Basketball from a fans
perspective
Your number one
I’m checking the AP Top 25 along
with the USA Today Coaches Poll and the positioning is not that much
different. Both have Duke at one and
Michigan State at two and from that point they match in name but not position
number. I always look at pre-season polls
as just that, somewhere along the way a team (likely in the Top 10) will ascend
to the top. Duke, Kentucky, Kansas and
Villanova figured to be somewhere near the top last season with Duke “crowned”
NCAA champ.
Where did the pre-season Top finish
you ask, Duke lost to South Carolina in the Sweet Sixteen East? Kentucky lost to North Carolina in the
Elite Eight South while Kansas was a loser against Oregon in the Elite
Eight Midwest and finally Villanova lost to Wisconsin in the Elite Eight
East. So, there you have it, the
basketball minds view of how the 2017 basketball season should have ended. Anyone care to guess on the 2018 finish?
Jersey numbers
The Thunder-Wolves game was on my TV
and I noted the broadcaster said; “Taj Gibson is the only player to ever wear
67.” We discussed earlier the Lakers intend to retire both Kobe Bryant numbers
8 and 24. Shaq wore 32 at LSU and his
first few years with the Magic, he was forced to change to 34 when he became a
Laker 32 belonged to Magic Johnson. The
highest number in NBA history 99 was worn by the late George Mikan with the old
Minneapolis Lakers, presently Lucas Norgueria of the Raptors is wearing number
92. Former player Dennis “The Worm”
Rodman was number 73.
Several past and present-day players
wear 0, fewer have worn 00 as Celtic Robert Parrish did. Jerry West and Pete Maravich wore jersey
number 44 although Maravich switched to 7 once he became a member of the
Jazz. In some circles 13 is considered
an unlucky number yet Wilt Chamberlain wore it at Kansas with the Globetrotters
and later with three NBA teams. My
research located far more jerseys in the 80’s and 90’s than I imagined. There are times the number holds significance
to the player and others are just plain old fashioned superstitious. Just a bit of trivia to share with you.
Who signs win and
where?
The National Letter of Intent initial
period begins November 8th and will end on the 15th. Who signs where might be the next question
and as this is written we have no clue.
The top three 2018 prospects, R.J. Barrett, Zion Williamson and Bol Bol
remain uncommitted and we hear rumors but have no clear idea where any of the
trio might be headed. It’s likely June of 2019 we know their location, they
will be seated in a room somewhere in NYC waiting to hear Adam Silver announce
their name. I’m going to go out on a
limb and make my projection, I cannot decide between Duke and Kentucky for
Barrett. Williamson is likely headed to
Kentucky unless Barrett announces first.
As for Bol Bol chances are he’s headed to Oregon.
The “Bridge” to Los
Angeles
Elgin Baylor is now 83 years old, perhaps
that’s the reason he’s been in the background.
On the other hand, it could be all those years he worked as GM for the
Clippers. In any event we could consider
Elgin Baylor the bridge between the Minneapolis edition and the Los Angeles
version of the Lakers. Baylor was made the number one pick in the 1958 NBA
Draft by the Lakers while in their former home Minneapolis. Baylor was named Rookie of the Year in 1959
with these numbers, 24.9 points per game along with 15 rebounds and 4.1 assists
a game.
The rebound numbers are even more
outstanding considering Baylor was a 6-5 small forward. In 1960 Baylor along with several teammates
would move west with the team to their new home Los Angeles. I read one report stating Baylor was the
“Most underrated player in NBA History” and that might indeed be true. Baylor’s
number 22 has been retired by the Lakers but this is just the tip of the
iceberg. Below are just a few of the
accolades Baylor received during his NBA career, this fails to include those
honors from his college days at Seattle University.
1959 All-Star Game MVP
11X NBA All-Star
10 X All NBA First Team
NBA 35th Anniversary Team
NBA 50th Anniversary Team
Naismith Hall of Fame
College Basketball Hall of Fame
You don’t know Sam
Snelling
If you are a Mizzou fan or read Rock
M Nation you are familiar with Snellling.
He’s one of the writers for the Mizzou fan website so consider the
source. We are exactly 5 days from the
basketball being tossed up against Iowa State at the arena. Snelling provided an assessment of the
2017-18 season for the Tigers. Last
season Mizzou under the departed Kim Anderson finished 8-24 (2-16 in the SEC)
and last in the SEC. As for 2017-18
Snelling projects Mizzou to finish 21-9 (11-7, 4th in the
conference). Snelling is bold in picking
Mizzou to win twice as many games as they had the previous season. If Mizzou were to finish the season anywhere
close to the projected win total, they would be a lock for an NCAA berth
something they haven’t seen since 2013.
