Bits n Pieces
The name change to Pelicans has generated a number of “Charlotte should become the Hornets again” emails. People it ain’t happening because it requires NBA approval plus $$$$$. Pelican (Hornets) owner Benson owned the copyright to the name and was willing to spend the money. You think MJ wants to spend money when it’s unnecessary? I might be wrong on this one too but I don’t think so.

Our local sports talk radio is dominated by Chiefs, Royals Mizzou, Kansas, Kansas State talk. Occasionally golf and Sporting KC become part of the discussion. I hear little if any NBA talk which is okay; we don’t have an NBA team. When it is a topic of discussion it might be advisable to ensure your facts are correct, opinion is one thing facts clearly another. During a recent discussion the hosts were discussing the NBA and specifically the Kings roster. The talk was the upcoming NBA Draft and who the Kings could draft, one host mentioned forward Omri Casspi. My ears perked up when he mentioned Casspi being a King. I am unable to name every NBA player and his city but I knew Casspi was in Cleveland; in fact he played the 2011-12 season in a Cavs jersey.

I hope my thinking on a particular athlete indicate he’s headed for the NBA. I’m not that skilled an evaluator of talent. I see a player whose game I enjoy and say; “that guy can play.” I can make that statement about guard Victor Oladipo of Indiana. A funny thing, I tuned into an Indiana game intending to check out Cody Zeller. Zeller had a good game all right but the 6-5 214 pound Oladipo really impressed. He plays “lock-down” defense and can score, in fact he reminds me of former NBA player Reuben Patterson. Not a great shooter his defense will allow him an NBA look.

This is for all my buddies at the barber shop, my latest whine. Mizzou could easily have only 3 losses; they could have a record of 23-3. They had two blowout losses, the first Ole Miss and the first Florida game (both road losses). The other losses, an OT loss to UCLA 97-94, losing to LSU 73-70, Texas A&M squeezed passed Mizzou 70-68 and the Arkansas debacle 73-71.

Jason Whitlock has provided us a peek into his strange imagination once again. “The real threat to LeBron’s throne” was the title of a recent Fox Sports.com article. My first question is what throne? James is certainly talented but to provide him a throne after one NBA Championship? I like Paul George; he’s a very talented youngster. Given time George will only become better but to elevate him to superstar status in his third year? Of course he plays for the Pacers and Indianapolis native Whitlock felt compelled to raise the status of George.

Did you know?
Kansas fans love to give Mizzou the blues for losing to Norfolk State in the NCAA’s last year, I wonder if any of them bothered to check the latest standings. As this is written Norfolk State is 12-0 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Never heard of the MEAC I would suppose? The 13 conference schools are all historically African-American institutions of higher learning. As the racial climate of the nation began changing in the 1960’s fewer and fewer African-American athletes journeyed to these schools. The numbers of players produced by the conference has dwindled over the years however the conference continues to produce quality players. As for alums of the past we can count Celtic great Sam Jones who attended North Carolina Central, certainly worth mentioning “Bruise Brother” Rick Mahorn who played for a number of NBA teams. One of the smoothest shooters of his period was Bobby Dandridge who played at Norfolk State. Dandridge scored over 15,000 points and an 18.5 game a clip from the late ‘60’s through the early ‘80’s for the Bucks and Bullets

This is quite interesting
Only time will tell if this is a good move, me personally I think it’s great. The University of Missouri-Kansas City is leaving the Summit League. (1.) UMKC started Division I competition in 1987 and played as an independent until 1994, when it joined the Mid-Continent Conference.” Once UMKC upgraded to Division One basketball there was talk of a Missouri Valley Conference invitation. The call never came so the school settled for an invite from the Mid Continent Conference which became the Summit League in 2007. Once upon a time I envisioned a UCLA or St. Johns type of program, a highly successful basketball program in an urban setting.

My view of the future never came to fruition; the Athletic Department changed heads which brought about head coaching changes, bottom line the school never really competed. In addition the Summit League is certainly not a conference ESPN, CBSSports or Fox would be anxious to broadcast on a national basis. UMKC is now a member of the Western Athletic Conference effective July 1st.  Current WAC members New Mexico State, Louisian Tech (Karl Malone's school) and Utah State will provide competitive basketball.  I have no idea of the WAC’s strength but it certainly has to be greater than that of the Summit League. UMKC will be forced to upgrade the program. (1.) Kansas City Star