Basketball from a fans perspective

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“Let’s Stay Together” 

R&B artist Al Green had a hit recording in 1972 titled “Let’s Stay Together.” That statement might be made by the Big XII Conference after the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners departed for the SEC. The commissioner indicated the remaining 8 schools have vowed to remain intact. Of course, that statement is non-binding if an entertaining proposal is presented to one of the 8. There are unconfirmed reports the commissioner has reached out to several of the schools mentioned in the recent past.

This would include Cincinnati, UCF, Houston and BYU, it will be interesting to see how this mater eventually plays out. The relevance of basketball is important but not to the degree of football. We realize moves of this type are made with football in mind. Oh, the distance from potential Big XII rivals you are asking. That appears to be no question in this day of air transportation, a regional view of a conference does not hold the significance it once did. We should have this story confirmed at some point later this week. 

A name few are aware

If we wrote Ben McCollum few of you would recognize the name. McCollum is one of the most successful coaches in college basketball the issue…he coaches at the Division II level. Northwest Missouri State in Maryville MO is where McCollum has carved out his niche, the school is located about 100 miles north of Kansas City. What has the coach done you ask, well since 2009 his record reads 300 wins and 78 losses for a sparkling .794 winning percentage. McCollum’s teams have won three NCAA Division II Championships in 2017, 2019 and 2021.

In 2018-19 season the Bearcats finished with a perfect 38-0 record as they won their second NCAA Division II crown, why is McCollum still in Maryville you ask? The contention the 40-year-old McCollum’s experience has been at the Division II level as a player, assistant and since 2009 as a head coach. Perhaps you remember the scene in the movie Hoosiers, Coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) explained to his players the height of the basket in Hinkle Fieldhouse was the same height as the one they played in fictional Hickory Indiana. Until a school decides to take a chance on McCollum, we have no idea if he could succeed at the Division I level. We happen to believe why not give him a chance rather than continue to re-cycle coaches. 

Who is George Karl, and do we really care what he thinks? 

Once upon a time we believed George Karl was a relatively good coach, that thought has been far removed many years ago. If we check his coaching resume not only, is it extensive at several locations, he’s been a winner except in one area. He’s not been a head coach since 2016 when he was with the Kings, he would be fired by them. For reasons unknown to many of us he surfaces now and then to provide us his view of the world order, in most instances it involves his feud with Carmelo Anthony.

The Lakers signing Anthony now allows him a pulpit once again. He sent out some cryptic tweet about the present team being related to one of the past which failed to win a championship. We realize championships are not won on paper, but this is typical Karl.  History says the former coach butted heads with Anthony at the time both were with the Nuggets. Anthony left the Nuggets in 2011 far too much water under the bridge to understand why Karl continues to rant about his past issues with Carmelo Anthony. Okay George we understand Anthony hurt your feelings, if he apologizes you think this issue might be laid to rest once and for all? 

“Working on the building”

The Royals won the World Series in 1985 they wouldn’t repeat as champions until 30 years later (2015). What did they do during the interviewing time, they were working on the building? The Chiefs won the Super Bowl in 1970, they didn’t win again until 2020, what occurred between the years, they were working on the building. There are teams in all major league sports that are working on the building all the time. That doesn’t entail they are horrible in a few instances they earn playoff berths they are just not good enough to win the ultimate prize a championship. We could include the NFL Cowboys or Browns as well because this is a basketball blog, we look at the Minnesota Wolves. They have a nucleus of talented players, periodically they earn a playoff berth, but it never occurs.

They are never good enough to play for an NBA championship. They change coaches, they draft players, and they trade for other players, in some instances they sign free agents, but they never rise to the level fans of the team might hope. It seems the Wolves are always working on the building. Confusing, this example in 2009 the Wolves drafted point guard Ricky Rubio turned around and picked Johnny Flynn and Ty Lawson both point guards in the same draft, who does this? Critics of the Lakers based on the volume of free agent moves have raised alarm bells about the volume and age of the players. For me it’s the ability to stretch forth and make the effort. Please don’t confuse the issue I’m not saying the Wolves or anyone else is not making an endeavor to succeed. The Lakers more so than others including the Wolves are willing to take that risk, sometimes it results in winning 17 NBA championships other times they have fallen short of the goal. The key, management is willing to gamble unlike franchises in the NBA and other professional sports.

Change

As most are aware the NCAA now allows athletes to earn income from their Name, Image and Likeness. In the past any athlete receiving monetary compensation was considered a professional athlete however that’s out the window now. NIL now rules the American landscape and that’s good from this writers view. Others who might be old enough remember the plight of Olympic athletes of the past, they were not allowed to earn income hence they would be considered “professional.” There was a problem with this type of mindset, how did that athlete eat and train since they couldn’t earn income between Olympics? Of course, with college athletes the story was slightly different however there were restrictions placed on what might have been considered income.

No such restrictions existed with the NCAA since they were sued for using the likeness of a player without his permission. The NCAA earned income in this endeavor but not the athlete, of course the suit brought an end to that policy. Another example, at the time Larry Brown coached Kansas basketball one of his players had an emergency at home. With no money for a flight the coach gave the player money for air fare, when this incident was discovered, BAM Kansas is placed on probation. That might be an extreme example however it simply points out how ludicrous some of the stipulations of the NCAA involving money existed in the recent past. Every athlete from the top prospect to the last guy on the bench is not going to earn top dollar however he might be featured in a local commercial for the convenience store off campus.