Basketball from a fans perspective

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It’s basketball and not football

Matt Norlander writing for CBS Sports.com basketball claims the Big XII snubbed Memphis. He further declares the school should now concentrate further on the best sport at the school…basketball. As for the snub I can’t address that, the basketball I will try. Memphis plays football in the same manner of others however the basketball has long overshadowed football. That’s not all bad, there are schools in truth round ball is more storied than the pigskin. Who are they, how about Syracuse for one they had the great fullback Jim Brown play for them, but the Orangemen’s basketball program overshadows even Brown? If one says Kansas, the late Gayle Sayers once ran the football for a very good team.

Even Sayers is overshadowed by the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, JoJo White and Paul Pierce. Kentucky, football is certainly played at the university but there is no comparison to the Wildcat basketball program. One year Kentucky had a significant number of players chosen in the first round of the NBA Draft. The UConn program has not been as significant since Jim Calhoun retired however it is on the way back with a famous family name at the helm, Dan Hurley. Carolina Blue, we could probably name more NBA players than NFL emerging from the school. Under Coach K. Duke basketball has reigned supreme, does Duke really play football. There are others omitted in this brief overview, this is intended to point out the significance of basketball over football at these institutions and others, enjoy. 

Soon

NBA training camps open next week, the last two seasons has seen the NBA schedule being severely affected by covid. As this is written the season will begin on time, you remember the history, play stopped in March of 2020 and resumed in late June. The Lakers won the championship in October in the Bubble that was Orlando. This was the latest time ever for a team to be crowned and with a short turn around play begin in December for the 2020-21 NBA season.

Glitches occurred however the season was completed with the Bucks becoming 2021 NBA Champions. The conclusion of the 2021 championship and the NBA Draft was late although not as much as the previous year. Hopefully the 2021-22 season will see play on its regular schedule with no complications. This is a human problem, there is no intent to overlook the tragedy and impact of covid here and across the world. The illness and death continuing to rage are far more important than any basketball game. With that said the majority look forward to the NBA season and the joy it brings for us.

Bits n Pieces  

Sam Martin plays basketball for the University of MO-Kansas City. No worry if you are unfamiliar with his name, you are more aware of his cousin. Martin’s high school numbers in Texas were good enough to secure a basketball scholarship. Redshirted last season Martin was invisible, so we expect to see him debut this fall and winter for UMKC. Oh, I almost forgot you should be familiar with his cousin if you follow the NFL. Martin’s cousin is Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Martin is no distant relative. It turns out Martin and Mahomes are first cousins.

Jerry Colangelo is stepping down from his duties with USA Basketball. The new managing director of USA Basketball is former NBA player Grant Hill. The first order of business for Hill is to hire a coach for Team USA. Congratulations to Hill in this new endeavor, there is no doubt in his ability to lead to continued success for Team USA basketball.

The time, in this instance we are not discussing the R&B music group from Minneapolis the Time. We are discussing Time Zones, Eastern, Central and others. With the additions of a quartet of schools the Big XII will be spread across three Time Zones. The greatest concentration of schools are in the Central Time Zone although longtime member West Virginia is on Eastern time. New members UCF and Cincinnati are on eastern time as well. The addition of BYU adds one conference member in the Mountain Time Zone. If we check out other conferences this issue is not as uncommon as we might first perceive. The AAC has teams in distinctive time zones, so does the Atlantic 10 and the venerable Big 10. As you can see this issue of teams playing in different time zones is not as unusual as you might initially have perceived.

I admit I was unfamiliar with the coach and the school however the news is historic. Sarah Gayler was named head men’s basketball coach at Brescia University; she becomes the first woman ever to coach men’s basketball in NAIA history. The school is in Owensboro Kentucky about 100 miles southwest of Louisville to provide you an idea of its location. This hire was not made to fill a quota Gayler has spent the last two seasons working for the NBA Bucks, she’s served as a Jr. NBA Coach in China and India. In addition, she’s been an intern during the NBA Summer League. “I’ve been part of a men’s program for the last 12 (years)” were her words.