Basketball from a fans perspective
He’s going to be a Zip
Among the athletes headed to the University of Akron this fall is 6-9 278 pound Michael Hughes II. Hughes is a local kid playing his high school ball at Liberty North High School. His school is located in Liberty (MO) a suburban city north of downtown Kansas City. His Liberty North team is one of the best in the area represented by a 21-3 record as this is written. He’s averaging 17 points 14.3 rebounds along with nearly 5 blocked shots a game. As for the headline the nickname of Akron’s teams is Zip, *“Originally short for Zippers overshoes that were popular in the 1930s and 1930s.”
*Wikipedia
Why I am not surprised?
He’s proposing the NBA implement a challenge system similar to that in place by the NFL. I didn’t read the article in its entirety but that’s the view of this coach. The coach of course is Doc Rivers who is always crying or complaining about the manner officials call the game. I get it I’m sure the NBA is embarrassed the number of times the NBA office admitted officials missed a call or made an incorrect one.
Doc the game has slowed enough as it is and you wanna slow it down even more? They say if you don’t have a fix you don’t have the right to complain. Well here’s the answer a more stringent referee training program. Don’t want to publicly embarrass an official but too many errors he or she is suspended game(s) with no pay. An evaluation at the end of the season finding too many errors well it’s bye-bye. There’s your fix Doc Rivers and stop belly aching.
Rivalry
Dictionary.com defines rivalry as; “the action, position, or relation of a rival or rivals; completion.” Can we state with conviction Kansas has a true rival in the Big 12? If you win a conference for 12 consecutive years (which they have accomplished) how can we state they have a rival? For this purpose Nebraska, Texas A&M, Colorado and Mizzou will be excluded because they are no longer conference members. Kansas State under Bob Huggins and Frank Martin had a slight run at a rivalry but it dissolve when Martin left for South Carolina.
Rick Barnes when at Texas always had talent but his teams seem to be unable to sustain any type of rivalry against Kansas. Scott Drew has benefit of Texas talent and his coaching ability but his Baylor Bears have been unable to compete against Kansas over successive seasons. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State have beaten Kansas over the years but they too lack consistency. I’m excluding West Virginia too due to its limited time in the Big 12.
He’s 18 and 20
DraftExpress.com has Denzel Valentine at 18, NBADraft.net list him as pick number 20 in their mock draft site. In addition to a low draft position the 6-6 220 pound Michigan State guard has at least one additional quality. The guy is a senior, in this day and age dominated by underclassman he’s an anomaly. This fact alone should have NBA scouts salivating a draftee who might be ready to play immediately.
Is Valentine a shooting guard or a point, his numbers are close to that of Ben Simmons another combo player. 19.7 ppg along with nearly 8 rebounds along with 7.3 assists Valentine might lead us to believe he is the Michigan State offense. I’ve never read this anywhere however I believe his mom must be a fan, she loves her son but she might also love actor Denzel Washington. I don’t know too many Denzel’s besides these two what about you?
