Letters

Hooping It Up
I find it hard to believe you feel there are 27 college basketball teams better than the Maryland Terrapins (COLLEGE HOOPS PREVIEW, Nov. 25). In an era when a senior-led team from any baby conference can make a run to the Elite Eight or Sweet 16, you manage to disrespect the defending national champions, who now have four tournament-tested seniors returning, including a four-year starter at point guard. See you in March.
ADAM F. NIEDELMAN
Pawtucket, R.I.

Who picked Indiana 37th? Was it Private—he's been demoted—Knight? Nah, it couldn't be. He would have had them lower than that.
GARY HAYES, Wyoming, Pa.

Do the Right Thing
Alexander Wolff's Just Do It Right (Nov. 25) hits nothing but net. Today's players are fundamentally challenged, lack teaching coaches and believe their own hype. They strive to emulate Magic, Michael and Larry, but they miss the point: These men were among the most fundamentally sound players of all time. It is time for more basic coaching at all levels. Even this die-hard Los Angeles Lakers fan enjoyed watching the New York Knicks of the 1970s—because they rarely made a mistake.
JIM GRIGSBY, Irmo, S.C.

I guess style still wins out over substance, because you put two behind-the-back passers on your cover.
DAN HANSEN, Madison, Wis.

The biggest reason that kids have no basketball fundamentals is that they play for too many noncoaches in the off-season. The state athletic associations need to give the players back to their high school coaches year-round so they can develop a sense of team play. When the associations restricted the time school coaches could spend with kids in the off-season so a kid wouldn't specialize in one sport, it didn't change a thing. They are still specializing—only now it's with someone who is not teaching them how to play. Many high school coaches spend the first month of their season undoing the wrongs that have been learned in the off-season.
JEFF PAFUNDA
Seffner, Fla.

I disagree with Wolff's assertion that the "dribbling is as good as ever." If Bob Cousy, Pete Maravich or Oscar Robertson were allowed to palm the ball like the players now do with every step down the court—and especially on every move around a defender—I can't even begin to imagine what their numbers would have been. Judging by the way youth and rec leagues allow the practice to flourish as the kids mimic what they see on TV, it's only going to get worse. Since, as Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings points out, the game is now "played more off the dribble" than off the pass, this must seriously be addressed at the earliest ages.
MAC JOINER, White Marsh, Md.

Wolff's Five Terrific Teachers (Nov. 25) left out the greatest fundamental basketball teacher of all time. Bob Knight will always hold that title.
KEITH SEELBACH, Farmersville, Ill.

Good Sport
Ian Alan Naismith (The Olden Rules, Nov. 25) admirably followed in his grandfather's footsteps this summer. While I was in Indianapolis for a bone-marrow transplant and high-dosage chemotherapy for testicular cancer, I visited the NCAA Hall of Champions. Ian was there with his one-man Naismith Sportsmanship Tour. He talked with me about his grandfather and the wholesome roots of basketball. He showed me the wonderful original 13 precepts of basketball. Whether he suspected that I was dealing with cancer I do not know. What I do know is that at a time of great challenge in my life, Ian's enthusiasm for life and the game of basketball gave me much needed inspiration.
DOUGLAS R. BEAM, Melbourne, Fla.

Play School
Your story on IMG Academies is just another sad example of parents trying to live their unfulfilled athletic dreams through their children (The Ultimate Jock School, Nov. 18). Does it make sense to spend $120,000 on a high school education for the chance of getting a $60,000 college scholarship? It sounds like finance classes were not offered at the IMG Academies this semester.
MARK ALMEDA, Seattle

Here's a news flash for all those highly motivated parents paying for a sports education at IMG. If you can afford the Academy, your kid does not need a college scholarship.
KERRY RIFKIN, Orange Park, Fla.