Basketball from a fan’s perspective

Trivia

After I read this NBA trivia I was forced to the record books to check for myself it didn’t make sense. I read that the late Walt Bellamy appeared in 88 games one season during his NBA career. I thought that doesn’t make sense and is it even possible? As the NBA has increased its number of teams so have the number of games played risen, despite this fact 82 games in a season is the standard. You can check for yourself but this is what I discovered.

In the 1968-69 season Bellamy began play as a member of the Knicks, at a point during that season he was traded to the Pistons. He played 35 games for the Knicks and another 53 games for the Pistons, that makes for a total of 88 games. Of course you realize back then there was no load management, unless a player was injured he was expected to be available to play. I guess a similar occurrence could occur today however its highly unlikely for a variety of reasons most of which have been pointed out.   

Maybe he can say, “I told you so!”

I have written on more than one occasion and you’ve read for yourself. The almost laughable statement made by Shaquille O’ Neal just in case you don’t remember here it is. Almost everyone (including me) might have gone overboard in our praise for Victor Wembanyama’s skill set. Shaq said, “We’ve seen him before, his name is Bol Bol.” Naturally his TNT mates almost laughed him off the studio floor, I agreed with them. What has Bol done that’s made Shaq lineup in his corner. It didn’t help his cause when Shaq concluded “He (Bol) is lazy.” Bol had a breakout game Saturday evening for his Suns team, he managed to fill up the box with impressive numbers.

Bol didn’t start the game for the Suns but managed to contribute 25 points on 11-17 shooting and snatched 14 rebounds off the boards. I’m quite sure Shaq is proud now that he's got proof of the ability of Bol in any future discussions. I cannot address the “lazy” term hung on him, I do believe there is a developmental issue in some instances. We’ve seen evidence of this shortcoming in the past, a number of Big Men are slow in their ability to adapt their game to the NBA level. Standing 7 foot 3- and 220-pounds Bol’s frame certainly closely resembles that of Wemby. This is good, maybe outstanding however play in one game fails to offer convincing proof. His game certainly provides us detail but Bol must accomplish this over and over and over, did I say over?

Time for change

A number of schools prohibit court storming, I’m unsure if there are any conferences forbidding it. This past Saturday Wake Forest had beaten Duke and I’m sure the students at Wake Forest were excited about hammering Duke. I’m sure no one was intentionally attempting to injure a Duke player but that’s what occurred. Kyle Filipowski Duke center sustained an injured knee when a Wake Forest student ran into him. It certainly is unproven however Filipowski claims “It was intentional.” Earlier a similar court storming caught Iowa’s Catlin Clark colliding with a student.

I’m unsure the first time a court storming occurred and I do understand the excitement. The home team was able to beat a visiting team that was expected to be a loss, I believe we get that. This occurred last season when Jerome Tang took over the K-State program, after beating rival Kansas students stormed the court. Tang went to the P.A. with minutes remaining in this year’s game students were told to remain in their seats, which they complied. It is time for this ritual to end, not because of Filipowski or Clark it’s just the fact a player or fan is going to be seriously injured.  

Kansas City sports talk radio

Some might remember it’s been nearly one year since I gave up. I quit listening to KC sports talk radio for several reasons, the key motivation.…the Chiefs. Don’t misunderstand its clear why the Chiefs dominate the local airways they have won 3 Super Bowls in the last 5 seasons. I discovered from the end of February through roughly July Chiefs talk continued to prevail. Did I expect NBA talk, of course not we no longer have an NBA team. What I found interesting despite this fact was one host routinely called local guy Kevin Harlin who broadcast NBA games and discussed everything in sport except the NBA.

It was not that fact alone, some of the statements made by these hosts were downright outlandish. I gave these examples in the past but will repeat them. One host wanted to start the college basketball season in January. His reasoning, the Chiefs domination of the airways he claimed, “we didn’t have time for basketball.” This from another host, “__________ is just interested in playing golf now, he’s waiting on his son to replace him once he retires at _______.” I wondered what that host might think about Bill Self and his basketball team this season. Finally from another host, “Oklahoma’s Trae Young has no ability to play in the NBA.” I wonder what that particular radio host might say now. I guess when you are on the air 3-4 hours a host can make a number of outlandish or stupid comments.