Bits n Pieces
Mizzou basketball was never on the level of UCLA, North Carolina or Kansas at the same time in recent memory it’s never been this terrible. Seven losses in a row and no hope for a win in sight, I had to smile briefly while viewing the Auburn-Mizzou game. The play by play announcer or the analyst I’m unsure which one made the statement. He said; ‘Mizzou looks as if they are improving.’ I’m unsure what alternate universe he was in however it wasn’t the one I’m in. I’ve stated over and over an incoming coach must be allowed time to establish his program. Kim Anderson is now in his third year and his team should begin exhibiting signs of improvement.
Is it AAU play, prep basketball, diet or something else. If you check the 2017 DraftExpress.com mock site 9 of the first 10 names listed are freshman. These youngsters have a desire to play in the NBA and in most cases they are ready to play at this level. Despite the injury that delayed his play till this season Joel Embiid will likely be named Rookie of the Year. After a slow start 2016 second pick Brandon Ingram is slowly improving. If we look back to 2007 only three Rookie of the Years (Blake Griffin, Damian Lillard and Michael Carter-Williams) had more than two years of collegiate play.
I read this headline; ‘Ever find yourself yelling at college athletes? Do you realize they are just teenagers?’ If you are doing the screaming due to criminal activity that’s understandable however screaming might be an extreme. If the yelling is done because of poor or inconsistent play keep in mind they are teens or just a few years beyond their teens. They will not act and react in the manner of a mature adult, quit yelling and screaming at the television set they can’t hear you. You might have done the same thing when you were 17, 18 or 19.
Sometimes your thinking about commenting on a subject and someone says almost exactly what you intended to say. That was the case while reading a report on the Sixers Ben Simmons, an email read; ‘Ben Simmons is a Lamar Odom with a little more upside.’ I can see that, both are 6-10, both are excellent passers for their height. Simmons is yet to demonstrate his shooting skill in the NBA so we’ll skip that for now. He’s back on the court now working out which is a good thing. No timetable’s been set for a return but we guess it will be this season.
What are they doing?
A number of NBA front-offices appear to be dysfunctional. I’ve complained about Jim Buss and the Lakers also mentioned the Kings management. A number of teams have yet to win an NBA Championship but are competitive, the Raptors come to mind. How about the Atlanta Hawks, they allowed DeMarre Carroll to leave via free-agency, they traded Kyle Korver and Paul Millsap’s status is tenuous as this is written.
NOTE: The Hawks now claim they have changed their mind and Milsap will not be traded. The Hawks change ownership but seem to be stuck in a middle of the road mentality. They are never really bad they even make the playoffs some years. On the other hand they never field a team anyone believes is capable of winning an NBA Championship. You ask the question what’s wrong with this picture.
Nicknames
‘You cannot give yourself a nickname’ so is the word I adopted from Neil a former
co-worker and friend. Sometimes the nickname is clear other times it might cause you to scratch your head. This example comes from the NFL, former Bears great Gayle Sayers was nicknamed; ‘The Kansas Comet’ for his speed. Sayers was born in Wichita but grew up in Omaha, his exploits on the football field at Kansas University led to the nickname. I Googled ‘Boogie Cousins’ and up popped the name DeMarcus Cousins center for the Kings. The search engine easily located ‘Boogie’ and linked it with Cousins. As for the term boogie refers to ‘A style of blues played on the piano‘ how it became a nickname for Cousins is unknown.
‘The Greek Freak’ is the nickname for Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks, we are unsure who belongs to ‘Superman’, Shaquille O’Neal arrived in the NBA with the nickname and later Dwight Howard claimed it. Anthony Davis was dubbed ‘Unibrow’ due to his eyebrows. Other names are easy ‘Melo’ for Carmelo Anthony or CP-3 for Chris Paul. Others such as J-Smoove for Josh Smith cause you to try and figure out why and where it originated. Dwayne Wade must have been tagged ‘Flash’ for his speedy dashes down the court. And we have at least one that is hated; Kevin Durant never embraced ‘Durantula’. Finally we have King James which is LeBron James, personally I’ve never liked the nickname because I believed he anointed himself.
