Bits n Pieces
The Pacers may not win anything this season but nobody can say Larry Bird isn’t making an effort. The talent mix he’s assembled over the past number of weeks is interesting. Andrew Bynum, Evan Turner and Lavoy Allen will bring increased depth to an already deep bench.

His problems were not on the court, I’m referring to former Mizzou guard Michael Dixon Jr. This Kansas City area player was dismissed after conduct issues surfaced. Dixon Jr. applied and received NCAA permission to play for Memphis; his numbers parallel those at Mizzou. Everyone deserves a second chance and he’s making the most of his.

6-5 shooting guard Jabari Brown has a predicament, most of the nation is unaware of his game or growing talent.  Mizzou with a 7-7 conference record (19-8 overall) doesn’t rate highly on a national scale. Brown is scoring at a 20.1 ppg shooting .491 from the floor and .452 from the 3-point line. The nation might not be aware of Brown but NBA scouts have; his name is listed on several mock draft sites.

To tank or not
In light of Kobe Bryant’s injury one of the Laker fan sites asked the question; “should the Lakers tank or not?” As for this fan I made it clear when I thought Kobe would return I couldn’t root for a team I thought might be losing on purpose. A fan said it much better than me; “don’t lose games on purpose but if you play to win and still lose so be it. “ We shall see what occurs over the remaining portion of the season.

End of his coaching career?
Like him or not Bobby Knight was a successful coach first at Indiana and later at Texas Tech.  Pat played for his father at Indiana; he served as head coach at a couple of stops before he returned to Indiana as an assistant. Pat followed dad to Texas Tech and was announced as the new coach once his dad stepped down. Success would not be Pat’s strong suit, he was fired after three less than spectacular seasons at Texas Tech; he would be hired later that year at Lamar. His first season at Lamar would be his high water mark finishing 23-12. The following season it was 3-28 followed by a 3-22 mark. He was relieved of his coaching duties at Lamar recently.  79-122 record at Lamar plus his record at Tech will not cause any athletic directors to contact him. Serving as an assistant coach for a team might be a different story.

Another example of that height thing
He arrive on our shores in late summer, he’s Anas Osama Mahmoud. Mahmoud is 7-1 210 pounds and is a senior at West Oaks in Orlando Florida. He’s experienced playing for the Egyptian 17 and under team. Interesting he’s already begun to receive offers from colleges although I’m sure few have seen him in action. What do I continue to point out? That height thing, if he were 6-1 he must demonstrate he can play. At 7-1 he will become some college coaches “project.” The kid wants to play in the NBA someday, who knows.

Rivalries
ESPN.com college page contained a Michigan map with half of the state in Michigan State green and the other half in Michigan blue. I’m sure Michigan residents root for other schools in the state but I thought it quite interesting. What about other school rivalries, there are probably a great number. There are a number on the east coast I’m missing however I believe Duke-North Carolina are standouts. In the central part of the nation we could count Oklahoma-Oklahoma State and include the Kansas-Kansas State rivalry. In the western portion of the nation we have UCLA-USC, Oregon-Oregon, Washington-Washington State and conclude with Arizona-Arizona State. For this account only in-state rivals are discussed, in addition this should not be considered a complete list just a few we point out. .