Maybe the mass exodus at KU will finally allow Travis Releford playing time. This Kansas City player verbally committed to KU when he was in high school, I think many Mizzou fans (like me) hoped he might change his mind before he headed off to Lawrence. Redshirted one year, sparse playing time the other two years Releford heads into his junior year with little to show on the basketball court. Did KU have more talented players in front of him, perhaps? I continue to think If he'd enrolled at Mizzou he would have played far more significant minutes. Sour grapes on my part---yes probably so but at least I'm able to admit it.
I've always liked Dan (en fuego) Patrick, this former basketball player turned sports radio/television personality was once recruited by Digger Phelps. Patrick attended Eastern Kentucky on a basketball scholarship and then transferred to Dayton where he majored in broadcast journalism. His days teaming with Keith Olbermann at ESPN were classic, when Patrick left ESPN I think the network lost a little bit of it's pizzazz. Finally he landed back on the air with the Dan Patrick radio/television program on Fox Sports. Although Fox Sports and others have picked him up he is strictly independent which allows him a degree of freedom. Did you know ESPN will not allow any of it's employees to appear on his show? He refers to the network as "the mother ship," classic. In addition Patrick clarified something I said the other day. He says it's okay for players to leave early despite an impeding lockout. An NBA team must still sign the player and they would receive an initial check while waiting on the culmination of labor talks. In addition by signing now they would become free agents that much sooner. Makes sense, I just hadn't thought about early entry from this viewpoint.
This is written Monday after the first weekend of NBA activity. Surprises, yes the Lakers losing to the shorthanded Hornets, the Hawks beating the Magic and the Grizz over the Spurs. Certainly this early all the series appear to be very good---we've witness no pushovers so far. The eighth place team in the east and west is playing on the same level as the number one in both conferences. The Celtics-Knicks, Nuggets-Thunder series went down to the last shot in both games. As for the Nuggets-Thunder closing minutes these old eyes spotted the offensive basket interference by the Thunder. I informed my wife prior to the replay and explained to my wife the officials missed the play. The next day NBA offices admitted the officials incorrectly credited the basket, however this acknowledgement failed to change the outcome, the Nuggets still lost the game.
The NBA is sending it's relocation committee to Sacramento this week, why we are unsure. The brothers Maloof maintain (in private) they want out of Sacramento, at the same time they indicate no desire to sell the team. My conclusion has nothing to do with Kansas City, St. Louis or Seattle but why Orange County? One of the websites (I don't remember) stated Orange County's population is larger than the combined populations of Seattle, Oklahoma City and New Orleans, the population is clearly contained in the county. We might question the logic that says you need three teams in two Southern California counties. My proposal, the NBA should "request" the Maloofs sell the team to local owners, the city of Sacramento should step forward with a viable plan for a "new" arena.
I'm unsure if I should be excited or not, Lekan Ajayi has suddenly appeared on Mizzou's radar. This 6-11 235 pound player is from Nigeria by way of Quality Education Academy in Winston-Salem, N.C. Ajayi has a list of three schools, Loyola Marymount, Auburn and Mizzou he's checking out. In addition to the aforementioned schools he'd received offers from Tennessee, Seton Hall, Miami and Florida State. His high school numbers, 9.5 points per game, 15.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots. He says he will choose a school before the end of the week.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.