

Bits n Pieces

The rash of incidents in NBA arenas led one publication to ask if these attacks were racially motivated? I don’t believe that to be the case however we never know for sure what motivates bizarre behavior by some fans. The NBA is comprised of 85-90% black players, the attendance in most NBA arenas could be anywhere from 70-80% white so we might conclude the attacks might be racially motivated. I cannot defend the bad behavior but refuse to believe its racially motivated. In all instances the culprit in the stands was white and the player “attacked” was black. It’s likely they may have been offended by the performance of the player without looking at his ethnicity. This is only speculation on my part so consider that.

Where in the world is Ypsilanti’s Emoni Bates wunderkind of high school basketball headed? You remember he de-committed from Michigan State earlier in the year.  Bates has continued to play basketball while offers accumulate for his services once again. He likes Chris Beard and the University of Texas, check, an offer was made. Is there another, along comes Baylor with a scholarship as well. What’s interesting Bates might be unsure of where he’s headed, as for the schools the prospect of him turning pro has not caused the interest to lessen for them. We’ll keep an eye on this continuing developing story. 

Is there an old timers Hall of Fame committee? I’m asking the question without checking I don’t know, if there is, the name Warren Jabali should be taken into consideration. He was the American Basketball Association in those early days. Graduating from Wichita State he signed with the Oakland Oaks and was ABA Rookie of the Year in 1970. Jabali’s numbers interesting, a 6-foot 2 inch 210-pound point guard. He made have been among the first combo guards, in 447 games he averaged 17.1 points an amazing 6.7 rebounds along with 5.3 assists. An injury would limit his playing career to only 7 years, if there is an old timers committee, they should look at Warren Jabali.