BASKETBALL FROM A FANS PERSPECTIVE
Dinosaurs still exist today
No, dinosaurs no longer exist however actions of the NCAA certainly represent ancient and out of date thought processes at times. Mark Emmert president of this entity is paid large sums of money to head this organization responsible for oversight of collegiate sports. The NCAA often operates as “arresting officer, prosecuting attorney and judge” in a variety of cases. Let’s just check out the first case Silvio De Sousa you remember him, don’t you?
Dinosaurs still exist today
No, dinosaurs no longer exist however actions of the NCAA certainly represent ancient and out of date thought processes at times. Mark Emmert president of this entity is paid large sums of money to head this organization responsible for oversight of collegiate sports. The NCAA often operates as “arresting officer, prosecuting attorney and judge” in a variety of cases. Let’s just check out the first case Silvio De Sousa you remember him, don’t you?
De Sousa was suspended by Kansas on
October 24, 2018 until a judgement was rendered regarding his eligibility. Money was reported to have been exchanged
between a family member and Adidas. Coach
Bill Self testified indicating he knew nothing of the issue, the same statement
was made by De Sousa. Okay, that’s clear
let’s investigate, that was last October we are two days from February 1. It’s been 90+ days and a judgement is yet to
be rendered on De Sousa’s eligibility.
He’s still only 23-years old
Jahlil Okafor disappeared in basketballs version of “The Bermuda Triangle.” You remember him, after a year at Duke he was made the 3rd pick in the 2015 draft by the Sixers. Okafor at 6 foot 11 and 275 pounds had decent numbers (17.5 ppg and 7.0 rebounds) for this big man rookie. The next two seasons Okafor appeared to lose step, by then a healthy Embiid had replaced him in the Sixer lineup. In December of 2017 Okafor was traded to the Brooklyn Nets but appeared in only 20 games for the balance of the season.
After his season concluded he became a free-agent
and decided to sign with the Pelicans for the 2018-19 season, once again he occupied
a spot at the end of the bench. Injuries will sometimes allow a player to move
from a reserve role to playing starter minutes.
Anthony Davis suffered an injured finger in early January allowing
Okafor to move into his position. Okafor
has scored in double-figures for 5 consecutive games, is it possible an NBA
career has been resurrected? It’s far
too early to access a change however he looks good thus far. Okafor led the way with 27 points and 12
rebounds as the Pelicans beat the Rockets 121-116.
Jack Nicholson or Spike Lee seats
If you’ve watched a Knicks or Lakers game on television at some point a camera will sometimes focus on entertainers Jack Nicholson or Spike Lee, they are seated in courtside seats near team benches. The seats at Staples are about $2,200 which is probably equal to those in Madison Square Garden. They are not good seats, you asked how I know? I received complimentary tickets to a Mizzou-Georgetown game at Sprint Center several years ago.
If you’ve watched a Knicks or Lakers game on television at some point a camera will sometimes focus on entertainers Jack Nicholson or Spike Lee, they are seated in courtside seats near team benches. The seats at Staples are about $2,200 which is probably equal to those in Madison Square Garden. They are not good seats, you asked how I know? I received complimentary tickets to a Mizzou-Georgetown game at Sprint Center several years ago.
Our seats were two rows behind the
television broadcast crew, and I discovered a fact. Although close to the action so to speak
there are disadvantages, big guys block your view, official’s get in your line
of sight. I discovered seated up higher
is much better, I’m not talking nose bleed seating about half way up and
mid-court in most arenas is adequate.
Don’t get me wrong if I had enough disposable income, I could do Jack
Nicholson/Spike Lee seats.
This is different
Several NBA athletes have been drafted from Murray State. Forward Popeye Jones was drafted in 1992 by the Mavs and played for several NBA teams, he retired in 2004 from the Warriors. In 2013 the Rockets drafted point guard Isaiah Canaan, he now plays for the Wolves. The next Murray State NBA player drafted will be Ja Morant in June. Who is Morant, we’ve mentioned on more than one occasion the rise of Murray State’s in the 2019 NBA mock draft? NBADraft.net’s mock site is updated weekly so it’s impossible to check Morant’s listing at the beginning of the collegiate season. The next best thing is to check the site and Aran Smith’s 2018 Big Board: Top 100 Prospects.
Several NBA athletes have been drafted from Murray State. Forward Popeye Jones was drafted in 1992 by the Mavs and played for several NBA teams, he retired in 2004 from the Warriors. In 2013 the Rockets drafted point guard Isaiah Canaan, he now plays for the Wolves. The next Murray State NBA player drafted will be Ja Morant in June. Who is Morant, we’ve mentioned on more than one occasion the rise of Murray State’s in the 2019 NBA mock draft? NBADraft.net’s mock site is updated weekly so it’s impossible to check Morant’s listing at the beginning of the collegiate season. The next best thing is to check the site and Aran Smith’s 2018 Big Board: Top 100 Prospects.
Morant is a sophomore which says he
should have been on Smith’s list for 2018.
Guess what, I checked the list 3 times to ensure I didn’t miss Morant’s
name. Sure, enough he was nowhere to be
found on the list. The rise from an “unknown” to the number 2 position is
quite an indication in the growth of his game, did NBA scouts suddenly discover
Morant? We can’t be sure on that
question however that would appear to be the case. In addition to fantastic hops Morant scores
but dishes out assists too. Although
he’s scoring at a 24 point per game clip, he leads Division I teams in assists
with 10.5 a game. As usual the
disclaimer appears at this point, this is no indication of future stardom its simply
intended to profile budding NBA future talent.
