Basketball from a fan perspective 

The Clippers win Game 7--- Maybe the Clippers win Game 7 tonight, on the other hand the Nuggets could win as well.  Face it fans the winner of this game leaves us in a quandary, everything we believe and might read says the Clippers win.  What is holding us back from declaring the Clippers a winner is the letdown, despite having Kawhi Leonard and Paul George the team appears to lose focus in the second half of games.  

It’s difficult to believe the Clippers once held a 3 games to 1 lead.  With an opportunity to close out the Nuggets in two consecutive games they allowed themselves to be taken completely out of their game, this is evidenced by the following.  From Game 5, the Clippers scored 49 points giving up 67, Game 6 was a repeat of the previous game.  The Clippers scored but 35 points in the second half of Game 6 but yielded 64 points to the Nuggets, if they manage to hold off the Nuggets they win if not well. 

Need a job---Better yet, are you willing to undergo the rigors of coaching in the NBA?  With Mike D’Antoni choosing to not return to the Rockets what does the score card read?  Well the Knicks have their guy and so do the Nets, both NYC teams are ready for next season however others are still searching.  They include the Bulls, Pacers, Pelicans, Thunder, Sixers, and Rockets.  There are far too many openings and too many candidate names out there to list them all. 

I mentioned to a friend, “Mark Jackson is still out there” his response made a great deal of sense.  “Why would (Jackson) want to coach again, no anxiety dealing with disgruntled players. In addition, he’s compensated lucratively (ESPN/ABC) in his role as a broadcaster.”  After listening to his comments, I question my own statement, Jackson’s is situated much better than any NBA coach.  A coach might be paid a much higher salary however check out the headaches involved in the job. 

Speaking of matchups---The Clippers-Heat series lasting a full 7 games has proven to be a blessing and a curse for the Lakers.  Due to the length of this series Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals will not be played until Friday September 18.  The Lakers will have rested for 5 days leading up to Game 1 of this series.  As Shaq might say that allows the Lakers time for the knick-knack injuries to heal, that’s the good part of this equation.  The bad, practice is just that it cannot simulate game conditions the hope is the Lakers don’t arrive on the court Friday flat as a pancake.  

Missouri basketball---Anytime Missouri basketball is discussed here it usually relates to the largest system in the state.  The University of Missouri-Columbia a Division I program, there are other D-I schools lesser known by most of the nation.   Missouri State is in Springfield, several miles north of the Arkansas-Missouri line.  The Bears have only played at the D-I level for 39 years, but their basketball history goes back to the early portion of the 20^th Century, NAIA, D-2 and finally in 1952 moving to D-I.  Up next is St. Louis University located in you guessed it, SLU nicknamed the Billikens history goes back to the 1914-15 season their first. 

Southeast Missouri State in Cape Girardeau is in the southeast portion of the state not far from the Illinois-Missouri state line.  The school’s history indicates 29 years of D-I play but that is a little misleading.  The Redhawks have “moved” too beginning play at the NAIA level, then D-2 and finally D-1 in the 1991-92 season.  The largest student enrollment university in the state is the University of Missouri-Columbia or Mizzou.  Not only is it the largest university in the state Mizzou also receives the bulk of sports coverage in the state.  So, there you have it, a brief profile of Division I basketball in the State of Missouri.  Unlike next door with Kansas and Kansas State competing in the same conference each of Missouri’s schools compete in different conferences. 

Lifetime Laker--- Pau Gasol was a teammate of the late Kobe Bryant with the Lakers, the two athletes shared a friendship on and off the court.  The January death of Kobe impacted Gasol probably more than any other teammate.  On Sunday Gasol and wife Cat had their first child…a girl.  Gasol honored his friend and his brother naming his daughter Elisabet Gianna Gasol.  Gianna Bryant was Kobe and Vanessa’s 13-year old daughter who perished in the helicopter crash with her dad and several others.  This goes far beyond basketball in my humble opinion. 

The Blindside--- After reading of the early portion of Jimmy Butler’s childhood all I could think was the 2009 movie The Blindside.  The movie was loosely based on former NFL left tackle Michael Oher.  Butler’s childhood was almost a carbon copy of Oher, his father left the family when Butler was an infant.  At the age of 13 his mother decided to kick him out of the house, he would later state she said, “I don’t like the look of you.” 

Butler indicates he stayed with friends moving from place to place friend to friend.  At Tomball High School near Houston Butler gravitated to sports particularly football and basketball.  His bio indicates he was not heavily recruited from high school, so he chose to attend Tyler Junior College and from there it was Marquette University and eventually the NBA.  The Heat become his 4^th team, but this has little to do with lack of talent or effort on his part.  Butler is a 5X NBA All Star is now a valued member of the Heat; it’s hoped Butler can lead the team to the NBA Finals.