Basketball from a fan’s perspective

It’s early

Top pick Zion Williamson is yet to play in a regular season game, based on this fact a cynic has pronounced the 2019 draft a bust.  Hold on there a moment son, it might not be as sorry as you might believe.  It’s often said stats don’t provide us an accurate picture but sometimes that’s all we must have to work with.  If we exclude Zion every player chosen up to number 10 is scoring in double figures currently.

Even that might be suspect if we simply check back to last season.  Luka Doncic was clearly the best rookie but what might have been.  From January on through the balance of the season Trae Young had numbers nearly equal to Doncic across the board.  Rather than pronounce the 2019 draft a bust why not wait through the end of the season?

Hold on just a moment please

The ESPN headline is touting Baylor as the top team in the nation.  Hold on just a moment please, they were impressive on Saturday.  Marching into Allen Fieldhouse and taking down the Jayhawks, they won in Allen Fieldhouse an arena they never won previously.  Jump ahead of number 3 Kansas sure but ahead of Duke and Gonzaga?  The Baylor Bears must prove they are the team first before shouting “Were number one.” Scott Drew has been a winner at Baylor, his teams are almost always winners and play in the post season.  I’m from Missouri you’ve got to Show Me, do the Bears have the staying power to win the Big 12 championship, we shall see?

“Who are those guys?”

The University of Florida arrived in Columbia with a 10-4 record, Mizzou coming off two consecutive losses what should we expect?  Well for one thing a bunch of guys we’d not seen appeared in Mizzou jerseys Saturday evening.  They certainly were different from the team we’d seen play up to this point.  That Mizzou team couldn’t shoot, in fact it appeared they might miss tossing the ball in the ocean, this group managed to shoot 62% from the floor. 

A player in Dru Smith’s jersey led the way scoring 22 points along with 6 assists and 5 steals however it wasn’t Smith alone.  This truly was a team effort as Mizzou beat Florida 91-75.  Hopefully these “strangers” can manage another appearance in front of the next few opponents Mizzou faces. Reed Nikko is the only senior on the team and perhaps that’s part of the problem, they are a young team.  The won-loss record to this point is almost identical to last season, hopefully this win will set them on a correct course.    

Really?

“Bruising center with NBA strength who is very young with a lot of raw talent.  If this was 1992 he’d be a first-round pick but his game doesn’t fit well in today’s NBA.”  That was a scouting report on senior Kansas center Udoka Azubuike, Azubuike is a 7-foot 275-pound center.  Has the emphasis on small ball changed the NBA to the degree there are signs in front of NBA arenas, “Big Men need not apply.”  You might find this interesting 247 Sports rates Azubuike the top center in college basketball for the 2019-20 season however there are others. 

James Wiseman 7-1 240 pounds Memphis

Kaleb Wesson 6-9 270 pounds Ohio State

Steven Enoch 6-10 256 pounds Louisville

Matt Haarms 7-3 250 pounds Purdue

Neemias Queta 7-0 245 pounds Utah State

Charles Bassey Western Kentucky Center made our list however he suffered a tibia fracture.  He’s undergone surgery and will be sidelined 6-9 months; he will miss the 2020-2021 NBA season.  We can only guess however teams might be willing to take a chance on drafting the 6-11 235-pound center Bassey.  We could use Michael Porter Jr. as proof, although not a center the Nuggets drafted him realizing he was unable to play last season.  The right team and the right fit and we could see him being drafted. 

A pay raise

It’s more than a pay raise for Rob Pelinka, originally hired as general manager he’s now been promoted to vice-president of basketball operations.  You might remember there were concerns at the time Magic Johnson abruptly resigned from the position Pelinka now holds.  Many in Laker Nation were unsure of Pelinka based on comments made by Magic.  With little comment by Pelinka the GM begin to move in filling out the Laker roster after the AD trade was consummated.  At this point it appears owner Jeanie Buss is satisfied to the point she is willing to promote Pelinka.  He’s still the new guy on the block so to speak but appears quite capable in his role.