Basketball from a fan’s perspective

It’s done, no more talk

After sitting at home all season he’s finally moved, the Grizzlies traded Andre Iguodala.  He’s headed to the Heat and will sign a two-year deal.  So, in the end it turns out neither the Clippers nor the Lakers were able to secure the services of the veteran Iguodala.  The same report continues to circulate on point guard Darren Collison, a decision will be made after the All-Star game.  Collison is reported to be interested in both the Clippers and Lakers, no speculation here as to where he eventually might sign.   

Owners

There have been woeful sports owners since the beginning of time.  I believe whatever the sport we can place owners in two categories.  Example one, although he or she might own the team, they appear to have little interest in the team except the bottom line.  Most of us only know his or her name, this type of owner hardly ever appears in public.  They could possibly walk past us without us being able to acknowledge them.  Anytime a press conferences occurs we see the general manager or director of operations out front. 

Example two the other owner I would title the “Jerry Jones/George Steinbrenner” type owner.  At press conferences we see the owner rather than the general manager or president of basketball operations at press time.  One note, they can and sometimes change; Mavs owner Mark Cuban is an example once he was a two currently, he’s more a 1.8.  Knicks owner James Dolan is a one, there are subtle differences however with him we know his name.  Is there a third type of owner, possibly but they are a mix of both examples.   

The land of the Lilliputians

In 1726 Johnathan Swift wrote of Gulliver’s Travels, these were the adventures of Lemuel Gulliver as he journeyed to strange and exotic locations.  One of the voyages took him to the land of Lilliputians a tiny people who stood but 6-inches tall.  We might refer to Houston Texas as the “Land of the Lilliputians” based on their recent trade.  The Rockets sent 6-foot 10-inch Clint Capela and reserve center 6-foot 11-inch Nene Hilario to the Hawks, through a 4-team move they received 6-foot 7-inch Robert Covington. 

The Rockets will now fully implement a small ball lineup.  The headline is really an exaggeration, average wise the lineup placed on the floor by the Rockets will be taller than most Americans.  Truth is there just might be a few college teams with a bigger starting lineup than the Rockets.  Shooting shouldn’t be a problem, the larger question the ability to rebound the basketball as a smaller team.  Will this “small ball” lineup work, only time will tell?  Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni believes there is a trade-off, they will sacrifice rebounds for speed. 

The culprit

Please excuse me briefly while I rant, I’ve complained since January about Mizzou's poor play.  What’s most interesting Mizzou’s played respectable defense?  The culprit, scoring or rather the lack of shooting accurately.  I located shooting totals for Division I schools, there are 353 schools on the list and Mizzou sits at 293 or 40.8%.  That just will not cut it, it’s not necessarily poor selection it’s flat out missing makeable open shots.