Why I don't like run and gun

People sometimes seem amazed that I do not prefer wide-open, run-and-gun basketball. Here are the reasons:
1. Run-and-gun basketball will be sloppy, undisciplined basketball nine times out of ten. I do not like that which is sloppy and undisciplined.
2. Run-and-gun usually involves athletes that are very naturall gifted. The most deliberate style often tends to involve those who have less athletic prowess, but who have honed their skills by hard work.

basketball in Texas?

I can assure you that very few Texas Longhorn fans care much about the non-conference basketball season, because very few Texas Longhorn fans care about basketball, and during November and December football is still in progress. They only care about the conference season and post season in basketball because they do not really care about basketball. Much the same at Fayetteville.

Gonzaga

By the nature of the beast, there cannot be very many Gonzagas. If everyone did it, it wouldn't be remarkable, and it makes no sense that non-BCS schools would dominate D1 basketball. But Gonzaga has done something remarkable. I still would like to read a detailed story of how they did it.

INFORMATION? !!!

The information blackout from the UALR basketball program is getting pretty depressing.

appreciating defense

Fans often become very proud of the thing that their team does particularly well, to the point that it becomes the trademark of the team. For example, Razorback fans during Richardson’s tenure loved his pressing and traps. It frustrates me that Trojan fans do not seem to be willing to embrace tough half-court defense as the trademark strength of this team. A few do, I am sure, but seemingly not very many. In places where the fan base has bought into defense, the fans will often stand and cheer when the shot clock gets below ten seconds. They appreciate tough-nosed defense and are proud of it. Wish that were truer in Little Rock than it seems to be.

10 questions I will get answered this season

Will Northwestern make the NCAA tournament for the first time?
Will Pine Bluff make postseason for the first time.
How far back will “rebuilding” be for Little Rock this year?
Can UCA show they belong in Division 1?
Can Majerus finally get SLU rolling?
Can Vandy get to the Sweet 16 again?
Can UMKC become competitive in the Summit?
Will Nicholls State win the Southland?
Has the Denver really turned around?
Can someone knock WKU out of the driver’s seat in the SBC?

Sad fact

The sad fact is that most basketball fans appear not to care if their coach has the least modicum of ethics or moral character - as long as he wins. I realize they are not hired to be ethicists, but they are training young men, and you would hope they would instill some sort of discipline in them. But the "market," i.e, the fans, don't demand that, so it usually does not happen.

You would have thought

that with seasons of 17, 18, 18, 18, 18, 20, 23 wins over the last nine years, that we would have been to post season at least once in that span. Just hasn't worked out. Our turn ought to be due.

excited

It is close enough to the season now that I am getting excited. Time for basketball! A long summer of speculation is about to come to an end. With our schedule, we will know how good we might be pretty quickly.

Recruiting

In baseball, I would recruit pitchers, catchers and shortstops. Those are the hardest positions to fill with quality. You can always use them to trade for what else you need. You can't trade recruits in college basketball, but the principle still remains largely the same. You recruit what is hard to find.

5 TOOL PLAYERS

Shooting, rebounding, passing, ball handling, defense. True 5-tool players are very rare. Usually if you can get a player who is exceptional at three, you have an All-American.

war inside

This team, with our bulk inside, needs to declare the lane a war zone and adopt a "take no prisoners" attitude. "This is our area, and you enter at your own risk." We will be bulky. How tough will we be? Here's hoping.