Basketball from a fans perspective

Congratulations

LeBron James passed the 30,000-point scoring mark in the NBA recently, this is quite an accomplishment and is certainly noteworthy.  Call me a hater if necessary but this talk about him passing Kareem is unimportant to me.  You ask why, consider this, Kareem (and many others of that era) spent 3 or 4 years in college prior to the NBA.  LeBron arrived in the NBA after his senior year of high school, he had a 3 or 4-year head start in scoring.  There I said it, it is worth discussing in my view.    

Sorry Mizzou fans

This will be short and to the point.  I cannot offer an excuse; a team cannot commit 21 turnovers and expect to win.  Auburn took Mizzou to the woodshed and smacked their behind.  91.73 was the final score however the wrong Tigers were winners.   

“We’re better than Warriors”

Those are the words of Rockets center Clint Capela, I will concede he might be correct except for one issue.  Long ago I adopted the motto of the state; “I’m from Missouri you’ve got to Show Me”.  The playoffs loom ahead for the Rockets and other teams, let’s just wait for the outcome.  It’s easy to declare victory in January, how about May or June?  I wasn’t the only one, Kevin Durant made a comment on Capela’s statement as well.   

Bits n Pieces

I read a story in an unnamed publication titled: “10 NBA draft busts living successful post basketball lives.”  The article did not exaggerate, the players profiled had ordinary NBA careers.  The portion I took issue with was the injury factor, at least four of the athletes profiled sustained injuries which cut short or seriously impacted their career.  If I wrote this article I doubt I would include any of the names who suffered shortened careers due to injury.  

I have seen more college games than NBA which is certainly unusual.  After the All-Star break that’s likely to change.  The Lakers have been on the networks numerous more times than prior seasons, I’ve watched several Warrior games and certainly the new and improved Sixers and Knicks.  On the college side its been an improved Mizzou team along with Kentucky, Oklahoma and a host of other teams.     

Ben Simmons: “I know I’m the Best Rookie in the League.”  Can we find anyone to argue someone else other than the Sixer point guard should be the choice?  There’s no doubt a couple of others have exhibited good rookie seasons.  Donovan Mitchell of the Jazz and Kyle Kuzma of the Lakers are worthy of mention. 

Sagaba Konate is a name likely only familiar to West Virginia fans.  I’ve only seen him play once but was extremely impressed although his team lost the game.  Konate is a 6-foot 8-inch 260-pound sophomore forward, he’s from Bamako, Mali on the African continent.  His numbers are average nearly 10 points and 8 rebounds a game, what is most noteworthy for me is his shot-blocking ability.  He might never be an offensive force, but his defense is outstanding.