A basketball fans outlook

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Meanwhile….

Magic coach Jamahl Mosley has decided the league wants the Lakers to win the NBA championship. At least that’s what he voiced after his team lost a close match Saturday to the Lakers. On an outbounds play with 4 something seconds remaining on the clock and the Magic leading 104-102 this is what occurred. Magic players double teamed LeBron James as he sprinted toward the basket (I know because I ran the video three times). The player assigned to Luke Kennard left him alone on the left side of the court. Kennard calmly took the shot sinking a 3-point basket allowing the Lakers to escape with a 105-104 victory. 

St. John’s Red Storm has advanced to the Sweet 16, a result that could be characterized as fortunate given the game statistics. Although Kansas led in most statistical categories—shooting 44% compared to St. John’s 36%, outrebounding them 44-36, and generally outperforming in several aspects—the outcome was ultimately decided by a driving layup from Dylan Darling, the only two points of the game he managed to score on 1 for 5 shooting, his basket secured a 67-65 win for St. John’s. While Kansas excelled in many areas, they were unable to translate their performance into victory.  

Many readers may recall the name of Theo Ratliff, the 6-foot-10 athlete who enjoyed a 16-year career in the NBA across multiple teams. Now retired, Ratliff’s legacy continues through his twin sons, Adonis and Darius—both standing at 7 feet tall and playing power forward. The brothers in the Class of 2026 will attend the University of Southern California this fall to further polish their talents. They are students at Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York, within the greater New York City metropolitan area.

There is no reason, but maybe there is 

The Big 12 tournament is not the exclusive property of Kansas City Missouri. A history lesson is required here to provide how it landed in the city. The conference members (Big 8) held a pre-season tournament which eventually evolved into a post-season one long before other conferences across the nation. In any event the conference had somewhat of a regional basis with Colorado being the furthest distance from Kansas City. Missouri is no longer a member, Nebraska no longer a member and now Oklahoma and Texas have moved to the SEC. At the time the Texas schools joined the conference it was decided the tournament would be moved, in 2003 and 2004 it was held in Dallas.

In 2006 it returned to Dallas again but 2007 and 2009 saw it moved to Oklahoma City. In 2010 it was returned to Kansas City where its remained to date. The primary reason for the return to Kansas City is simple, the tournament failed to attract the number of fans it had previously, as for Oklahoma City I’m unsure what occurred with that. The argument now the current location only benefits Kansas, Kansas State and Iowa State. As for travel Las Vegas would be beneficial to the Arizona teams along with BYU that’s about all. No decision has been reached as this is written due to the length of the present agreement. The tournament is committed to Kansas City through the 2031 season, that should allow plenty of opportunity for the city to make its case.

Don’t you find this interesting

High Point beat Wisconsin in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Several might be asking the same question, “Where the heck is High Point?” Fortunately we have Google search and it indicates High Point is located in High Point North Carolina. The schools’ enrollment is a little more than 6,000 students and according to the Princeton Review is “as a top institution for innovation and student experience.” I believe we can now add winning basketball as well. As for Virginia Commonwealth it’s a much different story, VCU is well known especially after defeating North Carolina on Thursday. There were plenty of examples of lower seeds beating those seeded higher but I wanted to focus on this fact alone.

In the 1986 movie Hoosiers the basketball team was unaccustomed to playing in a large arena once they qualified for the state championship they were overwhelmed initially. This is a reminder to all, the basketball bounces the same height in the 21,000 seat Dean Dome as it does in the 4,500 seat Qubein Arena in High Point. There is no doubt that the athletic budget for The Ohio State swamps that of Queens University, the advantage to one is the ability to recruit and spend more lavishly on student facilities. It fails to make the basketball overall any better in my view. Over the next few weeks upsets are likely to continue but it has more to do with desire and effort than anything else, of course similar to anything else I could be wrong.