Sports

Tweets with Embers

Mar 6, 2014

415

This is my column, so I’ll give you my favorites. Keep in mind, America’s opinion and my opinion are two totally different things.

1. Football
2. Basketball
3. Baseball

Look, I know people want soccer to be big, but it just isn’t there yet. Is it on the rise? Most definitely. Unfortunately, professional soccer here in the United States is robbed of its premiere talent because players don’t want to play in the MLS. Until that changes, soccer will always be on the back burner.

LeBron James and Kevin Durant differ in their mentalities. LeBron is more of a facilitator, who distributes and then scores. Durant is the exact opposite: a scorer who uses that to open up his teammates. With that being said, if LeBron is able to knock down 3-pointers consistently, no one on this planet can guard him. LeBron scored 61 points on about 67 percent shooting, and added seven rebounds against the Charlotte Bobcats on March 3. That is just amazing. He did it with Wade on the bench, meaning he was Batman and Robin at the same time.

While I’m not taking anything away from what LeBron did, it should be noted that in the past two seasons, the Bobcats have had three games where opposing players went for 57 or more points. I understand the Knicks are quite possibly the worst team ever assembled, but Carmelo Anthony scored 62 points on approximately 66 percent shooting and added 13 rebounds against the Bobcats on Jan. 24. Deron Williams was the other, when he recorded 57 points on 55 percent shooting two seasons ago on March 4, 2012. All these scoring displays are amazing, but it is no coincidence that it continues to happen against the Bobcats. They’ve got to make it onto SportsCenter somehow, right?

In order:

NBA – Jordan, Magic, Bird, Shaq

NFL – Rice, Montana, Payton, Brown

It’s actually a pretty common chemical reaction. It is very similar to what you experience when you put french fries in a to-go box, refrigerate them and try to eat them the next day. The oxygen reacts with the food, causing enzymes to chemically alter the texture, color and taste. I promise I didn’t Google that either.

Wilt Chamberlain is the greatest pure athlete our world has ever seen. Almost unbelievably, Wilt benched 500 pounds, had a 48 inch vertical, all the while standing at 7-foot-1-inch with a wingspan just under 8 feet. Even still, Wilt isn’t a top three player in my mind. First and foremost, the talent Wilt played against was not anywhere near what it is today. The NBA had no parity in the ’60s. Additionally, the rules (goaltending, free throws, three second violation) benefited him immensely. Lastly, Wilt only won two NBA titles in his 15-year career. Greatness, for me, is whether or not your dominance can translate to any era. Wilt dominated the ’60s, but could he have done the same in today’s NBA? I just don’t think so.

No. I think Wichita State is a great team, with a very exciting style of basketball. Unfortunately, they don’t have the front court to win six straight in the tournament. Just my opinion though. I’m hoping the Shockers prove me wrong.

In any other year, Kansas is probably a two or even three seed, but the top tier teams this year just never really separated themselves. The Jayhawks played by far the hardest nonconference schedule in the nation, and stumbled several times as everyone expected. But typically the committee will reward programs for going out and challenging themselves early in the season. If Duke, Syracuse or literally anyone from the Big 10 had stepped up this year, I would say Kansas should get a No. 2 seed. However, the way things worked out, the Jayhawks became the beneficiary of some timely losses by some highly ranked teams and will likely slide in as the fourth No. 1 seed, barring an unforeseen loss.

Wichita State would probably finish 11-7 in the Big 12, meaning they would likely tie for second with two or three other teams. They are a very good team, with some essentials missing, like a true big man. The Big 12 is just brutal. Kansas, which is step above everyone else, is currently sitting at 5-5 on the road in the conference. It’s a dogfight every night, no matter who you are playing (unless it’s TCU). I want to believe the Shockers would perform at a high level, but can you imagine Wichita State playing a Saturday game against Oklahoma State and then turning around and playing a Big Monday game against Kansas? Gregg Marshall is beginning to cry just thinking about it.

I was off the Westbrook bandwagon last season. I think he is a great player in the wrong system. He is a square peg in a round hole. We saw a glimpse of his talent Tuesday night when Westbrook recorded a triple-double in 21 minutes. To be completely fair, it was simply Oklahoma City’s cheap general manager that cost the Thunder from having a nearly unstoppable three-headed monster. I mean, lets be real … who did the Thunder get in return for Harden? Jeremy Lamb, Kevin Martin and a couple terrible draft picks that would ultimately become Steven Adams. If I was in charge, and was forced to trade, I would have sent Westbrook to the door and demanded a top 10 center in the league in return. Can you imagine the Thunder’s title chances if their starting line-up looked like Reggie Jackson, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Serge Ibaka and, say, Al Jefferson? Wow.