Basketball from a fan’s perspective

Big XII basketball

Bill Self and Kansas basketball have dominated the Big XII Conference over the last several years. Now and again a Baylor, Iowa State or some other school will rise to the top of the conference. In a flash the following season Kansas moves back to its usual position at the top of the heap. All that might be a thing of the past shortly, as an example next season we’ll see the Big XII Conference add Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah to its ranks. The 2023-24 season has seen new conference members Houston, Cincinnati, UCF and BYU come on board.

The addition of these schools especially Houston and BYU have certainly raised the level of competition. Next season adding perennial power Arizona, Utah and the additions this season might bring about change. This increased competition might just put an end of domination by Bill Self and Kansas basketball. We shall see how this expanded conference competes in the next few years. One thing for sure a name change has got to be forthcoming at some point soon. Around these parts the conference is still referred to as the Big XII, which is clearly incorrect. There are now 14 partner schools, adding Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah next season it will raise its membership to 18. 

Bits n Pieces 

I heard a podcaster claim he believed it might not be good that Victor Wembanyama was drafted by the Spurs. He said he believed Gregg Popovich was the wrong coach for the youngster. It’s interesting, for me I believed just the opposite, the Spurs and this coach was the perfect team for Wemby. Pop has been on the job for the Spurs since 1996, he’s seen all manner of players in that time. David Robinson, Sean Elliott, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker and others can attest to the coaching style of Pop. As for Wemby at the beginning of the NBA season a minutes restriction was placed on him. Initially the Spurs offense was not focused on Wemby, it was done on purpose with the intent to allow him to adjust his play to that which comes in the NBA. The Spurs will miss the playoffs but with a tweak here and continued development of the wunderkind don’t be surprised to see them in the playoffs soon.

You learn a bit of trivia every day, that is the case at times for me. I was aware much earlier that in addition to playing football the late Jim Brown was also adept at lacrosse. I didn’t realize his athleticism extended to the basketball court, while at Syracuse the 6-foot 2 232-pound Brown played guard for the school. He averaged a modest 13 points a game however that was good enough for the NBA at the time to set up and take notice. If you remember early accounts the NBA draft has only become a two round event beginning in 1989. In 1957 the Syracuse (NY) Nationals who later moved to Philadelphia to become the Sixers drafted Brown in the 9th round. Of course NFL fans are aware Brown went on to an All Pro and NFL Hall of Fame career as a fullback with the Cleveland Browns. Store this away, you can use this information in your sports trivia contests.

This is not a good age for athletes with social media rampant. I can truly understand why many claim they turn from reading or hearing about it. Although not quite the same we could lump in the .com websites along with podcasts to the number. Everyone’s got an opinion about what LeBron should or should not do. Social media questions the moves made by Kyrie Irving on the basketball court as well as information he dispenses. We see former players make unproven claims from their podcasts…here that Kevin Garnett? I can understand if a player desires to respond to stuff especially if its untrue. The NY Post wrote a story regarding a Chiefs player and the player believing the story was false felt it important enough to contest the story by sending out a tweet contradicting the account.

Inform, not just entertain

I held a conversation shortly before publishing the account you read yesterday on ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith. The vast majority of us enjoy being entertained. Doesn’t matter if it’s a movie, television program or music we love it. Naturally this entertainment factor moves into the realm of sports events, it could be attending the game in person or viewing it on television. Most of us tune into sports talk programs to determine the views of professionals. This is the portion I believe, unless you’ve played the game at a high skill level you have no idea of the nuances of the game.

Naturally this extends to the SAS’s of the world but it also includes me. I like SAS have an idea however it’s just an opinion which could be way off base. I am entertaining in Off the Dribble most certainly however my hope from the first day I began publishing was to be informative more than opinionated. That’s the issue for me with SAS, Jason Whitlock and several others. Their desire is to say to the reader or listener, “Hey look at me.” They are professionals no argument from me it’s the method they go about to present a story, in closing allow me to say once again thank you for being faithful to Off the Dribble.