Basketball by the Book

For the past few days I've been watching the NCAA basketball tournament on television.

I don't watch all the games. Some I'll spend perhaps  ten minutes and then switch channels if it appears a blowout is in the making. Others I'll begin viewing if I see it looks to be competitive. There are a few I'll watch from start to end. And there may be some I won't watch at all (especially if they're past my bedtime).

I think the tournament -- and perhaps other sporting events -- provide a valuable lesson to writers.

Writers need to craft their books to keep the attention of the readers, much like Marquette's 74-72 win over Butler and Wichita State defeating top-ranked Gonzaga 76-70. Those were nailbiters that kept the viewer staying tuned until the final horn. Writers should seek to keep the reader until the last page.

And there've been surprise endings, such unheralded Harvard defeating New Mexico 68-62 (past my bedtime but I was still surprised the next morning, if that counts). No doubt there were people watching the game who were simply waiting for Harvard to fold in the final minutes. The same could be said of Florida Gulf Coast's improbable 78-68 victory over Georgetown.

And there was suspense, such as Marquette's rally in the final 30 seconds to beat Davidson 59-58. Even though Marquette was the favorite, there were enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. Good suspense writers know how to keep you guessing.

I wonder what the TV ratings were for those lopsided contests? Much like a book, I'm sure many folks switch channels or turn off the TV (or close the book, never to be read again). You don't want that as a team or a writer.

Until the next time...

Slam Dunked

I must confess that I’ve been somewhat lax in my writing the past four weeks. Blame it on basketball and the NCAA men’s tournament in particular.

   I live in Kentucky and this year the commonwealth was represented by four teams – Kentucky, Louisville, Murray State and Western Kentucky. For those of you who don’t follow the sport, the Kentucky Wildcats won their eighth national title on Monday night, defeating the Kansas Jayhawks 67-59 in New Orleans.

   I told myself that I’d stay up until halftime and then head off to bed. I’m not a night owl anymore so staying up past 10 o’clock is a big deal for me. At the half, I decided to stay up until the Wildcats went up by 20 points. The lead grew to 18 points, and as I was about to turn out the lights and turn off the TV, the Jayhawks rallied like they had in their other tourney games. They trimmed the lead to five points before Kentucky recovered in the final 90 seconds to secure a hard-earned victory.

   With the tournament over I plan to get back earnestly to my short story collection. I’ve completed eight stories so far and intend to write two more in the next two weeks. Then I’ll go back and go over all of them with rewrites, edits, and everything else involved in polishing them for publication.

    One thing I learned is that the next time I begin a writing project I’ll try to avoid doing it during the NCAA tournament.

 

 Until the next time...

Homegrown Talent in Final Four

We're down to the Final Four teams in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

I was curious to see how many of the four remaining teams had home-state players in their starting lineups.

Ohio State (31-7) leads the way with three -- guards William Buford of Toledo and Aaron Craft of Findlay, and forward Jared Sullinger of Columbus.  The other starters are guard Lenzelle Smith Jr. of Zion, Ill., and forward Deshaun Thomas of Fort Wayne, Ind.

The other teams don't have homegrown starters although Louisville freshman Chane Behanan, whose hometown is Cincinnati, played his last two seasons at Bowling Green High School in Kentucky. The other starters for the Cardinals (30-9) are guards Peyton Siva of Seattle, Wash., Chris Smith of Millstone, N.J., and Kyle Kuric of Evansville, Ind., and center Gorgui Dieng of Keberner, Sengal.

Kansas (31-6) starts guards Travis Releford of Kansas City, Mo., Elijan Johnson of Las Vegas, and Tyshawn Taylor of Hoboken, N.J., forward Thomas Robinson of Washington, D.C., and center Jeff Withey of San Diego.

And top-ranked Kentucky (36-2) showcases guards Marquis Teague of Indianapolis, Doron Lamb of Queens, N.Y., and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist of Somerdale, N.J., forward Terrence Jones of Portland, Ore., and center Anthony Davis of Chicago.

As for the entire rosters, Ohio State has six, Kansas has two, Louisville has three, and Kentucky has four homegrown products.

One thing it shows is that national programs recruit on a national level for the most part. Ohio is a populous state so it was fertile recruiting territory for the Ohio State coaching staff. And the Northeast is a hotbed for great players on this year's teams.

Regardless of where the players are from, I'm sure the fans of their respective teams have embraced them as one of their own.

Until the next time...

Game Changer

I usually watch "Charlie Rose" on PBS to gain some insights on politics, world events, the economy, the arts, and other interesting and timely topics.

I was mildly surprised this week when I turned on his program and watched an interview with ESPN basketball analysis Jay Bilas about this year's NCAA basketball tournament.

Bilas is one of the best commentators on the sport. He's a former player at Duke (played on the NCAA runner-up squad in 1986), played professionally overseas, served as an assistant coach to Mike Krzyewski (including 1992 championship team), and has been with ESPN since 1995. He also earned a law degree during his years as a Duke assistant.

Bilas believes the NCAA needs to make some adjustments to the game because "the product on the floor is not what it should be."

He mentioned "clutch and grab" defenses and charges being "handed out like Halloween candy." He asserted that the college game is more physical than what you see in the National Basketball Association.

He said the NCAA needs to put someone in charge of the sport and that officials need "to be mandated on what to call" in games. He pointed out that college basketball has the shot clock and 3-point shot and scoring keeps going down.

Bilas also defended players leaving after one season to play in the NBA.  He said players should encouraged to "chase that (NBA) dream...being an athlete is a noble thing."

Click here to listen to the entire interview.

Two changes I always thought to improve the game -- and they've been mentioned by several coaches --- are to raise the goal to 12-feet and widen the foul lane to international dimensions to relieve the congestion and rough play under the basket.

I believe it was Coach Marv Harshman who said years ago that the only reason the goal was 10-feet high was because that was the highest spot on an elevated track where James Naismith could nail the peach basket. If it had been at 12 feet, or some other height, that's where it would be today. Players have simply outgrown the 10-foot standard.

One other thing, be sure and check out the "Charlie Rose" because you'll hear people discussing all kinds of interesting things.

Until the next time...

Hat's Off to Coach K

Like a lot of folks across America, I've been watching the NCAA men's basketball tournament on television. They're have been some great games and several yawners.

An aspect of sports that I've always observed is how coaches, players and fans deal with defeat. Some people handle it with dignity; others are bad sports. We see it all all levels of athletics. Some of it gets really ugly.

In this year's first round, I was impressed with Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski  after his second-seeded Blue Devils were upset by No. 15 Lehigh 75-70. There wasn't a blame game. He didn't make excuses. He gave credit to unheralded Lehigh for what they did on the court.

"I've been in it for 37 years and it takes you to incredible highs," the 65-year-old coach said. "And it also takes you to incredible lows....But it wasn't just our doing, they played well. They played that well. And again my hat's off to them."

Kryzewski, in his 32 seasons at Duke, has led the Blue Devils to four national championships, four runners-up and 11 trips to the Final Four. He's men's Division I college basketball's all-time winning coach with a 927-289 record. And he's in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

I first came into contact with Kryzewski when he was the coach at Army and I was a sportswriter at the Lexington Herald in the late 1970s. He called one evening to announce that he had signed a player (David Couch) from Kentucky. I found him to be very professional and polite (even when he patiently spelled his last name a couple times for me).

While there are few things as exhilarating as winning, Kryzewski shows that you can lose with class and dignity. 

Until the next time...