OUTTA’ RIGHT FIELD

RANSOM COZZILLIO Basketball purgatory

Well that was certainly… interesting. As of this article’s writing, the 76ers of Philadelphia have just recently mathematically guaranteed their spot in the 2012 NBA playo s. By the time this appears in print, those same Sixers will be one meaningless game against the lowly Detroit Pistons away from the start of the playo s. Instead of optimism driven by our top-8 nish, I feel only sad Deja Vu.

Isn’t this just a tad bit too familiar? If it is, that’s only because this is roughly the position we have found ourselves year in and year out for the past 11 seasons. Ever since Allen Iverson dragged a scrappy defensive minded team featuring casto s such as George Lynch and Tyrone Hill to the 2001 NBA nals, we have been stuck somewhere before second and third gear: hovering somewhere around .500, never falling far enough to draft a game-changer and never able to pull out enough stops to truly contend.

Never the bridesmaid nor the bride. ere is no worse place to be than the middle in the NBA. Teams that bottom out are rewarded with high draft picks, and through them, the chance at superstars. Look at Oklahoma City, terrible for years on end, but gifted with opportunity to choose Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

Very good teams compete for championships and are therefore the destination of coveted free agents and trade action. ink of the Spurs’ or Lakers’ decades long reign. ( e spurious variable in all this is that the consistently good teams generally have good management, which helps.)

Freshman attack Damian Sobieski led the Cavaliers with four goals in their 22-4 win over Neumann University on Saturday, April 21.