Published Monday thru Friday    

Basketball from a fans perspective

Does it really matter?

Last Friday I reported ESPN and associated Disney channels were no longer available on Charter/Spectrum cable systems. I posted on social media “Spectrum pulled the plug” and someone believed it required a correction. This person said, “Disney was responsible for removing the channels from Charter/Spectrum.” Well technically that might be correct but does it really matter? New York City, Los Angeles and yes Kansas City are without ESPN and some Disney channels. Below you will see an earlier post mentioning the fact I missed the Mizzou football game last Thursday but currently it’s just an inconvenience. There is no NBA or college basketball missing, FIBA is occurring but with the time difference I’ve not seen any games.

Soon the NBA and college basketball season will be here then the takes on a real serious tone for me (and maybe you too). Sure there are games available on Fox Sports, CBSSportsNetwork and CBS broadcast but nowhere near the number that exist on ESPN. As for the NBA I can fall back to TNT and NBA TV, for the Disney portion of ABC I’m unsure what might occur. Am I too far ahead of this issue, perhaps I am however I’m concerned. With the internal changes at ESPN I pointed out that was of little concern the sports broadcast portion was more important to me. Am I panicked, not yet but certainly old enough to remember a time when my basketball viewing was severely limited. Most evenings and weekends I now have choices of what I wanted to view.

Pay attention to me…not them

You may have read the commentary of former NBA players regarding the loss by Team USA. Allow me to state upfront the apocalypse is yet to occur despite the fact Lithuania was victorious on Sunday. Despite writing this blog my attempt at all times is to focus on the subject and not me.  This is a departure I believe and allow me to explain further. I’ve attempted to be the voice of reason in this Team USA versus the world match, first thing:

1. The best basketball in the world is still played in the U.S. in the NBA.

2. Team USA is voluntary, several of the NBA’s top chose not to play for a variety of reasons.

3. An increasing number of international players has seen the balance of power shift over time.

There is no doubt I probably overlooked several elements of the game that might have been your focus. Just to clarify I am offering no excuses for the loss, the Lithuanian team was just plain better than Team USA. If the two met again would the results be similar, they could be however I have serious doubts? In closing those former NBA players have more basketball knowledge than me but yelling and screaming about the loss fails to make their point more valid than mine. Besides that, most of the time in my view their focus has been on a mistaken area.

Bits n Pieces 

My timing was impeccable I might say. A portion of the Thursday edition of Off the Dribble dealt with the Lakers effort to fill their last roster spot. The focus was Christian Wood however the name JaVale McGee was mentioned in the article. Unintentionally I was behind the news, on Friday morning my ESPN.com NBA page read: “Veteran C McGee planning to join Kings.” Another site claims McGee’s already signed with the Kings so matter he is no longer available for the Lakers. As for what occurs going forward I’m unsure, I could speculate again and claim the Lakers will sign Christian Wood however that’s a little dangerous too based on the conditions existing (money, trade possibilities).

After being raided by the Big XII and Big 10 conditions were ripe for the Pac-12 to conclude operations. This might have become official now based on actions concluded Friday morning. Presidents and chancellors of the ACC voted to add three schools, they are SMU, Cal and Stanford. For me the invitation to add Cal and Stanford are not surprising, SMU is a different matter. On the surface I’m unsure how these additions might affect basketball play in the conference. All three schools have been competitive in the past however there are naysayers. A writer for CBS Sports basketball page claims this move will do nothing to enhance the ACC in basketball. I can’t see that far ahead so I will adopt a wait and see attitude regarding the move. As for the Pac-12 if my count is correct we now have only Oregon State and Washington State remaining.

The time difference between the Philippines and the Central Time Zone in the US created difficulty for me. I have been unable to view Team USA at play except to DVR the games. I missed Team USA’s victory over Montenegro 85-73, no I didn’t forget to set time correctly it was an issue out of my control. My cable provider is fighting Disney/ESPN which resulted in all affiliated channels being blacked out on our system. Not only that, but I also arrived home prepared to watch Mizzou play its first football game of the season. At 7:00 p.m. Central I changed the channel and discovered it was not available. Back to Team USA and basketball I guess its highlights only until this kerfuffle is resolved.