Thankfully the games, mostly college
games, these days have kept me busy and with the high school season fully
underway there's less time for me to wax nostalgic, poetic or any other way in
these columns that jump from subject to subject with the common thread of
basketball running through them. My plan is to still write them from time to
time because with the resurgence in pro basketball here combined with the
always good high school and college hoops there's lots to write about. And
sometimes a summary of things is all
that's needed. With all this in mind,
here I go with some news and notes on the past few weeks.
Knicks
Vs. Nets Round 2
Last night's 100-97 win by the Knicks over the Nets was so good on so many
levels. The intensity from fans and
players alike at Barckay's Center was phenomenal and the basketball was
spectacular in both its explosiveness and its subtlety. Carmelo Anthony scored
45 and essentially lifted the Knicks from a huge deficit to a position to win
in the closing moments. From there Jason Kidd, J.R. Smith and the rest of the
Knicks hit clutch shots to put the Knicks over the top for the win. And Anthony
made the "hockey assist" pass that set up Kidd's game winning
triple. And for those who want to
diminish the rivalry because it "doesn't match the Yankees vs. Red Sox or
Rangers vs. Is Islanders think not only about the intensity of the crowd but
the way the teams elevated their play. The
Nets could've rolled over without Lopez, they didn't and the Knicks likely
would have folded last year after the early deficit. Keep in mind too that Anthony, a guy whose
capacity for leadership was questioned from the moment he arrived was the one
who helped his team regain their footing and win the game.
Sad News
at Hofstra It is
hard to hear the news that broke from Hofstra on Nov. 30th. Four players,
including local stars Jimmy Hall and Shaquille Stokes were arrested and
chanrged with multiple counts of burglary in connection with a string of dorm
thefts at the school. If even a small portion of these charges are proven true,
these guys have sadly lost sight of the fact that it's a privilege to play
basketball or any other sport on a full scholarship, and in doing so they threw
away the opportunity of a lifetime. Our hearts go out to the victims and to
others on campus who must be left feeling unsafe in a place where safety should
be a given to foster learning and growth.
Farewell
Rick Majerus The
news of master coach Rick Majerus' death on December 2nd touched the hearts of
many basketball fans who remember a guy who loved the game and had a great
sense of humor. Though he was born in Wisconsin his connection to New York
comes from his association with the late Al McGuire Marquette coach
who played at St. John's University and St. John's Prep in high school.
Majerus He was first a player and then a
coach for McGuire on teams that seemed to always be on TV in the 60's and 70's
before the UCLA games with John Wooden came on at 4 and they were loaded with
stars from this area like Dean Meminger (Rice) Hugh McMahon (St. Francis Prep)
George Thompson (Erasmus Hall) and many others. As a coach at Ball State,
Marquette, Utah and finally St. Louis, Majerus won 517 games, numerous
conference titles and made one trip with Utah to the final four. To me, Majerus
and McGuire shared the same coaching gifts of being able to communicate with
different kinds of players and a mastery of the importance of tempo in
basketball. He appreciated both the structure and the freedom of basketball and
incorporated both into a winning basketball strategy that was great to watch.
Local Guys Start Revival at Duquesne Former LIU coach Jim Ferry has
begun a revival in Pittsburgh at Duquesne and helped his team bounce back from two season opening losses to win six of
their last eight games; a streak that includes a win over backyard and Big 12
rival West Virginia. His successor at
LIU Jack Peri experienced a bit of coaching karma when a day after the Dukes
win over WVa, the Blackbirds posted a big win in Texas against Rice. Another
New Yorker, former Christ the King star Sean Johnson recently notched his
1,000th career point and is averaging a shade over 12 ppg in this his senior
season.
Big East Non-Football Schools Meet to
Discuss Their Future My first reaction to this can be
summed up in one word FINALLY. But with a closer look at the circumstances I
realize that the reason it's coming now is that if Temple, which is in for
football only presently is not a full voting member of the league the 7
basketball schools have the ability to dissolve the league by themselves which
would spare them from paying a costly exit fee. Leaving remains an option that
is more easily said than done in light of the alternatives being
discussed. St. John's, Villanova,
Georgetown, Marquette and even DePaul have long and rich traditions in basketball and could form the
basis of a league that would compete at a national level. Cherry picking teams
from the Atlantic 10 may not be so easy because those schools will not leave
without the promise of a bigger pay day.
ESPN's Andy Katz stated that the "ideal 5" to form a 12 team
league with the original Big East seven would be Xavier, Dayton, Creighton St Louis and Butler. While he's correct that Dayton and Xavier
are both essential even though they're both in western Ohio, to add both
Creighton and St. Louis along with Butler is a bit of market saturation, which
is not a bad thing but why do it in the mid west and not in the northeast by
adding St. Joe' s?? Also, 12 is a good amount to begin with rather than say, a
16 team non basketball mega conference because even if they played an old
school home and home conference regular season, there would still be enough games
to keep strong geographic rivalries. St.
John's could still for example play Syracuse, Providence could still play
Boston College and Xavier could still play Cincinnati. This is a drama that will take a while to
unfold so here's hoping that the AD's and presidents of the non football
schools make the kinds of choices that allow them to stay in the big time.
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