It was Friday afternoon at the South Point, and the women’s basketball team from Stonehill College was playing Tarleton State in the annual Division II holiday tournament. That was one way to look at it.
Basketball
Jim Livengood is excited about the upcoming basketball game between UNLV and Arizona. He’s more enthused about the possibility of the women’s Sweet 16 moving to Las Vegas if/when the NCAA lifts its cromagnon ban on official postseason tournament games being played in cities that offer sports wagering.
When I was a senior in high school, the Golden State Warriors were NBA champs. They had Rick Barry and Jamaal Wilkes, with the funky shooting stroke, and Clifford Ray. They also had Al Attles’ leisure suits, and his pointed collars and pants, which often were loud or plaid.
These college basketball lid-lifters and early-season games against teams supposedly easily vanquished have not always gone well for Dave Rice’s UNLV teams. The words “gasoline” and “fire” immediately come to mind.
The elbow caught Diamond Major square. It was as if someone had painted a target on the middle of her forehead and fired a bazooka. It was friendly fire — it was at a Lady Rebels practice a couple of weeks ago.
Before Thursday, the only time I had spoken with Vlade Divac was years ago. It was Vlade, local radio personality Seat Williams and me sitting in a tiny radio station DJ cubicle.
If the baseball season ended today, the Chicago Cubs would be firmly in the playoffs. And now comes news the Washington Generals have folded.
When I heard there was going to be an NBA Summer League Wall of Fame marking the circuit’s 10-year anniversary in Las Vegas, my first thought was cool.
It was late during one of the two NBA Summer League matinees Monday. Guys still were hacking on defense. The refs still were calling it.
Becky Hammon, the former Colorado State and WNBA star, became the first woman in NBA history to be named a full-time assistant coach, before the start of the 2014-15 season. If you think it was a publicity stunt, you’re nuttier than Dennis Rodman.
Dannielle Diamant was a star at Bishop Gorman High School, and after that she was a star at Northwestern in the Big 10. She signed with a team in Hungary, Uni Gyor, out of college, because women who play pro ball overseas generally make more money than women who play in the WNBA.
The Northern Arizona basketball team, which has strong Las Vegas connections, has had a wild ride this season. The Lumberjacks beat the New Jersey Institute of Technology and are headed to Indiana to play the University of Evansville in the College Insiders.com Tournament finals.
Do you see the photo of Northern Arizona basketball coach Jack Murphy? It shows Murphy calling out a play, exhorting his team — and one can see a fire extinguisher on the wall of the gymnasium.
Two weeks ago, Ron Riley, the former Clark High star who during his four-year Arizona State career became the Sun Devils’ all-time leading scorer and threw down some of the most thunderous dunks in ASU history, was inducted into the Pac-12’s Hall of Honor.
An Internet poll came out just before the ongoing edition of March Madness ranking Las Vegas No. 124 among the 300 best basketball cities in the U.S.