8 and 24
Monday evening the Lakers will retire jersey number 8 and 24. Probably for the first time in my memory a team retired two numbers of the same athlete. What can we say, 5-time NBA Champion, 2X NBA Finals MVP, 2008 NBA MVP and 33,000 plus during his NBA career. Those are just a few of the highlights of Kobe Bean Bryant's brilliant vocation. I’m sure many believed he was talented however those who witnessed those four air balls had other ideas. As an 18-year in a 1997 in a crucial playoff game he took shot after shot and missed them all, we were not prepared what would become his future.
My comparison is the trials of Lonzo Ball this season thus far. NOTE: please don’t read something here that’s not there, I’m not comparing Lonzo to Kobe. Their paths have been similar in a manner of speaking both arrived in the NBA with lofty expectations, many reading this are too young and don’t remember the struggles of Kobe early however those of us old enough do. His jersey(s) will join those of other Lakers of the past in the rafters of Staples Center.
It’s a Mizzou thing
I posed this question to my Kansas Jayhawk friends, it appears Bill Self only has a problem with Mizzou leaving the conference. I make that statement because his team played
Nebraska now in the Big 10 but once a Big 12 member. In 2013 the Jayhawks were matched against Colorado which
also left the Big 12, Colorado is now in the Pac 12. Kansas is yet to schedule Texas A&M
another Big 12 defector along with Mizzou.
I guess Bill Self’s animosity only extends to certain schools, I ain’t counting no exhibition game as play. By the way the exhibition game at the beginning of the season was just that. The Mizzou win on Saturday evening was the 9th of the season. The calendar has not turned to 2018 yet the Tigers have already exceeded the win total from last season. Last year’s Mizzou team won a grand total of 8 games so it is evident this is not your daddy's Tiger team.
I guess Bill Self’s animosity only extends to certain schools, I ain’t counting no exhibition game as play. By the way the exhibition game at the beginning of the season was just that. The Mizzou win on Saturday evening was the 9th of the season. The calendar has not turned to 2018 yet the Tigers have already exceeded the win total from last season. Last year’s Mizzou team won a grand total of 8 games so it is evident this is not your daddy's Tiger team.
I wonder
We are in the Blackout zip code in Kansas City,
so we couldn’t see the Thunder-Knick game. The box score indicates Michael
Beasley led the way for the Knicks in their 111-96 victory over the
Thunder. Beasley was the starter in
place of the injured Kristaps Porzingis and must have played an outstanding
game. I’m not surprised Beasley is one
of those guys who arrived in the NBA with star written all over him.
For a variety of reasons mostly maturity he never reached the level of play most believed he was capable of achieving. Beasley in now in his 9th year but yet only 28 years old he's certainly not close to retirement but is it too late for him as an NBA player? The Knicks are Beasley's 6th team which makes him in the eyes of many a journeyman player. What a shame for an athlete who arrived in the NBA as a second pick in the 2008 NBA Draft ready to demonstrate the talent he exhibited at Kansas State.
Bits n Pieces
Elhadji Tacko Sereigne Diop Fall or Tacko is
extremely tall, 7 feet 6 inches and 295 pounds to be exact. You know the story, arriving on these shores
from the African nation of Senegal at the age of 16 he’s now in his junior year
at University of Central Florida. He is
a student first and athlete second records indicate Fall had a 3.6 GPA in high
school. One additional note, he might
get a look in the NBA but its more likely he’ll play in Europe. If it’s not a professional career its going
to work for Microsoft or Siemens as an engineer he's got the ability.
Recently I saw a movie on Netflix titled At All Cost this 2016 movie dealt with AAU
basketball and its growth. One bit of
information screamed loudly at me, a father of one of the profiled athletes
said and I’m paraphrasing. His son who
was injured said; “I don’t care if he misses the entire high school season AAU
basketball is where its at today.” I’ve
witnessed AAU play locally but certainly claim no inside information, the
fathers statement resonated strongly with me.
Has the high school game taken a back seat to AAU basketball?
The Rockets are playing “championship”
basketball currently. It’s not just the acquisition
of Chris Paul he’s been injured and missed a number of games. The Rockets are just a doggone good basketball
team maybe the best in the NBA. Here’s the issue, remember we
said, “a jump shooting team cannot win a championship?” Well the Warriors have proven that analogy
wrong twice now, as for Mike D’Antoni teams all ways heavy offensively light
defensively. Can the offensive minded
Rockets win a championship?
