Basketball from a fan perspective

The game from a fan’s perspective

“Down goes Frazier, down goes Frazier”

It wasn’t quite Foreman-Frazier bout which was fought in 1973 however it was significant, below is the link to the famous call by the late Howard Cosell.  The Mizzou Tigers Baylor took out the South Carolina Gamecocks 81-70 although the game was not as close as the final score might indicate.  Mizzou received balanced scoring however the game of center Jeremiah Tilmon was certainly noteworthy.  The 6-foot 10 Big Man was double-double machines filling the box with 19 points 10 rebounds along with 3 blocked shots.  Once again Mizzou played belly button defense which impacted the Gamecocks scoring output.  With apologies to Cosell, “Down goes Carolina, down goes Carolina." 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZEIMQ42-oU

Scouting Report---Incomplete    

The scout managed to fall asleep through the workout, the plan was to see a Western Kentucky game and NBA prospect Charles Bassey.  WKU basketball is somewhat difficult to locate on our television sets because it’s considered a mid-major school.  Bassey was rated a 5-star prospect at the time he left Aspire Academy in Kentucky, he would choose Western Kentucky to play his college basketball.  After an outstanding freshman season an injury in his sophomore year would limit Bassey to but 10 games.

In his junior year, the 6-foot 11-inch 235-pound forward Bassey is a double-double man, the numbers affirm that with 16.8 points and 11.8.  There is no doubt the NBA is in his future.  This budding talent athlete arrived on these shores from Lagos Nigeria.    As for the scout who went to sleep that would be me.  In the man cave I dosed off during the game, it had nothing to do with the action I was extremely tired today.  As for the box score, I later read Bassey led the way for the Hilltoppers with 21 points 19 rebounds and 5 blocked shots. 

A pandemic basketball season    

This is an unusual college basketball season, COVID-19 has forced several games to be cancelled or postponed.  The Ivy League in an extraordinary move decided in the middle of November to cancel winter sports which includes basketball.  In addition, when was the last time you glanced at a Top 25 poll and Kentucky was not listed as one of the teams?  I would guess you might be more than 50 or 60 years old; the Wildcats are always near the top except this season.  We could make a similar statement regarding Coach K. and his Duke Blue Devils. 

Of the 7 games played to date Duke’s won 5 of them, a Duke team with a 5-2 record in the middle of January is certainly far from what we accustom to seeing.  Recently the Atlantic 10 Conference announced it is moving its post-season tournament from Barclays Center.  The tournament scheduled for mid-March has no location as this is written, this move is made with COVID-19 concerns, in addition to this thought.  The NBA Nets are playing in the same building and host 29 other NBA teams.  There are other events skipped over, the question remains will the NCAA be able to play the annual spring tournament?

Is he on the road to NBA stardom?     

The headline is the question surrounding Pelican forward Zion Williamson?  He was a high school sophomore playing at Spartanburg Day School in Spartanburg South Carolina when the world first became familiar with his name.  His thunder dunks were a feature on YouTube as many of his growing legion of fans and that enhanced his profile with several basketball fans. 

As for me I had a question, the dunks are exciting and crowd pleasing but there is more to competitive basketball than dunks.  Did he have any shooting range, can he play a complete game?  Zion is in the middle of his sophomore year in the NBA, a minute’s restriction plus an injury limited his play during his rookie season.  He doesn’t have 3-point range but that is of little matter for now, he makes of for it by his quickness.  For a player packing 284 pounds on his body Zion moves swiftly to snatch his missed shot or rebound a miss by a teammate.