I still have nightmares about the game
The weekend triumph over UCLA avenged last year’s overtime loss; unfortunately it does little to erase memory of the floor length dash of UCLA’s Tyus Edney. Mizzou fans certainly can relate to the history and know what I’m talkin’ bout!

What did you expect?
Listening to many respondents regarding Kobe’s first game I was amazed. A footnote, 99% of the comments were from the TWC Sports Network so you see where I’m going. Even the most die hard Laker (and Kobe fans) must have realized “rust” would exist with Kobe’s game. As for me my expectations were quite low, 10-15 points a handful of rebounds and assists. This is what we got, 9 points, 8 rebounds 4 assists and 8 turnovers.

I wonder how many of those turnovers were caused by the player “expecting” Kobe to take the shot. After an 8 or 9 month layoff we probably received the best he could offer for now, should we expect similar numbers in the future? There will be an adjustment period before we witness the real Kobe. The “real” Kobe not be as explosive around the basket, he will not dunk the ball furiously as in the past but he will likely be better at age 35 than 85% of the NBA.

Okay I‘m going to play general manager
I was gonna leave the Omer Asik trade to the folks that run franchises. This was my intent until I read a comment from my “new” favorite Bill Simmons. Before I delve into Simmons I understand the Rockets desire to trade Asik to an Eastern Conference team. Limited offensive skills but Asik plays better than average defense, he might present problems for Dwight Howard. Simmons thinks the Blazers might be “interested in an upgrade taking Asik over Robin Lopez.” If I had the opportunity I would question Simmons if he believes Asik is a huge upgrade over Lopez. I seriously doubt if this trade would ever occur for two major grounds.

1. Portland is a Western Conference adversary of Houston
2. Is Asik enough of an upgrade to justify the Blazers acquiring him?

Bits n Pieces
Did you hear the story of the Laker fan and his cancelled wedding? The story goes he was scheduled to be married December 8; once he discovered Kobe would play his first game he cancelled the wedding. I don’t make this stuff up I only report it.

If I’m wrong I’m not going to “bury” the correction someplace where you can’t locate it. Last month I discussed the Peter Vescey report regarding the retirement of Laker Steve Nash. I wrote I had little confidence in stories written by him, well this time he might be correct. A Laker fan website is hinting Nash may be on the verge of retirement, I may be wrong about Vescey this time.

Allow me to re-state an earlier position, “the best college team in the State of Kansas is not located in Lawrence.” The best team is in Wichita, the Wichita State Shockers are number 12 in the AP Poll and number 8 in the USA Coaches Poll. As for the other team Kansas is number 13 in both polls.

Did you realize Louisville is the only school to claim an NAIA and NCAA Div I Championship? They won the NAIA Championship in 1948 as for the NCAA crown they won in 1980, 1986 and 2013. Wikipedia

Did the Kings just trade a 6-6 point guard and replace him with one 5-9 (5-10 in shoes)? I admit I haven’t seen enough of Isaiah Thomas to make a call on this move. His numbers over the course of his brief career look good and the guy has a 38 inch vertical. Once upon a time the team had a point guard of similar stature; old-timers will remember Nate “Tiny” Archibald.

“Must be the shoes”!
The above is the Mars Blackmon pronouncement in a number of Air Jordan television commercials. This is about the “other” shoe company and the value of endorsements. Sports financial analyst indicated the bottom line for Adidas would be severely impacted no Derrick Rose playing this season. Please don’t go hatin’ on Adidas they might have been thinking it but made no public statements to my knowledge regarding the Rose injury.

It should also be of note Rose had signed a new contract with the shoe company in 2012 and they certainly were anticipating his return to the court. While researching this story I came across an interesting fact I wanted to share. Nike sales in basketball shoes represent 92% of the shoe market. Adidas is 5.5% and other shoe manufactures are below that. Keep in mind Converse is no longer a competitor; it’s been a division of Nike for several years after the assets of the company was purchased.