Basketball from a fans perspective

They must redeem themselves

Mizzou was a loser 62-60 to Georgia in the SEC Tourney, I believe the Tigers are better than the Bulldogs however I have no method to confirm this.  Michael Porter Jr. made his debut played 23 minutes scoring 12 points but shot poorly from the floor.  He was not the cause Mizzou lost it was a collective team effort.  This team must redeem itself in the NCAA Tournament for me to be pleased.  That's about all you get out of me, I'm depressed.   

Will it occur?
Men have served as head coach for a number of successful women’s teams.  One of the most successful women’s team UConn has been coached by Geno Auriemma for a number of years.  Becky Hammons name is one of a number mentioned as a possible MEN’S head basketball coach at Colorado State.  Hammon had a 16-year playing career in the WNBA, when she retired Greg Popovich hired Hammon as an assistant coach for the Spurs in 2014.  In 2015 she served as head coach for the Spurs Summer League team, are we ready for a woman to serve in the role of head coach for a men's team at a Division I school?   

A voice cries out

Wednesday another voice (besides mine) said: “We need an NBA team in Kansas City." That voice belonged to Kansas City Royals pitcher Danny Duffy.  The fact he is a fan of the NBA is not unusual I’d never heard or read this view previously.  It’s unlikely Duffy has enough money to purchase a team solely on his own.       

This is the last time

I’ve written several accounts defending Laker rookie Lonzo Ball, this is the last one.  Since his return from injury Ball has been “ballin”!  His last 5 games have witnessed the two vital numbers for us rooting for him rise significantly.  No complaints regarding his assists and rebounds they were steady it was his lack of aggressiveness, field goal shooting and average.  Ball is shooting .478 over the period mentioned not great but certainly higher than previously, his scoring average has risen to 13.0 points per game.  The only area of concern for this writer is at the line,  he's not a good free-throw shooter but even that can be cured with practice.        

Is he ready for the NBA? 

The question won’t be answered until June 21, Alize Johnson is getting some buzz as a potential NBA draft choice.  He might not be familiar to you he plays at Missouri State in the Missouri Valley Conference.  The school located in Springfield Missouri has a rich basketball history winning the NAIA Championship in 1952 and 1953.  As for Johnson his background is quite interesting.  In high school he was a 5-foot 9-inch point guard, Johnson is now a 6-foot 9-inch power forward and double-double man for the Bears.  As this is written Johnson is averaging 15.6 points and 11.5 rebounds a game, don’t be surprised to hear his name announced in June.   

I believe I’ve figured this out

This Mizzou fan admits he’s a casual football fan, so the talk radio guys don’t affect me in the same manner as basketball.  The last three seasons have been terrible under the departed Kim Anderson, there was little talk and that was okay.  This season is totally different however the media for the most part continues to ignore Mizzou basketball.  I believe I’ve figured out why, the first reason is historical.  Mizzou had been a member of the Big 12 or it’s prior incarnations since the 1928-29 season, the 2012-13 move to the SEC leaves the media with the blaas which a tie in to the second reason. 

The State of Missouri shares a border with Iowa, Oklahoma and Kansas.  Texas is not close but certainly is quicker travel than to SEC Florida.  As for the SEC Missouri has a shared border with Arkansas and Tennessee as for the others that’s a different story.  Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss and the balance of SEC schools might as well be on the dark side of the moon.  Local media doesn’t identify with these schools, they probably see little if any connection apart from Missouri.  So, there you have it, just a theory and its certainly open to your interpretation.