Basketball from a fan perspective

“There is no joy in Mudville, mighty Casey has struck out!”

The above title is one of the lines from the 1888 poem titled Casey at the Bat.  Well, the Lakers just might have struck out as well, already missing Anthony Davis for several weeks we believed the storm could be weathered.  On Saturday afternoon LeBron leaves the game against the Hawks and an MRI reveals a high ankle sprain, out for an indefinite period.  Most of Laker Nation is crying at this point, they believed in survival until the other star returned.  With both stars out the future the playoffs certainly look somewhat bleak at this point.  

Oklahoma was an 8, Mizzou questionable

Once again Mizzou figured out a method to rip my heart out again, Mizzou was a 9 seed and Oklahoma was an 8 so the outcome wasn’t really an upset.  Final score read Oklahoma 72 Mizzou 68, it’s the manner they manage to lose is what is most concerning to me and I’m sure Mizzou Nation.  It’s déjà vu all over again, Mizzou managed to squander a half time lead, for several reasons Mizzou appears unable to sustain its effort for a full game.  The trend seems to have occurred over the last 10 games or so.  They cannot win games shooting 37.9% from the floor as a team, oh well guess it's on to next season.   

March 19, 1966

The college basketball world would change forever on March 19, 1966.  That was the date Don Haskins and his Texas Western (Texas-El Paso) Miners beat Adolph Rupp’s Kentucky Wildcats for the NCAA Championship.  I’ve not read a great deal about Haskins; I can only speculate he might have been more concerned about winning over the criticism for his decision.  

Haskins would become the first coach at a Division I school to send out 5 black starters. HBCU schools had fielded all black starting lineups however most state and private schools up to that period had done no such thing.  Haskins Texas Western team would face Kentucky for the championship, at that period Kentucky had an all-white roster.  In a landmark game Texas Western beat Kentucky 72-65 one of the historic events which changed the basketball landscape of America. 

Words

Coach Bechler:     

Just because you are a FROSH doesn’t mean you can’t be a leader.

Just because you are a SOPH doesn’t mean you learned it all last year.

Just because you are a JR you get to be on the varsity. 

Just because you are SR doesn’t mean you get to start. 

I spotted this on social media, I am unfamiliar with his name, but we guess he coaches at the high school level.  No matter what the level this could apply to a college team as well, word. 

Is there anyone else? 

Like many of you our focus has been on LaMelo Ball as well it should.  His game has captured us, he’s played far better than we believed in his rookie season with the Hornets.  Part of the reason we don’t see top draft choice Anthony Edwards is his team.  The Wolves are the absolute worst franchise in the NBA, I didn’t mince words they have no competition.  Take that back maybe the Kings but even they…. oh well back to the subject at hand Anthony Edwards. 

Edwards is experiencing a reasonably good rookie year; he’s averaging double figures in scoring so we know he can get buckets.  The Wolves with the top pick could have chosen Ball but decided in favor of Edwards, there are fans in the Twin Cities who might believe they made a mistake.  The only negative on Edwards’s part (besides playing on a lousy team) is his field goal percentage.  He could stand to raise his shooting 5-7 points.  As for the draft the Wolves have Rubio and Russell two-point guards on the roster, it would have served little to draft LaMelo. 

The rumor mill no longer contains the name Kyle Kuzma, he’s staying put for now, Kuzma has managed as they might say to re-invent himself.  The problem is not all his, to play starter minutes your 3^rd year and a reserve role your 4^th an adjustment was required.  After struggle most of last season in 2020-2021 Kuzma appears to have found his groove.  He probably realizes "I need to do those things which aid the team."  It's scoring one night, defense the next and more.