Nobody cares
Well not exactly, don't count me among the "I don't care crowd."  Mizzou designated a two seed in the NIT will play Davidson on Tuesday.  Davidson finished their season with a 20-12 record so they should not be taken lightly.  Mizzou has a chance to rebound from a disappointing season the first in five years where they missed the NCAA Tourney.   

Number 44
Kansas City was home base for the Kings franchise from 1972-1985. In those days the Kings were unsuccessful on the court with the exception of a minor number of years. Poor draft choices, poor trades and coaches unable to coach successfully became the norm. During the time the Kings were in Kansas City the team produced few All Star athletes, probably familiar to historians of the game is Nate “Tiny” Archibald who made it to the Hall of Fame. The others Scott Wedman who later played for the Celtics and Otis Birdsong. The remaining All-Star is probably unfamiliar to most, his name Sam Lacey. Lacey a 6-10 235 pound center arrived in the NBA by way of New Mexico State. Lacey proceeded to find his way in a league dominated by “name” centers Abdul Jabbar, Cowens, Thurmond and others.

Lacey’s battles with Abdul Jabbar are stuff of legend as the two matched up against one another time after time. Although Abdul Jabbar was more talented Lacey never backed down, he held his own against Mr. Skyhook. In addition he became adept at distributing the basketball.  Three times during his career he dished out more than five assists a game, an outstanding figure for a center.  How good was he passing the ball, Lacey had a 14 assist game in one season.  He was not just a distributor of the ball he became a dependable scorer at nearly  12 points a game.  He remained in Kansas City after his playing days were over involved in a number of community and civic activities.  Over this past weekend word came to us this unsung giant had died, he was only 66 years old. His jersey number 44 was retired several years ago, R.I.P. Sam Lacey.

Defensive Player of the Year?
He’s thin for an athlete who stands 6-11 and weighs in at 232 pounds. His shooting style is one of the most unorthodox we’ve witnessed in quite awhile. The player we are discussing is Bulls’ center Joakim Noah. Rockets Coach Kevin McHale has already pronounced him NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Noah is a furious rebounding machine despite his slight frame. On the other hand his lighter than normal weight for a center allows him to run the floor like a gazelle. Bulls fans point to Derrick Rose as key to the Bulls success and to a degree that might be true.

Many believe Noah might be just as important to the Bulls success as point guard Rose. Consider this, the general feeling was the Bulls would crash and burn with no Rose in the lineup. After a slight hiccup the Bulls have returned to form most believed would if Rose had been in the lineup. As this is written they are fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 36-29 record. Their exemplary center is averaging almost 12 rebounds a game while dishing out nearly 5 assists. The Bulls don’t look to Noah for offense however he’s scoring at 12.2 ppg clip which is a career high.

Speaking of defense
We knew Mike D’Antoni was an offensive coach; it goes back to his days coaching the Suns and later the Knicks. We had little idea he was so clueless relating to defensive schemes. Laker fans have never witnessed their team giving up points in the manner of this season’s team. In a manner of speaking this harkens back to the NBA of the ‘60’s and ‘70’s, a number of teams gave up points like a water faucet. If the faucet is never turned off (defensive stops) how in the world is a team to win. In D’Antoni’s scheme his team can give up 130 points as long as they score 131.

Our Northern neighbor
The Kansas City Star contained an article on Big XII Canadian players. They matched a fictional Canadian team against an American team. Although both only contained six players it should be noted the increase in popularity of basketball in Canada. If these are only the top six Canadian athletes in the Big XII alone how many more Canadians are spread throughout the US? Basketball will never replace hockey as the national sport of Canada, on the other hand?

Kobe
Kobe Bryant has shut it down for the remainder of the season. If the Lakers were in playoff contention it would be a different story, we could see a need for him to return. There are less than 20 games left in the season-----no need at this point.

The mascot
I was watching the Oregon-Stanford match and during a portion of the game the camera focused on the Oregon Duck mascot. I discovered the school had a connection to Walt Disney. I thought it might be noteworthy to share this information to those who might be unfamiliar. “Beginning in 1940, cartoon drawings of Puddles in student publications began to resemble Donald Duck, and by 1947, Walt Disney was aware of the issue. Capitalizing on his friendship with a Disney cartoonist, Oregon athletic director Leo Harris met Disney and reached an informal handshake agreement that granted the University of Oregon permission to use Donald as its sports mascot. When Disney lawyers later questioned the agreement in the 1970s, the University produced a photo showing Harris and Disney wearing matching jackets with an Oregon Donald logo.

Relying on the photo as evidence of Disney's wishes, in 1973, both parties signed a formal agreement granting the university the right to use Donald's likeness as a symbol for (and restricted to) Oregon sports. The agreement gave Disney control over where the mascot could perform and ensured that the performer inside the costume would "properly represent the Donald Duck character. In 2010, Disney and the University reached an agreement that removed the costumed Oregon Duck mascot from its association with the Donald trademark, and allowed The Duck to make more public appearances, such as at college mascot competitions. The mascot in graphic art, which is more similar to Donald Duck than the rounder head and body of the costume, is still covered by the trademark agreement.” *Wikipedia