Monday Aztecs Basketball – A Special Time

Posted by on March 23rd, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

The season is over, I accept that.  A 27-win campaign, playing the likes of Arizona and Duke and Washington, and Cincinnati, was a pretty good run, especially for a team with suspect shooting and overall offensive issues.
But it was another great campaign, and a run down the streets of March Madness, even if ended with a bashing by basketball royalty, the (68-49) Duke Blue Devil beatdown.
Steve Fisher, the Aztecs coach, is such a joy to be around.  A man of integrity, experience, intelligence.  A proven commodity.
He put on a clinic in Philosophy 101 at the Media press conferences in Charlotte, explaining the life’s experiences he had, good and bad at Michigan, and what it meant to him upon arriving at San Diego State.
The man who delivered the Fab 5-to Ann Arbor, and then had his career sidetracked by that same group of kids, because of their involvement with a dirty booster, that cost him his job, holds no grudges.
In fact, he used the Fab 5-calling card to get into the homes of blue-chip recruits, the players and families, wanting to learn about the coach and how he built Michigan, and what he intended to do with their sons, if they became Aztecs.
It was fascinating to hear him talk about beginning on the recruiting road at SDSU, coming off that (0-14) first season, and how he went into homes and learned that a recruit wasn’t good enough to play for close friend Rick Majerus at Utah, but would consider SDSU.  Fisher’s response, “I want Majerus type players”, and he went out and got them.
Yes Duke out manned State in the 2nd round of the tourney yesterday.  NBA type recruits, like Jahlil Okufor and Justise Winston will do that to most any team team.  They went a combined (39P-23R) againgst an overwhelmed Aztecs team.  But think of what is up ahead for San Diego State.
You say good bye to a blue-collar guy like JJ O’Brien.  Dwayne Polee finishes his career with a good year and a half of excitement under his belt.  Aqeel Quinn, the Northridge transfer, proved what walk-ons could be if given coaching and the chance.
The Aztecs return 11-players off this team, all who played lots of minutes and lots of roles.  Sky Spencer and Angelo Chol.  Winston Shepard and Matt Shrigley.  The bench bunch led by Malik Pope, on the brink of stardom, and the well tested Trey Kell, each who have had a few shining moments.
Then you add those who sat and learned, sat and got healthy, guard Kevin Zabo and big forward Zylan Cheatem.  And the incoming recruits, guard-Jeremy Hensley and power forward Broderick Jones.
A ton of talent as next year probably begins next week for all those kids.
Though Duke marches on, after trampling State, think of where the Aztecs are now.  An annual rite of spring to play in March Madness.  Think of the roster now compared to back then.  Think of what Steve Fisher has accomplished from that 5-win first season and that winless conference record..
There are no Syracuse type academic scandals; no North Carolina type arrests, no St. John’s drug issues, no USC apathy..

Special coach, special man, making special kids out of these recruits in a very special basketball program each season.

Aztecs basketball, better today for what they learned yesterday.

 

Syracuse Basketball-Firing Shots

Posted by on March 20th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

***Programming Note – Join Lee Hamilton in his new TV segments (Sat-Sun) nights… 10:40pm on XETV-San Diego 6-News.***

Just the facts Jack, that’s all we need.
 
The NCAA Tourney tipped off Thursday morning around the country, and by the time we were done with the 16-opening day games, most all anyone wanted to talk about was the Pre Game Show.  
 
No, not the one on CBS-TV, but rather the one at Syracuse University’s Carrier Dome, where Orange veteran coach Jim Boeheim was firing 3-points shots from every location, in the direction of the NCAA.
 
Defiant from start to finish, defensive of his program, deliberate in ripping apart the 94-page volume of violations laid out, Boeheim put on great theatre.  He refuted time and again that he was a coach, the CEO of the program, who was responsible for all the wrong doing in a decade long run of excellence on the court, and a 10-year run of wrong doing off the court, to keep his players eligible.
 
He is going to appeal he says, the 9-game suspension he has incurred.  He is going to fight the 5-years probation, the stripping of 12-basketball scholarships, and harsh condemnation of what allowed SU to become a national power, ‘cheating’.
 
Boeheim talked and talked, admitting it was his program, and upwards of ten times, indicating, he takes responsibility for his program.  But in the process, he continued the public stance, he had no knowledge of what was happening in the basketball offices, with his staff, and his players, even though he was boss.
 
He laid out lots of people. His departed Basketball Operations director, who turned in work on behalf of a player, to get a grade changed, a year after the fact, took a hit from the head coach.
 
He beat up the national media for continuing to insinuate that academics were not important, despite the fact 4-Orange players had academic issues in a 10-year span, but thru appeals, stayed eligible.  He said recruiting ‘at risk’ academic players was allowable, because the university admitted them.  He said he was never part of the formation of the Syracuse drug testing program, of which a number of Orange players may have skated by while doing marijuana.  
 
Boeheim wondered aloud why basketball took the brunt of the NCAA hits, when Orange football had alot more academic issues with at least 3-players being caught in grade changing issues.  And he said he had no knowledge boosters were paying players and giving money to his office staff as part of a YMCA work program he had approved.
 
