Mars Blackmon
Spike Lee a.k.a. Mars Blackmon was at The Garden on Thursday rooting for his Knicks to beat the Heat. The following evening Brooklyn-born Lee journeyed to Barclays Center to watch the Heat face the Nets. Interesting that he was at the Nets game in Knick colors. I only saw one televised shot of him so I wasn’t sure if he was rooting for the Nets.
Uninspiring
The last two Mizzou games have certainly been lackluster; the Tigers could easily be 0-2 but managed a split. On Wednesday they were losers against Georgia in overtime 70-64, they won a squeaker on the road Saturday afternoon versus Auburn 70-68. The Tigers shot 33% and still managed to win the game. Key areas to address, lack of offensive punch from the frontcourt and sometimes ineffective rebounding. I luv me some Mizzou basketball however I must be honest enough to point out what I believe are concerns.
Bears almost clawed them
The Missouri State Bears almost ended Wichita State’s winning streak on Saturday. The Shockers entered the game against Missouri State with a 16-0 record. The Bears gave Wichita State all they could handle extending the game into overtime. The Shockers managed to overcome the deficit and win the game in overtime 72-69.
911
Jim Buss needs to make a move regarding Mike D’Antoni. It’s my belief the team has tuned the coach out; it certainly seem to be apparent on Friday. The Lakers blown out once again losing their game against the Clippers by 36 points. The Clippers are the better team that’s not the issue, for a Laker team to lose by such a large amount is inexcusable. Injuries have been a contributing factor to the teams’ poor play however the key issue remains the head coach. The question is the coach, Jim Buss the next move is yours. D’Antoni needs to be moved for no other reason than to restore order to this proud franchise.
Really having a bad day
The driving distance from Illinois State in Normal (IL) and Southern Illinois in Carbondale (IL) is about 250 miles. Under normal conditions that’s a 3+ hour drive excepting for the weather. Attempting to return home after a game the recent Midwest blizzard forced the Southern Illinois bus driver to pull off the road. The driver was hoping to wait until road conditions improved; when he attempted to resume the journey to Carbondale he discovered a problem. The bus was stuck and was unable to continue the journey home. The players spent almost six hours on board before a tow truck arrived to pull the bus out. Several athletes spent the balance of the night sleeping in a church.
Really?
This is silly on several levels; first off I’ve long considered JR Smith of the Knicks a talented “knucklehead.” Smith provided us proof of his knucklehead quality recently. He was standing at the free-throw line and untied the shoelaces of an opponent. In a later game he appeared to be repeating the act once again. The NBA responded by hitting him with a $50,000 fine. Did Smith deserve punishment; no disagreement here. Did he deserve to be fined, no disagreement from me? My belief the amount of the fine was excessive based on his actions. An opposing view might be; “NBA players earn a large amount of money, unless you hit them in the wallet it doesn’t affect them.” I can agree with that position as well but I maintain the fine was excessive. What do you think?
“Close the borders”
This was Gary Pinkel’s intention to recruit every high profile football in the State of Missouri. It was mentioned previously basketball coach Frank Haith has followed the course laid out by Pinkel. The latest prospect is 6-6 180 pound small forward Jayson Tatum. A Rivals 5-Star prospect Tatum enters his sophomore year at Chaminade College Prep (St. Louis). Mizzou made an offer to Tatum prior to him beginning his freshman year. Tatum is the number five prospect in the Class of 2016 by ESPN RecruitingNation.
