Whose your daddy?
Wednesday I wrote of 6-11 Willie Cauley of Olathe Northwest, Cauley has a talented teammate. Shavon Shields has game, he averaged 18 points a game during his junior year. Shields is a 6-6 215 pound forward/guard, his father former Chiefs lineman Will Shields. Despite his father's All-Pro NFL career the younger Shields indicates he's always focused on basketball. "Shavon Shields played football when he was in the seventh and eighth grades. I never really caught on, said Shields, the son of former Nebraska football All-American guard Will Shields. I've been playing basketball since I could walk." Although he failed to follow the sports path of his father he will attend his father's school the University of Nebraska. Shields is a true scholar-athlete with a sparkling 3.97 GPA in the classroom. (Husker Extra) I've lost track of the number of years I've subscribed to League Pass. Currently I am debating with myself if I want to do this for the umpteenth year. The shortened NBA season versus cost of Pass, the price has not been substantially reduced. I've subscribed in the past for the privilege of viewing all the Laker games. This from a Laker fan, "just checked and 29 of 66 games are nationally televised (including NBA TV), which is about 44% of all their games." As a last resort I might consider the 1/2 season Pass which is more economically feasible. I'm not the only one complaining Matt Moore of CBSSports.com wrote a similar column on this issue. All that has transpired with the NBA since July 1 it would seem the league office needs to work at rebuilding credibility with it's fan base before it erodes even further more.
Mizzou won the annual Braggin' Rights Game versus Illinois, I haven't read or heard anything but I'm going out on a limb. I would bet money Illinois will continue this game despite Mizzou going to the SEC next season. Mizzou thoroughly outplayed Illinois in the first half of the game, the Illini came roaring back in the second half
of the game even leading for a short period. Illinois eventually succumbed 78-74 and Mizzou remained undefeated with a 12-0 record. Prior to the game a local sports talk show host said the "Tigers would be damn if they do, damn if they don't." He simply meant all season long their have been complaints regarding Mizzou's "soft schedule." If they win they are supposed to win, if they lose it would prove they are not that good. Never mind the fact Illinois was either number 24 or 25 depending on which poll you follow.
It's really funny, the Clippers now have become the "best" team in Los Angeles that line is being touted by various media sources. This will be no point-counter point, I'm only giving you my observations. No doubt here adding talented Chris Paul to a lineup of Caron Butler and Blake Griffin has raised the Clippers profile significantly. The balance of the starting five as this is written 35-year old Chauncey Billups at shooting guard and 23-year old DeAndre Jordan starting center. Will Billups adjust or even wish to play shooting guard after a career at the point? The talented Jordan has been somewhat inconsistent over his short NBA career, will he adjust to his role as the starting center over that of a backup? The media danger is to assume this "new" team will contend, remember the first year of the Heatles? The Clippers do have one distinct advantage over the Heatles, that team had no adequate point guard--the Clippers do. Dan Patrick had an interesting poll question on his program, "if season tickets were priced the same which team would you choose Lakers or Clippers?"
For NBA purposes the new collective bargaining agreement includes an amnesty clause. Dictionary.com contains four definitions for the term amnesty and two are included here. "1. a general pardon of offenses 4. to grant amnesty to; pardon." I looked at the NBA's amnesty clause because I wanted to fully understand it's ramifications. It's a little more complicated than simply releasing a player, there are specific differences. The intent is to "level" the playing field and provide equality throughout the entire NBA. The following is from former ESPN basketball reporter Chris Sheridan " a player that is released by the amnesty clause cannot be picked up by a team that is over the salary cap. For example, if the Orlando Magic decided to waive Gilbert Arenas using the amnesty clause (which they later did), he would ultimately be put on “secondary waivers,” where teams that are not over the salary cap can add him to their team at a smaller pay scale than his initial monster-sized contract." My Lakers and several other teams who exceed the salary cap would most likely be unable to sign amnesty players.
I came up with an interesting twist, a recurring number is apparent in the NBA's history! Consider this, the Lockout season of 1998-99 the NBA was shortened to 50 games. The 2011-12 season will consist of 66 games, 16 more than the '98-'99 season. The 2011-12 season will be 16 short of a normal 82 game schedule, the NBA's recurring number would appear to be 16. I know it's really just coincidence.
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