It was classic ‘woe is me’ considering he kept repeating I take responsibility for my program.  He said he will coach three more years, then retire, but did not want a Derek Jeter type farewell tour.  He played martyr too by indicating he’d donate his salary from the suspended games next year, to a charity.
 
There’s no doubt Boeheim has raised enormous amounts of money for a great academic institution.  He has carried the banner of the rebirth of Big East Conference basketball.  No doubt too, he became so powerful, that maybe he stopped paying attention.
 
But his Athletic Director, Daryl Gross, is gone now, by virtue of collateral damage from this; the 2nd in command in that program has left the school this week, but Boeheim remains, much to the surprise of the national media.  Of course his coaching friends will come to his defense.  Of course they don’t think he is a cheat.  But how do they really know all the facets of the Fab Melo-James Southerland fiascos, that seem to be the tip of the iceberg on that campus.
 
Boeheim will not win an appeal.  By the time the NCAA sanctions are up, and they have few scholarship players, Syracuse will be more like Colgate and Cornell than they will a Big East-ACC basketball power.  Move over Wake Forest, here comes the Orange down the chute to join you in the basketball basement.
 
On the opening day of the tourney, Jim Boeheim was balling, I mean bawling, crying about injustice.
 
I was awed at the theatrics by the coach.  The longer I watched this unfold and made notes, the more it seemed to bring back memories of another fallen leader, in defiance, in desperation.
 
Jim Boeheim sure sounded alot like Richard Nixon, and we know how all that worked out.

Maddening Problems – March Madness

Posted by on March 19th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

So the NCAA Tourney kicks into high gear around the country today.  Everybody shooting to knock off, knock out, and unseat, the unbeaten (34-0) Kentucky Wildcats.
 
The first weekend of the tourney is a sight to behold.  Which highly seeded team will step on a landmine and go down at the hands of some bottom ranked team?  Yes a David or two will slay a Goliath.  By the way, where is the Patriot League?.
 
For every big time quality team like UK-Villanova-Arizona, there will be stunning teams with a win representing a conference you know next to nothing about.
 
Probably in the next 48-hours we will be celebrating something like a Florida Gulf Coast, a George Mason, or a Harvard will accomplish.  But time and big teams will catch up to them, and by the Final Four weekend, we will be talking for the most part about the big names, and the big name players about to leave to go to the NBA.
 
And that’s the problem basketball really has.  The NBA has wrecked its own game, and the draft rules have wreaked havoc on college basketball.
 
Aside from the Dream Teams the NBA has allowed to be put together, the Cavaliers this year, the Miami Heat in the past, has free agency really been good for the league?  Salary caps, contract dumpings, and teams tanking have become the focal point of conversations now.  Does anybody really care for a Sacramento Kings-Milwaukee Bucks game in mid-week?  Does anybody know anyone playing on the Brooklyn Nets or Charlotte Hornets?
 
The NBA has become about five big money franchises, and virtually nothing else.  The rest of the teams and the games, mean little.  Of course bad management has managed to destroy the heritage franchises that used to be the Celtics, Lakers and Knicks.
 
But the college game is suffering too.  No one of the blue-chip recruits in college hoops plays more than 1-year.  1-and-Done has weakened the NBA product,and for the most part has taken away the quality of the college game too.  Oh of course the bluebloods like (34-0) Kentucky seem to reload not rebuild, but name me many other traditional powers who are what they used to be.  Google UCLA if you wish. 
 
Scoring is down, shooting is down, defense is down.  The conference season seems to have been cheapened.  The post season conference tourneys now have next to no meaning at all.
 
The phrase student-athlete seems fraudulent too.  Sign your letter of intent, sign up for 1-semester of classes in the fall, play the season, sign up for the NBA draft.  For every rookie sensation like Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans, there is a Jamal Franklin, the ex Aztec, who left early, playing somewhere now in China, with no degree and no NBA hopes anymore.
 
All that really matters is March Madness, and what happens beginning this morning at arenas nationwide.
 
The NBA is arguing about the age limit.  Push the limit to 20, make players stay in school two full years, to grow as talent, and grow as people.  Make the NBA-D-League more of an instructional league for those who don’t make opening night rosters, as an extension of college experiences.  
 
The college game rules need fixing.  Quality of play is falling off.  Too many TV timeouts and coaches time outs.  Adopt a better shot clock.  Keep players in school longer to polish their skills.
 
Alan Iverson would yell ‘it’s just practice man-practice’.  Shaquille O’Neal would lecture you ‘it’s all about the bling’.  And that is what’s wrong with college basketball now.  Not enough quality because of lack of practice, and inexperienced players.  Too much emphasis on much money for a chosen few.
 
March Madness may be fun to watch a Davidson upset, or a Butler buzzer beater, but the big picture of the game, is not a pretty picture at all, no matter how many games bleary eyed fans will watch between now and Sunday night.
 
March Madness may mean one thing on TV.  March madness should mean something more important about the state of the game.

