By Mick Holien
Do you really know of anything more intense yet enjoyable than college basketball?
In fact I really don’t want to limit the parameters of entertainment to a collegiate experience because I firmly believe similar elements exist anytime you get five people on a court – lit or unlit by the way – roll a leather sphere onto the playing surface and utter something about let’s see what you’ve got.
Really it makes little difference who controls the opening jump and who cares who the sharpest shooting team is, or the breakneck or Princeton pace at which the contest is played at.
No you see after really my fullest weekend of hoop, eight days before the Super Bowl. there are a lot of things that just do not matter relegating the contest to be determined on the last touch.
And you might have heard a colloquialism or Mick Talk to describe one of those situations.
Size for example – I am convinced desire and positioning prior to the shot mostly determine which player registers the rebound stat. In other words “The bigger they are.”
Trailing by at least 20 “We got em right where we want ‘em.” And “Here come the Grizzlies.”
Making up a huge deficit – “No hill for a climber.”
The break – Usually occurs when one player anticipates the passing lane or rips a rebound to an outlet. “Give it up to get it back.”
Defense – We are seeing more of the “junked” Bill Evans type of defenses with certain court rules customized for an especially efficient or just domineering player.
Shooting – Have you noticed how it seems a shot has so much better a chance going down when the ball is rotated to just about every player. “Down the pickle barrel Baby ” or Sundberg’s favorite “Yahtzee!”
Seven of 11 from three in the first half – “live by the three or die with the three … Powder River.”
And when they are Moon Shots, we know the result – Grizzles win…Maybe in a later edition I’ll let you know about the origin ..that is if there is one. Just sayin’
