Miz zou
Mizzou registered a
badly needed win over the Vanderbilt Commodores 74-66 in Nashville on Tuesday
evening. Turnovers which have plagued
this team were kept at a nominal level (13) and they registered 15 assists to
the Commodores 11. Mizzou shot a
blistering 58% from the floor. Mizzou
was led in scoring by Porter, not that guy, younger brother Jontay who came off
the bench with 24 points. Starter Jordan
Barnett was the second leading scorer with 17 points. For all the naysayers especially those on
WHB-810 sports radio should consider this, Mizzou won 8 games all last season,
the win on Tuesday is number 19.
As fierce a competitor as
there was
John Starks might
have been one of the toughest guys I can recall, he stood 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighed 190 pounds. He played in the days the NBA allowed much more physical play than
it does now. Starks was a shooting guard
at a period many NBA teams were drafting taller players for the position. It didn’t matter to Starks, he battled all of
them and gave them no quarter, the Knicks would often face Michael Jordan and
his Bulls during this period. On defense
or offense Starks held his own against all including the 6-foot 6-inch Michael
Jordan. How he arrived in the NBA is
interesting, Starks was undrafted at the time he left Oklahoma State, he first signed
with the Warriors as a free-agent but only lasted a year.
Starks played for
teams in the Continental Basketball Association and World Basketball League
before landing with the Knicks. How he
became a Knick is a story, signed as a free-agent a training camp injury kept
him on the roster. During a scrimmage
Starks went up for a dunk over Patrick Ewing who pushed him to the floor twisting
his knee. The knee had not healed by the
end of December and the Knicks couldn’t release him injured. Later he moved into the starting lineup
Starks personified the tough defense of the Pat Riley led Knicks of the 1990s. Starks played for several other NBA teams
however it was the Knicks where he made his mark during a 14-year NBA
career. Tough, relentless check out the
video below and you will witness several Bulls players being posterized. Starks now works for the Knicks in a
front-office capacity.
A change
At some point in
December or January I pronounced Sixer point guard Ben Simmons Rookie of the
Year. In fact, I
might have stated this twice, now I’m not so sure if Simmons is that
choice. Allow me a brief explanation, Donovan
Mitchell of the Jazz has fought an uphill battle for recognition since the
season started. Although Mitchell was a first-round
choice he fell outside the Top 10 having been picked by the Jazz at 13.
To compound the lack
of notoriety Mitchell plays in Salt Lake City which is not often featured on
national television games. The last bit
of information as this is written the Jazz are one game above .500. Despite the “negatives” explored previously
Mitchell can play, the 6-foot 3-inch shooting guard is the leading scorer for
the Jazz at 19.6 points per game. If Ben Simmons is not Rookie of the Year Donovan Mitchell certainly is.
King of Los Angeles
Debate might be
entertained daily by Clipper and Laker fans; which Los Angeles team is the best. Over the
last 5 or 6 seasons Larry Laker is forced to admit it was the other team, this
year for a variety of reasons they are as close as they have been in quite a
while. As this is written the Clippers
are slightly ahead in the win column 31 wins versus the 26 for the Lakers. If the season ended today neither team makes
the playoffs in the west. As we prepare
for the remainder of the season who will be crowned King of Los Angeles, will the Clippers retain their crown or relinquish it to the Lakers?
We are hearing the term
again
We are hearing the
term “tanking” once again floating about the NBA, the Mavs and owner Mark Cuban
has seen a 3-figure fine after word got out they planned on tanking. I can’t speak to the NHL, I don’t follow the
sport and no little of its workings. As
for the other sports that’s a different matter.
The National Football League plays 16 regular season games, major league
baseball 162. NFL games are played once
a week plus there are fewer games, makes it quite difficult to “lose on
purpose.” With a regular season running
from April to October the same scenario might apply to baseball too many games
and too long a season to see a team purposely lose games.
Fingers were pointed
at the Sixers for several years, they were pointed at my Lakers last
season. Let’s just suppose Team A. loses
on purpose to secure a higher draft pick, with the lottery there is still no
guarantee they get the top choice, the odds work in their favor based on
won-loss but again no slam dunk. Number
two even securing the top pick is it always assured you draft the best player
who can contribute right away. We can
look at the Sixers and Joel Embiid, looks as though they struck gold but its
two and one-half years later. How about the Cavs and 2013 number one pick Anthony Bennett, Turns out he couldn't play and he's now in the G-League?
