You Can Bet Jayhawks Don’t See It This Way

Mark Kizla of the Denver Post isn’t a big fan of Kansas Coach Roy Williams, who many say is a candidate for the North Carolina job:

“Want to know how the coaches at the Final Four rank? 1. Tom Crean, Marquette; 2. Jim Boeheim, Syracuse; 3. Rick Barnes, Texas; 4. Williams, Kansas.

“Why the Jayhawks are stuck with so many bad recent NCAA tourney memories in their scrapbook is the coach’s own darn fault.

“What has plagued Kansas during the inevitable pressures and resulting disappointments of the postseason is more than bad luck.

“Williams teaches his players thoroughly, except the single lesson that every athlete needs most: how to stand up, take the heat and win on his own.”

Trivia time: Which player has the highest two-game point total in the Final Four?

More is less: Randy Hill of FoxSports.com on Toronto Raptor Coach Lenny Wilkens tying the NBA record for career coaching losses:

“League statisticians may have found a loophole to keep Bill Fitch as temporary keeper of the futility title. Lenny has 125 defeats over three seasons in Toronto. According to basketball experts, 125 Canadian setbacks are worth, roughly, 100 U.S. ones.”

More Hill: “Former NBA and University of Georgia superstar Dominique Wilkins is threatening to become head coach at his old school. Many UGA officials consider Dominique a great candidate to replace Jim Harrick. With 15 years on NBA payrolls, Wilkins is bound to have a higher credit card limit.”

Both sides: Patrick Sandle, who spent two seasons as an assistant to Steve Lavin at UCLA and two with Ben Howland at Pittsburgh, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that Howland will find “a whole different world” in Westwood.

“They have high expectations. They’re quick to boo you. We went 22-12 my first year and we were getting booed all the time.... The Pitt fans would boo you, don’t get me wrong, but they understood that we were building something and appreciated that.

“They don’t put up with it at UCLA. If you’re not winning right away, you’re going to hear it from somewhere. It’s a challenging place.”

But it’s their dump: Opening day at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia had Phillie fans nostalgic about the team’s last season there.

“It’s a dump, but I still love the place,” fan Sally Crossan told Bloomberg News. “The Vet says ‘Philly.’ I don’t know if a new ballpark is going to say Philly quite as well.”

Especially if it’s not a dump.

Trivia answer: Bill Bradley, Princeton, 87 points in 1965.

And finally: Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel on Virginia Tech hiring Seth Greenberg of South Florida as its new basketball coach:

“In seven years at USF, Greenberg never made an NCAA tournament, was 5-16 in March and 0-20 in games against ranked teams. This might go down as the worst personnel move since Herve Villechaize abandoned his role ... on Fantasy Island to take advantage of that huge, untapped Hollywood market for lisping dwarf actors.”

-- Jim Barrero