Aside From That, Wooden Just Loves This Game

In an interview with Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post, John Wooden said:

“I’m a purist and I think the NBA has gone to showmanship too much. Also, they don’t officiate according to the rules. A fellow can take I don’t know how many steps going into his dunk, and they carry the ball all the time, and I think they should clean up the post play.

“It’s more like wrestling. If I want showmanship, I’ll go see the Globetrotters.

“I think the [collegiate] women play the purest game, purer even than the pros. They run the fundamentals better than you see in any other levels.”

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Trivia time: Who is the only player to lead the NBA in scoring and assists in the same season?

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Careful guy: Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post wonders how Antonio McDyess of the Nuggets got invited to the All-Star game with a body that isn’t covered with tattoos.

Said McDyess: “I’ll never get a tattoo. Why? It won’t come off, that’s why. If I went home with a tattoo, my mom would probably kill me, even though I’m 26 years old.”

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Funny-looking guy: Bowling Green (Ohio) basketball Coach Dan Dakich, trying to turn his team around, turned himself around. Since a Jan. 27 loss, he has worn his buttoned-up sports coat backward when his team takes the floor before tipoff. And the Falcons have won four consecutive games.

Dakich hoped to keep his jacket turned around for an entire game but found out it can be dangerous.

“He sat down before the Western Michigan game and almost choked himself,” Bowling Green sports information director J.D. Campbell said.

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No more Clipper jokes: Skip Bayless in the Chicago Tribune: “It’s time, Jerry Reinsdorf, to acknowledge the cold, hard truth about your loyal confidant, Jerry Krause. He has made a mess he is incapable of cleaning up.

“Soon your franchise will become a Leno/Letterman punch line, something like, ‘George W. is so confused he invited the Bulls to the White House.’ ”

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X factor: John Walters of Sports Illustrated, on the XFL: “What will they call men who watch these games religiously? Xhusbands.”

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Trivia answer: Nate “Tiny” Archibald, 34.0 points and 11.4 assists, for the Kansas City/Omaha Kings in 1972-73.

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And finally: Coach Gene Bess earned his 880th college victory Saturday, guiding Three Rivers Community College over State Fair Community College, 81-52, at Popular Bluff, Mo.

The win puts Bess, 65, ahead of Richard Baldwin, who won 879 games in 40 years at Broome (N.Y.) Community College and Dean Smith, who matched that total in 36 seasons at North Carolina.