Basketball from a fans perspective
Where is he headed?
I believe this may have been mentioned previously but another report won’t hurt (I hope). Michael Porter Jr. is the number two prospect in the Class of 2017 and a Rivals 5-star prospect. The youngster attends Tolton Catholic High School in Columbia (MO) home of the University of Missouri. Drive time from Tolton to Mizzou Arena takes less than 15 minutes; Michael Porter Sr. has been hired as an assistant coach at the University of Washington. Washington Head Coach Lorenzo Romar is Michael Porter Jr’s Godson. Although he’s made no decision yet I wonder what school he might commit? This is funny, before I could publish the story on July 15 Jr. committed to play at guess where? If you guessed Mizzou that would be incorrect.
Mistaken
It appears I may have been out of step with several Mizzou fans and alumni; Friday I discussed Athletic Director Mack Rhodes leaving Mizzou for Baylor. I stated I didn’t understand the departure after less than two years on the job. It appears there are few people crying or upset about Rhodes moving on. Several former Tigers now in the NFL sent out tweets indicating they welcomed the news. Another tweet not associated with any of the sports program claims “Rhodes never bought into Mizzou athletics,” I guess I may have missed this one. I’m going to offer an excuse for myself by stating I paid more attention to the sports on the field and court rather than the AD.
I‘m shocked learning this---not
You might not like Kobe Bryant and that’s okay. Even Kobe haters must admit the man was all about winning he had issues with players not putting out 100%. After Dwight Howard departed for Houston all I could hear was; “Kobe ran him out of town.” As you are aware Howard left for Atlanta recently and this week admits; “To having a rocky relationship with James Harden. “ You can continue your hatred toward Kobe if you wish but you might want to reserve space for Harden since it appears he’s performed the same feat-----run Dwight Howard out of town.
Not surprising news
The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in sports annually awards grades to major sports leagues. Results are quite interesting, for detail you can locate it on the net. Briefly it states the NBA *“Received an A plus for the second year in a row for racial hiring and a B in gender hiring practices. The league received an A for the eighth year in a row.” As for the other leagues the NFL and MLB scored a C-.
*Associated Press
Bits n Pieces
Do you realize now that Kevin Durant is history Nick Collison is the only one remaining. We tend to forget Durant’s rookie year was spent as a member of the Seattle Sonics. A teammate was center Nick Collison who remains a member of the Thunder and the only former Sonic remaining in the NBA.
I’ve documented the struggles what to do with Kemper Arena after the downtown Sprint Center opened. Sprint is better not just because it newer its location is more convenient to all traffic areas of the metro. Basketball site lines are much better (in my view) than in Kemper. From The Kansas City Star; “A nomination is being prepared and will be sent to the National Park Service to list Kemper Arena on the National Register of Historic Places because of its significance in local Kansas City cultural history.”
Signing Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng as free-agents, drafting Brandon Ingram and Ivica Zubac ESPN is projecting the Lakers win 25 games next season. The win total certainly would be an improvement over the 17 they compiled in 2015-16 season. As for me this time around I intend to be a little more cautious in my estimation. As I have mentioned on more than one occasion I wasn’t sure what to expect in Byron Scott’s first year. Last season I was optimistic the team would be improved even with 38-year old Kobe Bryant in the lineup.
Western Kentucky scored a major coup in recruiting they landed Rivals 5-star prospect
Mitchell Robinson. Robinson number 11 on their list in the nation will be heading to Bowling Green (KY) next fall. He’s a 7-foot 220 pound power forward/center from Chalmette (LA) part of the New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area.
