Basketball from a fan’s perspective

I believe he is less than honest

Stephen A. Smith has failed to be honest with viewers of First Take or podcast listeners, there might have been more than one instance. This particular discrepancy leaps off the page at us because it defies an explanation. I am referring to the reported basketball career Smith points toward. I’m not going to discuss the tryout he claims occurred in front of ‘Big’ House Gaines Winston-Salem coach, it’s the other thing. All my life math has caused me issues, I never got the fundamentals which made me poor at math. Truth is I skated by algebra in high school, wouldn’t dare touch trig or calculus.

There is one area connected with math I brag about my ability. I learned early the proficiency at figuring out baseball batting averages, football rushing and passing yardage. Anything math basketball related I learned early to compute. How can a person average one point a game if you played but one game? All of us (most of us I guess) desire to be seen in a positive light. I say that and state to you there is no requirement to embellish yourself in order to look better in the eyes of others. If Smith was truly injured as he asserts just say that, quit claiming you averaged one point a game when we are unsure if you even played at all. Out of your mouth we’ve heard two different versions of your bio, which one is the correct account?   

I might have missed this

The broadcaster for the Colorado-Marquette tournament game is Kevin Harlan, when I profiled him recently I might have failed to mention this fact. In addition to broadcasting NFL games for CBS and the NBA on TNT he’s got an additional role, he also broadcasts college games for the CBS Network as well. I profiled the fact this Kansas City area guy is rarely at home with the multiple roles he’s accumulated as a sports broadcaster. What do you suppose his peers think of him, I’m glad you asked?

*“In 2017, Harlan was voted by his peers as National Sportscaster of the Year by the NSMA. He again was voted National Sportscaster of the Year by the NSMA in 2019. He was also named 2019 National Sportscaster of the Year by The Athletic.” If you are wondering where this broadcast role begin it was quite early, as a professional he became the radio-television voice of the Kansas City Kings at the age of 22 after graduation from Kansas University. I’m unsure in this age if someone could be hired as a pro broadcaster at such a youthful age however there might have been other recommendations not indicated in Harlan’s bio.  

*Wikipedia

You have my permission

Move me into the group of Kansas basketball haters, I give you permission. That’s what they call me…a hater because I attempt to call it as I see it, no sugarcoating here. Basketball at the Lawrence Kansas school has been exemplary generations. With that said that it must be the basis for many of the locals continue to lay accolades on a team that is clearly below par of past Kansas teams. Locally I am hearing excuses for everything that impacted Kansas basketball except Gonzaga was the better team Saturday afternoon.

These are just a portion of the excuses offered by Kansas City media. “Kansas wasn’t a very deep team” or “They lost a great deal when Kevin McCullars went out with injury,” “The altitude affected their play.” Finally the last one heard, “They don’t buy into the fact this is KU basketball,” for that individual I have a few words. Welcome to the world of college basketball version 2024, this group of athletes are not into the mystique of a program as those 10-15 years ago. They are looking for whatever they can acquire. If its NIL money or the NBA they are looking toward THEIR best options. This Bill Self Kansas team lost 11 games, that’s more than he’s lost in the 21 years he’s been at the helm.

The following are the coaches words, they are not mine, “I’ve been looking forward to next season for the last month” said Bill Self. That should provide us evidence the coach could see the handwriting on the wall, he had an idea a month ago this team would not be facing a long tournament run. I don’t ever remember a Kansas team getting blown off the court as this one was, they lost 8 of their last 9 games. On the other hand winning 23 games this season is certainly noteworthy but I guess in Jayhawk Nation it’s not enough for much of the fan base.

A name change 

The history has been covered in the recent past however a revisit was required. I attempt to be as accurate as possible with the year, month or date of a historical basketball event. There is hope on my part this isn’t me but check out what popped up on my social media feed. “Denver changed to the Nuggets in anticipation of an eventual merger, as the NBA already had the Houston Rockets.”

The statement makes sense however it’s not quite correct, this fan must have written what he believed occurred. My research took me to a couple of sites, this from Wikipedia and other sites. “The team was founded as the Denver Larks in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association (ABA) but changed their name to the Rockets before the first season. The Rockets then changed their name again to the Nuggets in 1974.” As definitive proof this bit of information, the ABA-NBA merger didn’t occur until 1976.