THIS and that to chew on over lunch: NCAA berth a mirage
after desert downerLas Vegas is a city where hope springs from the desert like, well, Las Vegas.
There are the bright lights and glamour of the casinos and the plush, green yards and big houses in the solidly middle-classed boom town that have captured the fancy of so many local folks.
But let's face it. Deserts are places where prosperity comes easy under just the right conditions. They are unforgiving, however, when adversity sets in.
The Rainbows found that out the hard way last night in their loss to Nevada-Las Vegas. Anthony Carter's bad back was the kind of luck they didn't need, and when he couldn't deliver, the team also quite likely lost its chance to gain an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament.
The National Invitation Tournament was once a premier event in college basketball. But no more.
The tournament might be an opportunity for some programs, those that are struggling to reach the big time or have had a down season and need something on which to build.
But as a second straight trip to the NIT looms for the 'Bows, it's a little disappointing to realize that in a season that offered so much promise, they're again playing for little more than 65th.
Is it just me, or should Jerry West just admit that he and Lakers owner Jerry Buss overestimated the value of their biggest guy in short pants and dump Shaquille O'Neal when the season ends?
Shaq started the season not playing at all because he had this bellyache problem (commonly referred to by the '90s player as a strained abdominal muscle. Can you imagine Wes Unseld having one of those? But I digress). Little did we -- or the Lakers, probably -- realize that it wouldn't be the last of his bellyaches.
Now it seems Shaq can't quite fathom why he doesn't get preferential treatment from the refs in the NBA.
Never mind that he shot nine free throws, the most of anyone on his team, in Monday's loss to the Wizards.
Granted, he gets fouled practically every time he gets the ball down in the low blocks. But maybe he never actually watched an NBA game until he had to because someone was paying him to play in one.
Big guys have never gotten the calls. Wilt and Russell and Kareem and Hakeem and all the rest of the game's Hall-of-Fame-caliber centers always have gotten the same treatment. They get hacked and punched and pushed and worse. Look at the arms of most post players. There are scars and scratches everywhere.
That's the way the game is called. The vast majority of the zebras in the NBA are little white guys. They're gonna give Goliath a break? Not even.
Shaq's problem is he can't take advantage of what the referees give him. Dollar for dollar, he's the worst free-throw shooter in league history and he has to blame someone.
On the other hand, who can blame opposing teams for their rough strategy? Shaq will never learn to concentrate at the line and opponents are going to exploit it until he hangs up his sizeable sneakers.
The same thing used to happen to Karl Malone. In his rookie season, the Mailman shot 48 percent from the line.
But Malone isn't distracted with the glitz of being a multimedia superstar. He's a basketball player. A professional basketball player who went to work during his summers off and made himself a good foul shooter.
His second year in the league he shot 58 percent, and he's been over 70 percent every year since except one. Last year he shot 76 percent.
That's what professionals do.
That's what O'Neal is not.
