Basketball from a fan’s perspective

NIT will not survive

What a game, Seton Hall prevailed in a tight competitive NIT Championship game Thursday evening winning 79-77 over Indiana State. I tuned in to check out Robbie Avila for Indiana State, his game was not terrible however my description it was average but its more to the story, Avila only scored 13 point on 40% shooting from the floor. From here this morphed into a discussion I heard on sports talk radio Thursday afternoon…the topic tournament expansion. 

Should Seton Hall and Indiana State have received NCAA Tournament invitations? I can’t make that call however all are aware there’s been continuing discussion about expanding the number of teams invited to the tournament. When rather than if the tournament expands Seton Hall and Indiana State will not have played in the NIT. Truth is if we are discussing up to 80 teams who would really be left to play in the NIT? Expansion of the tournament will occur at some future date because there are $$$ involved so it really doesn’t matter what I think or believe.

Most watched television event

My friend Alice wanted to take note of the viewership for the Iowa-LSU game. The match between Caitlan Clark and Angel Reese drew a record audience that night. game had an audience of 12.3 million viewers including me, to place that in perspective check these numbers out. That number was more viewers than:

*Any Women’s CBB game ever

*The 2023 NBA Finals

*The 2023 World Series

*The 2023 Orange Bowl

*The 2023 Bit Ten Championship

*The 2023 Cotton Bowl Championship

*The 2023 Pac-12 Championship

*The 2023 Big-12 Championship

*The 2023 ACC Championship

*The 2023 Peach Bowl

*Thursday Night Football

*Every 2023 college football regular season game except Ohio State vs. Michigan

Can I say I’m impressed, that most certainly is the case. The only question what occurs after Clark and Reese are no longer present, both are expected to head for the WNBA. An effort must be made to continue the emphasis on the game for girls and women. 

I just don’t remember

Although Mizzou is no longer in the Big XII Conference Kansas City (MO) lies in the heart of the conference. We are bombarded with tons of conference games which for now includes Oklahoma. I cannot state with conviction I’ve seen a bunch of Oklahoma games over the years but several. The Hawks Trae Young when he was at Oklahoma I remember several of his games, as for Austin Reaves that’s a different matter. Truth is Reaves played for Wichita State as well, I remember Landrey Shamet and Fred VanVleet when they played there, for Reaves it’s a blank canvas. Did I miss something, why don’t I remember Reaves?

Oh well, it’s not important just as long as I am paying attention to his exploits in Purple and Gold. How about a little background on stuff you might not be aware? Despite playing in Kansas and Oklahoma he belongs to neither state, Reaves was born in Newark Arkansas. Newark is a town of 1,180 according to the 2020 census in Central Arkansas a little over 100 miles from the Arkansas-Tennessee state line. How did Reaves become such a hot basketball prospect from such a tiny town, I have no idea? From Newark Arkansas to Los Angeles California and in a Lakers jersey is more distance than we might imagine. Monday night Reaves might have had his best game as an NBA pro. Facing the Bucks with no LeBron in the lineup he scored 29 points, 10 assists and 14 rebounds, not bad for a 6-foot 5-inch guard.

One man’s opinion

“Los Angeles will never be a Clipper town, ever…That’s like New York. Ain’t nobody rocking with Brooklyn.” Laker fan that I am those are not my words, that is a statement by Jason Hart. Was he speaking as a voice of authority, let’s check out his bio. Hart was drafted by the Jazz in 2017 and later traded to the Lakers on draft night. In 2019 Hart was traded to the Pelicans in the deal that brought Anthony Davis to the Lakers. There was another stop first with the Blazers, last February Hart was traded to the Knicks. He’s got a Los Angeles and New York view of the NBA.

We could believe the Lakers winning 17 NBA championships can most certainly bolster a team’s legacy to the city. As for the Nets over their history they might as well have been on the moon based on their moves, the Nets have a rich history but most of it involves the time they spent in New Jersey. New Jersey is not New York or even Brooklyn, as for the history it was ABA New York from 1968-1976, from 1976-77 they were in the NBA. When Barclays Center opened in 2012 they returned to New York City and the borough of Brooklyn. I cannot speak for either municipality but as you can see Jason Hart has strong opinions about the two cities.