A basketball fans perspective

Sunday, Monday, Wednesday & Friday

Who takes his place

This is certainly no secret and is going to create a problem for several reading this, the 2025-26 season is liable to be the last for Bill Self at Kansas. He’s been one of the most successful coaches in basketball history and certainly the very best in the chronicle of Kansas basketball. Across State Line Road a number of fans want Dennis Gates replaced however that might be more difficult than many imagine. Although some oppose my view Missouri is not a national power when it comes to replacing its men’s basketball coach, there are several schools a national search would be undertaken to replace a coach, Kansas is one of those schools.

Assistants Jacque Vaughn and Norm Roberts might be interviewed but would not be hired. No head coach from a highly successful unknown basketball program would be considered no matter how successful. There are exceptions and a closer look is required, take for example Ben McCollum. Although his record was outstanding at Northwest Missouri State it represented NCAA Championships won at the Division II level, after one winning season at Drake the University of Iowa came calling. As it stands currently I could see the possibility of Kansas conducting an interview with McCollum, if this were 5-7 years ago no-way would the school consider hiring him. Of course all this becomes moot if Kansas basketball has the type of season most expect and it rejuvenates Self he could remain.

What he said was….

If you’ve read this blog any length of time you are aware I love quotes and this one is special. At some point prior to Game four a member of the media must have mentioned the youthful age of the Spurs and their lack of playoff experience with Wemby. The Alien’s response became an instant classic at least for me, he said: “We don’t have the (NBA) playoff experience but we don’t care.” Some reading the statement might consider it arrogant, for me there is a huge difference between confidence as opposed to arrogance. So what did the “baby” Spurs accomplish, they blew out the Wolves despite the fact they were playing on the road. It might be of note in this game Wemby actually took a back seat role to Stephon Castle,

Spurs guard Castle scored 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds but also dished out 6 assists. It wasn’t a one person performance by him alone there was plenty of help by other teammates as they swamped the Wolves 139-109 closing out the series 4 games to 2. Meanwhile in the other game the Cavs lost their opportunity at least in Game 6 to slam the door on the Pistons. From my point of view the game was almost even the first half of the game, the second half would prove far different. The Cavs only managed 19 points in the third quarter to the 30 of the Pistons, it was even worse in the fourth quarter. Point total by the Cavs increased to 24 however they yielded 31 resulting in a final score of Pistons 115 Cavs 94. For the most part it was Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren who were the driving force behind the victory for the Pistons. We must now prepare ourselves for a Game 7 in Detroit, who wins this series….I have no idea. For me this series has been “who wants to win this thing?”

Meanwhile….

It appears they are serious this time, the IT in this instance is the University of Missouri-Kansas City. First it was the hire of Mark Turgeon former KU player and college coach, his last job was head coach at Maryland. That says, “We are ready to become competitive,” on Monday came the second announcement a new-old location to play. The Kangaroos games are being moved from the campus to venerable Municipal Auditorium. For those outside the Kansas City Metro or unfamiliar with the history this brief explanation. Up till the NCAA began playing its championships in football stadiums there was the auditorium. The building is old by today’s standards but its basketball history is rich, with a new coach and this change everything is looking up for the basketball program.

Forgive me if you’ve read something similar from me previously. I have asked the question at draft time should a team fill a need or draft the best athlete? In the case of the Spurs it was the athlete, these Spurs have a trio of the best young guards in the NBA. Did I say young, DeAaron Fox age 28, Stephon Castle last year’s rookie of the year he’s 21. Finally the rookie drafted in 2025….Dylan Harper who just celebrated his 20th birthday. Wemby leads this young Spurs team, but without this trio of guards, their regular season and playoff record would be no place close to what is in front of you. One site indicates the Spurs have pick 20, 35, 42 and 44 in the 2026 draft, its likely one or more of the picks might be traded

Although it has not been finalized, reports indicate that Missouri and Saint Louis University will play at Enterprise Center in St. Louis on November 6. The programs have not faced each other in more than 20 years, even though their campuses are just over 125 miles apart. What stands out to me is that the game is being labeled a “neutral-site” matchup, even though Enterprise Center is only a short distance from Saint Louis University’s campus. For those unfamiliar with the history, longtime Missouri coach Norm Stewart refused to schedule Saint Louis University for a simple reason: if Missouri won, it was the expected result; if Missouri lost, it would be seen as a major upset for Saint Louis University.

There are times we have no ability to critique a situation or an individual and that is the case with this story. Former Kansas guard Darryn Peterson was recently seen demonstrating his basketball aptitude at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago. Peterson expressed this belief to an ESPN reporter, his game closely resembled that of Thunder guard SGA. I have no argument with his statement, however, most of us had limited opportunities to see him in action while at Kansas. Of course he would continue to view himself as the top pick in the June 2026 NBA draft we should expect that. What is most important for Peterson….to back up his comment with similar play to SGA.