Basketball from a fans perspective
Missouri news
The Missouri State High School Basketball Tournament is moving. After years of play at the University of Missouri in Columbia it’s moving in 2017-18 to Springfield. The tournament will held on the campus of Missouri State University in the JQH Arena which seats 11,000. No explanation was given for the change by the State High School Association. Perhaps a smaller arena might provide a more intimate setting who really knows.
Again?
Kansas City (KS) native and interim Coach Earl Watson is in the running for the job on a permanent basis. The Suns indicate they will conduct a wide search in an attempt to hire a head coach. Among the names I read was Mike D’Antoni currently associate head coach with the 76ers. “Hey didn’t that guy coach them years ago and didn’t the Suns fire him?”
The answer to both parts of that question is yes and yes, I agree with the take of former Cavs center Brad Daugherty and ESPN studio host. “Why do we keep re-cycling coaches, go out and get somebody new.” That somebody new might be Watson, why not make the interim permanent by affording him the opportunity of his own training camp to determine if he can coach at this level.
Day three
Are you curious how my “Stephen A. Smith boycott” is progressing? In day three just great mind you and all is right with the world. Okay I exaggerate quite a bit with that statement. One issue I want to make clear I’m not anti-ESPN or even anti-Smith. I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed however I resent Smith and anyone else who attempts to portray them more intelligent than us the fans. Smith and others in the media fail to realize we pay their salaries; if we cease paying for cable and satellite service see how long they maintain their positions.
Wataru Misaka
His name is probably unknown to 99% of the NBA world and they should be aware he was a pioneer. He was the first person of Asian origin to play in the NBA. Japanese-American Misaka was born in 1923 in Ogden Utah; he was drafted by the Knicks then in BAA and he played three games during the 1947-48 season for them. Interesting side note he and Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in the same year Misaka with the Knicks and Robinson with the Dodgers. Although Misaka was cut after the short span he believes being let go was not racially motivated.
He stated the Knicks had an abundance of guards and that was the basis for his very brief NBA career. World War II interrupted his education at Weber State and after serving two year in the military he enrolled at Utah. Misaka was a member of the 1944 Utah NCAA Championship team. Record keeping was spotty during this period of time and I was unable to provide any of his collegiate numbers. We got to believe he could play because he stood but 5-7 and weighed 150 pounds. The 92-year old is still alive residing in the State of his birth Utah.
He’s good
This is difficult for this Mizzou fan, Bill Self refuses to play my team since they left the Big 12. Doesn’t matter he’s played Colorado and has Nebraska on the schedule for next season both former conference members? Despite this I’m on the side of Self regarding his coaching. I checked his bio and his Kansas teams have won 30+ games seven of the past 13 seasons he’s been head coach. In addition he’s won or tied for the lead in 12-straight Big 12 championships. All should be right in the Sunflower State right---well not quite. Despite a rich basketball history during that time all he can show is a single NCAA Championship. Despite the positives mentioned the day after his Kansas teams lose there is always a legion of critics wanting to assess his coaching ability.
Most of the talk is negative in tone and I’m not sure why. The one I hear often; “He doesn’t recruit the right type of players.” I’m not sure if I can respond to that statement. After two sub-par seasons by Mizzou I would have revealed in my Tigers winning 20 games. This years Kansas team won 33 before bowing out in the Elite Eight with the loss to Villanova. If Self ever gets tired of being second-guessed he can head east on I-70 about 160 miles to Columbia (MO). Kansas fans please note for all the success of Kentucky’s John Calipari and Jim Boeheim of Syracuse they only have two championships, one each.
