Basketball from a fan’s perspective

Published Monday through Friday weekly

Class of 2020
Mizzou signed its first prospect for 2020, 7 foot 3 Jordan Wilmore signed on the dotted line on Wednesday.  As indicated earlier he's a relative unknown Big Man with a 245 pound body.  Junior Jeremiah Tilmon might entertain the NBA once again, that would leave Mizzou with 7 foot Axel Okongo the only Big Man on the roster.  The jury is still out for Okongo he's yet to make an appearance in this early season.   

H20
Most of you are aware the headline above is the chemical formula for water, I never took a chemistry course in high school or college.  At the same time this account is on the order of interaction between the new Lakers.  The ESPN.com headline on Wednesday reads; “Lakers instant chemistry surprising to LeBron, AD.”  Although I cannot disagree with the statement, I would rather use the term the Lakers are a WIP Work In Progress. 

This Laker team has come together much sooner than many first thought. The on court “chemistry” especially between LeBron and Anthony Davis is quite pleasing.  Please keep in mind this is November and not early spring playoff basketball.  The Lakers are playing at a much better level than we first thought however let’s wait awhile before crowning them NBA championships.       

The seismic shock
I had no opportunity to see the game, well not exactly.  I missed the Evansville-Kentucky game because I was rooting for my Mizzou Tigers on another network.  During breaks there was no need to switch channels because there were cut-ins to the action going on in the Evansville-Kentucky game.  It seemed all evening long Kentucky was playing behind and never caught up. 

Final score read Evansville 67 Kentucky 64, probably more shocking the game was played at Rupp Arena home of the Kentucky Wildcats.  That score was the seismic shock registered throughout most of the basketball world.  The Evansville Purple Aces have a rich college basketball history, the most famous Purple Ace was former NBA player and long-time Jazz coach Jerry Sloan.  Guard Dru Smith began his collegiate career at Evansville prior to his transfer last season to Mizzou.        

Forget about it
The fortunes of the Warriors have continued to deteriorate since the season began.  It was believed they could possibly hold on with Klay Thompson out of the lineup, it might be possible for them to sneak into the 8^th playoff spot in the Western Conference.  After all the heart and soul Steph Curry was still available.  Steph then breaks his hand and is injured until an unspecified date, as for Thompson he might miss the entire season.  It’s being reported they will only be able to dress 9 players for their Wednesday game against the Lakers. 

They have been hit with an extraordinary amount of injuries far beyond what we believed at the start of the season.  The Warriors team that was to rival the Showtime Lakers, MJ Bulls and other past dynasties has crashed landed.  The crash has not produced a fire yet, but we are quite near that point.  Can the Warriors return to form, certainly they have a good coach in Kerr plus Steph and Thompson on the scene?  With a few key additions they improve but they are not a championship team at this point. 

Could we all be wrong? 
The question is raised based on the Ball brothers, Lonzo and LaMelo.  Lonzo the second pick in the 2017 draft and LaMelo could possibly be number one in 2020.  For all the bravado and talk of LaVar Ball having two offspring drafted at this level is quite compelling.  Some might believe I’m getting ahead of the story, Lonzo is yet to reach the level as was projected early.  With Lonzo in New Orleans perhaps he rises to superstar status, as for the youngest brother he’s playing professionally in Australia however it’s not the NBA. 

I once worked for a marketing manager and remember her classic line.  On those occasions when some project failed, she would say, “We are moving so fast the wheels have fallen off the wagon.”  That might have been the case with LaVar Ball, perhaps his shoe and apparel line was a good idea.  The effort to bypass the NCAA starting a league of his own was good as well.  It would appear these efforts failed for a variety of reasons; the elder Ball can point to having two sons in the NBA.  Despite most of us having a negative opinion of the father it doesn’t really matter.  All LaVar Ball need do is point toward his sons and smile.   

Hope this is not taken the wrong way
We don’t usually perceive the Ivy League to compete for top notch athletic talent.  The Ivy league is thought of producing statesman and business leaders which it generally does.  Despite this mistaken belief talent rising to the pro ranks have emerged in the past from the NBA and NFL.  Grant Hill’s dad Calvin had a long productive NFL career, he played at Yale.  Former Senator Bill Bradley back in the day prior to the Knicks was an outstanding basketball talent at Princeton University. 

In an earlier period was the late Rudy LaRusso who was at Dartmouth prior to his Laker days with the Minneapolis/Los Angeles teams.  This certainly is not intended to state Justice Ajogbo is on the road to the NBA.  With a minimum of 8 other schools on his radar it’s clear others besides Harvard believe he’s got talent.  This 3-star prospect is Harvard bound in the Class of 2020.  Ajogbo is a 6-foot 9-inch 250-pound center, keep an eye out for this prospect in the fall of 2020.