Words eye view

Basketball from a fan perspective

“It wasn’t Me”

Shaggy’s made a career from a single hit song, “It wasn’t Me”.  We’ve heard his 2000 hit used in several scenarios.  Mizzou Nation could be singing the same tune, we are not the one’s embarrassed by the loss to Ole Miss it’s the Mizzou Tigers.  The first half of the game had Ole Miss leading 42-37, the second half they came back and ran by and over the top of Mizzou.  They outscored Mizzou 38-22 in the second half, Guard Dru Smith was the only Tiger on the flight to Oxford Mississippi. 

That statement is made because he was the only Tiger player who managed to appear interested in playing, he shot 44.8% and 17 points.  Not a single Mizzou player aside from Smith managed to score in double figures.  There were a bunch of other guys who resembled the Mizzou team that rose to number 10 but certainly didn’t play like it.  Perhaps it was the ascension to the upper level of the poll or something else, the 80-59 loss was the worst thus far this season. 

Bits n Pieces

The National Transportation Safety Board issued its final report, they provided us information most of us concluded without technical expertise.  The NTSB indicated the pilot flying Kobe Bryant’s helicopter became disoriented flying into the clouds.  Bottom line the weather conditions were too inclement to fly that day, but the pilot felt pressure to ensure his party arrived on time.  

No word yet regarding Kansas City and its basketball tournaments.  The 64-team NAIA Tournament and Big 12 Tournament are both held in the city every March.  With COVID being in the forefront several tournaments have been relocated to other areas, no news on how this might impact Kansas City.   

Speaking of tournaments there might be several blue blood programs to miss the cut for the NCAA Tournament this season.  Despite a down season Kansas is likely to earn a slot, at this point Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke and UCLA are liable to watch the tournament at home unless one or more decides in favor of the NIT Tournament.

The next phase, soon you will begin to see fans in attendance at Madison Square Garden for Knicks games and Barclays Center for the Nets. New York Governor Mario Cuomo’s office announced large sports venues can open with 10% occupancy soon.  Naturally both teams are looking forward to having butts in the seats even at a reduced number.  This applies to football, baseball, and hockey as well, in this COVID age safeguards will be in place with this announced change. 

Are they number 10?

Mizzou jumped into the Top 10 list of schools for the first time in ages.  I was questioned, “Are they the 10^th best team in the country?”  I cannot answer the question, I seriously doubt if Coach Cuonzo can answer it either.  On more than one occasion we’ve mentioned the Top 25 sometimes becomes a beauty contest.  Teams move in and out, up, and down, if you are Kansas, Duke or North Carolina you almost never drop out although other programs do.  The polls are good for students, the athletic department, alumni, and fans.  As a reminder the real winner is crowned the first Monday in April.