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Ricky Rubio was reluctant to show up in Minnesota, it caused me to think he might be scared. Afraid he couldn't cut it in the in the NBA. After four games and the last two playing major minutes the Rubio many expected has come to the forefront. Against Miami his numbers were 12 points, 6 rebounds and 12 assists his field goal percentage .571. He followed that game with 14 points, 3 rebounds and 7 assists while shooting .500 from the floor. He is progressing much faster than anyone expected and is playing much better than I thought. His shooting has been far better than anyone thought it would be, he appears confident in his basketball abilities.  At the rate he's progressing he'll become a better defender too.  So far so good, I admit I might have been wrong.

I'm okay not being included

A recent ESPN.com poll contained the Top 10 pleasant surprises in College Basketball and and Top 10 disappointments. Teams playing better than expected were Georgetown, San Diego State and Harvard to name a few. Several respondents took the writer to task because he didn't include Mizzou in his list of Top 10 surprise teams. Another writer pointed out the Tigers were a pre-season Top 25 team on most polls. Mizzou has certainly exceeded my expectations but I can hardly consider them a surprise team. Did I envision a 13-0 start, no way but I thought they would be okay for a few reasons. Despite the NCAA cloud hanging over Coach Haith's head nobody followed Mike Anderson to Arkansas. I hoped I wasn't making an excuse but I reasoned Haith's record might be misleading, it's difficult to win in a conference with Duke and North Carolina as rivals. Team members didn't bolt when they had an opportunity although I thought some might. My chief concern was losing Laurence Bowers rebounding prowess prior to the season. In this particular instance it's okay with me Mizzou was left off the list.

I don't do predictions

After finishing that story you are probably surprise to read the byline. I don't predict I speculate which to me is totally different. As I indicated in the above story there are elements in place which might make for a successful Mizzou team this season, but it's not guaranteed. Same with the NBA, various websites have predicted their version of how season events will turn out. To me that's a slippery slope, injuries might be a factor in derailing a team's aspirations. In addition to injuries middle of the season trades can elevate a team from a contender to the championship level. Of course I want my favorites to win but me stating it and wanting it doesn't make it so. As far as my favorites I must refer to a Daniel Hudson quote, Hudson writes for Bleacherreport.com. "Be loyal to your team, and defend it against all enemies."

Little brother

My wife's cousin (a KU fan) admitted to me "I think Trevor (Releford) is better than Travis!" Trevor is a 6-1 sophomore point guard at Alabama, his older brother is a redshirt junior at Kansas. We (me included) thought Travis a 6-5 shooting guard would be the superior player. Trevor has been the starting point guard since day one on his arrival, Travis's transition at Kansas has not been as smooth, last season he was at 3.7 points per game and this year 8.4. Trevor's Bama frosh numbers were 11.0 points and 3.4 assists per game, currently he's at 11.5 and 3.3. The numbers are certainly modest however little brother definitely plays with more confidence and passion than his older brother, the brothers attended Bishop Miege High School in suburban Kansas City.

Everybody hates Kris

Remember the television series Everybody hates Chris, a series loosely based on comedian Chris Rock's childhood. Although the series is only on the air in reruns the phrase has been resurrected by a number of NBA fans. Entering the game Kris Humphries was greeted with a chorus of boos from fans. The Nets-Knicks match was played at Madison Square Garden which is 14 miles and some 27 minutes from The Prudential Center in Newark according to Google. Certainly no home game for the Nets but if this had occurred in Los Angeles it might be understandable. To date the Nets have played few road games so we'll have to see how this plays out. I read an article a couple of months back a former KU player claims more than one of his teammates urged Coach Bill Self to not recruit Humphries. We have no idea if this story is true or not, we do know he didn't attend Kansas he attended the University of Minnesota. Forbes Magazines (Forbes?) published it's list of most hated NBA players. LeBron James moved to second place allowing Kris Humphries to ascend to first place, just in case you were wondering Kobe Bryant finished in third place. NOTE: I often write major portion of Words eye View prior to it's actual publication, I wrote this headline story prior to Fox Sports.com.

??????

Just when you think you've heard it all you hear one more story. This time as Morris (Spike Lee) Day might state, "it must be the shoes" and in this story it actually is the shoes. Stories across the nation detailed fights, stabbings, crowds being pepper sprayed and shootings. These series of occurrences were not part of any occupy movement nor any reported gang activity. The craziness was sparked by release of the new $180 Air Jordan's, to me the shoes look similar to a previously Air Jordan edition. Perhaps for that reason crowds began assembling at malls across the nation. The day after Christmas a purchaser was interviewed on the Today Show. He looked at the interviewer and said, "I'm asking $1,000 if anybody wants to buy these (Air Jordan) shoes!" What a sad commentary on greed