Massimino was an obvious choice Basketball Hall of Fame ignored
The 2017 class joined the Basketball Hall of Fame Friday. Sadly, it did not include Rollie Massimino.
A finalist, and a strong one, Massimino fell just short in the voting. Maybe next time. But he should have been in long before his recent death. He should have been in for two reasons: One, he is qualified; two, he was a successful college basketball coach at many levels without ever being exposed as a cheater.
And that’s what made his snub not just untimely, but wrong. Because while he was winning 816 college games, including the NCAA final for Villanova over Georgetown in 1985, Massimino was being passed over in the Hall of Fame process by Larry Brown and Jim Boeheim and John Calipari and others with questionable college-basketball work habits. That’s Brown, whose disregard for rules left UCLA, Kansas and SMU in disgrace. That’s Boeheim, who had 108 victories dismissed due to his lack of control over the Syracuse program. That’s Calipari, whose Final Four achievement at Massachusetts was vacated … and his one at Memphis was, too.
Not that every Hall of Fame coach has slithered into Springfield; Herb Magee and 2017 inductee Muffet McGraw have been pillars of professional decency. There are plenty more. But Massimino belonged in that club, too.
Someday, his family, which includes every player he’d ever coached, will celebrate his Hall of Fame induction. Daddy Mass would have enjoyed that, and he deserved that, while he was still alive.
■ Villanova will host Penn in a basketball game at the Jake Nevin Fieldhouse. It is said to be something of a Big 5 throwback moment. Beg pardon? Since when was The Jake a Big 5 treasure? Penn has never played a game there. If anything, the reason the Big 5 essentially disintegrated was that Villanova opened the Pavilion, enabling it to play games on campus in front of reasonable crowds. The Fieldhouse was never considered appropriate for a Big 5 game. And suddenly it’s time to pass the Kleenex around to sop up the sentimental tears?
With the Pavilion shut down for a year for necessary upgrades and the Wells Fargo Center not the best fit for every projected crowd, Villanova needs to play games somewhere this season. But just for the mental gymnastics, try this exercise: When in doubt, all Big 5 games should be played in the … fill-inthe-blank.
Yep. That would be the place. Smokeless tobacco … I don’t get it.
The Eagles open their season Sunday. That means the end to what has been close to a perfect offseason.
The Birds needed receivers. So they signed some. They needed a running back. So they acquired one. They needed Carson Wentz to have a satisfying preseason. He did. They needed to hit on their first-round draft choice. And Derek Barnett was a preseason eye-opener. They needed a cornerback and found Ronald Darby. They needed to get through the whole thing healthy, and in football terms, they are fit for a marathon.
For all of those reasons, the Eagles will open as a small road favorite in a division game Sunday in Washington. They should be a big road favorite in a division game Sunday in Washington … and they should be a playoff team in January.
■ As with any act of piling on, there will always be that one layer that defeats its intended purpose. Such was the case this week when failed NFL football man Mike Lombardi went to the internet to verbally kick Doug Pederson when, in public-perception terms, he was down.
Before Lombardi said Pederson was not an NFL coach and called him one of the worst pro-football hires in 30 years, too many Eagles fans were thinking the same thing. But Lombardi’s lack of professionalism suddenly inspired plenty to rush to Pederson’s rescue.
Within days, Pederson went from the coach Eagles fans questioned to the coach they didn’t want to see questioned. It’s fascinating to see how some football plays unfold … especially when they backfire. Get Kathy Griffin?
In a rebuilding project that has taken longer than their fans deserved, the Phillies tried to stablize it with a deep supply of young pitchers.
But that was before Rhys Hoskins started hitting big-league home runs, and before Nick Williams started lacing line drives over fences, and before J.P. Crawford was invited to bring his welcome plate discipline to the big leagues.
So suddenly, the Phillies’ rebuilding is based on hitting good pitches and taking bad ones … not necessarily throwing pitches of any kind. It also appears to be substantially closer to completion. A little hot sauce is fine. But explain those sauces that strive to be so eye-watering hot that no one can enjoy one drop.
Las Vegas has decided that the 76ers will win about 42.5 games this season. Pick a side, over or under. It will be close. It’s how it always works.
Of all the tidbits to emerge from the offseason, that had to be the most encouraging to Sixers fans. A projection of a 14-game improvement over last season suggests, at the minimum, that Joel Embiid will be reasonably active. And why not? Even the most injury-troubled athletes occasionally mix in a full season. So it must be Embiid’s turn. Because in that kind of forecast, it’s always better to trust Vegas than any sports scientist.