Published Monday thru Friday    

Basketball from a fans perspective

What week is it?

I’ve got to admit it, I’ve lost track of the number of days and weeks Christian Wood’s been discussed. Is he a good fit for the Lakers, is he not a good fit? To be honest nobody really knowns for sure, it would appear AD is going to play major minutes at the 5 position, Wood or someone would be his backup. Where does that leave Jaxson Hayes signed during free agency? The roster provided by ESPN’s NBA page has Hayes playing backup to AD, so how does that work if the Lakers sign Wood? From what I read and hear my view is polar opposite of most in Laker Nation…they want him. Allow me to clarify, it’s not the fact I don’t want him on the roster the issue is his defense.

I’ve not seen Wood play much but it appears he is skillful offensively around the basket, the problem is his defensive intensity. I’m hearing commentary “If we get him here Wood will be able to see the Big Picture, we can motivate him to maintain his consistency.” The other issue of course is money, the Lakers have only veteran minimum to sign him. Okay let’s check out the other portion of the story, if Wood is so valued why is he still a free agent? NBA training camps open in about 6-8 weeks and he’s got no home. Are the Lakers or some other team negotiating with Wood to sign on the dotted line? All we are hearing at this point is Lakers…Lakers…Lakers. Occasionally another team is mentioned in the Wood sweepstakes, in conclusion this remains a mystery signing.

Where are they-from January 31, 2023

I’ve mentioned this previously, sports in this age, unlike the past lacks characters. You know those individuals who are just as entertaining with their persona as their sports talent. Baseball of the past was full of these characters, sadly they no longer exist in today’s game. The college and NBA game never rivaled baseball in this area, but it too had its share of characters. Just like baseball we must look at the past to uncover just a few of these individuals. We have the late Billy Tubbs Oklahoma coach along with Mizzou’s Norm Stewart. He’s not generally thought of in this role, but Celtic Larry Bird could be included in the discussion. The late Marvin Barnes played in the ABA and later moved into the NBA is also included along with center Darryl Dawkins.

Tubbs was a good basketball coach, listening to his speech pattern actor Jack Nicholson would come to mind although I’m sure Tubbs was speaking in his natural tone. Once during a heated game Oklahoma fans were tossing debris on the court. Tubbs was asked to address the crowd over the P.A. system and his remark was classic. “No matter how bad the officiating is etc. etc.,” who manages to address a gathering in that manner? Naturally, Tubbs was assessed a technical foul and left the floor. Mizzou’s Norm Stewart once asked if his team contained any McDonald’s All Americans. “We don’t have any, but we eat there” was the coaches response. This one is also classic, the coach hated spending a dime in Kansas. Anytime Mizzou played Kansas in Lawrence this is how travel would occur.

The team would be bused to Kansas City and spend the night in a hotel on the Missouri side, the morning of the game there would be another bus ride from Kansas City (MO) to Lawrence. Marvin Barnes did not realize time zones existed, at the time he played for the St. Louis ABA team. His team playing in Memphis on Eastern Time the landing time back in St. Louis (Central Time) was explained to Barnes and confused his answer to the coach. “I ain’t getting on no time machine.” All we saw was Larry Bird streaking down the court on a fast break or shooting plus defending. What most don’t realize and opposing players agree Bird was a notorious trash talker on the court. In the NBA Three Point contest Bird said, “Who’s coming in second?” Finally we close with the late Darryl Dawkins, the Sixer center had the habit of naming his dunks. Dawkins broke more than one backboard while in the NBA.

I can’t see that far from here

The 2024-24 Big XII Conference race should be quite driven, Bill Self and Kansas basketball will have more than the usual test on their hands. This 16-team (and maybe more) conference will likely be one of the best in the nation. I’m sure the SEC, ACC and Big 10 might be contesting who comes in second place. Imagine Kansas having to go through this minefield of teams to win a championship, Kansas State, Arizona and Arizona State.

Also included on the schedule is Cincinnati, Baylor and Houston. I’m sure I’ve overlooked several teams but my intent was simple, I wanted to give you an inkling of the level of competition Kansas will face. Included in the mix are TCU, Texas Tech and Iowa State. Of course the headline reflects the reality, I am too far from this expanded conference to determine how any of the teams might play. This was only an attempt to have you think about the expanded Big XII Conference and how it would look, Kansas has long been the power. Will the Jayhawks remain in the power position they have always maintained?

Where they play sometimes doesn’t matter 

We held one of those discussions where talent arrives in the NBA from colleges the Big Boy programs come to mind first. We tend to look at Kentucky, Kansas, Arizona, UCLA and others. We forget guys like Steph Curry who played at Davidson, Ja Morant from Murray State or Damian Lillard Weber State. In the count we’d include Kawhi Leonard San Diego State and CJ McCollum Lehigh The names mentioned are just the first few that come to mind, outstanding NBA talent without major college credentials. If we looked at an earlier time in history we could point to Dr. J. Julius Erving, he played his college basketball at UMass or maybe Indiana State’s Larry Bird.

How about Robert Parrish Centenary, our list could also include the names of George “Iceman” Gervin Eastern Michigan or John Stockton Gonzaga. Whoa… hold on a moment you say, several of those schools have large student enrollments. The student population is not part of the discussion, the classification of the school is the issue. Not a single school mentioned plays in what some consider a Power 5 conference. To borrow a line from an old saying “Cream rises to the top.” If a prospect demonstrates more than adequate talent it doesn’t matter what school they might have attended. Sure there were questions about Steph Curry and others however they provided us proof they were/are talented enough to play at the NBA level.