Basketball from a fans perspective

“Better than me”
We have no idea at this point if Mavs rookie Luka Doncic is going to be a success or a failure.  This is what we know near the middle of September approaching NBA training camp.  Veteran Mavs forward Dirk Nowitzki says, “He’s better than I was at 19.”  Dirk went on to state, “He’s an incredible talent.”  EuroLeague MVP at age I9 that might be the most powerful statement of all, I believed he was the real deal, doesn’t matter whether you believed me.  Will you take the word of an NBA champion and 13X NBA All Star…? I thought so. 

He was the glue
That 1983 NBA champion Sixer team had everything.  They had the scoring and rebounding ability of Moses Malone (Hall of Fame), the smooth soaring Dr. J. (Hall of Fame).  In addition, there was sharpshooting Andrew Toney at the shooting guard plus tough Bobby Jones at the power forward.  The championship Sixer team had an adequate bench led by Marc Iavaroni and Clemon Johnson. 

That team was loaded with scoring, defense and reserves, all that was held together by a 6-foot 1-inch point guard from West Texas A&M.  If we look at his numbers they might appear average, but Cheeks is more than numbers.  After his retirement as an active player he became an NBA coach a couple of stops as head coach.  On September 7 Cheeks was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame recognized by the many of his contributions to the Sixers and other teams.

Your thoughts
Awhile back Kareem Abdul Jabbar said; “I could foresee the NBA passing the NFL in popularity.”  Several folks wondered what in the world was he talking about, the sport of choice in America is the NFL…. well not exactly.  Football remains at the top of the heap however the NBA is slowly rising and may one day surpass the NFL.  This is official, NBA TV numbers were up 8 % while the NFL was down 10 % last season.  Is there a Colin Kaepernick factor or something else at work with the shrinking numbers?  A January 2019 Gallup poll on fan favorites list football at 37% and basketball 11% which clearly indicates the NFL is solidly in first place.  What might be misleading is the drip, drip, drip as viewership continues to slide downward. 

Parental concern about head injuries detail smaller numbers of boys are playing Peewee football.  The other issue impacting the NFL is the continued reports of domestic violence.  The NFL has no monopoly on this issue all major sports have reported instances of domestic violence; this issue alone might have become a millstone around the neck of the NFL.  The last area is our youth, a significant number continue to play football.  Many of those in the 18-40-year age range have moved over to the NBA.  If you love NFL football that’s okay, this is certainly no effort to entice you toward the NBA that decision is strictly yours.  One thing for sure there are valid reasons why NFL television numbers are descending, and the NBA’s are rising.  

Gallup Poll 

Just in case you forgot or missed it
Mizzou’s top prospects for 2019 are:

E.J. Liddell 6-foot 7-inch forward, Belleville Illinois
Mario McKinney 6-foot 1-inch guard, St Louis
“Rocket” Watts 6-foot 3-inch guard, Detroit
Malik Hall 6-foot 8-inch forward, Aurora Illinois
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl 6-foot 9-inch forward, Roeland Park Kansas

All are Rivals 4-star prospects apart from 5-star prospect Robinson-Earl.  It’s been reported Liddell and McKinney are likely to be a package, the two are teammates on a St. Louis AAU team.  All this could change by next year, Mizzou basketball has two unproven walk-ons’, the same scenario might occur in 2019 too.  As for 2018 prospects if I said Mizzou finished 74 in the nation in recruiting you’d probably state they certainly ain’t sayin’ much.  Well it’s certainly down from the 2017 ranking but out of 227 Division I teams I’d maintain that’s still doggone good.  It’s far beyond the number registered by Mizzou basketball during the Kim Anderson years.       

247 Sports