Basketball from a fans perspective
Bits n Pieces
I guess we could
title this 25 + 1 because Oklahoma’s Trae Young was overlooked. ESPN in its Top 25 college players for the
2017-18 season admit they failed to include Oklahoma’s Young in their
pre-season assessment of top talent.
Guess who didn’t overlook the capable youngster from Norman Oklahoma,
Michael Porter Jr. Porter and Young were
teammates on one of the KC AAU teams.
This is going to be
difficult, i.e. attempting to locate any mention of KC’s new pro basketball
team. The local television media didn’t
report the Kansas City Tornados outcome, I then checked the Thursday edition of
the KC Star and found no mention of the game there. I went on line to the North American Premier
League website, the Tornados lost their first game ever to the Kentucky
Thoroughbreds 114-110.
First road win in____
I’ll save you researching
the headline, Mizzou broke a 3-year 32-game road losing streak on Wednesday
evening. The Tigers after a few hiccups managed
to beat a good South Carolina Gamecock team 79-68. The Tigers were led in victory by guard Kassius
Robertson who scored 23 points, forward Jordan Barnett and forward Jontay
Porter both scored 19 points each.
Mizzou is in
rarefied air with the 11th win of the season versus only 3 losses, the
road win makes up for that painful game against Illinois last month. Next up an even tougher match at noon on
Saturday against the Florida Gators, this game will be played at Mizzou Arena. Finally, this is one of those few occasions
I’m going to comment on the officiating, it was not good, and I will leave it
at that.
You know the adage;
“I’m from Missouri you’ve got to Show Me,” that’s why the state motto is Show
Me. I said (the first time) I didn’t
believe a jump-shooting team could win an NBA Championship. Curry and company proved that observation
incorrect of course the second time around I’d changed my tune. Well here we are again; the Rockets are
meteoric hot and appear on the road to an NBA Championship but.
That BUT is
quite large please note the but is in all caps, this is a Mike D’Antoni
team. D’Antoni an offensive minded coach
who must lay awake at night designing offensive schemes to get the ball to
Harden and company. The defense of the
Rockets and other teams D’Antoni coached have always been questionable, its not
that his teams don’t play defense its just not “the engine that drives the
train.” Prove me wrong coach, I’ve never
rooted against you so please prove me wrong.
What I hope versus reality
In the ESPN.com
account Michael Porter Jr. says, it’s: “Too early to tell if I will play again
this season.” This is my hope, but I
also must keep it real, the lure of the NBA plus a large financial reward can
be overwhelming.
1. He sits out the
balance of the season but returns for his sophomore year.
2. He returns late in
the season plays several games then declares for the draft.
3. He decides the NBA is in his future and Mizzou is in the "rear view mirror."
