Basketball from a fan perspective

Published Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday

Douse the flames

After a sluggish first half start Mizzou was eventually able to prevail and win their game versus Liberty 69-60.  The Flames proved to be tougher than the Tigers might have first believed, in fact Mizzou found itself behind at the half 32-28.  The second half of the game would be totally different, Coach Cuonzo must have chewed his team out thoroughly at the half.  Team scoring (and defense) by the Tigers missing much in the first half was quite evident in the second half of the contest. 

The Flames of Liberty were outscored 41-28 after intermission by the Mizzou Tigers.  Mizzou has never begun the season 4-0 under Cuonzo, the last time the team had this type of start was the 2013-14 season.  The Tigers won their first 10 games before suffering a loss that season, that team was coached by the departed Frank Haith.  The chore of playing winning basketball continues as Mizzou must face #6 Illinois on Saturday in the Braggin’ Rights Game.  As for the Liberty game the Tigers managed to douse the flames, get it?  Douse the flames, throw water on the fire, oh well never mind. 

Who gets the house?

In a divorce one spouse or the other usually retains possession of the house and other property might be divided among the parties.  Russell Westbrook and James Hardin are scarcely married however a divorce has occurred; the end of this backcourt combo could prove quite interesting for Rockets Nation in the upcoming season.  The mercurial Westbrook orchestrated a trade, he’s been dispatched to the Wizards in exchange for John Wall. 

Problem partially solved however not completely, James Hardin is still making noises indicating he doesn’t intend to retain the property i.e., Rockets.  We are hearing reports which are unconfirmed, Hardin wants the Sixers, Knicks, Bucks, or some other unnamed team.  West-brick can score as evidence his 27 point a game average this past season, the problem his poor 3 point and free-throw shooting.  Losing Hardin and his 34 points a game average in the same off season as Westbrook could prove disastrous for new Coach James Silas. 

The Lakers are not any better!

In 2020 the Lakers won the NBA Championship, gone from that team is Dwight Howard, Rajon Rondo, Danny Green, and several other members.  Those mentioned and others played a significant role in the Lakers winning their 17^th championship.  That team is no more, the “new” Lakers of Montrezl Harrell, Marc Gasol, Dennis Schroeder, Marc Gasol, and the remainder are technically a new team.  This might sound strange to Laker Nation; you should be excited about the 2020-21 team however this version ain’t won nothin’ yet. 

We can say on paper this new Laker team is better than the prior year’s team however games are played on the basketball court and not on a blog or SportsCenter.  The new and improved version is expected to be improved but we don’t know that for a fact.  Most of us believe the acquisitions in free agency have made the Lakers much more formidable.  We can make this statement especially how these moves will impact the second unit.  Next time this subject is discussed with a friend or acquaintance remember this; we really don’t know.  We believe the Lakers are vastly improved but are unable to provide anyone actual proof. 

Social & civic unrest

As humans we are not going to all agree about the same thing all the time.  We expect differences but this is the issue as I see it, when social and racial unrest pops up many of us want to bury our heads and pretend it doesn’t exist.  NBA players have been in the forefront of protest but so have many in the NFL.  This protest is bothersome to many in the society because they believe sport should be divorced from life events. 

Here is the key issue as I see it, there are instances over the last few months respondents to news stories have wanted us to realize their feelings about sport.  I’ve read letters, “I hope the NBA goes out of business” or “LeBron and the NBA are racist”.  I can only speak for myself and suggest this for these individuals.  If the “new” attitude is a concern you perhaps you need to consider following another sport, it serves no purpose except to vent informing us how much you dislike NBA basketball.