Friday, May 23, 2008

The fickleness of fandom

Chris Murray is back yet again with another college/pro basketball blog entry. Here's a very well-rounded column fully illustrating the fickleness of fandom.

It's curious how nothing is being written about Marcelus Kemp anywhere, making it appear the former Wolf Pack shooter/scorer won't be hearing his name called in the upcoming NBA draft.

If true, such will demonstrate just how big a leap it is from college to the pros.

Chris Murray
Reno Gazette-Journal
May 22, 2008

McGee's interesting relationship with Pack fans


Pamela McGee resigned as Sacramento High's girls basketball coach to spend more time with her son, JaVale, as he prepares to make the transition from a collegiate player to a professional. Ms. McGee has been in the news off and on since JaVale came to Reno to play for the Wolf Pack in 2006. She has earned a reputation as being outspoken and no-nonsense. She also has been quite confident in her son's ability. She gave JaVale the nickname "The Big Secret," said he had a skill set superior to 70 percent of current NBA players and added that he was the most skilled 7-footer in the world. She also compared JaVale to Tyson Chandler, Michael Jordan and Dirk Nowitzki.

In addition, she has been blamed by many Wolf Pack fans for forcing JaVale to bypass his last two seasons in college to cash in in the pros right now. For what it's worth, when I interviewed JaVale a day before his official press conference to announce his NBA future, he said that Pamela did not force him to enter the NBA, adding that the decision was ultimately his. Conversely, I have heard from sources close to the Wolf Pack program that Pamela had quite a bit more say in the decision. I bring all this up because throughout the season an interesting trend seemed to develop in regard to JaVale. The Wolf Pack fans developed a love-hate relationship with the talented sophomore last season...

Go here for the remainder.

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