Basketball from a fan’s perspective

Are you busted?

Is your bracket busted, based on the tournament results so far this has been remarkably interesting. Kentucky and Auburn expected to go deep are early losers, those two team are the standouts off the top of my head. Every season we hear from folks who believe in re-seeding which confuses me. They propose this teams have begun play, just sit back and enjoy the games (or maybe not).

It’s his opinion

You are entitled to your own opinion, and so am I, Stephen A. Smith of ESPN is included too. What’s the issue, yours, mine and Smith can be off base. Sometimes the background fails to be taken into consideration. This is the major portion, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament Virginia took a beating from Colorado State 67-42. After such a terrible performance by the Cavaliers students are upset and so is the school’s administration and alumni as well. Also included in the legion of upset folks is one Stephen A. Smith however his take is a little different, I located the Smith quote he voiced on his ESPN program First Take.

“It’s not funny. I take no joy in saying this. But if it were me, I’d fire him. Strictly because of being boring. Literally. I’m not questioning his ability as a coach at all. He’s a national champion for crying out loud. I’m not questioning his ability to coach, but you cannot be that boring, that unappealing for so long, and get away with it.” For me those are strong words for someone unattached to the program. Coaches have been in trouble in the past that demanded they be fired, playing bland basketball is not one of them for me but it is for Smith.

This is the issue for me, I could say Smith’s program is uninspiring and contains little if any information of value. I could make this statement without calling for ESPN to fire Smith, you cannot fire someone for “playing boring basketball” or being terrible at your craft. It’s not occurred recently however Bennett’s won an NCAA Championship. I can inform you ahead of time there are 3-4 co-workers who will say, “Smith’s just looking for clicks.” If that is the case that compounds the problem for me, it says once again the TV guy has become part of the story rather than simply reporting. If you’ve read this blog any length of time you realize I have issues with Smith so you must consider this fact after my take. But we have the old adage to fall back on, “An empty wagon makes the most noise.”

He wasn’t the first

A story about teen Wilt Chamberlain arrived on my news feed, based on it I decided to conduct a little research. I wondered if there were any outstanding players standing more than 7 feet tall prior to Chamberlain’s arrival. The first item of interest for you, Chamberlain was not the first 7-foot player when he entered the NBA in 1958. If you are thinking George Mikan that’s not correct either, the Minneapolis Laker great was actually 6-10 however players his stature were not very skillful so perhaps him leading the Minneapolis Lakers to success is a contributing factor to his notoriety.

Early Big Men 7 feet and taller were Elmore Morgenthaler, he played for the Providence Steamrollers in the 1947 season in the 1948-49 season he was a member of the Philadelphia Warriors. Also listed is Ralph Siewert who was 7-1, he played for the St. Louis Bombers and Toronto Huskies in 1947. Siewert and Morgenthaler didn’t have much of a BAA/NBA career that’s why so little is known about them. Another early Big Man was Walter Dukes, he played from 1955-1963 for the Knicks, Minneapolis Lakers and Pistons. Dukes lifetime scoring average was 10.4 ppg and 11.3 rebounds. There may have been other Big Men besides the three researched, what is most interesting Mikan being considered a Big Man despite his height didn’t exceed 7 feet.

I still believe

Kentucky’s John Calipari is not popular with a great many college basketball fans, truth is he might not be well liked by some in the fraternity of coaches. As for me that’s a different matter, coach Cal will always remain a favorite of mine because of what he’s been able to accomplish. Some around the nation are laughing as I write this based on the loss to Oakland, the NCAA Tournament is fresh on everyone’s mind. As an example this statement is reported to have been made by him to one of his players. “If you stay here you will make me rich, if you go to the NBA you will make yourself rich.”

The evening of the NBA draft the television camera usually catches a shot of coach Cal at some point in the evening. He’s at the NBA draft due to the number of players produced at Kentucky, he far exceeds every other school in the nation. You say that might be Kansas basketball, I don’t think so. I’m taking someone’s figures but it's claimed there are 47 Kentucky players in the NBA produced by Cal teams. Bill Self teams at Kansas have been able to send 29 players into the NBA. For me it’s more than simply producing NBA talent, the coach will never be given the accolades he deserves in molding the futures for many young men.