Wednesday Bolt of Lightening Fee Agent

Posted by on March 18th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

I don’t know how good he is going to be, but it should be interested watching him, listening to him, covering him.
 
Stevie Johnson is the latest free agent acquisition of the San Diego Chargers.  He, like the offensive lineman they signed, Orlando Franklin of Denver, is at the peak of his career.  Age 27, no injury history,some good seasons behind him on his resume.
 
You catch the balls he caught playing in the cold and wind in Buffalo (76-79-82R) over a three year span, and you put up thousand yard seasons, three years in a row on a non playoff team, that’s an accomplishment.
 
But it is strange, he was dumped by the Bills, and then by San Francisco, as his production started to tail off.  Was it game day falloff, or was it because he was in the middle of a big contract, coming off those good seasons?
 
There’s more to this player than just numbers, his passion, his flamboyance, his attitude.  He’s been durable, and is a big 6’2, playing the inside slot position against smaller nickel backs and safeties.  He could cause matchup problems.
 
Of course there is the controversial side of Sir Stevie too.  He has been fined 4-times by the NFL for taunting and excessive end zone celebrations.  Of course he’s caught 31-TDs, most in Buffalo, so there should be reasons to get excited, no one else scored on that bad ballclub.
 
He also drew nationwide rebuke, when he went on twitter and mocked God-the-Almighty.  He dropped a sure TD pass in a game against Pittsburgh, that eventually cost the Bills a playoff spot, seems like they haven’t been to postseason since the 1800s, and promptly wrote on twitter “I praise you and you do this to me.  How am I ever to believe you again”.  
 
That’s different, and that got him in hot water with lots of people.  That and all the losing in Buffalo
 
Yes he drops passes, and yes he can be a knucklehead. But now he’s yours, a San Diego Charger.  We’ll see if he become a key pass catching component like Danarrio Alexander became for one season, when the Chargers took him off the Rams scrap pile, before injuries ended his career.  He should be equal to the departed Eddie Royal, who was good, but did get banged up.
 
Since San Diego has spent virtually all their money to add pieces to the offense, they will need his contributions, because their defense, the way the roster sits now, will give up lots of points this year.  
 
“Stevie Showboat” will be in the house this fall.  We’ll see if he can reclaim big plays on the field to match the big stuff he does off the field. He will be fun, hopefully he will be productive.

College Basketball – Black Monday

Posted by on March 17th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

The postseason begins for college basketball tonite, as the 32-team field for the NIT begins play, and four teams take part in play-in games for the NCAA tournament, as we roll out March Madness..
 
Today is also the beginning of the next phase of the life of college basketball coaches, after 12-schools dumped coaches and staffs on Sunday and Monday.
 
One of the victims, University of San Diego coach Bill Grier, who won early with players left from Brad Holland’s program, and then lost and lost and lost.
 
He was cut loose with a nice payday to leave, after 6-losing seasons in a 7-year span, and a (117-144) record.  
 
It was stunning it did not work out.  A longtime assistant at Gonzaga, who had close ties to the Dan Monson-Mark Few eras, he surely had the resume to deserve this position. 
 
Somewhere on the road between Spokane and Alcala Way, something was lost.  Strong willed coach, strong recruiter, but nothing worked.  
 
USD is indeed a special place for academics, and it is a different place to recruit to, almost an Ivy League atmosphere.  Maybe that’s the problem, that USD is really out on an island by itself.  There aren’t other Harvards-Yales-Darmouths nearby.  But with so many athletes available, you would have thought Grier would have gotten a higher share of quality student-athletes to play in the JCP-Pavilion.
 
He was fiery, and early on, a turnoff to deal with.  Losing overwhelms you, and it seemed that tidal wave knocked him down.  
 
The slimeball point shaving scandal with the player he inherited, Brandon Johnson, didn’t really stain him.  He didn’t have alot of player defections either.  He just didn’t recruit many big men to compliment special players like Johnny Dee and Chris Anderson.  His big men became big stiffs, and that hurt in a better than you think West Coast Conference.
 
The Zags and BYU have brought the spotlight, and pretty good players to the league, and if you don’t have horses, you don’t have much of a chance.  And life on the WCC street corner is very different than recruiting to the Big West, where the entrance standards at Fullerton-Irvine and others are different.  USD is surely not like cross-town power San Diego State either.
 
There will be another day for Bill Grier.  He deserves it.  Maybe different standards, different access to players, maybe a basketball spotlight, not being in the shadows of the Aztecs, UCLA, and the NBA will help.
 
The names out there overwhelm you, from a young lion like Eric Mussleman, almost a Jim Harbaugh clone, to an old-dog class guy like Paul Westphal, to a PAC-10 guy like Ben Howland or Craig Robinson, this is an important hire for AD-Ky Snyder.  Double Blue basketball has to be a money maker for the Athletic program as a Division 1-school.  The next hire has to be a successful hire, though most of us though the last one would be a good one.
 
You need a special type of guy to want to come to a place like USD.  But if Gonzaga can find and keep a Mark Few, then Snyder can do the same.
 
Bill Grier, good man, just not good results, for a guy few knew, but a number of us really liked.