Basketball
from a fan’s perspective
The NBA is in good
shape too
Media pundits claim the NFL is in good shape for the future,
they point to the success of quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Deshaun
Watson as evidence. Don’t you find it
interesting the three named are all quarterbacks? The quarterback position is so key to NFL
success unlike the NBA. The NBA can look
toward a bright future too however it’s not tied into a position in the same
manner of the NFL. In the NBA an
All-Star can come to the forefront from any of the five positions on the
court.
The NBA can point toward exciting rookie point guard Ja
Morant, although Giannis Antetokoumnpo is not new, he’s only 25-years old and
has a bright future in front of him. We
can add “The Don”, Luka Doncic to the list of NBA futures, he’s not quite there
yet but is extremely close to superstar status.
In Atlanta there is all-everything point guard Trae Young and Phoenix
has sharpshooter Devin Booker and let’s add Heat guard Tyler Herro to this
account. No doubt there are several
ascending stars omitted from this brief account. We can agree the NFL is in great shape for
the future with an abundance of young talent, a similar statement could be made
regarding the NBA.
Free throws
Coaches (and fans) have complained since the days of James
Naismith one aspect of the game. “You’ve
got to hit your free throws” which is exactly what Mizzou managed to accomplish
on Saturday. Against Alabama as a team
they went to the line 31 times and sank all 31 attempts, 31-31 not a single
miss. The problem of poor shooting from
the floor bit them in the butt…again.
The magnificent shooting from the line was counteracted by Mizzou’s 31.1
% field goal effort. Naturally that
resulted in another loss, Alabama-88 Mizzou-74.
This Mizzou fan is at a loss to explain the downward slide of this
team.
Bits n Pieces
It was mentioned just recently Mizzou Nation had no
opportunity to see the real Michael Porter Jr.
He arrived as a potential NBA number one pick but only played 3 games
before declaring for the draft. If we
look at his season numbers, they fail to provide you a true picture of the budding
talent many of us see in the 6-foot 10 Porter Jr. As he continues to adjust to the Nuggets and
the NBA its clear Porter has an outstanding NBA future.
In their Friday game versus the Bulls the Sixers had a clear
advantage. With no Joel Embiid in the
lineup you might believe it was the Bulls, that was not the case. Play was stopped by the officials during an
early portion of the game. They
conducted a head count and discovered the game was 6 versus 5. The Sixers had 5 players on the court at the
same time, naturally a technical foul was assessed on them. How this occurred was never fully explained,
was it the Sixer staff that caused the problem or the scorers table?
An early discussion of Memphis basketball involved James
Wiseman now history. Omitted in many discussions
was talented Precious Achiuwa a 6-foot 9 inch forward former McDonalds All
American and a 5-star prospect. Achiuwa
was just one of several outstanding prospects Penny Hardaway recruited for his basketball
team. As in Wiseman’s case the same
applies for Achiuwa, mock drafts project him to be a lottery pick in the 2020
draft.
This is
different
The University of Dayton is considered a mid-major basketball
program. We are unaccustomed to witnessing
an NBA prospect develop from this Ohio school.
It’s likely the most famous Flyer is the late Roger Brown, enrolled at Dayton
the point shaving scandal would witness him sidelined before he ever set foot
on the court.
Brown would later go on to a Hall of Fame career with the ABA
Indiana Pacers, he was cleared by the NBA but unlike Connie Hawkins he chose to
remain in the ABA. As for 2019 Dayton
basketball introduces us to Obi Topping a 6-foot 9-inch sophomore small forward,
Topping leads the Flyers with 18.8 points and 7.9 assists a game. He appears as good as advertised, Topping is listed
on most NBA mock sites as a lottery pick and we can see why. See him in action if possible, it’s likely he
won’t remain at Dayton after this season.
